Following on from back-to-back hit albums, Bristol beatmakers The Allergies keep the heat coming with Beneath This Sun. The sample-heavy LP deftly mixes up musical styles, like one of the duo’s dynamite DJ sets.
Soul-stompers ‘Bye Bye Baby’ burn the floor, while double bass banger ’Dig It Up’ adds a boom to the bap that’ll have ’90s hip-hop heads throwing their hands in the air.
Other standout moments are stolen by the earth-shaking cinematics of psych-rock-meets-rap epic ‘Resistance’, featuring Knytro – The secret weapon MC for stadium acts like Chase & Status. And ‘Leave Me Alone’ – a dancehall-on-steroids breakup record brought screaming to life by self-proclaimed "sound system baby" Aziza Jaye.
More new faces to The Allergies camp include tongue-twisting Dutch mic master, BlabberMouf. And rising stars from the Bristol scene, HybridMP & KAI, who shine with their radiant jazz-hop lament ‘Lost My Soul’.
On their third album, FANGS, London collective HMLTD have created an entirely new genre: Götherdammerüng (or ÜberGöth). Predictably unpredictable, it could not be further away from their last outing, 2023 rock opera The Worm. The sixteen-piece orchestra has been traded in for Ableton, the timpani and violins replaced with side-chained four-to-the-floor and rave synths, and the gospel choir swapped for guttural gothic howling and black metal screams. The result is both unique and terrifying: a total reinvention and rehabilitation of the goth genre, through the looking glass of modern electronic and doomscroll-era dance music.
This new beginning was accompanied by a change in personnel, with Theo Spark and Andrei Martynchyk joining the fray alongside original members Henry Spychalski and Duc Peterman. Decamping to a ruined château in the Loire Valley, the quartet became obsessed with vampire lore, and the EBM and goth sound that inspired their early work: Fad Gadget, DAF, Nitzer Ebb, Suicide and Bauhaus. FANGS also points to more contemporary influences like Crystal Castles, German hardcore, 2000s blog-house a la Justice, and 2020s sleazepop.
The world crafted in FANGS is full of cosmic pessimism, glowing horror, imperceptible evil and digital dismemberment, ancient curses and ruined castles, Vampires. But it is also a thoroughly fun, and funny, record, as danceable as it is deep. Born of the club, some tracks would not sound out of place on Brat. Like a Smiths song which sounds happy and carefree until your brain tunes in to the misery of the lyrics, it can be listened to - and enjoyed - on two levels. One can get lost in the throb of bass and ludic synths, or tune into the horror of the lyrics which overlay them.
FANGS attempts to offer up a reflection to a culture that - like a Vampire - has lost its own. The result is something not only thoroughly modern, original, and inventive - but that feels genuinely dangerous and potent. FANGS delights in this ambiguity: simultaneously indicting decadence, decay, and moral rot, while luxuriating in its intoxication by it. Cacophonous sub-bass becomes a chthonic call of the void; seraphic rave synths become the screech of Valkyries; four-to-the-floor becomes a deathly funeral march. Vampire apocalypse.
On their third album, FANGS, London collective HMLTD have created an entirely new genre: Götherdammerüng (or ÜberGöth). Predictably unpredictable, it could not be further away from their last outing, 2023 rock opera The Worm. The sixteen-piece orchestra has been traded in for Ableton, the timpani and violins replaced with side-chained four-to-the-floor and rave synths, and the gospel choir swapped for guttural gothic howling and black metal screams. The result is both unique and terrifying: a total reinvention and rehabilitation of the goth genre, through the looking glass of modern electronic and doomscroll-era dance music.
This new beginning was accompanied by a change in personnel, with Theo Spark and Andrei Martynchyk joining the fray alongside original members Henry Spychalski and Duc Peterman. Decamping to a ruined château in the Loire Valley, the quartet became obsessed with vampire lore, and the EBM and goth sound that inspired their early work: Fad Gadget, DAF, Nitzer Ebb, Suicide and Bauhaus. FANGS also points to more contemporary influences like Crystal Castles, German hardcore, 2000s blog-house a la Justice, and 2020s sleazepop.
The world crafted in FANGS is full of cosmic pessimism, glowing horror, imperceptible evil and digital dismemberment, ancient curses and ruined castles, Vampires. But it is also a thoroughly fun, and funny, record, as danceable as it is deep. Born of the club, some tracks would not sound out of place on Brat. Like a Smiths song which sounds happy and carefree until your brain tunes in to the misery of the lyrics, it can be listened to - and enjoyed - on two levels. One can get lost in the throb of bass and ludic synths, or tune into the horror of the lyrics which overlay them.
FANGS attempts to offer up a reflection to a culture that - like a Vampire - has lost its own. The result is something not only thoroughly modern, original, and inventive - but that feels genuinely dangerous and potent. FANGS delights in this ambiguity: simultaneously indicting decadence, decay, and moral rot, while luxuriating in its intoxication by it. Cacophonous sub-bass becomes a chthonic call of the void; seraphic rave synths become the screech of Valkyries; four-to-the-floor becomes a deathly funeral march. Vampire apocalypse.
If you dig deep enough into the internet's lower depths, you'll find a shaky video shot on a camcorder. In 43 seconds, we see a makeshift drum kit built out of backyard Ostbahnhof trash, hear distorted vocals, and feel the anarchic energy of band and ravers dissolving into each other. It's now been twenty years since Bonaparte played their very first show at the legendary Bar25 on Berlin's Spree river. The ringmaster of this unhinged musical theater was Tobias Jundt then, and it's Jundt again now bringing the Bonaparte extravaganza back to the stage. New and nostalgic sit close together when the party's been going this long. Or, as they put it: "PARADISE IF YOU CAN STAND IT."
From late October through mid-November, Bonaparte will tour Germany, Austria, and Jundt's native Switzerland at full intensity, the full lineup - band to burlesque. Since their 2006 debut through their supposed farewell in 2019, Bonaparte played over 800 shows in 28 countries. Bottom line: "Too Much" isn't enough to properly celebrate a body of work like this. And the new songs from "PARADISE IF YOU CAN STAND IT" are far too significant not to bring to the stage. The lo-fi trash-punk of Bonaparte's earliest records has been built out with added layers, in production (largely alongside British avant-garde electronic artist HELiX) and in the songwriting itself.
The world certainly hasn't gotten any simpler since 2006. Tracks like "EVERYBODY PRESiDENT," loosely riffing on Zoe Leonard's poem "I Want A Dyke For President," and the corrosive "BRAiN ROT" mirror the social chaos we find ourselves in 2026. "OBEY (THERE iS STiLL A RiOT GOiNG ON)" is just as furious, though here the principle of hope still holds, as a multigenerational choir concludes "everything will be okay." Jundt speaks across generations again on "i LOVE YOU (MORE LATER)," dedicated in equal measure to his parents and his daughters: "Let the echo chamber bleed - from here into eternity."
The reconciliation and hope Bonaparte allows for and tends to, amid violence and all that noise, make "PARADISE IF YOU CAN STAND IT" a singular document of an artist grown wiser. Separation and grief don't cancel out love and vitality - they depend on each other. Ultimately, the album is a record of searching for and finding a home. To arrive, you have to let go.
And what better place to let go than in step with Bonaparte's wild, hedonistic party circus, finally back to gently terrorize our cities?
Australian electronic icon What So Not redefined the boundaries of bass music in 2016 with the seminal Divide & Conquer EP—and now, this moment in dance music history finally gets the treatment it deserves. Celebrating 10 years, this vinyl pressing unleashes the EP’s signature mix of relentless bass and massive, soaring melodies like you’ve never heard them before.
Featuring the timeless sonic architecture of tracks like the explosive title track ‘Divide & Conquer’ and the unforgettable ‘Trust.’ Packed with iconic collaborations with Kimbra, George Maple, BURNS and GANZ, every track on this record holds up as a masterpiece. Drop the needle and re-experience the boundary-pushing energy that established What So Not as a global trailblazer.
UK techno lynchpin James Ruskin celebrates 30 years of Blueprint with a remastered edition of his 'Further Design' LP, releasing 4th September 2026. Founded by Ruskin and Richard Polson in 1996, the infl uential label has spent three decades documenting uncompromising techno through releases from the likes of Rommek, Kr!z, Truncate, and many more, with 'Further Design' originally landing in 1998. The anniversary celebrations have already seen Mark Broom revisit seminal Regis recordings on the 'Power Is Neutral' EP, with further releases from Kerrie, Nastia, and more to follow, alongside a merchandise run later this year.
