The first wave of British punk was overrun with smart kids from upper-class backgrounds playacting at being working-class yobs. Sham 69 was different; every bit as thick-headed and provincial as the band sounded, they took a perversely populist pride in its lack of musical or intellectual sophistication, just like The Exploited and Anti-Nowhere League.
Side one of Tell Us The Truth was recorded live, and it perfectly captured the Cockney vibe, complete with football chants and a spontaneous chorus of "Knees Up, Mother Brown." Frontman Jimmy Pursey's banter with the audience is impressive, and all the songs are brimmed with straight-ahead live energy. The studio side is a template for brash UK punk rock: snotty, in-your-face, fast and loud.
Tell Us The Truth is now available on black vinyl.
There's a moment during every great dance floor experience when the music takes over and everyone becomes part of something bigger. "SHOUT!", the latest release from 2SoulFusion Presents Ascension, captures that feeling in its purest form. Featuring the powerhouse voices and ad-libs of Dames Brown and Dawn Tallman, along with an all-star ensemble of master vocalists including Josh Milan, Rahsaan Patterson, Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Audrey Wheeler, Ramona Dunlap, and Lea Lorien, this joyful anthem is an invitation to let go, lift your spirit, and celebrate through music.
Produced, written, arranged, and mixed by 2SoulFusion—Louie Vega and Josh Milan—"SHOUT!" draws inspiration from the communal spirit of gospel while embracing the energy and freedom of house music. Driven by simple yet powerful affirmations—"Shout," "Sing," "Move," "Love," "Get Up On Your Feet," "Listen Up," and "Let This Music Take You Higher"—the song transforms into an experience where every voice becomes part of the celebration. It's a journey of anthemic hooks, soaring harmonies, infectious grooves, and unforgettable melodies designed to ignite dance floors, uplift hearts, and remind us that music has the power to unite people through rhythm, joy, and love.
The inspiration for "SHOUT!" was born from a creative exchange between Louie Vega and Charaf Tajer, founder and creative director of the internationally acclaimed fashion house Casablanca. Introduced by longtime friend Joseph Capriati, Charaf shared a bold vision—to bring together the worlds of fashion, gospel, and house music for one unforgettable Casablanca runway presentation in Paris.
Louie Vega recalls: “Charaf was introduced to me by my friend Joseph Capriati, who said Charaf was looking to meet me about an idea he had. His vision was to marry fashion, gospel, and house music within Casablanca's collection. At first, he wanted me to DJ and play gospel house music. I said, 'Instead of playing existing music, why don't I create an original song with a gospel house flavor?' I immediately got together with my 2SoulFusion partner Josh Milan, and together we came up with 'SHOUT!'”
That vision came to life during Casablanca's spectacular Paris presentation inside a breathtaking cathedral, where Louie Vega premiered the original twelve-minute and nine-second composition live. As the music echoed through the cathedral, Dames Brown joined the London House Gospel Choir in a soul-stirring performance while the models walked the aisle on Casablanca's carpet made of their signature green color and a dashing vibrating giant mirror echoing the runway visually. Renowned DJs Luciano and Chloé Caillet were among those who walked the runway, while friends of Charaf Tajer and special guests—including Jaden Thompson, Folamour, Dimitri From Paris, Kapela, and many others—were in attendance, making it an unforgettable gathering where music, spirituality, fashion, and culture merged into one extraordinary experience.
Inspired by that magical evening in Paris, Louie Vega and Josh Milan returned to the studio to expand the original composition into the powerful recording heard today. Built around rich live musicianship, Josh Milan's keyboards, organ, piano and synth bass provide the foundation alongside Axel Tosca's expressive grand piano recorded live, Sherrod Barnes' soulful guitar, and Gene Perez's unmistakable bass groove. Together they create an infectious, organic driving sound that allows the vocals to soar while delivering the unmistakable musical depth and musicianship that define 2SoulFusion.
Leading the celebration are Dames Brown and Dawn Tallman, whose commanding performances are elevated by an extraordinary choir of world-class vocalists. Dames Brown's spirited sermon and ad-libs, and Dawn Tallman’s powerful ad-lib vamping out together with the soaring harmonies of Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Audrey Wheeler, Rahsaan Patterson, Ramona Dunlap, Lea Lorien, and Josh Milan, recreate the feeling of a joyful gospel congregation—not confined to four walls, but alive on dance floors around the world. Every chorus encourages listeners to get up, listen up, feel it, sing, move, love, and become part of the experience. Recorded between Honeycomb Studios in Pennsylvania, The Hub Ibiza and Manhattan Center Studios, New York City, and mixed at The Hub Ibiza, "SHOUT!" reflects the continuing vision of the Ascension project, where spirituality, musicianship, community, fashion, and dance music become one.
This new 12"EP contains three long-form compositions that peer through a glimmering aperature into diaphanous realms of textural experiences: "What are the pros and cons of being lost in a thought?"
As part of the 20 Years of BM anniversary celebrations, Bondage-Music proudly presents Bondage Games Pt. 11 — a special five-part vinyl series. Each release is named after a constellation, together forming a unique tribute to two decades of Bondage-Music.
With Bondage Games Pt. 11, the label's iconic vinyl series returns in its most ambitious edition to date. Created to celebrate 20 years of Bondage-Music, the series unfolds across five constellation-themed releases, each featuring four exclusive productions from artists closely connected to the label.
The first chapter, Ursus, brings together four exclusive tracks from Roger Gerressen, Sascha Dive, Rhadow and Lola Palmer. From Roger Gerressen's hypnotic groove-driven Patterned Shards and Sascha Dive's unmistakable deep house craftsmanship on Dub Chronicles #10 to Rhadow's atmospheric Ripples and Lola Palmer's warm and emotional Slow Down, the record perfectly reflects the timeless musical identity that has defined Bondage-Music since day one — deep, soulful, groove-focused and made for both intimate listening and late-night dancefloors.
Pressed on heavyweight 180g vinyl and housed in an individually printed sleeve, Ursus continues Bondage-Music's longstanding commitment to exceptional quality in both music and design. The artwork was created by BM's longtime Head of Artwork, Pete Bombart — a close friend and an integral part of the label since its earliest days. His unmistakable visual language has become inseparable from the Bondage-Music identity, earning a loyal following far beyond the music itself.
Whether collected as part of the complete anniversary series or enjoyed on its own, Bondage Games Pt. 11: Ursus is a celebration of the artists, the friendships and the unmistakable sound that have shaped Bondage-Music over the past twenty years.
As part of the 20 Years of BM anniversary celebrations, Bondage-Music proudly presents Bondage Games Pt. 11 — a special five-part vinyl series. Each release is named after a constellation, together forming a unique tribute to two decades of Bondage-Music.
With Bondage Games Pt. 11, the label's iconic vinyl series returns in its most ambitious edition to date. Created to celebrate 20 years of Bondage-Music, the series unfolds across five constellation-themed releases, each featuring four exclusive productions from artists closely connected to the label.
The first chapter, Ursus, brings together four exclusive tracks from Roger Gerressen, Sascha Dive, Rhadow and Lola Palmer. From Roger Gerressen's hypnotic groove-driven Patterned Shards and Sascha Dive's unmistakable deep house craftsmanship on Dub Chronicles #10 to Rhadow's atmospheric Ripples and Lola Palmer's warm and emotional Slow Down, the record perfectly reflects the timeless musical identity that has defined Bondage-Music since day one — deep, soulful, groove-focused and made for both intimate listening and late-night dancefloors.
Pressed on heavyweight 180g vinyl and housed in an individually printed sleeve, Ursus continues Bondage-Music's longstanding commitment to exceptional quality in both music and design. The artwork was created by BM's longtime Head of Artwork, Pete Bombart — a close friend and an integral part of the label since its earliest days. His unmistakable visual language has become inseparable from the Bondage-Music identity, earning a loyal following far beyond the music itself.
Whether collected as part of the complete anniversary series or enjoyed on its own, Bondage Games Pt. 11: Ursus is a celebration of the artists, the friendships and the unmistakable sound that have shaped Bondage-Music over the past twenty years.
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.”
Strawberry Guy’s new album ‘Give Me A Dream’ unfolds as a tender, fragile and intimate record. The 14 track album arrives as the ultimate hopecore long player, in a time when we need it most. It's a guiding light, healing for the mind, exploring the tight-rope balance that is making it through life intact. Strawberry Guy evolves from the dreamy indie-pop home recordings to a perfectly formed crystalline vision, utilizing an immersive studio approach. Shifting from sparse & fluid piano parts to rich, engulfing layered strings, infectious melodies and an exquisite rumination on manhood from fraught emotional states. Give Me A Dream is a big step up, brimming with ideas, glistening production, and a tender heart.
IGNEA explores nostalgia on their upcoming album, Monumental (October 23, 2026, via Napalm Records). The Ukrainian four-piece navigates through unique facets of the past—from the grandeur and ambition of Cold War space dreams to the melancholy of urban decay and forgotten modernist structures, all the way to the emotional weight of personal and collective memory. All lyrics on Monumental were written by vocalist Helle Bohdanova. Mixing and mastering were handled by Grammy Award-nominated producer Jacob Hansen (DELAIN, Amaranthe, Volbeat, Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, and more). Monumental is IGNEA’s second full-length that was written during the full-scale war in Ukraine. The recording process mostly took place in the winter of 2025-2026, during icy temperatures and long power outages in Kyiv.
For nearly a decade, fans have become familiar with Entheos through the unmistakable chemistry and creative vision of vocalist Chaney Crabb and her musical and life partner, multi-instrumentalist, Navene Koperweis. Whether through Crabb’s viral vocal performances and unbelievable range or Koperweis’ boundary-pushing musicianship and songwriting, the duo has established Entheos as one of the most forward-thinking acts in modern metal. On the band’s latest album, Empty on the Inside, they are joined by guitarists Scott Carstairs (Fallujah) and Michael Stancel (Allegeon) along with longtime contributor and former bandmate Evan Brewer, creating the most fully realized incarnation of the band to date.
The title of the fourth full‑length by A SECRET REVEALED already serves as a dark omen: "The Ruin I Summoned Forth" sounds powerful, oppressive, and inescapable. And that very weight permeates all eight songs of the album. The band from Würzburg crafts a sonic landscape defined by immense emotional force, urgent intensity, and a density that feels almost impossible to contain. Their wall of sound is never an end in itself, but the foundation of an existential expression that hits immediately and resonates long after. Stylistically, the quintet moves within the tension field of post‑metal - a sound that doesn’t deny its core roots, yet highlights more clearly than ever their affinity for black metal, melodic death metal, and modern, forward‑driving heaviness. Time and again, fragile, searching passages open up, giving the massive sound room to breathe, occasionally interwoven with subtle, almost folkloric accents. Fittingly, the opener 'Disheartened' sets an early exclamation mark: with Nikita Kamprad of Der Weg einer Freiheit as guest vocalist, the track gains additional depth and sharpness. "The Ruin I Summoned Forth" marks the band’s third release on LIFEFORCE RECORDS, following "Sacrifices" (2019) and "When The Day Yearns For Light" (2021). Their debut "The Bleakness" was released in 2015 via Bastardized Records. Across all four records, a clear narrative thread emerges: A SECRET REVEALED consistently strive to craft strong thematic arcs and a massive, uncompromising sound that grips listeners from the very beginning and leaves a lasting impact. Once again, the band presents a cohesive work in which individual elements rise into an overwhelming whole, until, in the end, the inevitable unfolds: "The Ruin I Summoned Forth".
From a Beaumont Bar is Pug Johnson's third full-length album and his most complete collection of heartbreak songs to date. Rooted in classic country storytelling, the record draws from the bars, backroads, and late nights that shaped him, turning years of lived experience into songs full of regret, humor, longing, and hard-earned perspective. Written with the benefit of hindsight, these stories don't try to rewrite the past—they simply tell it. From barroom anthems and dancehall shuffles to slow-burning ballads, From a Beaumont Bar captures the moments after love has gone wrong, when all that's left is memory, acceptance, and another round. While Beaumont, Texas provides the backdrop, the album's themes reach far beyond one place. It's a record about heartbreak in all its forms, told with the wit, warmth, and honesty that have become Pug Johnson's calling card. Rich with pedal steel, fiddle, accordion, and timeless country grooves, From a Beaumont Bar is both a tribute to traditional country music and a reminder that the best songs don't just tell stories—they make you feel like you've lived them.
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.
Dusky return to Anjunadeep with their forthcoming studio album ‘Signals’. The London duo first debuted on Anjunadeep in 2011 with their critically acclaimed album Stick By This. Expanding the boundaries of deep house and UK club music, the record marked the beginning of Dusky’s rise as one of the scene’s most respected acts. Their breakout track ‘Careless’, released via Aus Music, further cemented their reputation, amassing more than 14 million streams and becoming one of the defining UK house records of its generation. In 2014, the pair launched their own imprint, 17 Steps, which has since hosted releases and remixes from artists including Nathan Micay, LTJ Bukem, Interplanetary Criminal, Denham Audio and Shed. Since then, Dusky have released two further studio albums, Joy and Pressure, alongside a string of acclaimed singles. Their music has earned support from Pete Tong, Danny Howard and Sarah Story on BBC Radio 1, as well as widespread backing from leading DJs including Jamie Jones, Peggy Gou, Gorgon City, TEED and TSHA. While 'Signals' represents a natural continuation of the Dusky story, it also ventures into more reflective territory than previous releases. The album's wider range of influences and more contemplative mood offer a fresh perspective on the duo's sound, while also paying subtle homage to their acclaimed debut album ‘Stick By This’. Featuring multiple collaborations with vocalist Rromarin, alongside a contribution from Nadeem and Pritt, 'Signals' reflects a creative process that unfolded over many years. Some tracks grew from ideas first sketched long ago, while others emerged more recently, giving the album a sense of both history and momentum. Across its 13 tracks, 'Signals' balances Dusky's club-rooted instincts with downtempo offerings. Tracks such as 'Next Life', 'Kadhalan' and 'Lab' showcase the duo's signature combination of bold basslines, driving rhythms and emotional resonance. Elsewhere, 'Elm' and 'Bindweed' slow the tempo and draw on the warmth of soul, the deeper edges of disco and richly textured live instrumentation.
This compilation took almost four years to come together. For the residency, the band Alexander Flood composed three new pieces, which they developed with the ensemble over two rehearsal days before performing them across three concerts. The core ensemble - Lucy Liebe, Franka Fairy, Tara Sarter, Raffaelo Visconti and Nonny Smith - remained together throughout the summer of 2024, growing into something far greater than just a band. This compilation not only documents the music played by the Residence Band, but also captures the wider story of the other bands that we recorded while they were on tour and who came to the studio with me the following day. Kai appears here after performing at Holidays in 2024. Sonic Interventions recalls a special milestone: the band's first concert outside Berlin, which took place at Holidays in 2023. Sasha Berliner performed at the Jazz Klub, which is illustrated throughout the comic included in this booklet. Benedikt Montiel Mathews joined the Jazz Montez project through a year-long internship and a record we released together. Hind Ennaira led the successor to the Residence Band during a weekend at El Barrio in 2024. However, her recording was not made in Frankfurt, but in Essaouira, Morocco, during a spontaneous late-night session.
Inlcuding: Pressed on high quality 150g vinyl, the record comes packaged in a beautiful cover, designed by artist Verena Mack. It features a 20 page booklet that includes a fictional comic on the making of a Jazzklub.
Includes unlimited streaming of Jazz Montez Presents Vol. III via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Time to turn on and turn it up, theres a brand new Carlton Melton in the offing… its been a good couple of years since the West Coast space/sike travellers have dropped new music.
‘Phantomize beyond the window, into the portal, the panes of eternal returns, wooden spirals, roots into the realms of everything and nothing, the reason beings’
With Anthony Taibi fully ensconsed in the metaphorical Melton Dome, this four piece is ready to soar, go deeper and wider into the sike psyche than on previous recordings, now fully recording live with drums, bass, guitars and keys...recorded at 3D Light in Freshwater, CA by Anthony Tiabi in 2025, and mastered by the inimitable John Mcbain in 2026.