James Ruskin has been a constant presence in techno for over three decades. He defi ned the sound of British techno through his DJ sets, productions, and the releases on his infl uential Blueprint label. His stripped-back, functional, and forward-thinking sound has remained utterly uncompromising, with performances at clubs and festivals around the world while never straying from underground ideals. Substance over trends has always been his MO, through a catalogue spanning Blueprint, Tresor, and numerous collaborations that remain timeless.
The purposeful titles of the tracks on this essential album hint at the minimalist approach to sound. This is bold, linear techno with 'Enter', 'Below', and 'Indirect World' kicking off with rolling low ends and smart sound designs that even now sound futuristic. The likes of 'The Divide' bring spangled synths and crunchy percussive textures that jerk you into motion, while 'Time And Place' is an immersive cosmic odyssey and 'Unknown Destination' melts the mind with liquid synth work that loops around hypotonic rhythms. 'Work' is another perfectly calibrated cut with meticulous percussive placement and the shimmering of bells that dissolve space and time.
It is testament to Ruskin's original vision that 'Further Design' remains as evocative today as it was upon its release, full of otherworldly imagery and grooves that continue to move dance fl oors around the world.
Pronounced Zero (ay ay) RIOT
Shit and Shine go fully CAN on their eleventh album release for Riot Season since their debut way back in 2004.
DEEP SOLID GROOVE REPETITION !!
Fully CAN in the sense that the rhythms are VERY CAN LIKE, but with a modern sharper edge and less flowery decoration. If CAN had a Roland TR-1000 drum machine it might sound a lot like this!
Basically all your favourite bits of krautrock, but sharpened up with modern tools, and it works perfectly! Say it again … DEEP SOLID GROOVE REPETITION !!
It’s definitely danceable, if that’s your thing, but also definitely deeply listenable. Something to put on and fill the space with infectious groove while you wash the dishes or drive your car, have your workout (I’ve heard from several sources $&$ makes excellent workout music) or whatever.
Two long songs on each side of the record. It’s an absolute beauty and actually sounds like shit and shine might be taking things a bit more seriously for a fuckin’ change! BRAVO !!!
2026 Repress
30 years of Fuse means 30 years of road paving.
An ode to the past and a hint to the future, Fuse shares this milestone with its original guests from 1994 all the way to its fresh party goers of the past years as a promise to keep its dance floor focused on quality music and timeless moments.
In over a quarter century, the Brussels club has stood the test of time by rooting itself in ageless music and employing pioneering artists - large or small, international or local - to command the decks of Belgium's longest running dance floor. A celebration of this legacy and the renewed imprint is in order, coming in the form of a 30 track compilation of techno's best and brightest from around the world. One track for one year, this collection of recordings highlights the status quo of enduring club music, beginning with a nod to the past: a re-release of Jeff Mills iconic 'Step to Enchantment' from 1993. This glance to the past quickly shoots us forward into the current state of techno with legendary artists like Planetary Assault Systems, DVS1, Steffi, Rodhad, Donato Dozzy, DJ Nobu and many others who headlined the club in recent years. Cementing itself as a respected escapist institution, Fuse also calls on its growing local scene to prove why Brussels continues to remain a reference in the scene even outside of its own borders.
With his first release on co-owned Smallville-Label Lawrence aka Peter M. Kersten celebrates another tribute to more than 20 years of House Music. Wether it is the magic sound of Nick Holder or modern grooves of labelmates like Melchior, Pronsato and Christopher Rau- this EP is full of inspiration. Beyond the club influences Kersten was mainly driven by slow Detroit Jazz from the early 70ies and classical Minimal Music which make the colorful taste of this EP. With "Sorry Sun" Lawrence invites to another adventure into the miracle of a cosy dancefloor letting only the music shine and the people close their eyes and smile. Sorry Sun, here comes the Night.
The songs of Jules de Corte are condensed, folky gems with an almost effortless charm. Poised between the intimate and the universal, between lightness and darkness, they touch on religion, love, loss, and the small dramas of everyday life. Yet they resist easy translation. Packed with wordplay, de Corte’s signature alliterations, humor, and local cultural references, the songs inevitably lose something in another language. Still, when a Belgian quartet of improvisers takes them on, joined by American songwriter Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, the songs are reborn rather than merely transposed: literal fidelity gives way to interpretation, and what is lost in words is often gained in spirit.
Even without tracing every change, their overall effect is fascinating. Songs are slowed down, often doubled in length, and filled with unexpected musical intrusions. They gain fuller arrangements and are placed in an entirely new context. Replacing de Corte’s piano with guitar can create a radically different vibe, as in “Mariska.” An added solo can heighten the contrast between childlike perspective and the almost matter- of-fact brutality of “Little Anita.” In “The Stranger,” another use of contrast unsettles the everyday harmony, transforming it with a subtle, disorienting twist.
Ultimately, these performances show that interpretation is not successful simply because it is literal. With the groundwork laid by Linus, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy further liberated the songs from their original versions. Lyrics and melodies become malleable, shaped by his recognizable cadences, timbre, and personal quirks. Like his collaborators, he allows himself the freedom to bend the material to his own approach. There is no radical break between this performance and his other records. Listeners familiar with the originals may be puzzled at first; for those new to de Corte, it is a wholly different experience.
Does it really matter that the original “Little Jesus, Mighty God” is a 100-second nugget combining playful naivete with biblical fervor? In the hands of these five explorers, the song becomes an intriguing contemplation, with subtle musical shades and a recitation in which every syllable carries a maturity that offers a new perspective. Then there is “The Outsider,” which feels as genuine as any original American folk song. The musicians’ process is more than reinterpretation—it is reimagination, bringing new musical compatibility and emotional depth. Whether that depth was there from the start, waiting to be uncovered, or created in the process is beside the point. What matters is that Linus and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy have made the essence of these songs their own, paying homage yet dancing to their own tune.
Linus is the Belgian duo of guitarist and banjo player Ruben Machtelinckx and reedist and synthesiser player Thomas Jillings. Across five previous albums — Onland (2014), Linus + Skarbø / Leroux (2015), Felt Like Old language at the crossroads of folk, jazz, minimalism, chamber music and free improvisation. Their music is adventurous, shaped by a particular sensitivity to texture, timbre and the subtle interaction between musicians.
What began as a duo gradually grew into a flexible musical world, bringing Linus together with musicians such as Nils Økland, Ingar Zach, Niels Van Heertum, Øyvind Skarbø and Frederik Leroux. Yet each new constellation has remained recognisably Linus: music in which carefully considered forms leave space for intuition, interaction and the unexpected.
For their sixth album, Linus takes a new step by moving into the world of song and text. Inspired by a shared love for the late Dutch songwriter Jules De Corte, the album is a reimagining of De Corte’s unique repertoire. More than simply interpreting De Corte’s songs, they absorb and reshape them, bringing them into dialogue with their own musical language. In keeping with this open approach, they are joined by celebrated vocalist Bonnie “Prince” Billy. With albums such as 1999’s I See a Darkness appearing on several greatest album lists, Bonnie “Prince” Billy is a cult figure in the alternative folk scene, and his highly intuitive way of singing seamlessly matches the subtle interplay Linus has developed over more than a decade.
IRST ALBUM IN 10 YEARS.
TOURING WITH TROPICAL FUCK STORM IN NOVEMBER (DATES BELOW).
PRODUCED BY DAN LUSCOMBE (THE DRONES) WHO IS ALSO PART OF THE LIVE BAND.
PREVIOUS ALBUMS ON HARDLY ART/SUB POP AND REMOTE CONTROL.
VERY LIMITED BLACK VINYL AND INDIES ONLY PINK VINYL . NON-RETURNABLE.
‘Jarrod Quarrell, creator of Lost Animal, is one of the most underrated songwriters in Australia and one of our all-time favourites. He creates poetic expressions. His work is very interesting in a highly original way and richly emotional. The songs reveal themselves more over many listens and always feel fresh. His powerful, beautiful, transformative, and unforgettable songs possess the vast depth of the human spirit.’ - GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIE ZINE
‘Quarrell has developed a collaged techne that embodies a heart-on-sleeve attitude. Lush melodic delays wash with an influx of lyrics that pierce with uncanny imagery and diction.’ - VICE
It’s not every day you hear about a new Lost Animal album. In fact, it’s been ten years between drinks. The debut Ex Tropical (Hardly Art/Sub Pop) was released in 2011, and followed by You Yang (Remote Control) in 2016. So what happened, and where’s frontman/mastermind Jarrod Quarrell been for the last ten years?