We have a single LP of 40+ minutes spanning 4 tracks, that have textures, and waves and patterns to lull you into some fever dream of motorik psych! Touchstones like Träd, Gräs Och Stenar / Kandodo / Guru Guru / Eno & Fripp / Birds of Maya / Parson Sound come into view.
There are moments of gentle ambience bordered by speaker shredding guitar soloing, whole passages of Krautrock inspired jams that have form and focus.. you blink and your live flashes before you, the record ends, you want more..
There are moments of gentle ambience bordered by speaker shredding guitar soloing, whole passages of Krautrock inspired jams that have form and focus.. you blink and your live flashes before you, the record ends, you want more.. Carlton Melton masterfully blend hypnotic, long-form psychedelic jams with drone and Krautrock influences.
Band:
Rich Millman
Andy Duvall
Clint Golden
Anthony Taibi
Announced to celebrate summers solstice.. released on the Autumn equinox.. with a full UK tour to boot..
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.
With NIGHTS AFTER VAMP, Magnolia Park have spun an electrifying mix of hard rock, punk, nu-metal, hip-hop and metalcore into a dizzying, multisensory experience. Throughout its 17 songs, the record soundtracks an ominous journey through the fictional world of Nocturne Nexus; where rulers and rebels battle with the future hanging in the balance. Heavily inspired by the band's love of anime, horror and fantasy, the album's narrative was spurred by the long-running Vampire Hunter D, iconic works like Star Wars, Dracula and Joseph Campbell's legendary monomyth. Produced by the band's in-house producers alongside Andrew Wade (A Day To Remember, Wage War), Hiram Hernandez (blessthefall) and Andy Karpovck (408, Taylor Acorn) and mixed by Zakk Cervini (Bad Omens, Bring Me The Horizon) - Magnolia Park soundtrack this dramatic tale of crimson blood and chrome-plated courage through their own mix of man and machine, stacking whirring electronics and industrial undertones alongside sledgehammer breakdowns, walls of detuned guitars and Roberts' seam-splitting vocals.
Originally released in 2014, Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles is now being reissued on limited-edition gold vinyl.
The album tells a story of the intersection of the material world and the world of the spirit. Includes fan favorites "I Never Wear White" and "Crack in the Wall,” plus "Song of the Stoic" and “Don't Uncork What You Can’t Contain,” and "Horizon", written for Vaclav Havel.
Produced and arranged by Gerry Leonard, the album features an illustrious group of musicians including longtime Vega bass player Mike Visceglia and drummer Doug Yowell, bass player Gail Ann Dorsey and drummer Zachary Alford (David Bowie), bass player Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel), drummer Jay Bellerose (T-Bone Burnett), and Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan) who plays banjo, mandolin, and cymbal throughout the album. Additional contributions feature drummer Sterling Campbell (David Bowie, B52s) and Alison Balsom, the virtuoso principal trumpet for the London Chamber Orchestra. Catherine Russell, known for her work with David Bowie and Paul Simon, adds background vocals.
The strings were recorded in the Czech Republic with the Smichov Chamber Orchestra. The album was mixed by Grammy Award-winning engineer Kevin Killen.
Stockholm-based duo Dött ljus are back with *Sjunka*, the follow-up to their acclaimed debut *Bottna* (supported by the BBC, KEXP and Headphone Commute). Released via Fauxpas Musik, *Sjunka* delivers immersive, rhythm-driven tracks built on flickering soundscapes, reflecting themes of movement, chaos and hope. Recorded in the catacombs of Södermalm, this long-awaited release is about letting go of control and allowing yourself to sink.Available digitally and on physical vinyl, including a strictly limited run on coloured vinyl.
Vinyl Tastes Better…
Despite the widespread popularity of reggae music in the UK, following its explosion onto the international music scene in the late 1960s, many of these in charge of Britain's mainstream media were reluctant to give the exciting new sound coverage, wither in print or over the airways.
In an attempt to counter this prejudice, Trojan Records took the bold step of embellishing recordings from Jamaica with sophisticated orchestration, with the resultant ‘commercial reggae’ sound immediately finding favour with the country’s reggae fans.
Consequently, the company not just maintained, but in fact extended the procedure, employing producers to record the country’s finest British-based reggae acts. The result was the release of an abundance of superbly crafted recordings, the production values of which rated with the best that British pop had to offer.
Flamingo Pier, the New Zealand–born, London shaped trio of Luke Walker, Dominic Jones and Brad Craig, step confidently into a new chapter with the announcement of their second album ‘Woven Together’ arriving in October. Long celebrated as one of the southern hemisphere’s best kept dancefloor secrets, the group now move firmly into global view with a record written, produced and released entirely on their own terms. Since first emerging with their Kitsuné debut in 2015, Flamingo Pier have carved out a distinctive space in contemporary dance. Their 2019 Soundway EP earned international acclaim was played on BBC Radio 1 and KEXP, with their 2021 debut album featuring jazz icon Nathan Haines.
Further releases on Razor 'N' Tape and Soundway included collaborations with Nigerian disco legend Steve Monite.
The first glimpse of ‘Woven Together’ arrives with lead single ‘Cool Nights’, a modern, playful take on 80s Italo Disco - powerful on the dancefloor yet built for top down drives along the Italian coastline. A late night story of connection and possibility, the track sets the tone for an album that brings Flamingo Pier’s melodic warmth, rhythmic precision and global influences into sharp, confident focus.
Following the success of the inaugural all-Jiri Jiri edition, Batov Records returns with the second instalment of its Give Me Disco series, once again curated by label co-founder and globe-trotting selector DJ Kobayashi. Rather than revisiting familiar disco classics, Give Me Disco Vol. 02 digs deeper, bringing together four dancefloor discoveries from across Europe and Asia, including two previously unreleased tracks available here for the first time.
Spanning Portuguese jazz-funk, Norwegian cosmic oddities, Japanese-inspired psychedelic disco and cinematic groove, the EP reflects the breadth of Kobayashi's record bag - a carefully assembled selection of tracks that have soundtracked his DJ sets for years alongside exclusive material rescued from the vaults.
Opening the record is The Bam Jam Band's brilliantly understated "Theme", a soaring slice of jazz-infused disco from Portuguese musicians Sérgio Alves and Pedro Tenreiro. Originally released only as a now long-sold-out 7 inch on Mad About Records, the track has become one of Kobayashi's trusted secret weapons, championed by discerning selectors including Darryn Jones and Red Greg. Built around Alves' dazzling synthesiser work, "Theme" finally gets the wider audience it deserves. The EP's first exclusive arrives courtesy of D. Apal, instrumentalist and member of Norway's Flammer Dance Band. His only solo release, issued on the band's Lysketrekk Records, has become a cult favourite among adventurous record collectors. Batov now unveils the previously unreleased "60 Meter'n (Rytme)", an extended instrumental dub that strips away the vocals to let the handclaps, cavernous bassline, dub effects and wonderfully eccentric synthesisers breathe, transforming an underground favourite into an irresistible dancefloor weapon.
Side B opens with YĪN YĪN's "Tokyo Disco", taken from the band's acclaimed third album Mount Matsu on Glitterbeat Records. Long-time admirers of the Dutch quartet, Kobayashi has championed them since first hearing the breakthrough pairing of "Dis ̄ kô Dis ̄ kô" and "Dion Ysiusk" on Bongo Joe. Since then, he has hosted the band twice on Soho Radio and supported them live in London. "Tokyo Disco" perfectly captures YĪN YĪN's distinctive blend of Japanese-inspired psychedelia, Southeast Asian influences, post-punk funk and shimmering disco grooves, making it a natural fit for the Give Me Disco series.
Closing the EP is another exclusive from Jiri Jiri, whose contribution helped launch the series on Vol. 01. Ahead of their forthcoming album later this year, the duo unveil the previously unreleased "Spaghetti Western", a wonderfully off-kilter fusion of Morricone-esque cinematic atmosphere, taut funk rhythms and the soulful modern groove of SAULT. Equal parts soundtrack and dancefloor curveball, it provides a fitting finale while offering another tantalising glimpse of what's still to come. With two exclusive cuts sitting alongside two carefully chosen modern classics, Give Me Disco Vol. 02 is another lovingly curated snapshot of DJ Kobayashi's musical universe: borderless, groove-driven and unapologetically built for adventurous DJs, discerning collectors and open minded dancefloors alike.
Fall Collection pulls from the vaults. Four tracks, some long out of print, one never
before pressed, all of them worth the dig.
The A-side opens with Ty Tek’s Dirty Fusion, originally released on Gourmet Recordings
in 2005 alongside the Audio Soul Project remix two years later. Both have been
fetching serious money on the secondary market for a reason. This is tech house from
when that phrase still meant something, the walloping cadence, the sci-fi pads, the
seismic synths rolling underneath. You hear it once and it stays with you.
Departed by Wasted Chicago Youth follows. Justin Aulis Long and Mazi Namvar
started from a remix brief and promptly ignored it, building something new from scratch
in a single session. Organs, wailing lead, disco break, 808 subs, a plastic bass line
threading through all of it. Somewhere between an angry Metro Area and a more
psychedelic Jitwam, but really it’s just WCY doing what they do.
Love Thy Enemy by Wasted Chicago Youth appeared on the Chase The Devil EP back
in 2009. The bubbles, shuffles, and wobbling chords hold up, and the vocal samples hit
differently now than they did then.
ASP’s Cloud Dub closes the record. It appeared on Dubs Vol. 2 as a digital release in
2022 and has never been on vinyl, and that’s where the subsonic acid bass line and
the layered string, piano, pad, and organ groove finally get room to breathe. Deep
house the way Chicago made it in the early nineties. Bare, musical, and raw.
Track A1 written by Ty Tek. Remixed by Audio Soul Project
Track A2 written by Justin Aulis Long and Maziar Namvar
Track B1 written by Justin Aulis Long and Mazi Namvar
Track B2 written by Audio Soul Project.
Copyright Control
Fresh Meat Records 2026
Mining the rich seam between transcendental escapism and crushing physical pressure, Sciama delivers his first album for Samurai Music. Exploring an energetic pitch between half-time and full-tilt 170, the London-based producer sculpts brooding soundscapes of sheer peaks and deep pits, driven by unrelenting but light-footed forward motion and an imposing strain of sound design. As Sciama, Michael Watters has been marking out his exacting sound since 2019 with an assured run of albums on ASC's Auxiliary label. His second EP for Samurai — the Wave Interaction 12" released earlier this year — pointed to his current area of focus inspired by the teachings of electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram. Contemplating the relationship between precise electronic frequencies and human perception, Celetal Form now delivers the full findings of his exploration. Oram coined the term 'celetal' in her 1972 book An Individual Note of Music, Sound and Electronics, trying to sum up a connection between the celestial and electrical. It's this spiritual dimension contained within sound waves Watters is concerned with, and the shape of the music on Celetal Form follows suit. In an opening statement of abyssal ambience, 'Overload Into Silence' establishes an atmosphere that endures throughout the album. Caught between steely textures, vaporous reverb tails and subtle harmonic interactions, the glacial shift of the many layers under Watters' control reveals an intense amount of detail at play even before drums and bass come into play. From there on in, the intensity ramps up from one heavyweight stepper to the next. There is agile, brittle top-end percussion at work on the likes of 'Induced Resonance' and 'Consuming Pulse', perhaps the most closely connected to D&B, while 'Rational Echoes' and 'Scanning Waveband' deal in urgency and techno-coded tension. A half-time roll guides the huge kick drum undulations of 'No Panacea', and 'Celetal Emergence' opens up into more spacious surroundings to let the subtle microtonal inflections of the synth tones set a curious mood. The two 'Intermodulation' tracks bring Watters' exacting approach into sharp focus, pushing the drums back and foregrounding alien frequencies that coalesce into unfamiliar yet strangely uplifting forms. Throughout Celetal Form this uncanny sensation charges the music with a power that reaches beyond its immediate, surface level impact. This intentional reflection on Oram's visionary thinking charges the current sound of Sciama with energetic intrigue that stands apart and invites a mindful, maybe even spiritual, engagement.
GRAMMY® Award-winning reggae icon Buju Banton returns to familiar ground with renewed purpose, setting the tone for a bold new era. Officially reunited with longtime partner VP Records, this full-circle moment reconnects one of Jamaica’s most influential voices with the label that helped define a pivotal chapter of his career. “Butterflies” serves as the first offering from his upcoming al bum, arriving Summer 2026. Produced by internationally acclaimed hitmaker Supa Dups (Rihanna, Drake, Bruno Mars), the track delivers a vibrant, feel-good sound anchored on a re-lick of the ‘Answer rhythm.’ Buju’s unmistakable cadence glides effortlessly across the track, blending classic dancehall energy with a modern sonic edge. The single exemplifies a confident return, one that bridges legacy with evolution while reintroducing the essence of dancehall to a new generation!
UK underground legend Acerbic aka Ant, Chicago Loop and many other alias returns to Perc Trax after the huge success of this Acerbic remix of Perc's 'Imperial Leather' last year. A regular on labels such as Stay Up Forever, Cluster, Hydraulix, Maximum Minimum and his own Power Tools label, now it is time for his over overdue first full EP for Perc Trax. Across the four tracks on the Doom Circuit EP Acerbic sets out is vision of club techno. Hard driving and powerful with a constant sense of forward momentum. Opening track 'Doom Circuit' has been a key part of Perc's sets for months now. Acid techno without the acid as a succession of computer bleeps take over the role a 303 would usually play in tracks like this. Next up 'Lukla' floats echoing lead lines, looping house music stabs and just a touch of London underground acid to create a fusion of key underground sounds. B1 track 'Metroliner' is the most energetic track on the EP as a stomping kick and clap rhythm is topped off synths stabs reminiscent of Luke Slater's classic 'Forklift. Finally 'Helter-Skelter' takes things down a notch to finish the EP to focus more percussion intricacy making it the perfect mixing tool for the more creative DJ.
Hara Discs is proud to present the first EP from Sheffield-based DJ Harry Shackleton, co-owner of Grub Records and one half of DJ duo Wow & Flutter. This release draws influence from their longstanding residency at underground electro party Control., melding together sounds which have made this one of the North of England’s best kept secrets for the past 7 years. In an extremely long-winded and uncertain move, he has finally donned his rather fetching production hat and completely self generated the alias Hypno Disc with which he aims to unleash some music that is 100% OK.
The EP and alias are a homage to the late 90s and early 00s TV show Robot Wars. The title track combines the carnage of Craig Charles with something a bit UK and tribal. The remaining tracks bear the names of robots which took part in the wars. These are written from the perspective of the robots and as such are internal monologues of what each robot was thinking. The concept comes from an early fascination with this show and how it made the artist feel as someone growing up in the UK around 2000.
We hope you enjoy this release. Complaints will be tolerated.
Der dritte Teil der Pentimento-Trilogie. Aufgenommen am 23. Mai 2015 in der Londoner St John at Hackney-Kirche während Jon Hassells letztem Live-Konzert, gemeinsam mit Rick Cox und John von Seggern. Themen, Motive und Riffs aus Hassells letzten beiden Alben – "Listening To Pictures" und "Seeing Through Sound" – durchziehen diese einzigartigen, halb-improvisierten Variationen. Sorgfältig abgemischt und bearbeitet von Jon Hassell und seinem langjährigen Weggefährten Jeff Rona, bildet dieses Werk einen würdigen Abschluss für die Renaissance der Pentimento-Reihe in seiner späten Schaffensphase.
HUMAN is a vinyl-only electronic music label based in Manchester, focused on music, art, fashion, and culture. We press records we believe in with no shortcuts.
HUM001 is the label's debut release, featuring E-Funk / Twisty by Scarper.
Scarper is a London-based producer and DJ known for blending melodic electronica, broken rhythms and left-field club ideas into a sound that’s entirely his own. Over the past decade, a deep catalogue of albums, EPs and remixes has taken shape, alongside work in advertising, gaming, TV and short film.
‘E-Funk’ is a hybrid club weapon - part 2-step, part house, part breaks, all energy. A certified floor starter that lives in the bag and lands every time, especially when the room hits its stride.
‘Twisty’ is probably the most dancefloor-ready cut, but the solid broken grooves dancing around acid bass lines and bleeps on each of these nine thumping tracks could work any room at the right moment.
Dich lieb ich, Erde! trauerst du doch mit mir! Und unsre Trauer wandelt wie Kinderschmerz In Schlummer sich und wie die Winde Flattern und flüstern im Saitenspiele
The third stanza of Friedrich Hölderlin’s poem ‘Dem sonnengott’ evokes a narrator who is tortured by Spleen until slumber makes his childlike gloom disappear with music. Although today’s readers might judge these nineteenth century musings of the Imagination as mere stylistic platitudes, they also still speak beyond the grave as universal truths. A mere two hundred years later similar anxieties and hopes are still channeled through various art forms, with changing success and reverberation. Brannten Schnüre are one of those neo-romantic music experimentalists who add to a long tradition of celebrating folk tale and exoticism. Their meticulously crafted loops, hesitant melodies and heavily nostalgic lyricism could easily be translated to what the late philosopher and music critic Mark Fisher called ‘hauntology’, a postmodern longing for a lost future. To describe the beauty of ‘Geträumt hab’ ich vom Martinszug’, however, the term seems somewhat dissatisfying. Romanticism is a hard nut to crack in the Anthropocene, and Brannten Schnüre’s realms of the cerebral are too deeply ingrained in a German tradition of story telling to define them within popular paradigm.
‘Geträumt hab’ ich vom Martinszug’ was recorded in 2014 in Würzburg and functions as the autumn part of the band’s seasonal cycle quadrilogy (the other segments being ‘Aprilnacht’ (SicSic), ‘Sommer im Pfirsichhain’ (Aguirre) and ‘Durch unser zugedecktes Tal’ (Youdonthavetocallitmusic)). It deals with the Saint Martin’s parade, a mostly European tradition to celebrate the medieval spirit of Saint Martin of Tours, friend of children and patron of the poor. Around 11 November children come out on the streets with lanterns and sing ancient songs in exchange for sweets. It’s a period of snugness and expectation, of yearning and dreaming, and therefore a consummate subject for the duo to scrutinize.
To the adult’s ear the dream of the Saint Martin’s parade isn’t all that consolatory. The dark and slow loops of Christian Schoppik rather sound like motifs for a welcome paralysis. Sometimes as a gentle backdrop for vocals by Katie Rich and Schoppik himself, the repetitive structures serve as tricksters that trade innocence for the uncanny. The dream becomes a fever dream which quickly absorbs the listener into a vacuum, an eternal post-panic attack semi-relief. Maybe that’s the amazing paradox of Brannten Schnüre. The space they occupy is never comforting – as if being locked up inside a Carl Grossberg painting – but it’s also a subliminal aural zone you do not want to leave. It’s music as being, as a stream, devoid of climax or catharsis. And because it is flux and being, and exists to be taken, it speaks in art’s purest form. ‘In place of a hermeneutics we need an erotics of art’ Susan Sontag famously concluded her essay ‘Against Interpretation’ with. Well, look no further …
Somehow it feels fitting that 1+1 equals not only 11, but also the two slabs of vinyl carrying Henry Hodson’s music here. A small inside joke, perhaps, but also a sign of how naturally this record came together: instinctive and shaped with intention. Hodson — who first appeared on Limousine Dream and later with a subtle and beautifully controlled EP via Silky Beats — continues his trajectory between deep house warmth and minimal clarity. These six tracks are drawn with the sort of fine-grained rhythmic detail that rewards attention without ever demanding it. Light-footed percussion, elegant restraint, grooves that breathe. The double 12’’ format isn’t a gimmick; it’s a commitment. Each track gets the physical space and sonic depth it needs.
Weirdos Inc. share five chuggy heaters from Glaswegian via London producer Adam Low, aka Pigeon Steve. Leave Some Trace traverses a cinematic palette across five tracks. Euphoric acid, palmy Balearic touches, prog heavy nods to Goa trance. All fused influences shape an original and unique take on club music primed for a proper basement session. Perfect material for any dancefloor moment.
Adam Low has been turning heads over the last couple of years with his DJ sets and finely dialled productions. This EP spins our heads a full 360 on itself. This marks Weirdos’ first release of the year. Hope you enjoy.
“Simply put, it’s unlikely we’ll encounter a mix that leaves a cultural footprint and defines the sound of a generation quite like Northern Exposure again. Both mixes are absolutely 100% astoundingly brilliant”
DJ Mag
“Their best-loved mix CD is a trippy traipse through the verdant world of progressive house, a genre with one foot in the rave and the other somewhere in the great beyond” Rolling Stone - The 30 Greatest EDM
Albums Of All Time
Originally released on 27th September 1996, ‘Northern Exposure’ is widely regarded as one of the greatest mix compilations ever made. Thirty years on, it sounds as vital as ever - a testament to the fearless vision that went into its creation.
At a time when DJ culture was still writing its own rules, Sasha and John Digweed pushed against the grain. Drawing on sounds discovered during early trips to America - from Rabbit in the Moon to Future Sound of London - they built something that prioritised atmosphere over dancefloor convention. DJ Mag panned it on release. History changed their tune.
Northern Exposure Redux marks the 30th anniversary with a definitive reissue of both original mixes. The CD version also includes a newly created ambient mix. Shaped by the spirit of Bill Laswell and Mad Professor, it explores the deeper, more hypnotic DNA that always ran beneath the surface. Northern Exposure Redux North includes classic tracks by Keiichi Suzuki, The Future Sound Of London, and Banco de Gaia. Northern Exposure Redux South includes classic tracks by Dope On Plastic, Pete Lazonby, and a newly recreated version of ‘Dark And Long (Dark Train)’ by none other than Darren Emerson himself. Both vinyl versions also include a download code for both the North And South mixes, as well as the individual tracks.
“Simply put, it’s unlikely we’ll encounter a mix that leaves a cultural footprint and defines the sound of a generation quite like Northern Exposure again. Both mixes are absolutely 100% astoundingly brilliant”
DJ Mag
“Their best-loved mix CD is a trippy traipse through the verdant world of progressive house, a genre with one foot in the rave and the other somewhere in the great beyond” Rolling Stone - The 30 Greatest EDM
Albums Of All Time
Originally released on 27th September 1996, ‘Northern Exposure’ is widely regarded as one of the greatest mix compilations ever made. Thirty years on, it sounds as vital as ever - a testament to the fearless vision that went into its creation.
At a time when DJ culture was still writing its own rules, Sasha and John Digweed pushed against the grain. Drawing on sounds discovered during early trips to America - from Rabbit in the Moon to Future Sound of London - they built something that prioritised atmosphere over dancefloor convention. DJ Mag panned it on release. History changed their tune.
Northern Exposure Redux marks the 30th anniversary with a definitive reissue of both original mixes. The CD version also includes a newly created ambient mix. Shaped by the spirit of Bill Laswell and Mad Professor, it explores the deeper, more hypnotic DNA that always ran beneath the surface. Northern Exposure Redux North includes classic tracks by Keiichi Suzuki, The Future Sound Of London, and Banco de Gaia. Northern Exposure Redux South includes classic tracks by Dope On Plastic, Pete Lazonby, and a newly recreated version of ‘Dark And Long (Dark Train)’ by none other than Darren Emerson himself. Both vinyl versions also include a download code for both the North And South mixes, as well as the individual tracks.
After a five-year-long hiatus, CVBox is back with six tracks between techno, acid, electro and IDM that are more suited to those super dark times we're currently living through than ever before. On "Pattern Based On", the Dresden-based artist and long-running Uncanny Valley-comrade (four EPs and one album) proves that he hasn't lost his touch when it comes to creating electronic cyberspaces that might drive you mad a bit. With majestic sounds and constantly evolving arrangements, the tracks are strangely entertaining on the dancefloor while you can't help but still feel a queasy sensation in your stomach. While some describe the tunes as milky, permeated by translucent membranes, for others they are an aural embodiment of urban landscapes in the post-apocalypse. Only two things are true: No one sounds like CVBox and all his tracks sound like CVBox. The title refers to structures derived from repetitions, sequences and, indeed, patterns. Although the sounds within these patterns usually follow clear paths, they are allowed to overlap and falter. At the same time, it is music through which CVBox comes to terms with his time as a paramedic. The artwork extends this idea with a special twist. A medical-based test pattern with its clinical functionality is set against a backdrop that is clearly placed in a natural environment. A process that creates a kind of artefact and triggers immediate reflection on what will remain of us many decades from now. What role will music play in defining this?
Longtime Do It Now favourites Club Squisito are back alongside vocalist Fre Monti for a warm, emotionally-charged deep house cut that will soon worm its way into your affections. The original is an unhurried blues ballad that builds into a thumping groove with Monti's haunting vocal work threading through with real feeling. Emiliano S. remixes it into something jazzier and hard-swinging, complete with a clever half-speed breakdown, while Nutty Nys opens the flip with a tasteful, vocal-led broken-piano hook. Pigsie closes things out with a four-on-the-floor banger that taps into early-2000s deep house energy.
Function has long since cemented his legacy in the underground world but it's always worth reminding yourself where an artist's story began. In David Summer's case, that's with this EP, which dropped on Damon Wild's Synewave, who now reissue it in full, 30 years on. It's an impressively fully-formed sound for a debut: 'F1' is a jacked-up techno rhythm with a fat bassline and frazzled synths that bring it to life. 'F2' is a more experimental and beatless piece with modular pulses, echoing frequencies and decaying sine waves then 'F3 rides a dreamy dub rhythm that undulates gently amid some gorgeous sustained pads that recall Thebes of Detroit. 'F4' comes with more Millsian-style minimal that fires up your brain.
Mysticisms completes its archival releases of the Dub Specialists with a 3rd EP of the outer reaches of the Digi Dub realm, this time mainly drawing from the project’s final album Loop To Loop.
Conscious Sounds head honcho Dougie Waldrop, working again with Chris Petter (Love Grocer) runs the desk, the heavy sample originals move from House to Breaks, Dub to Funk.
For the final reversions, label co-owner and editing specialist Piers Harrison returns, turning Love Song in a long form 4/4 romantic digi bounce. A sure-fire winner, the catchy groove and trippy beats, the template of what makes Dub Specialists come alive.
Following is Lotion Dub, edited by Vanity Project. A key part to the project, working with Millie Mckee, as well assisting Chuggy, his solid arrangements and engineering skills take the old school original, with digi horns, electro stabs and reggae “skanking” guitar, accentuating the drum and bass to effect.
The final side of edits come from Chuggy, taking the steppers of Dub Downtown, teasing the drop, looping and riding the riddim and also, finally, from rising producer and label head of Spiritual World Recordings, N1 Sound who sticks to the true essence of re-editing, creating a DJ friendly excursion, extending and live dubbing the sought after 808 Dub from Dub Specialists debut Break To Break, thus bringing the whole project full circle and complete.
You know the pattern: someone calls their album "Balearic," and you immediately expect chill-out terraces, pan-flute samples, and the umpteenth return of the Café del Mar sunset. Devi G. refuses this reflex almost maliciously. The title is a trick—an invitation to disappointment for those hoping for postcard exoticism. What is actually being negotiated here is erosion, but that of the body itself: the abrasion one inflicts upon oneself in the excess of the night, when partying turns into wear and tear, and a rush becomes a graze that only becomes visible in the morning. No backdrop, then, but a wound one has voluntarily acquired.
Instead of the usual Ibiza xylophones, Devi G. digs into the rift between idyll and wear. The result reads like a séance—less José Padilla, more as if Kevin Martin had re-recorded a Manuel Göttsching record on a dying four-track deck. The target area lies somewhere between the waterlogged ambient sketches of Huerco S. and the faded dub-afterglow of Actress, but Devi G. remains consistently on his own, grainier frequency.
Balearic Abrasions (title track) opens without haste, demanding almost without impatience: no motif, no rhythmic handhold, just a slowly tilting balance between warm texture and rough surface. The grain never feels forced—it is not a lo-fi costume, but an integral part of the statics themselves. Where other ambient producers strive for perfection, Devi G. consciously seeks the breaking point. Rhythm remains a tool, never an ambition. Those expecting quick resolution will be disappointed; those willing to listen will receive a depth effect that is rarely this vivid.
Exit Through Thee Gift Shop tips into harder territory: dub-techno reduction meets industrial edge, carried by a stoic kick drum that knows no mercy. Metallic textures slice through the sub-bass, while repetitive chords hypnotize like a defective loop. Central to this is a rare Terence McKenna recording, which functions less as spoken-word ornamentation and more as a disruptive spirit between memory and media archaeology. The title—Banksy reference included—turns this into a biting punchline: radical electronic abstraction positioned against the hyper-commercialized art world.
Morning Depth pushes the claustrophobia further, somewhere between post-industrial and deep-sea dub. The track refuses any peak-time logic, preferring to disintegrate into itself, subcutaneously, methodically. At the end, a casual, almost banal vocal sample (“i defiantly prefer chocolate”) breaks into the cool machinery—a small, profane fissure that makes the coldness of the rest of the piece all the more apparent.
Desiré Algorithmic is the album's most calculated moment: a stoic, repetitive bassline as a foundation, topped with fragile melody fragments that flash like glitches in faulty code. The title reads like a promise from nightlife—a figure that suggests much and delivers nothing, because behind the façade there is simply nothing, only simulation. The track carries exactly this principle: promise without substance, desire without body, just rendering. Only in the final third does a melancholic saxophone break into the sterile structure—organic, imperfect, and for that very reason more credible than everything before it. It is the moment in which the real briefly flashes through the surface of the dummy before it closes again.
All-inclusive Residue concludes the album as sedimentation rather than dramaturgy: dub-techno remnants, industrial patina, salty ambient surfaces that settle rather than compose. The refusal of consumption as a sonic principle—brittle, stubborn, with a gravity that lingers long after.
Verdict: Balearic Abrasions is not easy listening with a sea view, but an exercise in patience and friction. The restraint with which Devi G. avoids climaxes will frustrate some—for everyone else, that is exactly where the record's strength lies. No sunset. Rather, what remains on the rocks afterward.
Every coastline develops its own rhythm. The Adriatic is no exception.
For decades, Italy’s eastern coast has been shaped by funk, Cosmic Disco, Balearic sounds, Italo Disco, House, Latin rhythms, Brazilian music and countless other influences. Rather than blending into a single style, these musical worlds have lived side by side, constantly inspiring new generations of DJs, musicians and dancers. For more than fifteen years, Soul Fingers and Funk Rimini have explored that landscape from different perspectives. Founded by Claudio Cavallaro in 2013, Soul Fingers grew into a vinyl-driven community where groove matters more than genre. Its philosophy has always been simple: if the groove is right, genres stop mattering. Brothers Ricky and Francesco Cardelli developed Funk Rimini into a project rooted in funk, disco, live performance and electronic production. Anima Adriatica is where these two journeys meet.
The project didn’t begin with the ambition of making an album. It began behind the turntables. As DJs, Claudio Cavallaro and Ricky Cardelli found themselves constantly searching for records capable of connecting distant musical worlds inside their sets; from Afrobeat into disco, from hip hop into Latin, from Brazilian grooves into boogie, from cosmic electronics into deep funk. Sometimes those records existed. More often, they didn’t. So they stopped searching and started writing them. Not records designed to belong to one genre, but records designed to travel between genres. That space between musical worlds became Anima Adriatica.