From the horse's mouth, “I don't give a fuck about productivity”. A humbling reply. It confirms Quarrell's MO: here’s an artist as a non-conformist. And when he does see fit to bless us with his unique vision of what music can sound like, it has the ability to completely charm and disarm. Amongst a sea of rock bands, LA is essentially a solo act. Simply put; LA is JQ. But on the other hand, amongst an ocean of solo acts, LA possesses the grandiosity of a full band, punk in spirit, but without being fast, or heavy.
Armed with keys and synths, timbres align more with what a toucan might listen to, as opposed to what's heard commonly throughout Melbourne's gig economy. Strings are gently plucked and horns are tenderly blown. These are the colourful brush strokes that decorate the upper frequencies. They’re the ticket to a far away land;exotic, and potentially very dangerous. If the crew from Hear My Eyes are reading this, consider Lost Animal performing Give Some Get Some as the soundtrack to the next time you screen The Hangover Part 2. Yeah, the one where shit gets super fried in Thailand.
The album examines the underbelly of what a ten year journey might rub up against. As one may expect, a lot of that action is below the belt. Tracks like Do That Thing, and In
Rewinding, a few things have happened in the past ten years that are worth illuminating. Shags is no longer commandeering the bass full time. Though he does make an appearance on a couple tracks. The main difference from present day to yesteryear LA is Dan Luscombe (The Drones). Luscombe has jumped into the role of producer (and also part of the live band). One could say he’s a producer of the Spector-ilk: playing a hands-on approach and assisting Quarrell's song crafting. He may have suggested to add a chorus or two, but the chord progressions remain distinctly Lost Animal. You'll recognise them easily by their beauty, combined with either fragility or rigidity. Luscombe is arguably the defining force that made this album happen. Perhaps he had Quarrell at gunpoint. Yet to be confirmed. Regardless, thank fuck for Luscombe because it may have been another decade.
But the album's defining feature is arguably Quarrell's lyricism. He may not cross-examine where he's been, but his voice does unmask where he is: absolved and reincarnated. The decade-long journey has resulted in him looking inwards and unlocking himself. The album's many mantras suggest that he may be a bird (I'm a Bird Now), or that he is living on another planet (Never is Forever). Whatever and wherever he may be,
Give Some Get Some invites the listener to reflect on their own journey over the past decade. Because the game's got a price. So ask yourself what have you taken, and what have you given? Life ain't a box of chocolates. It's a bowl of berries. And when fruit symbolizes temptation, get some.
IRST ALBUM IN 10 YEARS.
TOURING WITH TROPICAL FUCK STORM IN NOVEMBER (DATES BELOW).
PRODUCED BY DAN LUSCOMBE (THE DRONES) WHO IS ALSO PART OF THE LIVE BAND.
PREVIOUS ALBUMS ON HARDLY ART/SUB POP AND REMOTE CONTROL.
VERY LIMITED BLACK VINYL AND INDIES ONLY PINK VINYL . NON-RETURNABLE.
‘Jarrod Quarrell, creator of Lost Animal, is one of the most underrated songwriters in Australia and one of our all-time favourites. He creates poetic expressions. His work is very interesting in a highly original way and richly emotional. The songs reveal themselves more over many listens and always feel fresh. His powerful, beautiful, transformative, and unforgettable songs possess the vast depth of the human spirit.’ - GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIE ZINE
‘Quarrell has developed a collaged techne that embodies a heart-on-sleeve attitude. Lush melodic delays wash with an influx of lyrics that pierce with uncanny imagery and diction.’ - VICE
It’s not every day you hear about a new Lost Animal album. In fact, it’s been ten years between drinks. The debut Ex Tropical (Hardly Art/Sub Pop) was released in 2011, and followed by You Yang (Remote Control) in 2016. So what happened, and where’s frontman/mastermind Jarrod Quarrell been for the last ten years?
From the horse's mouth, “I don't give a fuck about productivity”. A humbling reply. It confirms Quarrell's MO: here’s an artist as a non-conformist. And when he does see fit to bless us with his unique vision of what music can sound like, it has the ability to completely charm and disarm. Amongst a sea of rock bands, LA is essentially a solo act. Simply put; LA is JQ. But on the other hand, amongst an ocean of solo acts, LA possesses the grandiosity of a full band, punk in spirit, but without being fast, or heavy.
Armed with keys and synths, timbres align more with what a toucan might listen to, as opposed to what's heard commonly throughout Melbourne's gig economy. Strings are gently plucked and horns are tenderly blown. These are the colourful brush strokes that decorate the upper frequencies. They’re the ticket to a far away land;exotic, and potentially very dangerous. If the crew from Hear My Eyes are reading this, consider Lost Animal performing Give Some Get Some as the soundtrack to the next time you screen The Hangover Part 2. Yeah, the one where shit gets super fried in Thailand.
The album examines the underbelly of what a ten year journey might rub up against. As one may expect, a lot of that action is below the belt. Tracks like Do That Thing, and In
Rewinding, a few things have happened in the past ten years that are worth illuminating. Shags is no longer commandeering the bass full time. Though he does make an appearance on a couple tracks. The main difference from present day to yesteryear LA is Dan Luscombe (The Drones). Luscombe has jumped into the role of producer (and also part of the live band). One could say he’s a producer of the Spector-ilk: playing a hands-on approach and assisting Quarrell's song crafting. He may have suggested to add a chorus or two, but the chord progressions remain distinctly Lost Animal. You'll recognise them easily by their beauty, combined with either fragility or rigidity. Luscombe is arguably the defining force that made this album happen. Perhaps he had Quarrell at gunpoint. Yet to be confirmed. Regardless, thank fuck for Luscombe because it may have been another decade.
But the album's defining feature is arguably Quarrell's lyricism. He may not cross-examine where he's been, but his voice does unmask where he is: absolved and reincarnated. The decade-long journey has resulted in him looking inwards and unlocking himself. The album's many mantras suggest that he may be a bird (I'm a Bird Now), or that he is living on another planet (Never is Forever). Whatever and wherever he may be,
Give Some Get Some invites the listener to reflect on their own journey over the past decade. Because the game's got a price. So ask yourself what have you taken, and what have you given? Life ain't a box of chocolates. It's a bowl of berries. And when fruit symbolizes temptation, get some.
LA-based producer Real Bad Man and multi-JUNO Award winning Toronto-based artist TOBi release their collaborative album The Perfect Blue via the producer’s own Real Bad Man Records. The album collects a diverse array of sounds,highlighted by the album’s two advance singles “When I’m Home, ” which Stereogum described as “a moody,graceful soul song with a serious groove, ” and the funk-laden “Over The Moon, ” released last week.
TOBi and Real Bad Man’s work together on The Perfect Blue encapsulates the producer’s mission for 2025, a year in which he released intricate collaborative albums with a wide swath of artists. His work with TOBi was seamless and began quickly after the two first met, finding kinship in their ability to push past their comfort zones in genre and familiar sounds. The result is eclectic and boundless, jumping from straightforward and unflinchingly personal rap moments, to the flared funk of “Over the Moon” and understated contemporary soul flourishes that prove the Toronto emcee can confidently make each of these sounds his own.
The Perfect Blue marks Real Bad Man’s fifth full-length collaborative album of the year, bookending a prolific 2025 that began with his collaborative album with ZelooperZ, Dear Psilocybin. Over a celebrated catalog spanning years, Real Bad Man, also known as Adam Jay Weissman, has cemented himself as a force in underground hip-hop, but his impact extends beyond work with contemporaries like Boldy James, Pink Siifu, Blue and more. Each of Weissman’s five collaborative albums this year showcases a different side of his craft, appeasing fans familiar with his gritty hip-hop production on his third album with Boldy James Conversational Pieces. He also surprised listeners with a bold turn in sonic direction, well outside of his traditional production palette, with his reunion with former Pollyn bandmate Genevieve Artadi on Everything Is Under Control.
Nigerian-born, Toronto-raised artist TOBi has carved out a distinct lane for himself with a celebrated discography of releases that explore themes of vulnerability, self-reflection and contemporary masculinity with a pointed nuance. His 2023 album PANIC swept the rap categories (Best Rap Album, Best Rap Single for “Someone I Knew”) at the 2024 JUNO Awards and his catalog has been praised by the likes of Billboard, Rolling Stone, i-D and more. Expanding on his ELEMENTS project series with the second volume released earlier this year to high praise, The Perfect Blue cements TOBi’s bonafides as an adept collaborator.