The music grew through spontaneous jam sessions with Ricky and Francesco Cardelli, drummer Enrico Mao Bocchini and, gradually, a wider circle of musicians, singers and longtime friends, making Anima Adriatica less a traditional band than the beginning of an open collective. Recorded at SynthPosio Studio, founded by Ricky and Francesco Cardelli inside Rimini’s iconic skyscraper, the project also carries a symbolic connection to the building itself, where many Italo Disco classics (including records by Betty Miranda, The Creatures and many others) were recorded decades earlier.
Betty Miranda returns not as a nostalgic guest, but as a bridge between generations. On the title track she performs a spoken-word text written by Claudio Cavallaro, reflecting on the invisible thread connecting the Adriatic dancefloor across time. From Baia degli Angeli to Cocoricò, from the legendary clubs of Riccione to today’s independent communities gathered around projects such as Soul Fingers and Funk Rimini, the places have changed, but the dancefloor continues to tell the same story. Much like Pier Vittorio Tondelli’s Rimini captured the Adriatic through literature, Anima Adriatica imagines its soundtrack.
Brazilian musician Daniel Plentz (Selton) expands that vision on Açúcar and Alegria, bringing another coastline into the story. Across its four tracks, the EP moves naturally between analogue funk, boogie, Brazilian music, underground disco, cosmic textures and the wider Black musical tradition, with All Down The Line paying tribute to the Paradise Garage era.
Released by Bordello A Parigi, the project found its natural home through a shared love of adventurous dance music, records and club culture. More than the title of an EP, Anima Adriatica marks the beginning of an open collective; a meeting point where musicians, DJs, producers and friends continue building bridges between genres, generations and communities.
Because Anima Adriatica doesn’t live inside a genre. It lives between genres. If soul music has always reflected the places where it was born, Anima Adriatica is simply our own Adriatic Soul.
Biz returns to his Subjekt label for it’s fourth instalment, continuing a long-standing connection with the deeper, more cerebral side of techno. With previous releases on Detroit institution Transmat, Laurent Garnier’s COD3QR, Xistence, We’re Going Deep, Acquit Records and other respected underground labels, the lineage is firmly established.
Here, Biz digs deep into the Detroit blueprint — machine rhythms, hypnotic sequences, melancholy, soul and futuristic tension — balancing introspection with raw dance floor vibes.
For the remix, Osaka techno veteran DJ Compufunk steps up with a stripped-back interpretation, locking into the groove and pushing the track further into raw machine funk territory.
Detroit spirit, Japanese precision and Australian underground techno vibes — another essential Biz release!
Pirka Vinyl Cuts hits its 11th volume with a nod to the classics, leaning heavily into revered disco and house chops.
Stripped back for maximum impact, these edits flip instantly familiar vocal hooks and grooves into high-grade DJ weapons, revitalizing peak-time sets with a sharp, contemporary edge.
Dani Labb is a thunder bolt. A hardware head whose level of craft is felt instantly. Studio hibernation isn’t for everyone, but for those willing to give it all to the buttons the results can’t be overlooked.
This Argentinian artist has got the sauce, delivering four razor sharp club-focused tracks as the first release from new London label Acrylic Moves. ACMOVES001 is a naughty piece of dance floor weaponry. Scenes change and wackness vultures on, but the presence of fat-offtracks like these on a good system is an easily digested reminder of what truly makes us tick. Dani Labb is that reminder.
Take a trip back to the golden age of popular music with Golden Oldies, a 2LP collection bringing together 40 timeless favourites from the 1950s and early ’60s. Featuring legendary artists including Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, Etta James and Bobby Darin, this hit-packed set captures an unforgettable era of rock ’n’ roll, pop, soul and rhythm & blues. Highlights include Johnny B. Goode, Heartbreak Hotel, The Wanderer, Mack The Knife, Crying and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes – classic recordings that still sound as good today as they ever did.
NYC dance music legend Joey Longo has been a part of the dance music soundscape for those in the know from way back when, his first records surfacing in 1989 under a variety of monikers and on a slew of labels out of NYC.
One of his lesser known aliases was Dreamhouse, which only produced two tracks Jump & Prance and I Can Feel It, both in 1990 and contained here on this official reissue. Special mention to the Dream Mix which has long been sort after by collectors and DJ's worldwide and repressed here for the first time since it's original release in 1990. Finally an opportunity to own a slice of Joey's signature raw New York sound.
Uncoiled returns with an offering from label head Lonefront, showcasing 4 tracks of covering a wide but focused range of techno written with a signature tuning system. Mastered and Cut by Tim Xavier at Manmade Mastering Berlin
Chopping Mountain, das neue Album von Ibibio Sound Machine, ist die bislang deutlichste Umsetzung der langjährigen Mission des Londoner Kollektivs, Liebe, Einheit und Widerstand durch Musik zu fördern. Es ist das sechste Album der Band in voller Länge und das erste, bei dem Max Grunhard seit ,Doko Mien" aus dem Jahr 2019 als Produzent mitwirkt. Nach ihrem von Hot Chip produzierten Durchbruch ,Electricity" (2022) und dem düstereren, clubbigen Einschlag des von Ross Orton produzierten ,Pull the Rope" (2024) fühlt sich ,Chopping Mountain" an, als stamme es direkt aus den Herzen und Erfahrungen der von Eno Williams und Grunhard angeführten Band. Williams ist wie immer eine Sirene - eine Frontfrau, wie sie nur einmal in einer Generation vorkommt, deren Ruf, sowohl auf die Tanzfläche als auch nach einer besseren Zukunft, unmöglich zu widerstehen ist. Wie sie das macht, ist ein Rätsel. Nimm zum Beispiel einen Song wie ,Return to Sender". Inspiriert von einem Autounfall, bei dem sie spürte, wie ihr das Lenkrad buchstäblich aus den Händen sprang - was sie mit ,einem spirituellen Angriff durch unsichtbare Kräfte" verglich -, ist der Track ein kraftvoller, kathartischer Rager, ein Ganzkörper-Workout und eine lautstarke Ablehnung des Bösen in mehreren Sprachen, Englisch und ihrer Muttersprache Ibibio. Sie ist natürlich kaum allein am Fuße des ,Chopping Mountain". Ibibio Sound Machine - Grunhard (Saxophon, Keyboards), Alfred Bannerman (Gitarre), PK Ambrose (Bass, Keyboards), Joseph Amoako (Schlagzeug), Afla Sackey (Percussion), Scott Baylis (Trompete, Keyboards) und Tony Hayden (Posaune, Synth) - sind übernatürlich eingespielt und schöpfen aus ihren Wurzeln und Inspirationen in Highlife, Disco, Afrobeat, Funk, Post-Punk und Electropop, um um ihre Stimme herum gewaltige Klangkathedralen zu errichten. Vor dem Hintergrund einer entmutigenden Welt bleiben Ibibio Sound Machine hoffnungsvoll, auf der Suche nach Bewusstsein und Verbundenheit. Sie setzen den Weg fort, den sie erstmals auf ,Pull the Rope" eingeschlagen haben: Viele Songs auf ,Chopping Mountain" entstanden aus Jam-Sessions, bei denen sie sich auf einen Groove, ein Instrument oder einen Text konzentrierten. Auf ,Concept of Love" formen sie einen Afro-Disco-Song, auf ,Love" vertiefen sie das Konzept und liefern ein ätherisches Stück Highlife. Bei ,Give Me Peace" ist sogar Dele Sosimi von Fela Kutis Egypt 80 zu hören. Diese berauschende Mischung aus unterschiedlichen Stilen und Herkunftsorten verschmilzt über das gesamte ,Chopping Mountain", wobei die Songs darin vereint sind, dass sie die schärfsten Werkzeuge sind, die Ibibio Sound Machine im gegenwärtigen Moment einsetzen können. Sie stellen den Kampf um Freiheit als einen gemeinschaftlichen dar. Der Weg zur Befreiung ist lang und beschwerlich, aber er ist nicht ohne Freude - hier ist ein Album, das vor ihr nur so strotzt.
Strut proudly presents an expansive deep dive into the world of Quatermass Sound Lab, the prolific under-the-radar East London studio founded and run by producer, engineer and The Heliocentrics co-founder Malcolm Catto. Over the last two decades, Catto has quietly established himself as a sought-after sonic architect in contemporary music. Revered for his analogue-first approach, he has built Quatermass Sound Lab around vintage recording equipment, valve preamps and live performance, creating recordings that feel warm and timeless. Equally inspired by punk, hip-hop, psychedelic rock, jazz, funk and electronic music, Catto has developed a production style that rejects genre boundaries in favour of instinct and atmosphere. Describing himself as "50% musician and 50% listener," Catto approaches each session as a collaborator rather than a conventional producer. That philosophy has made Quatermass Sound Lab a creative home for an extraordinary range of musicians, from established innovators to emerging voices. His remarkable discography spans collaborations with Yussef Dayes, DJ Shadow, Madlib, Quantic, Mulatu Astatke, Orlando Julius, Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids and countless others, each project using analogue wizardry to shape bold, contemporary recordings with a character all of their own.
Powerhouse vocalist Sandra St. Victor returns with Eleven, her eleventh studio album and first solo release in over a decade. From her years with The Family Stand to collaborations with Roy Ayers, Curtis Mayfield, Chaka Khan, Prince and Lalah Hathaway, Sandra has built a remarkable career that has consistently blurred the lines between soul, funk, jazz and gospel.
Executive produced by Sandra St. Victor and Patrick Gibin for Mother Tongue, Eleven brings together Sandra's longtime collaborators alongside the Mother Tongue family, bridging her rich musical legacy with a fresh, forward-looking sound rooted in soul, jazz, boogie and soulful dance music.
The album combines brand new compositions with inspired reinterpretations, from Kaidi Tatham's stunning reimagining of Captain Sky's Moonchild and his masterful reinvention of the Leon Ware/Syreeta underground gem Tiki Tiki Donga, to a beautifully understated new version of Sandra's own Dizzy, originally released on Gemini: Both Sides in 2001 featuring Questlove, Roy Ayers and Donald Byrd, here reimagined by Mark de Clive-Lowe. Along the way, the lo-fi soul of Black Ice, the timeless duet No More Water featuring Lalah Hathaway, and the straight-up funk of Makes Me Wanna Fall In Love Again and What Would Miles Do showcase an artist continuing to evolve while remaining true to her artistic voice.
Rooted in experience yet driven by curiosity, Eleven bridges Sandra's remarkable musical legacy with the creative vision of Mother Tongue, resulting in an album that feels both timeless and unmistakably
Two Thou’s Oraculu releases a full length spiritual electronics LP with tubaredefining Theon Cross, homeboy Taymour Khajah, soulful presence of D’Monk and Division81 vibe designer Sonny Daze. The sun-inspired record sets a high energy moment for Oraculu, blurring all the lines between the dancefloor, the horns, Berlin, London, Chicago, and Sardinia. This record is about change. I’ve started to be less interested in the fire of the sun, the explosion, the heat. The consistency, the orbit, the return got my full attention. Until it clicked, that repetition is a fundamental aspect of change.
A limited edition clear vinyl pressing for Vol. 1 of DINTE's critically acclaimed collection of pirate radio adverts & idents, taken from recordings of London stations between 1984 & 1993.
London mainstays Half Baked push beyond a quarter of a century here with Romanian house favourite Dan Andrei debuting on the label. He offers the beautifully clean and serene ambient, minimal and tech fusion that is 'Orange Sunshine' - the sort of 5am gem that soundtracks deep immersion in an alternative world, complete with real beauty in the chords. Sticky' has a more pronounced rhythm and bubbly blend of rubbery drums and bass, while spacecraft-life synths circle the groove and neat melodic patterns unfold with a curious nature. London duo Brainsurfers aka Harry McCanna and Sam Bangura add more drive but keep things deep and crank up the cerebral details.
Our initial Prepared Piano & Percussion Duet Session was at Duval's in London on Friday, November 7, 2025.
It was raining . . . When we both started to work on the pieces - that are this album - (a couple weeks later,) from our Homes is London and Topanga, it was also raining .
Almost 20 years on, Washington-based Drew Sullivan's 2007 debut as Slow Dancing Society hasn't dated the way you'd expect. The Sound Of Lights When Dim is a reserved work with reverberating guitar drifting through broad, unhurried tones. On opener 'Be There' reversed guitar and blurred vocal traces dissolve before they resolve on 'The Delicate Sound Of Silence.' It's deeply emotional ambient with endless oceanic scale and plenty of encouragement to reflect on your own. The glowing synths, patient guitar work and preoccupation with memory that would define Sullivan's next two decades are all present from the start and still have the same lasting impact.
UK house mainstay Hodge releases his long-awaited second album, eight tracks of high-calibre house and club music with a focus firmly on the dance floor.
DJ DIE SOON is the apocalyptic alter-ego Daisuke Imamura, whose performances of masked malice have been a fixture in the Berlin underground for the past decade. His latest record My Brothel The Wind takes inspiration from Sun Ra at his most grotesque, conjuring a distorted phantasmagoria with an eclectic crew of compatriots like Rully Shabara, Sara Persico, and longtime collaborator Kiki Hitomi. Film director Hiroo Tanaka’s visual contributions in the album art, poster, and music video complete the album’s narrative, telling a story not of villainy but of phantom caprice in a dying world.
My Brothel The Wind shows DJ DIE SOON as an alchemist of distortion, transmuting the club-forward beats of his 2020 debut Kappa Slap and the seething horrorscapes of DIEMAJIN, his 2022 collaboration with Tokyo vocalist MA. Imamura’s obsession with noise stems from his upbringing in Tokyo, where he grew up hearing the deafening roar of trains every day. “The buildings were really tall, so the sounds reflected so much and it was so loud that you couldn’t even have a conversation on the phone. Hearing this noise every minute when living in this flat, it became a normal thing,” he says. While most would content themselves with avoiding loudness, DJ DIE SOON seeks to unpack its visceral potential.
DJ DIE SOON’s subterranean productions form a monstrous gestalt with the eclectic contributions of his network of co-conspirators. “Unfinished” and “Directions” are pulsating chimeras that highlight animalistic vocalizations from Hitomi and Shabara; Italian MC Franco Franco’s verses snake underneath the noisy onslaught. The tectonic textures of “Dandelion Crackers” are courtesy of multi-instrumentalist Laure Boer’s handmade stone synth. Sara Persico’s mangled vocables hang as fleshy reminders of human fragility on “SAQ4IME”; in the Hiroo Tanaka-directed music video, the track’s sonic uncanniness is made cinematic, with an ambient dread that references Hiroshi Teshigahara’s 1964 psychological thriller Woman in the Dunes.
While Sun Ra’s intergalactic Moog reached for the stars, DJ DIE SOON plunges into the depths of hell. “Everybody, Shake Your Body, We Chill At Party” feels like the sonic equivalent of a wax museum burning to the ground, rigid smiles melting into the fire. Rather than a vision of the future, My Brothel The Wind is a laugh-cry of despair in the face of a Hadean present. DJ DIE SOON confronts the world with a new hand-made mask, reborn in the ashes.
FUNKSOULSEX is the debut album by London-based Liv East and the culmination of years spent refining a sound entirely her own. Blending R&B, funk, neo-soul and contemporary electronic influences, the album explores love, desire, intimacy, lust and connection in the modern age through smoky grooves, sensual vocals and vintage-inspired production. Featuring production from Brighton duo AMIcity and incorporating vintage equipment & textures, FUNKSOULSEX bridges timeless influences with a fresh, forward-thinking perspective, creating a sound that feels both nostalgic and unmistakably modern.
Italian sound artist Giulio Aldinucci returns with his 5th album on Karlrecords: "Materia" is unsurprisingly a truly masterfully composed and sound-designed ambient masterpiece that adds perfectly to a series of critically acclaimed albums like “Disappearing In A Mirror” (2018) or “Shards Of Distant Times” – some of which made it onto several year’s best lists.
Giulio Aldinucci is an Italian composer and sound artist from Siena, Italy. His work focuses on ambient and experimental music, blending field recordings, electronic processing, and acoustic elements. Active since the early 2000s, he has released several solo albums on international labels including Karlrecords, Home Normal, and 99chants. His compositions often explore themes of memory, perception, and the relationship between sound and place.
Aldinucci's music is characterized by immersive, multilayered textures and meticulous attention to sonic detail. He constructs expansive soundscapes by integrating processed environmental recordings, choral elements, instrumental timbres, and subtle harmonic shifts. His style draws from both the aesthetics of contemporary ambient and the techniques of electroacoustic music, resulting in works that are at once atmospheric and conceptually grounded. The interplay between organic and synthetic sound sources is central to his approach, blurring the boundaries between the natural world and the constructed sonic environment.
His works have been presented at international festivals. He has also created art installations and multidisciplinary performances. In addition to his solo output, Aldinucci has collaborated with a wide range of musicians and artists, developing projects that intersect sound art, composition, and performance.
Aldinucci about "Materia": "Materia focuses on the idea of sound as a matter, which can be shaped into complex forms by removing excess material from the sound mass.The album originates from the dichotomy between accumulation and subtraction, creating compositions out of frequency-dense audio material in order to unearth what is “hidden” inside the raw sound mass. Unlike sculpture, in music time can be matter too by shattering sounds into milliseconds andrecompose them with a different fragments order, going beyond the traditional notions of rhythm and duration.“
Life is like a mirror ball! The first one in a hopefully long-lived series of disco and pop influenced Super Sound Singles on Running Back, comes courtesy of the unmistakeable Gibson Brothers. Leaving their biggest wedding hits "Cuba" and "Que Sera Mi Vida" to the side, the philanthropic and smile-forcing "Ooh, What A Life" gets an extended edit service by Shan & Gerd Janson, who cut away some of the fat and make it fit for fun on contemporary dance-floors. The flip side sees them remixing and sandpapering "Heaven" into a disco-house interbred (filters and looping mandatory). To quote John Lyndon: "Disco sucks You never heard that from me."
Josh Ludlow - one half of MAKE A DANCE - one of London’s most beloved duos - steps out on his own for a rare solo outing on legendary London imprint Rhythm Section International.
A late contender for EP of the year - the record meanders menacingly across four tracks of mind-altering, dissociative Brain Music, precision engineered to transport a listener and hypnotise a crowd without losing any dancefloor impact.
Interestingly, Bradley Zero (RS label boss) and Mr. Ludlow have a connection dating back to the late 2000s, when they were both drummers in rock and roll bands...almost 20 years later - a shared love of experimental electronic music has brought them back together, resulting in this spellbinding EP.
Channelling a much darker, heads down, aggressive sound than the uplifting house M.A.D have become known for, the record begins with 'Brain Music’, which serves as a Detroit techno-inspired wormhole of a track, guiding us into a parallel, inner dimension.
Time Upside Down is next up and it becomes apparent we have entered another realm entirely. The introductory bars of the song feel like a long journey down a dark tunnel. The sound design and acoustic backdrop are so evocative you can almost see it. Obnoxious bass notes reverberate through the space created by the track, slowly giving way to flurries of high-pitched, resonant acid lines - the sum of which escape easy classification. It would be lazy to call it house music, misleading to call it techno - but it’s definitely not tech house. Elements of disco, electro, post-punk, balearic and Weatherall-esque chug are all in the mix but essentially, this is its own thing - this is Brain Music.
The record continues to the penultimate track “The Kettle”, which starts off in more familiar upbeat, bongo-house territory before the calm is betrayed by a hovering intensity which grows out of nowhere before making space for a humungous bass synth melody - so big in fact that it has never once failed to elicit club-wide bass-face; which for a mid-tempo track is no mean feat. We round things off with ‘Mean Mother’, the most playful of the bunch: a Chicago house-indebted workout reminiscent of Paranoid London at their most visceral. The track feels familiar and almost safe until the synth-work is cranked up to 11, creating a cacophonous SH-101 build-up into a disco-esque drop that would get even the most reluctant raver jumping up and down for more.
Besides all the theatrics and acoustic world building, the evocative sound design and the insatiable, no-nonsense grooves - the thing that makes these tracks stand out is the attention to detail. No two fills are alike, every embellishment is EQ’d and polished to perfection - yet no immediacy is lost. The tracks feel alive, intentional and constantly evolving. Hyperbole aside - we have a serious, generational talent on our hands whose mastery of the equipment, understanding of the dynamics of the dance and unabashed
playfulness is being harnessed into something that stands out head and shoulders above the crowd.
We’re now into the 8th offering from the never-ending stream of great music to reissue from Pacific Coast House Recordings.
This one see’s Cpen, from the Rhodes Through Space / Straight No Chaser collab with Big Sam, on a solo venture. Killer, tripped-out deepness, built for dancing pleasures. As always, snap these up before they’re gone!
Jakob Bro, Brian Blade, Craig Taborn, Chris Cheek, Jesper Zeuthen, Anders Christensen, Larry Grenadier & Marcus Gilmore, playing compositions by Paul Motian and Jakob Bro.
The album was recorded in a single session at New York’s Power Station with engineer James Farber, following a week-long residency at the Village Vanguard.
‘Danish guitarist and composer Jakob Bro is celebrated for his pure reflective expression and penchant for celestial textures, effortlessly distilling and refining quiet sonics. At the Village Vanguard, he leads an impressive group – featuring two bassists and two drummers – for a nearly week-long residency.
‘The perfectly poised, ambient-leaning soundworld that characterizes Bro’s compositions was discomposed and distended by this octet, probing thrilling sounds and providing ample opportunity to create spontaneously. It was an exhilarating jazz night with some of the most esteemed players out there.’ ()
The Five Green Moons present Moon 3. The third sphere to find its way into orbit. On its surface the evolution of a many faceted creature has taken place. Now with long, long tentacles and a million mouths the creature dances and sings. Its voice is the sound of the ghost dub ritual. The echo of spirits passing through the translucent veil. The chants of souls lost in the vampire woods. The clap, clap of its limbs colliding is the sound of frequencies being bent into fascinating new shapes by machine/ human hybrids. Post punk dubwise angular electro folk, Pastoral dub, whatever name you give to this music is of no consequence. It is alive and spinning in orbit.
The third Five Green Moons album sees Justin Robertson's sonic pallet blossoming into new exciting shapes. These 11 tracks offer a wide vista of across the frequencies including a truly remarkable and uncanny tale from celebrated author David Keenan on ' To Haunt of the Dark Earth A Spot' that brings to mind a vision of M.R. James merging with African Headcharge. Another refreshing collaboration can be found on 'Message from the Tone Generator' where underground electronic producer Nickelle adds her magical poetry to the psychedelic swirl. This is a bold and magical offering in a time of pastiche where new shapes are drawn from the sketches of the past.
If you need a sonic shorthand imagine Public Image Limited meeting the haunting chants of a new age Incredible String Band. The spiritual tones of late 70's Don Cherry. The whispering psych swooshes from Planet Gong and most importantly a solid bass foundation straight out of King Tubby's studio.
Rewind to early 2000s London. A home studio, a collection of borrowed gear from car boot sales, and a mind full of futurism. That was the birth of these tracks.
Transparent Sound (Orson Bramley) is a true cult architect of the UK electro scene. Since 1992, he's been bridging the gap between Detroit techno, acid, and rave futurism. With a legacy spanning Tresor, Electrix, and Soma, he now lands on No Static Automatic for a very special release.
No Static Automatic presents The Lost Tapes — a new EP of lost recordings from the early 2000s London era. Dug out of DAT tapes and CDRs, recorded in Orson's home studio with borrowed and loaned gear and car boot sale finds. Raw, unpolished, and proper electro history. 3 tracks plus a remix of Ara-u.
Prolific British multi-instrumentalist William Dorey makes music emphasising traditional means of recording under the Skinshape moniker, referencing influences ranging from Ennio Morricone to The Beatles, and a variety of genres including but not limited to retro funk, soul, reggae, psychedelic rock, African music and folk. Far from carrying an anything goes attitude, Dorey's is an evocative melting pot moulded in an orderly fashion, creating output that keeps categorisation open-ended. Whilst tackling a busy tour schedule over the past 18 months, Skinshape has continued to find time to make music in his studio based in North London. The latest endeavour is titled Chapman's Pool - named after a bay on the Jurassic coast in Dorset, located walking distance from where Dorey grew up. Chapman's Pool carries a sense that Skinshape is reconnecting with the sound which formed his musical identity, drawing inspiration from spaghetti westerns, trip-hop, `60s+'70s Ethiopian Jazz, '80s South African bubble gum and so on, all while the multiple years of recording, songwriting and production experience are clearly audible.
Andreas Tilliander returns to Kontra-Musik in a grand style with his second TM404 album. Titled 'Acidub', this highly anticipated release is much more of an evolution than a repetition of the first superbly self-restricted album, where Tilliander even decided to use only one of the two Roland TB-303 waveforms. Acidub is a more playful and open listening experience, no doubt inspired by his extensive live touring with the TM404 concept. In fact, you can almost hear Tilliander's flock of acid machines breaking free from the restrained modus operandi. Every sound is like a migratory bird with a heart yearning for high altitude and favourable winds. The opening track Alinge paints a lucid picture of these acid birds leaving a cold industrial landscape behind, the flickering black shadows from their wings against the white smoke rising from a forest of chimneys below. The very last seconds of Alinge even echo of the place the silver birds are longing for, but that will remain a secret between Kontra-Musik and the avid listener. Sufficient to say, we can follow these birds of passage as they're heading south towards a warmer climate, fleeing the cold discipline of the North. Mutron Mantra, for instance, brings us to a rainforest full of serpentine lianas, giant leaves dripping with moist and green pools of water bubbling with organic life. Don't Defend Mascot guides us through a steaming savannah at dusk with hundreds of yellow eyes following our every step while Pade vividly describes the perils of the flight and the pace and courage needed to press on. In all, Acidub is a surprisingly exuberant follow-up to the more introspective TM404 album. But while the musical journey of this second album is quite different, the experience of sheer aural eminence remains the same. Andreas Tilliander has done it again, and Kontra-Musik couldn't be prouder.
There's a tendency in metal to mistake aggression for honesty, volume for depth. To confuse the performance of darkness with its actual weight. Hidden Fires Burn Hottest, the new album from San Francisco-based post-black metal band Bosse-de-Nage, sidesteps this entirely. It’s the group’s most fully realized work yet, precisely because it refuses to be pinned down.
Bosse-de-Nage have been working with The Flenser for over fifteen years. They were one of the first bands the label ever partnered with and have the longest active relationship in the label's history. But unlike most bands who build momentum through constant touring and visibility, Bosse-de-Nage has largely existed apart from the music world's usual machinery. They've evolved on their own terms, in relative isolation, allowing the work to develop without outside pressure or influence. What began rooted in black metal anonymity has mutated into something that actively defies categorization. The aggression is still there, but it's no longer the point. Hidden Fires Burn Hottest finds the band treating emotions like physical objects, feelings with spatial properties. “No Such Place"" describes a space that can't exist but does anyway, somewhere between thought and location. ""Immortality Project"" examines infinite possibility not as promise but as problem, endless options collapsing under their own weight. These songs don't use metaphor to describe emotion. They make emotion into something you could theoretically touch.
Tracked by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Oathbreaker) at Atomic Garden East and mixed and mastered by Richard Chowenhill of Agriculture, Hidden Fires Burn Hottest was years in development, with some tracks beginning in 2018.
The long writing process offered time that most records don't get. Time to live with ideas, revise endlessly, to let structures settle. For the first time, lyricist Bryan Manning wrote everything in advance, creating a surplus to pull from rather than working under deadline pressure. The difference shows.
Coming off Further Still, an album built on constraint and economy, Bosse-de-Nage sought the opposite: sprawl, strangeness, fewer rules. Space for ideas to develop without rushing them. Dynamics that move through quiet as much as noise. Presence earned through atmosphere instead of volume. The record even includes ""Mementos,"" which might be considered the first love song the band has ever written.
Nothing here coheres into a theme. These are pieces pulled from low moments and private feelings made public through sound. The band has never been interested in positivity, in music that resolves cleanly or offers comfort. But bleakness doesn't mean humorlessness. There's something darkly funny running through much of it, even when it shouldn't be.
Hidden Fires Burn Hottest doesn't explain itself. It just insists: what you feel is as real as what you can see."
Soft Resonance is a 4-track EP focused on deep, driving techno with a strong sense of space and movement. The tracks are built to work on a system — controlled pressure, solid low end, and evolving atmospheres.
Each piece moves between elevation and grounding: moments of lift and openness contrast with dense, earth-bound grooves designed to lock the floor in place.
Rather than peak-time aggression, the EP relies on tension, resonance, and gradual progression. Rhythms are steady and hypnotic, allowing DJs to shape long blends and transitions. Soft Resonance functions both as a tool and a statement —
deep techno for late hours, focused rooms, and careful hands behind the decks.
Jason Wilkins aka Cammile welcomes Lello Di Franco to his long-running Adeen imprint. As usual the Italian veteran has an eye-catching selection of collaborators in tow. Chief amongst these is Javontte, who not only guests on opener 'Do It Right' - a nostalgic chunk of classic house/boogie/jazz-funk fusion - but also flipside cut 'Elements', a hybrid deep house/Afro-house/disco house bouncer topped off with poetic spoken word vocals courtesy of Yvette Garrett. Alongside the duo's original vocal mix, we also get a jacking, stripped-back Toddsonic33 take and a propulsive, percussion-rich 'Vocal Dub'. Elesewhere, Orlando Voorn lends a hand on the appropriately titled 'The Deep', and Di Franco offers up the languid, organ-rich mid-tempo house shuffle of 'Lely The SBT'.
From the depths of Rotterdam's machine soul, Gerd returns with Plasmic Echo - a four-track transmission drifting between submerged dub atmospheres, decayed textures and hypnotic late-night pressure. Released on Frame Of Mind, the EP moves through dense fog, frozen delays and low-end currents with precision and restraint. Deep, spacious and subtly psychedelic, Plasmic Echo balances stripped-down rhythm tracks with immersive atmospheres and pulsing analog textures. Built for dark rooms, long blends and those moments where time starts to dissolve into the groove.
As the thirteenth release on Guy J's Early Morning imprint, this three-track collection unfolds across 25 minutes and 9 seconds, exploring movement, emotion, and introspection through three distinct yet interconnected works.
The release opens with Secret Serv1ce, an uncompromising statement driven by a commanding beat, layered percussion, and psychedelic textures that blur the boundary between reality and abstraction. Its hypnotic momentum earns attention, reaffirming Guy J's command of both studio craftsmanship and musical skills.
At the centre of the release lies Placebo, the collection's longest work. Across nearly eleven minutes, it balances ethereal atmospheres with a meticulously engineered groove. Delicate electronic textures gradually give way to an irresistible melodicmotif that transforms the track's emotional landscape.
Closing the EP is My Existence, an intimate exploration of identity that reflects both the artist familiar to audiences around the world and the quieter dimensions hidden beneath the surface. Synthesizer interplay and forward-looking sound design converge into a navigation through unexplored emotional and sonic terrain while connecting memory, imagination, and rhythm into a unified whole.
With EARLY013, Guy J demonstrates how electronic music can remain both intellectually engaging and physically compelling, inviting listeners to lose themselves on the dance floor while discovering something deeper within the process.
Priding themselves in having cultivated a community and culture at their club nights, they play some of the best music ever cut to wax. It might not be quite what you’d expect from a typical northern soul night, it isn’t stepping back into the past, it’s the music stepping forward into 21st century.
“We’re not interested in nostalgia – we love soul music because it’s brilliant. It probably still resonates with young people because it has a message of something bigger than what’s inside your own head – that what really matters resides in relationships with other people, not material things. We think that is beautiful” – DNSC.
“Deptford Northern Soul Club have emerged as the new faces of northern soul” – Yuck.