With 'Songs For Tova' Dolly introduces a brand new producer called Afik Naim. This rough diamond was pulled out of a cave near Jerusalem. He has a cinematic experimental take on what you would call Techno but he is rather hard to classify to be honest. Exactly what we like, somebody who stands out with his typical sound pallet! Another perfect player on this 'Songs For Tova' team is the never disappointing Kassem Mosse with a killer remix to wrap up this high class 4 tracker!
Seven years after the haunting resonance of Voids, electronic pioneer Martyn returns to the album format with Music For Existing. Arriving on 15 May 2026, the record is more than a collection of tracks; it is a profound exploration of what it means to remain devoted to a craft in an era of relentless noise.
The album’s announcement is heralded by the lead single "Heavy Sound." The track serves as the perfect bridge between Martyn’s past and present - a masterclass in tension and release that previews the album’s dialogue between the producer, the musicians, and the audience. We live inside a culture that has prioritised and monetised restlessness. The modern apparatus runs on the continuous production of "next," driven by algorithms that value novelty over depth.
Music For Existing serves as a love letter to the communal act of making music - something that is both healing and inherently defiant. For Martyn, a musician often finds solace in musical conversation with others; in the moment we press record, we simply exist together. This record is an invitation to build human infrastructure around what we love, leaning into the fluid nature of community and seeing exactly where the music takes us when we choose to listen.
The album is a sprawling, "off-the-grid" tapestry that echoes Martyn’s profound appreciation for jazz - free, instinctive, and bursting in every sonic direction. This collection features an expansive cast of collaborators, including Duval Timothy, Dan Only, Lucinda Chua, and Mark Cisneros. The record is further elevated by the contributions of jazz talents Mischa Porte and Cees Bruinsma, alongside the evocative words of writer and poet Musa Okwonga.
While the acoustic textures and improvisational spirit of this record may feel like a departure, they represent a homecoming. Jazz has always been ingrained in Martyn’s work; even in his most stripped-back club tracks, the DNA of swing, syncopation, and free-form structure was always present, if not always visible.
Music For Existing marks the beginning of an exciting journey that will continue from the studio to the stage, celebrating the radical act of existing in the moment.
The Malian virtuoso, indisputably one of the most creative talents of his country, deserved his solo career decades ago. In May 2026, we released his debut solo album SOBRA DANCE featuring his wife Mariam Kouyate on vocals. The groovy and variated electric album, went straight to the top lists of World Music Charts Europe and Transglobal World Music Chart as well as selected for TOP OF THE WORLD by SONGLINES. Gaoussou's solo debut got several 5 star reviews.DJANGO BLUES is a tribute to Gaoussou's father and childhood teacher, who's nickname is Django. On this album the talented guitarist and composer goes deeper into the roots of Malian Dessert Blues, with the variations from the Arabic soundscapes from the north.In Senegal, Gaoussou is nick named "The new Ali Farka Toure". But even though Ali Farka was one of Gaoussou's greatest inspirations, Gaoussou has developed an unmistakable style of his own. He breathes music and goes to his studio every day to work. He uses his composing to reflect, and as a ventilator when things are hard -they often are in his country of contrasts- and as a love declaration to life itself. He is a true Mandingue, a Griot, peaceful and kind, as the philosophy preaches.Accompanying such legends like Toumani Diabate and Kasse Mady Diabate, Gaoussou Kouyate, with his beloved village 'Sobra' as his middle name, has long proven his level. Yet his name has been relatively undiscovered. The trio performed a memorable concert at Dakar Music Expo, led by their producers, Dudu Saar and Lucy Duran. What started being noticed internationally through this exceptional trio was Gaoussou's composing skills.The electric SOBRA DANCE album was released first, to contrast and give space to the acoustic GUITARI BARO album. Now comes the time for DJANGO BLUES. This great album features Gaoussou's band as well as an exceptional Moroccan Ribab- Amazigh violin master and singer, Aziz Ozouss.
Stoked to announce the debut record by Faulsk on Ruff Kutz!
Sometimes life can feel cyclical and having the first solo release on the label by someone other than myself had to be the right choice, it just so happened to be the producer from Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland, which is where I started my lifelong obsession with Electronic music.
Shortly after playing a gig together at Whakamana in late 2024, we started exchanging tunes and I immediately wanted to put a release together with the first track he sent.. The release also features 2 collaborative tracks with myself and consists of 4 deep psychedelic grooves across the tempo ranges, built with the sound system in mind. This is an outrageous debut EP, and I am stoked to have it on Ruff Kutz!
Whilst having a low social media profile and only a few tracks released into the wild, Faulsk seems to have carved out a honed in sonic identity. Mixing Techno and Dub production techniques whilst still having swagger and depth that appeals to the bass heads. Expect expertly crafted soundscapes, interesting loopy grooves, lush evolving pads/stabs and low end wizardry. Genre - Faulsk, just how we like it.
Galvanize was the first track to build the EP with a relentless 4x4 groove, perfectly balanced low end and washy atmospherics, the track gradually evolves to show that less is more sometimes - with it's use of stripped back restraint and negative space to create energetic mood shifts.
On the A2, the first collaboration track Exhalation slows the tempo to 100 BPM for some kind of bass mutation straight from the underworld. This one taps into the tense atmospherics of Galvanize whilst cranking up the intensity with evolving drones and razor sharp percussion to sit amongst the dense soundscape.
The title track on the flip, is a 9 min roll out, reminiscent of early Forest Drive West. The subtle modulation and dubbing on musical parts draws you in and is a nice juxtaposition to the crunching percussion, militant groove and precise low end. Chugging away at 115 BPM, this is a versatile track to inject some kinetic energy into your local underwater dancehall.
Closing out on the B2 we have another collaboration. Upping the tempo to the mid 120s, Retrospect sinks deeper into hypnotism with polyrhythmic grooves and an unresolving feel which creates steady momentum, coupled with lush and evolving synth work which take the track into serenity. Regulate your sound system.
Om Unit says of this release 'For me it's another milestone as a DNB fan.. Being allowed to come back to 31 again with another shadow boxing version, being one of only a tiny handful of people being allowed to remix this classic truly is an honour, let alone twice! Also working with Thing on "something ancient" was a real blessing not only because he's original and convincing with his own work but also I think he's like me, he does his own thing without adhering to too many of the insular rules that have made dnb such a closed room over the years, and so creating this cinematic piece just happened naturally and I really love the results.
‘Unfindable Ring', out October 23 on Bayonet Records, is an adventurer’s epic. The arc of the journey, like any good Spirited Away or Neverending Story, lands its wide-traveled protagonist right back at home before bedtime. Grumpy, like many great hero tricksters before him, has always been a project of juxtaposition: upbeat radio-ready hits whose buoyant, goofy hooks belie the dark thoughts they describe. Much of this, Schmitt acknowledges, owes its due to the matter-of-fact morbidity of the trans experience in America. It’s from these experiences—personal, romantic, political, and existential—that the tale of ‘Unfindable Ring’ unfolds.
Ambition and play have always defined the Grumpy sound. Late last year, the Fader praised their “demented, hooky” EP, “Piebald,” whose innovative fuzz-pop confections earned them coverage in NPR and the New York Times. Stereogum heralded them as “wonderfully weird,” and Paste designated them “the best of what’s next.”” Through boisterous collaborations with the likes of Sidney Gish and Claire Rousay, they’ve effortlessly ingratiated themselves with the titans of DIY, and, more recently, Schmitt has become an unlikely favored collaborator of chart-topping country giant Zach Bryan, who named his new record––which prominently features Schmitt’s harmonies–– conspicuously, ‘With Heaven On Top.’
In Grumpy, Heaven Schmitt is joined by Anya Good, Ellie Long (Kid Lake), Austin Arnold, Diego Clare (D.A. Crimson), and Lane Rodgers, who each contribute to every step of the process—engineering and recording, mixing, drafting artwork, producing, and making music videos. A kind of interdisciplinary thieves’ guild, the project, while once Schmitt’s solo eponym, is a labor of communal love.
“We are living these happy lives, and there are people we come across who don’t know us at all who want us to die,” Schmitt, explains. Often the visibility of the joy itself is what prompts the vitriol––“I’m so happy I could die,” Schmitt belts over and over on the chorus (a familiar figure of speech, sure, but one which, upon any scrutiny, shows Schmitt’s hand in the macabre.) A middle finger to fate, Good started asking, “What are you going to do with your One Beautiful Life?” Grumpy is going to keep playing, touring, searching, finding.