As featured in Alan Byron’s documentary Northern Soul: Still Burning (2026).
“By recontextualising northern soul in a modern context, they empower the genre to continuously evolve, imparting new meaning to younger, perhaps previously unaware audiences” – Pilot magazine
To celebrate another year around the sun, we’re proud to present our second vinyl release: Formulation — a 4-track EP that perfectly captures the label’s output over the past year while continuing our commitment to physical formats and attention to detail.
Like its predecessor "Foundation" is a various artists release featuring some of the key names from our latest catalog. The formula goes like this:
A Side: Iron T.C. and Hor-G take control of the slower side of the record with aggressive drums, distortion and the raw energy that defines their sound. Epic atmospheres and humanoid vocals introduce a heavy breakbeat assault from two of the strongest names in the Iberian underground. A perfect blend of dirty electro and industrial breakbeat built to turn the dancefloor upside down.
B Side: Heathen, The Egg & No Rules push the BPMs higher in the other side. Dark landscapes and metallic drums twist into a spiral of tension and halftime rhythms. Three experienced explorers of the niche taking techstep sound beyond its usual limits — for those into density, introspection and long blends
Another solid step into the physical format — and a glimpse of what’s still to come...
Once again, huge thanks to everyone involved in the project and to all our supporters who make this possible.
To celebrate another year around the sun, we’re proud to present our second vinyl release: Formulation — a 4-track EP that perfectly captures the label’s output over the past year while continuing our commitment to physical formats and attention to detail.
Like its predecessor "Foundation" is a various artists release featuring some of the key names from our latest catalog. The formula goes like this:
A Side: Iron T.C. and Hor-G take control of the slower side of the record with aggressive drums, distortion and the raw energy that defines their sound. Epic atmospheres and humanoid vocals introduce a heavy breakbeat assault from two of the strongest names in the Iberian underground. A perfect blend of dirty electro and industrial breakbeat built to turn the dancefloor upside down.
B Side: Heathen, The Egg & No Rules push the BPMs higher in the other side. Dark landscapes and metallic drums twist into a spiral of tension and halftime rhythms. Three experienced explorers of the niche taking techstep sound beyond its usual limits — for those into density, introspection and long blends
Another solid step into the physical format — and a glimpse of what’s still to come...
Once again, huge thanks to everyone involved in the project and to all our supporters who make this possible.
(limited red vinyl, including poster / lyric sheet) 'The Way You Talk Reminds Me Of Home' is the second album by Belgian indie band BLUAI. Two years after their warmly received debut 'Save It For Later' and an extensive run of shows across some of Europe's biggest festivals and venues, the three-piece return with their most ambitious and immediate record yet.
Across eleven songs, BLUAI explore what it means to live somewhere between past and present. Conversations with family, friends, partners and people who resurface after years away become starting points for songs about childhood, love, grief, responsibility and the uncertainty of approaching thirty. Rather than a traditional coming-of-age record, 'The Way You Talk Reminds Me Of Home' is about figuring things out while you are already in the middle of them.
Produced by Isabel Gracefield (Adele, Dua Lipa, PJ Harvey, Radiohead...) and recorded at London's legendary RAK Studios, the album was made with a deliberately instinctive approach.
BLUAI much as they sound on stage: raw, direct and closely connected.
'Palle Mikkelborg (b. 1941) - a spiritual jazz legend, acclaimed composer, trumpet player and electronic music pioneer - is back in the studio recording his first solo album in more than 25 years. Working with him as a producer is Jakob Bro, with whom he has recorded the great ECM albums Returnings with Jon Christensen and Thomas Morgan, and Strands with Marilyn Mazur.
'"When Palle decided to stop touring and performing live, I suggested that we sit down together and listen through the many MiniDiscs and DAT tapes he had tucked away, hoping we might find a new direction for making music together. We went through everything - recordings of orchestras and choirs, soundscapes, and so on - material he had worked on throughout his career,” says Jakob Bro. “I can still remember the first time we said it out loud. Suddenly, it made perfect sense in my mind: a solo album. An album devoted entirely to Palle - his sound, his vision, his voice. It felt like something the world truly needed.”
'This final opus sees Palle Mikkelborg re-interpret and record his own orchestral works and two pieces by Per Nørgaard and Thomas Laub as 'meditations' on solo piano, trumpet and flugelhorn mixed with soundscapes and guest performances by longtime collaborators Helen Davis, Jakob Bro and Thomas Li.
'As a soloist his sound on trumpet and flugelhorn is both much loved and familiar after decades at the forefront of Nordic Music, but on Light one is struck by the weight Palle Mikkelborg has given his soundscapes and the grand piano. Forever curious on what's ahead, the album underlines his spiritual and ever-seeking approach to free improvisation, classical composition, choral works and experimental sound landcapes.'
“Everybody wants the map, but the correct one is not coming. This is understood, somewhere below language, by everyone who wants a map anyway. Meanwhile the map dealers, those slick druids and wizards, goddamn sell-outs, will try to seduce you with one. Don't buy from them. Their maps only show burned black fields.
What passes instead between the ones still walking is smaller and does not require a subscription. A sign. Nailed to a fencepost, or to an unexpected streetlight surrounded by darkness. Left by someone who was thirsty on this road back when you were only a rumor. It says one thing: water, this way.
So leave signs. Just mark the water you found and move along. It is one of the oldest customs - strangers keeping each other alive and hydrated on a long road.”
Bo Harwood (1946–2022) was one of those behind-the-scenes figures of American independent cinema: a self-taught musician, composer, sound editor, sound mixer and songwriter.
Harwood started out as the lead singer and guitarist of a Southern California rock band before a chance meeting with John Cassavetes changed the course of his career. He scored his first feature, The Bach Train, in 1969, and later joined Husbands as an inexperienced assistant in the editing room. He gradually became Cassavetes’s sound editor, music supervisor, composer and sound mixer, eventually working across six of his films, from Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence through The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Opening Night and Love Streams.Harwood’s music is inseparable from the peculiar emotional universe of those films: strange, romantic, funny and often devastating.
Harwood and Cassavetes worked closely and instinctively together, developing music in the process of making the films. The surviving master tapes reveal something of this exchange: alongside finished pieces are improvisations, experiments and conversations, capturing the two of them working through ideas in real time. Harwood’s compositions were often recorded as rough “scratch tracks”, with Cassavetes preferring their immediacy and vulnerability to more polished arrangements.
This nine-track LP brings together some of that work. There is something wonderfully intimate about hearing these recordings outside the films: the songs stand on their own, while retaining the rawness and emotional charge that made Harwood’s collaboration with Cassavetes so distinctive.
A small document of a remarkable and largely overlooked body of work.
Im Jahr 2026 feiert Big Crown Records sein zehnjähriges Jubiläum. In zehn Jahren kann viel passieren, und das ist auch geschehen. Aus sehr bescheidenen Anfängen hat sich Big Crown zu einem der angesehensten Independent-Labels der Welt entwickelt - mit einem unglaublich talentierten internationalen Künstlerstamm und einem unvergleichlichen Katalog zeitloser Musik. Leon Michels und Danny Akalepse gründeten Big Crown im Jahr 2016 mit einem einfachen Leitgedanken: gute Musik zu veröffentlichen, an die sie glauben - unabhängig vom Genre. BCR10 - Ten Years of Big Crown ist eine Mischung aus Retrospektive und Aktualität: bewährte Perlen aus dem Backkatalog, gemischt mit grundsoliden Stücken aus den neuesten Alben. Eine Doppel-LP mit ausgewählten Titeln von Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, Lady Wray, Brainstory, Derya Yildirim & Grup ímcek, El Michels Affair, Thee Lakesiders, Dave Guy, Les Imprimés, Homer, Thee Marloes, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Bobby Oroza, Marco Benevento, The Shacks, Paul & The Tall Trees, Thee Heart Tones, Surprise Chef, 79.5, Liam Bailey und Holy Hive. Einen tieferen Einblick in die Geschichte von Big Crown vermittelt auf perfekte Weise der Begleittext des einzigartigen Journalisten und DJs Jeff Mao.
Few have dared to record all twenty of Philip Glass’s piano Etudes in their entirety. Even fewer have attempted to remix them. Vanessa Wagner’s 2025 album, Philip Glass: The Complete Piano Etudes, crowns a longstanding passion for Glass’s compositions. While it focuses less on the dialogue between composer and producer that she cultivated with Murcof on Study Of The Invisible, Inland, and Statea, Glass’s music resonates deeply within the world of contemporary electronic music. This EP, part of InFiné’s “Versions” series, passes the baton to a new generation of composer/producers who radically reinterpret these unique piano pieces: Aho Ssan, Carmen Villain, Cucina Povera & Tauceti.
Vanessa Wagner’s album of Philip Glass’s Piano Etudes received unanimous critical and public acclaim, both in France and internationally. This success earned the pianist a nomination for the 2026 Victoires de la Musique Classique. Following numerous sold-out concerts across France, Vanessa Wagner is currently continuing her tour around the world. She will also serve as curator of the Folle Journée de Nantes in 2027 and 2028.
It's fitting that Mike Jefford is both a photographer and a musician, his music career having slowly evolved like a developing photo coaxes Technicolor images out of the shadows. His sonic palette began taking shape in Medway, Kent with darker, grittier strains: teenage grunge and metal turned into drum & bass and IDM, following the Brighton club scene to Berlin as Positive Centre, until he made a nest in rural Portugal where Laguna Seca’s bright, expressive range would blossom.
A longstanding friendship with Chris Clark supported Jefford’s most pivotal artistic evolution yet, jumping from a decade of techno dusk to music practically overflowing with life as Laguna Seca debuted on Throttle Records.
“O tempo” can mean “the time” or “the weather” in Portuguese, two intensely changing powers whose many different connotations Jefford reflects in a highly varied tracklist. The breadth of climatic catharsis permeates through textural production and songwriting experiments, down into the very bedrock of the album’s engineering process where Jefford traces the long signal chain of time: the amps, desks, and tapes of Motown, the vinyl mastering studio’s intricacies, the Akai samplers that gave modern hip hop its “ghostly and impressionistic” sound, the software that drives electronic music today.
Much as 2026’s O Tempo was inspired by vintage tonality, retro aesthetic, and the likes of CAN, Kraftwerk, and Jimi Hendrix, it’s not an exercise in nostalgia; this is music that could have only been made with today’s technological advancements, revelling in anachronisms and collisions between hindsight and present tense.
It’s tempting to view Jefford’s projects as opposites, but they come from the same sonic values. Positive Centre’s “bleak” and “sinister” world is also incredibly detailed, constantly updating pile-driving grooves with microscopic flourishes and vast ambient swells. The flaring psychedelia of Laguna Seca is a continuation of those textural, material, and kinetic explorations, where plate reverb splashes, blistering and crunchy beats, vocal glimmers, and guitar swagger are all glued together by recurrent themes of memory and time. As each of his projects travel to the same destination, all of Jefford’s roads have eventually led to vibrant colour.
After cutting his teeth in the late '70s No Wave scene with bands Theoretical Girls and The Static, Glenn Branca made his first solo statement, Lesson No. 1, in 1980. The inaugural release on legendary post-punk / dance label 99 Records, Lesson No. 1 unveils Branca's visionary guitar concepts with two monstrous, side-long compositions that helped forge NYC's downtown art-punk sound and acted as a massive influence on countless young groups, including Sonic Youth and Swans.
The title track is easily Branca's most-accessible moment; its driving beat and interlocking patterns resemble German pioneers Neu! playing Philip Glass. Never before (or since) has minimalism sounded so euphoric. "Dissonance" is the A-side's polar opposite. Dark, skittish and unhinged, Branca leads his band (guitar, keyboard, bass, drums and sledgehammer) through block after block of industrial terror, leaving listeners drained in the process.
London duo Kassian trade darkness for daylight on Gradients, their third EP for !K7 Records
The EP arrives as a bridge between last year's debut album and a new live show and sophomore LP, due in 2027
As Kassian, Warren Cummings and Joe Danvers continue to sit apart from any one scene. Their fruitful relationship with !K7 has spanned eclectic and global club cuts, including the spatial breaks and bass of 2024's best-selling Supercontinent EP. 2025's debut album, Channels, emerged from lockdown so leaned slow, downtempo and introspective, but this new EP points toward a clubbier, more physical direction that will carry through into album two.
Crucially, the record was written and played live on an array of studio gear rather than assembled piece by piece in the box. It's a way of building towards their first fully live show in 2027 - a hands-on, jam-first approach that leads to "happy accidents" and the unpredictable textures that hardware throws up and no amount of in-the-box planning can replicate.
Gradients is built for the floor without playing to trends and marks some of the duo's most melodic work to date. Rather than sitting purely in heads-down territory, the EP folds in hooks and vocal fragments that lift you out of the smoke and the shadows of the club. The low ends are still rooted in techno with potent drums and bass, but deft vocal hooks and subtle melodies bring a brightness that deliberately steers away from the darker, meaner aesthetic dominating much of dance music right now.
Vocal touches throughout nod to what's going on in the wider underground without tethering to tried and tested tropes. Opener 'Blush' rides warm, soft yet bold melodic riffs, looping in arcs over a hunched, speedy tech house groove. 'Ritmo' is a muscular bouncer with spring-loaded bass, 'Inner Dance' has lurching drums and a cavernous rhythm with vocals that make a playful nod to sound system culture. Last but not least, 'Sweat' is the brightest and most bubbly cut on the EP, with a tight techno low end infused with a velvety whispered vocal.
The Gradients EP is a bright, hardware-built prelude to Kassian's next chapter and a typically well-crafted four-tracker that pairs physical weight with classy emotional release.
More than five decades into one of Brazilian music's most remarkable careers, Joyce Moreno returns with a new collection of songs that reflect the warmth, lyrical sophistication and innovation that have made her one of Brazil's most defining musical voices.
Produced by Joyce Moreno alongside her husband and longtime collaborator Tutty Moreno, the album finds the Rio-born singer, guitarist and composer at her most reflective. Across nine beautifully crafted songs, Joyce pairs intricate guitar work, lyrical intimacy and effortless swing with the musical curiosity that has defined her work for more than half a century.
Invited into the studio by Roberto Menescal at just sixteen years old, Joyce emerged during a transformative period for Brazilian music, releasing her self-titled debut in 1968. She soon established herself as one of Brazil's pioneering female songwriters, writing unapologetically from a woman's perspective at a time when few women were afforded that voice. Her song “Me Disseram” sparked national debate, while later works including “Feminina” cemented her reputation as an artist unafraid to challenge convention.
While some of her politically charged songs were censored during Brazil's military dictatorship, Joyce continued to write with honesty and independence. After studying journalism in the late 1960s, her gift for observation and storytelling became an even more defining feature of her songwriting. Over the following decades she released a succession of acclaimed albums, including the now-classic Feminina and Água e Luz, earning widespread recognition both in Brazil and internationally. Antônio Carlos Jobim would later describe her as "one of the greatest singers", while generations of musicians have drawn inspiration from her fearless artistry and enduring originality.
That same artistic fearlessness remains at the heart of her latest work. The album brings together an exceptional ensemble of Brazilian musicians. Tutty Moreno's expressive drumming underpins Joyce's vocals and guitar throughout, while Jorge Helder's bass, Lula Galvão's guitar and Marcos Nimrichter's warm Fender Rhodes create a sound that is both intimate and expansive. Contributions also come from the legendary Toninho Horta, alongside José Arimatéa, Teco Cardoso, Nailor Proveta, Josué dos Santos and Raphael Sampaio, whose additions add colour and texture without overshadowing Joyce's understated brilliance.
Throughout the album, Joyce balances quiet reflection with effortless rhythmic vitality. “Chovendo na Horta” serves as both a heartfelt dedication and a celebration of Joyce's enduring musical connections, featuring the unmistakable guitar of Toninho Horta. Elsewhere, “Aldeia de Ogum” receives a fresh new arrangement by Nailor Proveta, revisiting one of Joyce's most beloved compositions. Originally released in 1980, the track has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence in recent years, embraced by a new generation of listeners and became an underground favourite among DJs including Floating Points, Four Tet and Danilo Plessow. Now a staple of Joyce's live performances, this reimagined version brings renewed energy to a song that continues to transcend generations.