By the time Michael Nau completed Popfly, the songs felt less like compositions than companions. Arriving in fragments, notebook lines, and fleeting observations, these pieces kept company for years until taking their final form. The result is one of Nau's most openhearted, expansive records, both homespun and otherworldly at once. Radiant folk melodies, tape-warped textures, and flashes of everyday wonder coexist in perfect balance on Popfly. Nau has never been a songwriter who forces songs into existence. Instead, he follows them, trusting intuition over agenda and allowing songs to gradually reveal themselves. Writing and recording often blur together, with melodies evolving before lyrics are finished and stray recordings forming the basis for new songs. Popfly showcases these creative detours: thoughtful folk songs, sonic experiments, and accidental beauty transformed into fully realized compositions. Many songs began at home, growing in meaning. Since he entered the Vermont studio, Little Jamaica, with longtime friend and collaborator Benny Yurco, many of them had already lived several lives. "Studio recording feels like covering my own songs," Nau says. This idea flows throughout: performances are lived-in, feeling effortless, as if assembling itself. The title track carries a flicker of wonder in its simple observations. "New Slack" moves with the loose confidence of a song content to follow its own path. On "Lost Station Hideaway," soft static and fading signals become something strangely comforting, as if the song itself is being broadcast from somewhere just beyond reach. Family and friendship are deeply woven throughout the record. Nau's children contribute vocals, bringing warmth and spontaneity to the album's communal spirit, with longtime collaborator and wife Whitney McGraw lending her serene voice. The harmonies that drift from them extend the album's central impulse of people gathering to make something beautiful. Across Popfly, loose-limbed folk songs mingle with homespun psych-pop, porchside country-folk, dreamlike atmospherics, and quietly profound observations. The record moves with the ease of conversation among old friends, finding beauty in tiny revelations, strange coincidences, and everyday mysteries. The record is full of transmissions from different moments in Nau's life, stitched together by instinct, affection, and time. Taken together, they form a portrait of a life spent paying close attention to the world and its small miracles.
After almost twenty years of releasing music, Sven Tasnadi finds himself circling back to some of the sounds that first drew him into house music. Explorer was written at home following a longer break from producing and after moving out of his studio, a change of setting that coincided with a shift in priorities. "The tracks on this EP came together at home after a longer break from music and after I moved out of my studio," he explains. "Musically they are very deep and minimal, at times almost meditative. They were inspired by a new chapter in my life as well as my never-ending love and connection to artists like Lawrence from Smallville and Frank & Tony from Scissor and Thread."
That sense of returning to something runs through the whole record. For much of Tasnadi's career, producing and DJing were closely connected, with many releases naturally shaped by the club. Things have changed. "DJing is no longer my main focus, so I can dedicate myself to these deep and minimal sounds again, free from pressure or expectations," he says. "In a way, after almost twenty years of releasing music, things have come full circle for me."
"Atlas (Chapter 1)" and "Atlas (Chapter 2)" grew from the same initial idea but followed separate paths during production. Chapter 2 came first, while Chapter 1 emerged later from a variation Tasnadi discovered while the track was still essentially a loop. "I was still looking for the right theme for the original idea when another version suddenly opened up," he recalls. He saved that variation for later so he could stay focused on the first version. When he returned to it, the two had developed distinct enough identities to stand independently. Their shared DNA is still audible in the restrained rhythms, slowly shifting details and the way small changes carry much of the movement.
The title track moves further into dub techno, another longstanding passion for Tasnadi. "Explorer is almost a classic dub techno track," he says. "Subtle movements within a constantly repeating pattern create a particular atmosphere. It feels like the track could just keep going forever." It is a patient approach to repetition that he connects to artists such as Moritz von Oswald and his friend Daniel Stefanik.
"Megasektor", one of the first tracks Tasnadi made at home with a new equipment setup, brings the EP into deep house territory. "To me it's almost classic deep house, or at least how I define deep house for myself." Warm, compact and gently propulsive, it provides a natural closing point for a record that is ultimately less about changing direction than reconnecting with an instinct that has always been there.
Explorer captures Tasnadi at a point where making music has become more personal again. The four tracks come from following ideas for their own sake and from rediscovering the deeper, more minimal sounds that have stayed with him throughout his career.
Budapest based concept label Blue Sun arrives with the 3rd edition of their annual VA series, showcasing a colorful taste of the local underground music scene, with some international sidenotes.
Following up on the label’s customs, the 19-track selection is not only released digitally, but also on a limited 200-piece cassette series. Curated by the label heads, the tracks follow Blue Sun's listening-oriented concept without genre restrictions with downtempo, trip-hop, jazz, dub, balearic, ambient, experimental, and electronica as highlights, with pieces that are more difficult to classify.
As before, instead of the usual A-B markings, the two sides are divided by the label's colors: “ORANGE” contains more organic and high-energy music, while “BLUE” contains more pensive and experimental tracks. Moreover, the selection has been carefully curated so that it can be listened to as an endless loop: the end of a side always resonates with the beginning of the other, wherever the listener begins.
The list of contributing artists this year are truly various and just as impressive. From uniqe debuting local artists to internationally recognised performers, it gives a taste of how the Hungarian underground scene sounds like atm. Important to note, that the release marks another debut: the label’s new visual identity by Blue Sun’s new designer, Péter Tóth.
Tommy Lefroy has never been afraid of existential questions. From their critically acclaimed debut EP, Flight Risk, the band has captured audiences with their candor wrapped in wit. Both lyrically intimate and sonically vast, the band’s catalog is confessional and commentative, balancing irony with sincerity. They broach their biggest subjects yet on their first full length album, The Precariat. An economic term, the precariat refers to a growing class of people facing increasing instability. “Most people we know are experiencing an unprecedented level of precarity, permeating into the collective psyche. We feel like the best we could strive for in a body of work is an unflinching capture of the moment. The Precariat felt like the perfect title, and emblem of how it feels to be alive these days.” Recorded in Los Angeles at Blue Canyon Studios, The Precariat was produced by band members Wynter Bethel and Tessa Mouzourakis, with co-production from Stephen Sesso, and executive production by Mike Crossey (The 1975, Wolf Alice, MUNA). The album’s songs were written by Bethel and Mouzourakis, over the tenure of their friendship, across apartments and tour vans, phone calls and late night conversations. With themes of friendship, coming of age, personal and collective grief, environmental uncertainty and political decay, The Precariat offers a sonic landscape in which to contend with our rapidly changing world. The album’s title track (largely inspired by Springsteen’s critical narratives mistaken for bleeding heart patriotism) grapples with constant exposure to global suffering, and feeling entrenched within systems that fail us. “The Precariat” disintegrates into the ‘American cities’ outro, an idea started while the band lived in London, about missing home while watching it destabilize from afar. The Precariat faces this head on – all the sheen of the American empire has worn off, and there is much work to be done. “We hope to foster an antidote to precarity – community.”
For their eagerly awaited third album, the Parisian trio Howlin' Jaws have teamed up with Swedish producer Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm (bassist with The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and producer for Foals, The Hives, Jose Gonzalez and Junip) and have taken a major step forward, affirmingthe universal appeal of their explosive yet elegant psych-rock. This new album, Living The Dream, crystallises just about everything we'd ever dreamt of hearing from Howlin' Jaws. Here, more than ever, their dreams take the form of unifying choruses, transforming grief ("Troubled Mind") or separation ("Do What You Gonna Do", "So Sorry") into genuine bursts of hope. Rich in texture (with the Omnichord and Mellotron featuring on the spellbinding "Miss You" and the twilight-tinged "Up On The Roof" respectively) and in wit (led by the biting "Living The Dream"), the eleven-track album is equally diverse in its range of influences. Disco looms large on "Terminal Buzz", country creeps in on "Sunset Laundromat", whilst the fiery "Maximum Speed" is a joyful reminder of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's trippy flights of fancy. The trio are stunning when they're in full swing, but just as impressive when they slow the tempo down. Behind its layers of cosmic keyboards, "Time Has Come" immediately sets the scene and subtly invites introspection. Like an echo at the end of the journey, "That Kind of Pain" rubs shoulders with the stars of the French Touch (the Air school), letting the strings of the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra burst forth amidst its melancholic swells. All in all, whether he simmers his albums like an omelette or a beef bourguignon, Howlin' Jaws proves he's never short of imagination.
For their eagerly awaited third album, the Parisian trio Howlin' Jaws have teamed up with Swedish producer Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm (bassist with The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and producer for Foals, The Hives, Jose Gonzalez and Junip) and have taken a major step forward, affirmingthe universal appeal of their explosive yet elegant psych-rock. This new album, Living The Dream, crystallises just about everything we'd ever dreamt of hearing from Howlin' Jaws. Here, more than ever, their dreams take the form of unifying choruses, transforming grief ("Troubled Mind") or separation ("Do What You Gonna Do", "So Sorry") into genuine bursts of hope. Rich in texture (with the Omnichord and Mellotron featuring on the spellbinding "Miss You" and the twilight-tinged "Up On The Roof" respectively) and in wit (led by the biting "Living The Dream"), the eleven-track album is equally diverse in its range of influences. Disco looms large on "Terminal Buzz", country creeps in on "Sunset Laundromat", whilst the fiery "Maximum Speed" is a joyful reminder of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's trippy flights of fancy. The trio are stunning when they're in full swing, but just as impressive when they slow the tempo down. Behind its layers of cosmic keyboards, "Time Has Come" immediately sets the scene and subtly invites introspection. Like an echo at the end of the journey, "That Kind of Pain" rubs shoulders with the stars of the French Touch (the Air school), letting the strings of the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra burst forth amidst its melancholic swells. All in all, whether he simmers his albums like an omelette or a beef bourguignon, Howlin' Jaws proves he's never short of imagination.
At the foot of the mountain. Our gaze is inclined toward the summit.
Toward the ascent. The destination that awaits us.
From the valley, we look up at the summit: our destination. But also the path: the true destination.
We can already trace our route, and we are already imagining ourselves walking up there. Along the small ridge, just above the tree line. There, we take a short break and look for the exact spot in the valley where we were standing earlier. It is strange to grasp that we have actually climbed this mountain. To look down from up here at the place where we were just moments ago – the same place we looked up from, toward the place where we are standing now.
And now, knowing what it is like to be up here, we remember what we imagined it would be like back then. What we believed it would mean to stand here.
Along the way, our gaze wanders back and forth. Up toward the mountain, down into the valley, sometimes only at our shoes. We keep walking, one step after another. Our thoughts detached. Our body functioning purely mechanically.
Step left. Step right. Step left. Step right.
Our mind has completely detached itself, and our thoughts race at an immense speed. They summon the most different moments. Moments from our lives. Moments that shaped us, that made us who we are. Or are we perhaps simply trying to understand who we are and how we got here?
It is strange that reaching the summit and looking down could make us believe that we have finally reached, or are striving toward, some superior, triumphant position. When in fact, it is really only about looking at the path we inevitably have to take. Processing impressions from a certain distance. Reconsidering what we have experienced, without losing sight of what lies ahead.
Our gaze turns back toward the summit.
Is there a destination?
An ascent? A summit? A descent? The return?
Or is it only about the insights we encounter along the way?
Am Fuß des Berges. Unser Blick ist zum Gipfel geneigt.
Auf den Aufstieg. Das Ziel, das uns erwartet.
Vom Tal aus blicken wir auf den Gipfel: unser Ziel. Aber auch den Weg: das wahre Ziel. Unsere Route kann man jetzt schon abstecken, und wir stellen uns bereits vor, wie wir dort oben laufen. Über den kleinen Grat, leicht oberhalb der Baumgrenze. Dort machen wir eine kleine Pause und suchen genau die Stelle im Tal, an der wir vorhin noch standen. Es ist verrückt, zu begreifen, dass wir diesen Berg tatsächlich hinaufgestiegen sind. Von hier oben auf den Ort hinunterzusehen, an dem wir eben noch waren – an denselben Ort, zu dem wir hinaufgeblickt haben, als wir noch dort unten standen. Und jetzt, da wir wissen, wie es ist, hier oben zu sein, erinnern wir uns daran, was wir uns damals darunter vorgestellt haben. Was wir geglaubt haben, es würde bedeuten, hier zu stehen.
Unterwegs wandert unser Blick hin und her. Hinauf zum Berg, hinunter ins Tal, manchmal nur auf unsere Schuhe. Wir gehen weiter, einen Schritt nach dem anderen. Unsere Gedanken losgelöst. Unser Körper funktioniert rein mechanisch. Schritt links. Schritt rechts. Schritt links. Schritt rechts.
Unser Geist hat sich völlig losgelöst, und unsere Gedanken rasen mit einer ungeheuren Geschwindigkeit. Sie rufen die verschiedensten Momente herauf. Momente aus unserem Leben. Momente, die uns geprägt haben, aus denen wir geworden sind, wer wir sind. Oder versuchen wir vielleicht einfach nur zu verstehen, wer wir sind und wie wir hierhergekommen sind?
Es ist schon seltsam, dass das Erreichen des Gipfels und der Blick nach unten uns glauben lassen könnten, dass wir endlich eine überragende, triumphale Position erreicht haben oder anstreben würden. Dabei geht es doch eigentlich nur um den Blick auf den Weg, den wir zwangsläufig beschreiten müssen. Eindrücke mit etwas Abstand zu verarbeiten. Erlebtes noch einmal Revue passieren zu lassen, ohne den Blick nach vorne zu verlieren.
Unser Blick wendet sich wieder dem Gipfel zu. Gibt es ein Ziel? Einen Aufstieg? Einen Gipfel? Einen Abstieg? Die Rückkehr? Oder geht es nur um die Erkenntnisse, die uns unterwegs begegnen?
Blume presents two pieces composed in 1970 by the American pianist and composer David Tudor (1926-1996), one of electronic music's most important pioneers, for the Pepsi-Cola Pavilion, a unique artist-designed and programmed space for Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan, created by Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.). Pepsibird and Anima Pepsi deploy electronic technology as a means to experience sound in ways that are anything but matter of fact, rendering liberated environments within and through which one might democratically express and commune. Viewed through the lens of what was, is, and might have been, they offer the tools for time travel: an unmediated encounter with radical, optimistic ideas that gave way to the complex cultural landscape of our time.
Initially trained on organ and then piano, Tudor emerged as a leading figure within New York's musical vanguard after his groundbreaking 1950 performance of Stefan Wolpe's Battle Piece and the American premiere of Pierre Boulez's Second Sonata. Within less than a year he had joined the Merce Cunningham Dance Company as its accompanist, a role he kept until his death, and began one of his most lasting creative relationships with John Cage, who would state that his entire output between 1951 and the end of the 1960s was written with Tudor in mind. Christian Wolff, Earle Brown, Morton Feldman, Sylvano Bussotti, Mauricio Kagel, and Karlheinz Stockhausen all wrote works for him during the 1950s and '60s. Through indeterminacy and chance-based methods, Tudor was noted for radically intervening with the works he played, often making them entirely his own, and it was this same singularity of vision that led him to gradually abandon the piano in favor of electronic process, through which he began working as a composer in his own right.
His engagement with electronics dates to the early 1950s and Cage's Project for Music for Magnetic Tape. By the following decade the pair had moved to live electronics, with Tudor rendering works like Cartridge Music and Variations II through contact microphones and complex systems of feedback and amplification. Before modular synthesizers existed, he designed and built his own electronics, often with engineers from Bell Laboratories, producing dozens of unique instruments and processing tools that helped lay the groundwork for the technological needs embraced by most electronic musicians ever since. A clear marker of his emergence as a composer came in 1966 with 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering, where he premiered Bandoneon! (a combine), turning the cavernous performance space into a feedback instrument and a total environment. The event led directly to the founding of E.A.T. the following year by the engineers Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer, alongside Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman.
Among the most ambitious of E.A.T.'s projects was the Pepsi-Cola Pavilion, for which Tudor composed four pieces between March and April 1970: Pepsibird, Anima Pepsi, Pepscillator, and Microphone. Together with Forrest "Frosty" Myers, Robert Whitman, the sculptor and filmmaker Robert Breer, and the architect John Pearce, he was tasked with the design and function of the building: a 120-foot diameter steel and polyvinyl dome, shrouded in mist and fog and lit in the evenings by a square of intense blue-white xenon light. Tudor worked with Gordon Mumma and Fred Waldhauer on a unique sound system capable of processing and variable distribution through 37 speakers, controlled both by automated means and by the performer, and with Lowell Cross on a sound-activated laser deflection system inside the pavilion's mirrored performance hall.