At seventy-eight, Joyce Moreno continues to write with the same curiosity, generosity and quiet innovation that have defined her career from the very beginning. "For me, it's never too soon to try something new, either in music or in life," she reflects - a philosophy that gives both the album and its title their enduring sense of optimism. This latest album is neither a retrospective nor a reinvention, but the work of an artist who continues to refine her voice with remarkable grace, proving that her most compelling music remains firmly rooted in the present.
Following the album's release, Joyce Moreno will embark on a European tour this November, bringing her celebrated live show to audiences across the UK and Europe. A rare opportunity to experience one of Brazil's most influential and enduring artists in concert, the tour showcases a songwriter whose voice, virtuosity and musical vision remain as compelling today as ever.
Mark E returns to his long-standing and widely celebrated MERC label with a new, immaculately realised suite of four new voyages into the sonic depths...
Mark's production chops really shine here, dynamic, textured and hypnotic joints for the small hours.
The long-awaited 7-inch release of the live recording of "Unknown Happiness," the signature song by Maher Shalal Hash Baz led by Tori Kudo!
Coupling two live takes of their signature song with distinct arrangements, an essential release that offers a fresh perspective on the unique world of Maher Shalal Hash Baz!
"Unknown Happiness", the signature song of Maher Shalal Hash Baz, the Japanese experimental music project formed in 1984 and led by Tori Kudo. A piece that perfectly embodies the group's one-of-a-kind musical world?freely traversing folk, jazz, brass, classical music, and improvisation?its simple yet heartwarming melody continues to be cherished by indie and experimental music fans around the world.
Now, the live version that captures the song's charm in its freshest form is finally available on a 7-inch record. Side A features the distinctive ensemble of Maher Shalal Hash Baz, beautifully imperfect and filled with the unique atmosphere that only a live performance can convey. Side B presents a special live version with a piano-centered arrangement, revealing a new dimension of the song.
“Cue Blue”, the latest and fifth studio recording from Australian down under, gritty jazzfunk grooves ensemble Kerbside Collection sees a return to a more classic, stripped back, meat-and-potatoes, home-cooked, quartet formation sound of guitar, bass, drums and brass.
A sound formed on previous, recent recordings (incl. Golden Rules compilation tune “Fleet Streak” etc), seemingly harking back to the approach of the group’s first recordings (2013’s “Mind The Curb”, “Night in Tunisia” etc), whilst embodying inspirations from more ‘true school’, classic, bluesy New Orleans funk and soul groove flavours à la early Meters, Boogaloo Joe Jones, Melvin Sparks, Billy Butler etc. But it’s not all completely ‘retro’ and ‘looking back’, the album definitely taps into some of the current exponents and leaders of the contemporary deep funk sound – The Greyboy Allstars, Eddie Roberts, The New Mastersounds, The Mighty Mocambos, Breakestra and fellow Aussie funksters Cookin’ on 3 Burners, Lance Ferguson and The Bamboos etc.
The lead single and first tune “Shivers” gives us a clear, picture and definitive opening statement to the record with all the characteristics you’ve come to expect from the Kerbside gritty jazzfunk sound: silky guitar line phrasing, rubbery bass-lines, tight crusty drum breaks, and sweet brass arrangements. Then it’s straight into a frenetic, jangly, mod-funk workout complete with Northern Soul & Motown inflections in the surging B sections. “City Park Avenue” conjures up classic New Orleans funk flavours with its strutting brass, slinky guitar and swinging tambourine groove. There’s classic, b-boy funk territory covered in “Coffee Grinder” (a breakdance move) with its razor-sharp drum break groove and chunky riff complete with sizzling trombone solo. Before the pace of the record changes up with the finger-clicken’, hand-clappin’ boogaloo, reminiscent of early 60s Harlem x Puerto Rican Bronx sounds (à la Willie Bobo, Mongo Santamaria, Ray Barretto) loaded with a scintillating baritone sax solo from long standing part of the collection ‘Papa Joe’ Roberts.
“Sittin’ On The Porch” cools the temperature down even more, delving into slight Southern Louisiana Delta blues territory, while suggesting some of the hot and muggy atmosphere and imagery of their home town location in suburban Brisbane Australia, complete with kooky Casio percussion representing familiar yard sounds such as sprinklers (spinning lawn watering devices) and ‘mozzies’ (mosquitos), passing cars indicated by trombone, and guitarist TC Tyler, channelling some bluesy John Lee Hooker, R.L. Burnside guitar flavours - you can almost feel the humidity on your skin.
Then it’s time for a stroll down memory lane, with their version of a People Under The Stairs hip hop classic “San Francisco Knights”, bringing the tune full circle back into band mode, also with another tasty guitar solo. The album then enters its final stages with a mesmerising, soulful, jazz ballad “Shimmer”, complete with Elliott Parker’s sultry upright double bass, and trombone taking the melody for a gentle stroll down the street. The album finally closes and arrives at its title “Cue Blue”, a classic blue-eyed soul number (penned by bassist Parker), emitting the scent of true school, vintage R&B and soul (à la Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye).
An album of funky arrangements and refined compositions, mostly penned by recent new-ish member, guitarist Tyler (for fans of Tower of Power & John Scofield guitar playing) taking the ensemble through their paces with all the usual characteristics of the Kerbside sound, on top a groove that will take you round-the-block-and-back :P Gritty jazzfunk and rustic soul grooves with definite bluesy overtones, some classic 60s, 70s flourishes and down-home funk flavours.
Blending shimmering disco grooves, warm analog synths and soulful vocals, Luna Soul bring together the elegance of the 70s and 80s with contemporary disco pop. Formed by German singer Lisa Michèle Lietz and Spanish guitarist Jordi Arnau Rubio, the band creates music that feels equally at home on the dancefloor and during a quiet drive home after midnight.
Following the release of their debut album „First Move“ (2025), Luna Soul have established themselves as an internationally touring live act, performing more than 50 concerts each year across Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Denmark. Airplay and features on radio stations including Deutschlandradio Kultur, Radio Eins, NDR and Bayern 2 introduced the band to a growing European audience.
With their new album „Second Nature“ Luna Soul expand both sonically and emotionally. Written between tours and shaped by constant movement, the record explores themes of change, longing, resilience and the search for genuine connection. Ten new songs unfold like scenes from a midnight movie. Synthesizers, guitars and soulful melodies accompany stories of long journeys, quiet conversations, fading memories and the hope found in new beginnings. The album’s first singles, “Only Human” and “Down The Line” capture the two emotional poles of the record. „Only Human“ embraces vulnerability and acceptance with an uplifting warmth, while „Down The Line“ moves through nocturnal cityscapes, combining cinematic intimacy with the pulse of the dancefloor. Together they introduce an album that feels equally suited to solitary late-night drives and crowded dancefloors.
Live, Luna Soul perform as an multi-national four- to six-piece band, seamlessly moving between disco, sophisticated indie pop, yacht rock and atmospheric slow-burners. Their performances combine musical precision with emotional immediacy, inviting audiences into the same cinematic world that defines „Second Nature“.
„Second Nature“ defines Luna Soul‘s most mature artistic statement to date, a record less concerned with nostalgia than with preserving fleeting moments before they disappear.
First run of limited black and white vinyl versions of this huge cold war themed classic. Includes Devil's Dancers amongst other tracks. Huge!!
Minimal Wave proudly presents a newly remastered deluxe double album of archival material by pioneering 80s minimal electronic duo Oppenheimer Analysis. Oppenheimer Analysis formed in London, England in 1982 by Andy Oppenheimer and Martin Lloyd. Their first meeting though was at the 1979 World Science Fiction Convention in Brighton. They quickly became good friends, sharing an interest in the work of David Bowie, electronic music and early synthesizer bands such as the Human League and Soft Cell. They also shared a love of old science fiction movies, 1950s graphics and comic book imagery and a fascination with post-World War II propaganda, the politics and aesthetics of the Cold War, and the social impact of the atomic bomb. Over the next few years Andy and Martin frequented the growing club scene, including Studio 21 on Oxford Street, and became involved in the developing Futurist and New Romantic style sub-cultures. During this period Martin recorded as Analysis, both alone and with David Rome of Drinking Electricity. They released their first single, 'Surface Tension/Connections' on David's Survival label in 1981. In 1982, Oppenheimer Analysis began writing and recording together at Feedback Studio in Battersea, and performed several times at The Bell, Islington, the 1983 World David Bowie Convention in Hammersmith, the Starzone Birthday Party at Camden Palace, the 1984 European Science Fiction Convention in Brighton and other live venues. Their first demo tape and twelve song 'New Mexico' cassette were sold at gigs and by mail-order, and were reviewed in Melody Maker, Sounds and Soundmaker.
For the years to follow, Oppenheimer Analysis became recognized among electro-music aficionados as a pioneering duo who influenced countless other bands during the club and home-recording era of the early 1980s and beyond. Their cassettes became massively collectible. In 2005 they re-formed with the release of a self-titled four song 12' EP of selections from the New Mexico cassette, including 'Cold War' and 'The Devil's Dancers'. This marked the first release on Minimal Wave. Now in 2015, we're happy to present the entire New Mexico collection, newly remastered and cut to vinyl for the first time ever, to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. This first edition of 1000 copies is pressed on deluxe 'nuclear' style black and white 160 gram vinyl, housed in a glossy gatefold silver and black printed sleeve, featuring all the song lyrics on the inside of the sleeve. Release date: May 16th, 2015. This quintessential reissue has been produced in loving memory of Martin Lloyd.
„Nowawes2“ marks the second chapter for the label, staying true to its sound without repeating itself. Poul Verner delivers another limited hand-stamped two-tracker built around warm analog textures, organic grooves and understated depth. No unnecessary tricks, no oversized moments. Just two carefully crafted cuts that unfold in their own time. The A-side, „Choose Your Future“, settles into a deep 120 BPM groove, drifting through layers of dub delays, tape noise, subtle pads and restrained chords. Equal parts dub techno and deep house, it leaves plenty of space for atmosphere to do the talking. Flip it over and „Choose Life“ raises the tempo to 130 BPM without sacrificing its hypnotic flow. Stretching across 12 minutes, it builds patiently without ever rushing its destination. More drive, more momentum, yet the same sense of space. Dreamlike, immersive and made for those moments when the dancefloor locks into a rhythm of its own. „Nowawes2“ continues to explore the space between laid back house and organic techno with patience, restraint and an unmistakably analog character. Built for long blends, late hours and selectors who know that the most subtle records often leave the deepest impression.
Shape of the Unknown’ is kind of a double LP that fully embraces the idea of exploration. It is CHLOÉ’s most expansive and immersive work to date. ‘Shape of the Unknown’ is CHLOÉ’s fourth proper studio album. Its predecessor, ‘Endless Revisions’, was released in 2017. Nine years have passed. Nine years during which CHLOÉ has continued digging for music, DJing at internationally renowned clubs and festivals including Rex Club, Robert Johnson, Panorama Bar, Nuits Sonores, Glastonbury and many more, releasing EPs and remixes, while also allowing herself the time to explore entirely new creative paths.
The challenge is to capture the unknown, make it her own, endlessly reshape its textures, and ultimately preserve its mystery.
The first single ‘Drifter’, released back in June, already offered a striking glimpse of the sonic territories the album would venture into, driven by its hypnotically contoured basslines. The album's two other singles offer different windows into her world. 'Shapeshifter' captures CHLOÉ at her most hypnotic, balancing stripped-back techno and melodic house through deep rolling grooves, expansive bass chords and subtle rhythmic shifts that constantly reshape the listener's perception without ever disrupting the flow. Later, 'Repeating The Obvious' takes a more leftfield route, pairing staggered rhythms with retro-inspired harmonics and an understated indie dance pulse that feels simultaneously familiar and unpredictable.
CHLOÉ has ventured into live performance through new formats, notably alongside percussionist Vassilena Serafimova; immersed herself in film scoring with soundtracks for Paris la Blanche, Arthur Rambo, The Mountain, Blanquita, Guru and Unsubmissives; and developed compelling collaborations, from High Season, her project with Ben Shemie of Canadian band Suuns (which resulted in the album The Call), to her own organic, experimental audiovisual performances under the name Slo/Mo AV.
Throughout Shape of the Unknown, CHLOÉ blurs the boundaries between deep house, hypnotic techno, electronica and cinematic sound design with remarkable fluidity. The album unfolds as a continuous narrative rather than a sequence of tracks, moving effortlessly between beatless ambient passages, rolling analogue grooves and emotionally charged club music. Organic percussion, sweeping bass movements, melancholic harmonies and richly textured synthesisers create a body of work that constantly evolves, where no section feels static and every transition reveals another layer of depth. There is an unmistakable warmth running through the record, with grainy analogue textures and spacious production giving even its most driving moments an intimate, almost tactile quality.
The album’s title is no coincidence. It evokes a form that has yet to be named, something language itself struggles to grasp. CHLOÉ approaches it through an organic creative process. Each piece must first be performed in the studio, almost as if it were being played live. The album will be followed by a series of live performances and DJ sets, including a show at the Olympia on March 18, 2027.
She is joined by a handful of steadfast collaborators. Jazz trumpeter David Enhco appears on two tracks, ‘Undertow’ and ‘Inner Bass’. But above all, there are the voices: Ben Shemie lends his unmistakable presence to the radiant ‘More Than Just a Feeling’. Olivia Merilahti, singer, songwriter and one half of The Dø, appears on the otherworldly ‘TWYR’. Working with Olivia’s already hypnotic voice, CHLOÉ has approached it like a sculptor, enhancing its strangeness and dreamlike quality.
And finally, impossible to miss is the instantly recognizable voice of Kittin. A longtime accomplice, she lends her distinctive phrasing to CHLOÉ’s music here for the very first time. The strongest collaborations are often those that take their time, arriving only when the moment is right. Same kind, same bass, same vibe, same pride.
The result is an enigmatic, nocturnal record, drifting between introspective listening and dancefloor functionality, revealing an artist who remains far more interested in atmosphere, movement and emotional storytelling than conventional club structures. It is an album that invites us to dream more deeply and to dance again, both within ourselves and out in the open.
This is the sound of dream Texas, the cinematic Texas conjured in film and 20th century literary and art myth… big dark blueing horizons swallowing the infinite distance, a lonely poetry of sound, but also a stock taker of the iconoclastic, psychedelic, art rebel side of Texas… the cracked rock music side of Texas, the avant-garde in concrete cracks, the recklessly used, mind expanding drugs Texas, the dripping eastern swamps, the Houston house parties with the sounds of records blasting down the block and becoming musique concrète in the hot summer night.
Chrome Chasm’s debut album Interpreter is ambient, minimal in feel, maximal in texture, beautifully disorienting, vastly spacious— until it isn’t. It's a naturalistic shapeshifter, taking majestic form in the aforementioned elements and then dissolving back to raw genetic material to form anew. Spiritual jazz overtones, pedal steel moans and buzzing, noisy ambient visions are upended by grey-folded psychedelic unveilings. Interpreter’s three expansive tracks present a most detailed performance by its three deft musicians and the outcome often feels like a gorgeous collage in real-time.
Chrome Chasm was formed in 2024 by three of Houston’s brightest underground stars: Mlee Marie (Hearts Of Animals) on alto saxophone, flute and voice (whose long-form experimental sax performances helped inspire the formation of the band), Will Adams (Lower Dens/ Ka-Nives) on pedal steel, synth, percussion and voice, and Tom Carter on guitar. Carter has been casting a long shadow over Texas psychedelia and American underground music for over 3 decades, most notably with the Houston based Charalambides, a powerful creative force of the pre-new weird America era of experimental and avant psychedelic music, and most notably since with his solo guitar magnum opus Long Time Underground (which was deemed among the best experimental albums of 2015 by Pitchfork).