Both pieces are an advanced form of musique concrète: libraries of tape recordings, live mixed and processed through the pavilion's sound console and distributed through 8 channels of stationary and rotating patterns designated by Tudor's instructions (small circle, great circle, large rhomboid, spiral, small triangles, small ovals). Pepsibird is focused upon a physical interiority, its source tapes being recordings of the brain wave activity of humans and animals: cat's eye, nerve firing, bats, EKG, alpha waves, a modified nightjar. Recorded in situ in 1970 and mixed down to stereo, it retains a striking sense of the space and ambience that Tudor achieved in performance. For more than eighteen minutes he merges subtle textures and pulses, at times resembling birdsong, within a blanket of vast, resonant ambience of subaquatic density, foreshadowing the relationship to the natural world of later works like Rainforest IV (1973).
Anima Pepsi is centered on the exterior: field recordings that Tudor made of animal and insect sounds (mosquitoes in a jar, a fly on flypaper, a wasp chewing, a beetle walking) and a mix of human and animal sounds that he called the "funny tape". Where Pepsibird deploys interior sounds in ways that allude to the natural world, Anima Pepsi pushes the sounds of nature and humanity toward the otherworldly through the clear presence of electronic sounds and processing, moulding detailed, pointillistic patterns of abstract sonority into gauzy blankets of ambience and space.
The collaboration did not last: less than a month after the opening, Pepsi withdrew its support, fired E.A.T., and disregarded Tudor's tapes, which according to accounts had to be smuggled out by staff, playing its own soundtrack in the pavilion for the rest of the Expo. Heard today, Pepsibird and Anima Pepsi anticipate many territories of later electroacoustic practice, from field recording to live processing, while the terms on which they were made, radically unpredictable, indeterminate, and experimental to the core, reconfigure what we've come to expect from electronic process, making one wonder if the past was ahead. Issued by Blume in a highly limited vinyl edition of 300 copies on red vinyl, with a 20-page LP-size booklet containing You Nakai's essay and newly commissioned liner notes by Bradford Bailey.
Circling a mountain until disappearing into the dance: this is the starting point of 10LEC6's new album.
Several years after Bone Bame, released on Ed Banger, 10LEC6 returns with an album that is both digital and organic, conceived as a euphoric journey where language is manipulated, repeated, stretched like a sentence that spins on itself until it becomes rhythm.
The title, Ako Akas, is the name of a peak in southern Cameroon, whose legend tells of those who attempt to circle it disappearing in an endless dance. A perfect image for this immersive, fluid music where each loop propels the next.
Ever-evolving Amsterdam duo ANOTR continue their forward momentum with the release of their highly anticipated third studio album, ‘Withness’, out via their own imprint No Art. Rooted firmly in dance music, ‘Withness’ sees the pair refine their sound into their most dance-floor focused and cohesive project to date.
Born during their global tour, ‘Withness’ was shaped in real time: written, tested and refined on dancefloors across the world. Following the expansive, genre-blurring approach of their 2025 LP ‘On A Trip’, the duo felt a pull back toward the club - not as a limitation, but as a unifying space. “We really wanted to have a wide variety of songs that we can play out and create moments,” they explain. “Every track needed to make sense wherever people come together to dance.”
That intention sits at the heart of ‘Withness’. A title that reimagines the idea of “witnessing” into something more active and collective. ‘Withness’ is an album about experiencing life with others. It’s about the moments you share, the people who shape them, and the energy that becomes real only when you’re fully present. The album captures the collective high of friendship. Whether in a packed club, at a festival, or in a living room with friends, the album is designed to soundtrack moments of connection.
“The memories you make with people, they’re the witness of those moments. Withness is about being in it together.” - ANOTR
Sonically, the album marks a clear evolution. Drawing from their early club roots while building on the songwriting confidence developed on their previous records, classic drum machines and 909 samples sit alongside warm, 80s-tinged textures, layered vocals and modern production techniques, creating a sound that feels both nostalgic and forward-thinking.
A key part of the process was spontaneity. The duo embraced a free-flowing, collaborative studio environment, often working with a rotating cast of contributors. Their now-signature “open mic” approach encouraged anyone in the room to experiment with melodies, lyrics and vocal ideas. This energy translates directly into the album’s standout moments. From the euphoric pull of ‘Withness’ to the groove-led ‘Do It With Ya’, the uplifting ‘Paradise’, each track is built to live beyond a single setting.
The LP comes at a timely moment, as their single ‘Talk To You ft. 54 Ultra’ has become the biggest global breakout dance single this year. Sitting firmly in Spotify’s Global Top 200, it has surpassed 175 million streams, and is currently No. 21 in the UK Singles Chart. Spotify have tipped it in their much-coveted global ‘Sound Of The Summer 2026’ list and other highlights include peaking at No. 7 in Shazam’s Global Chart, No.1 on Beatport Top 100 and gaining over 600M UGC views so far.
Among the most influential hip-hop artists to emerge in the rapid creative expansion of the early 1990s, Queens duo Organized Konfusion helped reshape rap's aesthetic horizons with the 1991 release of a groundbreaking self-titled album. A dizzying display of lyrical dexterity and forward-thinking production, Organized Konfusion helped lay the foundation for what would become underground hip-hop, with intricate wordplay and cerebral rhyme structures. Both Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po shine throughout the album, revealing
the immense talent that would later establish Monch as one of hip-hop's most revered voices and spark Po's collaborations with producers like Danger Mouse, Madlib, Large Professor, Oh No, and more. From playful nostalgia to sharp social commentary to surreal linguistic explorations, the duo navigates chaotic drum breaks with dense rhyme patterns, vivid imagery, and ever-shifting narratives. After decades of limited availability and unofficial bootlegs, this is the first official vinyl reissue of Organized Konfusion since its1991 release. Featuring three rare bonus tracks, this 35th anniversary edition is available on 2LP and CD, giving a long overdue spotlight to one of hip-hop's most important albums.
Phenomena begins with two artistic voices that seem to speak different languages. Barcelona-based producer R-010 (Lucas Rojo) approaches composition through rhythm, space and electronic transformation; Madrid-born vocalist and multidisciplinary artist Venerandi through texture, breath and the expressive possibilities of the human voice. By the time the album reaches its final moments, that distinction has quietly disappeared.
Rather than functioning as a meeting point between two individual practices, Phenomena gradually
becomes a third language—one that belongs to neither artist alone. Voice no longer sits above the music
but moves inside it, dissolving into layers of synthesis, percussion and guitar until performance itself
becomes another malleable sound source. Likewise, electronic production never behaves as a fixed
environment; it constantly adapts, absorbs and responds, allowing acoustic gestures and digital
manipulation to reshape one another in real time.
This continuous transformation defines the record more than any particular genre ever could. Echoes of trip hop, bass music, psychedelia and experimental electronics drift across its surface, yet they are never
presented as stylistic markers. Instead, they appear as temporary states within an ecosystem that remains
in constant motion, where dense rhythmic passages collapse into suspended atmospheres and moments
of stillness carry as much weight as those driven by pulse.
The presence of Matteo Caro (guitar and percussion), Pablo Gorostiaga (guitar) and Alessio Rodolico
(percussion) further expands this dialogue. Their contributions are not decorative additions but structural
ones, gradually dissolving the distinction between composition, improvisation and production. Instruments
emerge, mutate and disappear inside the same sonic fabric, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish
what was performed from what was transformed.
With Phenomena, Lapsus Records presents a work that feels less interested in crossing genres than in
questioning the borders between artistic identities themselves. The album never asks the listener to decide
where the human ends and the machine begins. Instead, it quietly suggests that, after enough careful
listening, the question itself may no longer matter.
For more than two decades, Vidmantas ?epkauskas has occupied a singular position within European underground culture. As the driving force behind Opium Club and gallery 1986 in Vilnius, founder of Ant Bangos, Alfavilnius and OLE festivals, curator, label owner, promoter, DJ and artist, he has spent much of his life creating the conditions for other people's music to be heard.
It makes sense then that he has no shortage of friends and collaborators in play. Across ten tracks, V presents shades of Italo, krautrock, post-punk, minimal synth, industrial pop and neon-noir romanticism, arriving somewhere between the dancefloor and a dream-state. The cast of collaborators both contextualize and help sharpen the vision.
First and foremost, much of the album was crafted alongside Frankfurt's Philipp Lauer, whose friendship with V grew through marathon studio sessions. Curses lends his unmistakable blend of dark romance and theatrical energy to "Is This What You Want?", Australian cosmic journeyman Dreems joins for the kaleidoscopic "Blitz Disc," Domenique Dumont brings their unmistakable emotive touch to "Avventura," while Lithuanian artists Noyus and Ruta MUR, both distinctive voices from the country's queer scene, whose vocals add another dimension to the record's emotional palette. As V puts it, "These are the people I've been vibing with."
That he finally delivers a full-length LP with such elusive qualities is more than a clue to his character. The title itself, a nod to Magritte's famous paradox and his years living in Brussels, suggests that any attempt to define V through a single image is destined to fail. At once playful and philosophical, 12:55 (Ceci n'est pas une V) questions ideas of identity and artistic value while marking the closing chapter of the musical persona that followed ?epkauskas' earlier success as Vidis. Neither retrospective nor statement of intent, it feels like a connected set of reflections spanning a lifetime of influences.
The vibraphone may have gone quiet, but the groove hasn't. Roy Ayers passed away on March 4, 2025, in New York City, at the age of 84, but the man they called the Godfather of Neo-Soul left behind a vault deep enough to keep dancefloors moving for generations. BBE Music now hands the keys to Berlin's own Delfonic, whose second volume of reworks digs even further into that treasure chest for six fresh, floor-ready reimaginings. The series began when Delfonic shared a spontaneous edit with BBE founder Pete Adarkwah, and listener demand for a vinyl pressing turned the idea into a full official release. Volume 1 sold out fast and moved through collector circles at speed; Volume 2 arrives with even higher expectations attached, and record heads who missed out the first time won't want to sleep twice. Everything here is pulled from deep, previously-vaulted Ayers sessions. The reworks draw from BBE's celebrated Virgin Ubiquity compilations, a trove of unreleased Roy Ayers recordings cut between 1976 and 1981. These are the rarer cuts serious collectors have been chasing for years, now given a second life courtesy of BBE Music Delfonic is the alias of Markus Lindner, a Berlin lifer. He's been DJing professionally since 2004, building his name across Berlin and wider Europe with a sound rooted in hip-hop but stretched across many genres. For anyone who needs the primer: Ayers pioneered jazz-funk through his group Roy Ayers Ubiquity and was widely regarded as the godfather of neo-soul. His breakthrough came young; he got his first vibraphone mallets at age five after watching Lionel Hampton's band, and by 1963 he had his own recording contract. His records have been sampled for decades by artists including Mary J. Blige, A Tribe Called Quest, Common, and Kanye West, cementing him as one of the most sampled figures in soul-jazz history; a status that only grows with every year that passes. About BBE Music: This is a label with real archival credibility on Ayers specifically. BBE has held the license to the Virgin Ubiquity sessions since 2004, and this rework series is a natural extension of that decades-long relationship. Buyers trust the BBE stamp on soul-jazz reissues and edits precisely because of that history and the care, thought and quality that goes into every physical release, as BBE celebrates 30 years of real music for real people.
Kay Slice’s music is more than meets the ear. He channels a movement. His sound moves beyond borders, blending highlife rhythms and poetic verses into a sonic force that connects the soul of Africa with its scattered children across the globe. Slice is rooted in legacy but speaks to the now. Bold, layered, and deeply aware.
This isn’t fusion. It’s ancestral alignment with a futuristic edge.
From the electrifying grooves of West Africa to the sharp truths of hip-hop, Kay’s music isn’t merely entertainment; it’s a cultural awakening. His performances are highlights: Ghanaian drums, balafon chants, and rhythmic prophecy shaking stages to their core. His storytelling is vivid, raw, and intentional. The immigrant experience reimagined through sound and soul. And as Kay says about this new single, “Moving with purpose, driven by the will to put in the work. The time is now to raise Mother Africa.”
Following his powerful debut From Back To Back (2022), Kay is stepping into full artistic clarity. In 2026, it all comes to a head with Kay’s next album, scheduled for autumn 2026, forged across borders, driven by the spirit of his Ghanaian ensemble and a love letter to highlife, elevated with modern energy.
No longer bound by survival, Kay is moving like a general of sound. Leading with grace, grounded in legacy, but always forward-moving. His shows? Think rituals. Think liberation. Think sweat, spirit, and rhythm. Kay Slice isn’t finding his voice. He is the voice of diasporic pride, ancestral rhythm, and future Africa.
Underoath reinvents the balance between chaos and harmony with each successive release. Their compositions, conjured from creative tension, become iconoclastic anthems. Even when the band almost combusts, the crackling energy coalesces into something deeply resonant for millions.
Each time they have a chance to do something safe, Underoath challenges themselves instead, with integrity and attitude. Their pair of gold albums and three Grammy nominations stand in stark defiance of the idea of commercial compromise. The Underoath catalog weaponizes noise, aggression, and ambiance as skillfully as melody.
This year the band celebrates 20 years of their album Define The Great Line. Coming on the heels of 2004’s They’re Only Chasing Safety, Define The Great Line saw Underoath pivoting towards a more aggressive sound. The record’s unconventional – and, at times, jarring – intensity served as a stark contrast to the pop-leaning trends that were taking over heavy music at the time.
Featuring fan favorites like “Writing On The Walls”, “In Regards To Myself”, and “You’re Ever So Inviting”, Define The Great Line defied expectations when it debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. It is widely regarded as one of the definitive heavy records of the early 2000s, solidifying Underoath’s legacy as one most influential bands of the genre.
The heart of their sound, which delivers naked vulnerability with thrilling force and cinematic lushness, can be heard in generations of bands who’ve pursued their trailblazing spirit. But Underoath refuses to sit still. Walking an artistic tightrope between immersive access and isolationist otherness, Underoath owns the space between huge choruses and forward-thinking heaviness, both on record and onstage.
Dub-Stuy continues its one-riddim series with Punchliner riddim, an original production crafted by DJ Madd, returning on beatmaking duty since his 2021 relick of the classic Answer Riddim. Driven by syncopated rhythms and a rolling bassline, this new addition to the series provides the perfect backdrop for three standout cuts from an international cast of vocalists.
The late Nazamba offers "Thief," a powerful social commentary in the tradition of dub poets like Linton Kwesi Johnson. UK-based Ras Demo showcases his versatility with "Lyrical Designer," while Spanish vocalist Lasai unleashes rub-a-dub energy on "The Punchliner." An instrumental version is also included.
AMBASSADE ventures into the world of Manrira - a dark, alluring feminine presence that confronts systems driven by value, profit, and power. Emerging from dystopian structures, Manrira exists in the liminal space where organic and digital forces collide, merge, and mutate. This new audiovisual work is devoted to the enchanting acoustics of the human voice and its relationship to bodies, architectures, and shifting environments. At the heart of Manrira is the human voice - alive, breathing, and full of presence. It flows like a living instrument, shaping space and emotion. Manrira explores the voice as resonance, as body, and as spatial event. Manrira moves from dynamic song compositions into extended structures, blending live bass, neo-classical elements, ethereal vocals, drum machines, breaks, and techno-driven textures. The result is an immersive experience that invites the audience to listen closely and reconsider their connection to sound, space, and their surroundings.
*** Special edition on yellow flame colored vinyl. Comes with a poster and stickers *** AMBASSADE ventures into the world of Manrira - a dark, alluring feminine presence that confronts systems driven by value, profit, and power. Emerging from dystopian structures, Manrira exists in the liminal space where organic and digital forces collide, merge, and mutate. This new audiovisual work is devoted to the enchanting acoustics of the human voice and its relationship to bodies, architectures, and shifting environments. At the heart of Manrira is the human voice - alive, breathing, and full of presence. It flows like a living instrument, shaping space and emotion. Manrira explores the voice as resonance, as body, and as spatial event. Manrira moves from dynamic song compositions into extended structures, blending live bass, neo-classical elements, ethereal vocals, drum machines, breaks, and techno-driven textures. The result is an immersive experience that invites the audience to listen closely and reconsider their connection to sound, space, and their surroundings.
This release is dedicated to Rhys's family, his close friends, and everyone who continues to support his music, honoring his legacy, the profound and lasting impact he made on the electronic music scene. Never forgotten, always in our hearts. Microlith lives on!
Riviera Records presents an uncompromising clash of sounds from all over the globe. 5 tracks from the likes of Lewis Taylor, DJ Pacifier, Cult, Lil Na$$ty, DJ RaDa & X-Coast spanning from house, techno, trap to experimental rave.