Interpreter’s opening track “The Star,” recorded almost completely live in one room and one take, is a 16-minute manifesto on ‘Dream Noir.’ An astute scholar of cross-genre connectivity and the through-lines of kosmische and spiritual-leaning sonic realms can hear echoes of Cluster, the skronk and beauty of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and the architectural ambient flow of Harold Budd and Philip Glass in the tidal lapping of distorted guitar, mantra-like saxophone and pedal steel flow. From its deconstructed, pastoral opening moments to its proto-electronic center that crests into a bombastic polytonal climax, Chrome Chasm never neglect narrative arc for experimentation and avant technique. In fact, as a group, they effortlessly control, open, fill and contract space in abeyance to emotional vibration. “The Star,” and indeed the album as a whole, feels more like a communion or extended poem, in direct communication with the listener, than it does a ‘captured experience.’
Across the three longform tracks of Interpreter, Chrome Chasm conducts a masterclass in fusing real time performance energy with an abstract, cut-up master’s reimagining of the literal. They demand the listener meet their music with dream logic and then, like the best dream peddlers, they present a labyrinth to fall into and experience, a place where explanation and conclusion become obsolete, and engagement and immersion become sublime.
Larry Thompson and Rick Lenoir AKA LNR were early house pioneers who dropped seminal cuts from the late 80s onwards, but few had the impact of their debut, ‘Work It To The Bone’.
The darkly alluring anthem mixed tribal percussion with a minimal groove that went deep and soon became a dance floor classic, spawning a thousand copycats. It has remained an evergreen favourite across the years and now gets covered by New York’s long-time house heavyweight and Grammy-winning producer, remixer and Elements Of Life founder Louie Vega under his Funki Cadets alias. He hooks up with Chicago mainstay Mike Dunn and go-to contemporary house producer Wade Teo for a new version that beefs up the original for modern dance floors.
The opening Louie Vega Mix dials into the original’s tribal energy with a chunky, bouncing groove and hard-hitting percussion, then layers in more synths, effects, and drama to the full-fat sound. It’s a sweaty, steamy affair with a constant sense of momentum as the arrangement evolves, different hooks take the lead, and the pressure stays high. In addition to a DJ Tool Acapella and Louie Vega Beats mix, Wade Teo remixes the track with a deeper groove and dusty drums. It’s a more subtle, heads-down sound but packed with the same edge and rawness that made the original so standout.
Nina Wilson, better known as Ninajirachi, is an Australian electronic producer who released her debut album I Love My Computer is a concept record built on her connection with her PC, swiping between genres of EDM, tech-house, speed garage, dubstep, and hyperpop. Wilson builds on the legacy of early-2000s and 2010s Australian electronic artists like PNAU and Flume using technology as a medium, a motif, and a mirror for reflection.
Between remixing Princess Nokia, Deadmau5 & The Neptunes, releasing on Nina Las Vegas’ NLV Records and RL Grime’s Sable Valley, Ninajirachi has performed at Lollapalooza, EDC, Laneway, Listen Out, Splendour, Falls Festival, and more and toured with Mallrat, Charli XCX, Porter Robinson and Cashmere Cat.
Nina Wilson, better known as Ninajirachi, is an Australian electronic producer who released her debut album I Love My Computer is a concept record built on her connection with her PC, swiping between genres of EDM, tech-house, speed garage, dubstep, and hyperpop. Wilson builds on the legacy of early-2000s and 2010s Australian electronic artists like PNAU and Flume using technology as a medium, a motif, and a mirror for reflection.
Between remixing Princess Nokia, Deadmau5 & The Neptunes, releasing on Nina Las Vegas’ NLV Records and RL Grime’s Sable Valley, Ninajirachi has performed at Lollapalooza, EDC, Laneway, Listen Out, Splendour, Falls Festival, and more and toured with Mallrat, Charli XCX, Porter Robinson and Cashmere Cat.
Legendary Children (All of Them Queer)" is a celebrated 1994 dance-pop track by former Frankie Goes to Hollywood frontman Holly Johnson. The song acts as an upbeat LGBTQ+ historical roll-call, honoring historical queer icons from Andy Warhol to Leonardo da Vinci, and was notably performed at London's Gay Pride in 1994. The song is based on the iconic Paris Is Burning and features the brilliant vocals of Helen Terry (Culture Club/2wo Third3).
Released on the album Soulstream, the song is famous for its spoken-word verses and euphoric chorus celebrating legendary figures like Oscar Wilde, Jean Cocteau, and Joe Orton. The overarching message is captured in its defiant lyric: "The answer is clear, they're all of them queer."
Now 2026 sees brand new versions by Luv Foundation (UK). George from the Sharp Boys, a dear friend of Holly's and Mark Loverush, mentioned to Holly that Luv Foundation (UK) should do the rework. Mark Loverush and Julian Napolitano wanted to capture as much of the original essence as possible, keeping that 90s flavor while giving the remix a big, classic feel reflective of how it would sound today.
This is a limited edition of 700 pink vinyl, including 2 of the original versions alongside 2 remixes by Luv Foundation (UK). It comes in brand new artwork by Philip Marshall.
Gold vinyl. Norwegian folk/prog collective Lumsk returns with Einsemda, a dark, emotional and deeply atmospheric new album based on selected poems by Tor Jonsson (1916-1951). Following their acclaimed return after a long hiatus with Fremmede Toner, Lumsk have continued to refine their distinctive blend of progressive metal, folk rock and evocative Nordic storytelling. On Einsemda, the band moves even deeper into the emotional core of the material, shaping music that amplifies the tension, vulnerability, beauty and darkness of Jonsson's poetry. Jonsson's writing is known for its lyrical clarity, emotional intensity and stark contrasts between hope and despair, closeness and distance, life and death - a natural match for Lumsk's powerful and nuanced sound.
For twenty-five years, A State Of—Trance has united trance lovers around the world, evolving from a radio show into a global movement and one of the most influential brands in electronic music.
To celebrate this remarkable milestone, Armin van Buuren presents A State Of—Trance 25 Years - Selected Highlights, a special mix featuring a personally curated selection of ASOT tracks that highlight some of the biggest moments, memories, and milestones from the past quarter century.
Bringing together timeless classics, scene-defining anthems, and exclusive new interpretations, the mix also includes brand-new remixes of beloved ASOT favorites by some of today’s most exciting trance artists, including Andrew Rayel, ReOrder, Matt Fax, and Dan Harrison.
Honoring the past while embracing the future, A State Of—Trance 25 Years - Selected Highlights is a celebration of the music, artists, and global community that have shaped the journey—twenty-five years together, all united by one sound: A State Of—Trance.
A native of the island nation of Cape Verde, Cesaria Evora was known as the country's foremost practitioner of the morna, a combination of West African percussion with Portuguese fados, Brazilian modinhas, and British sea shanties. After a short singing career in the 1970’s, she returned in the late ‘80s with a string of critically acclaimed and increasingly popular albums.
Her 1999 album Café Atlantico (a reference to her home where she frequently entertained guests) is a much-acclaimed masterpiece, finding Evora venturing into more Latin American musical landscapes, as opposed to Portuguese, which dominated her previous albums. Evora draws from traditional Cuban and Brazilian music to mesmerizing effect. The music is heart-breaking and nostalgic, warm and tragic all at once.
Café Atlantico is available on black vinyl and includes an insert with lyrics.
With one foot in the Mexican underground rock scene and the other one in the global tape trading circuit, Las Ánimas del Cuarto Obscuro found themselves in the middle of a crossroad after their first LP. México wasn´t the same country as when the band first started. Even though access to non-commercial music still was a difficult task in the late eighties, the fringes of culture had way more resources thanks to the stubbornness of certain anonymous heroes: dwellers of El Tianguis Cultural del Chopo, niche record stores, illegal underground parties and hosts of late night Mexican public radio shows.
Ubiquitous social unrest expressed itself in every way possible. The aftermaths of the 1985 earthquake weren’t the only matters on the table. Protests erupted after a rigged presidential election and a student strike hit Mexico’s biggest public university. This was just the tip of the iceberg of issues PRI’s perfect dictatorship was or wasn’t addressing. The clash of the authoritarian regime against new and fresh ideas.
If the first record was about the loneliness of self-destructive youth and it’s urban phantasmagories, LACO’s second LP dealt with change as the axis of human existence. Las Ánimas is just the beginning of the sonic metamorphosis Toño Sánchez went through until this very moment.
The departure of former bandmembers set a different approach towards more experimental and atmospheric sounds. As the project’s only member, Toño Sanchez took an alchemical trip aiming for more mysterious horizons.
Despite the fact that we can still find conventional dark pop and catchy songwriting, the record rests on sound landscapes closer to Jorge Reyes or Tuxedomoon and This Heat than the orthodox ways of so called post-punk, seasoned of course with the lack of music gear and the economic reality prevalent in Mexico of those convulsed times.
Las Ánimas is a goodbye letter to underground but not because the next move is the mainstream. Far away from it, it’s a farewell to traditional rock and a the first steps down into the depths. From now on, Toño Sánchez will dedicate his musical efforts to weirder sounds and scarcer audiences in the search of the arcane, possessed by a mania of constant change that infects the soul after crossing the black door’s threshold.
Five years in the making, ‘Lotus Rising’ is an alternative body of work presented by Subb-an, exploring his South Asian heritage, live instrumentation and a more introspective side of his production. Across a career rooted primarily in house and techno, the album finds him looking beyond the immediate demands of the dancefloor, opening up a more expansive and self-healing approach to his music.
The album brings together electronic production with live and organic elements, featuring contributions from London-based Indian classical sitar player Akash Parekar, vocalist and sound artist Kate Fleur Young, vocalist Anushree Datar, bassist Luke Weaver and Maribou State drummer Jonny Cade. The lotus represents growth and transformation, providing a fitting framework for a record shaped by a period of transition and reconnection. ‘Lotus Rising’ is released via Phonica Records Special Editions on 30th October 2026.
What happens when bassweight electronic beats meet the abstract world of one of the most uncompromising MCs on this planet?
Get ready for a special listening experience as Abu Ama and Sensational take you deep into a world of heavy bass, fractured rhythms, strange frequencies and completely unpredictable flows.
Abu Ama is known for his unique production style, combining Dub, Ambient and Industrial soundscapes with Middle Eastern sound structures. His productions create vast, atmospheric spaces where bass pressure and subtle details constantly collide. Over the years, he has developed his signature sound through releases on forward-thinking labels such as Bokeh Versions and Accidental Meetings. With Ringing In Your Ear, Abu Ama presents some of his most adventurous and forward-thinking productions to date.
On the microphone, we are proud to present a true underground legend straight outta NYC: Sensational.
Born Colin Julius Bobb in Guyana and raised in Brooklyn, Sensational became one of the most distinctive and unpredictable voices to emerge from New York’s experimental hip-hop underground. Originally performing under the name Torture, he was already connected to the Jungle Brothers in the early 1990s before developing the completely unique style that would become synonymous with Sensational.
In 1997, he released his debut album Loaded With Power on the influential Word Sound label. Built from dusty beats, unusual samples and lo-fi textures, the record established Sensational as an artist who seemed to operate completely outside the established rules of Hip Hop.
Over the following decades, he continued to explore the space between underground rap, experimental electronics, noise and abstract music. His long list of collaborators included artists such as Spectre, Kouhei Matsunaga, Kid 606, Cardopusher, Handsome Boy Modeling School and many others. His work with Kouhei Matsunaga was even remixed by Autechre.
Sensational was never interested in fitting into a particular scene. His rhymes were surreal, his flows unpredictable and his approach completely his own. For more than three decades, he remained a true outsider — a cult figure whose music connected underground Hip Hop with some of the strangest and most adventurous corners of experimental music.
After Abu Ama and Sensational’s heavy 2023 single International Rokkaz left us wanting more, the two decided to take things much further. What started as a single collaboration evolved into a full length soundclash.
We were already incredibly hyped about this collaboration from the moment we heard it. But while we were preparing for the release of the single MOZZ, the terrible news reached us: Sensational had passed away.
The news hit hard. It is still difficult to believe that we will never hear a new Sensational verse again.
What makes Ringing In Your Ear even more special is that it captures Sensational doing what he did best — completely free, completely unpredictable and completely himself.
We dedicate this record to Colin Julius Bobb aka Sensational, in loving memory of an extraordinary artist, MC and true underground original.
Cruise Music really does what it says on the tin - serve up the sort of grooves that are easy to slip into a ride along with, especially when the sun is out and the mood gets a little more playful than usual. Their 16th edition of this long-running series is another super fly collection of effective groove and classic house attitude. Makito opens with the funky licks and disco colour of 'Jailhouse Funk' while Mark Funk, Danny Cruz pull back and allow plenty of sunshine and jazzy sax warmth into 'The Vibe.' On the flip, Bonetti gets remixed by Vertigini for some filter-driven and dusty house goodness and Raffaele Ciavolino & FederFunk bring a little Latin heat and percussive texture. Classy stuff.
"Temporary World" sees the return to Canopy of musical whizz kid Joi N'Juno, teaming up with the creative force of Kaleta, who has been a long-time collaborator of the label and long known for his work with Nigerian legends Fela Kuti & Sunny Ade.
For this project, the inspiration came from vintage Nigerian funk & disco, channelled through modern production aesthetics, bridging the gap between past & present.
Joi N'Juno's bouncy disco beats and groovy basslines lay the foundation over which Kaleta's funky guitars and the horn section from London Afrobeat Collective pepper the details. Keys bubble and synths soar as Kaleta's vocals, sung in both English & Yoruba, bring his evocative soulfulness. The culmination is an authentic melting pot of both vintage influence and originality.
Joi N'Juno turns in two different mixes of each song, the first in a "live", sounding approach and a second Mmore "oomphy" mix with fat synth bass, suited to the late night dance floors
Stockholm house mainstays Ari Bald & CJ Scott return to Studio Barnhus with Colombiance, their fourth EP for the label and another generous serving of homegrown dance music from two of our most dependable suppliers.
“Trippin’ Totems” opens in suggestive, hypnotic mode, rolling forward on layers of percussion and a groove that seems to tighten the longer it runs. “Coral Capers” brings the piano to the party, bright and buoyant on the surface with just enough melancholia underneath to keep things interesting.
“Mole Patrol” picks up the pace considerably, a chugging and increasingly intense workout built for peak-time deployment, before “Baobab Bonanza” closes proceedings in more spacious fashion, with great waves of sound washing in and out over a floaty, rolling house groove.
Another intriguing chapter in an increasingly distinctive Stockholm house story, out October 30 on 12'' vinyl and digital platforms, with lovely artwork by Eliot Axelsson.
All tracks recorded at ROLL OVER STUDIOS, London. January 2004.
Features 10 Studio tracks including: It Mek, Israelites and Sing A Little Song.
Desmond Adolphus Dacres was born on 16th July 1941 in Saint Andrew Parish, Greater Kingston, Jamaica. As a youngster Desmond regularly attended his local church with his grandmother and aunt. Here would bring him his lifetime religious commitment and his enjoyment for singing.
Dekker moved to parish of St. Mary following his mother’s death as a result of illness. He later moved to St. Thomas, where he took up an apprenticeship as a tailor, before he moved back to Kingston and landed himself a job as a welder.
His co-workers encouraged him to pursue his singing career, he successfully auditioned for Leslie Kong's Beverley's record label and was awarded his first recording contract. As his career took off this was the time he decided to adopt the name Desmond Dekker instead of 'Dacres'.
Phillip George Allison was born and raised in Denham Town, West Kingston, the last of six children and the only boy. As a boy he sang hymns at his mother's side. Before long he was singing radio hits at school concerts, where he did Curtis Mayfield, Smokey Robinson and Eddie Kendricks in a falsetto so close to theirs that friends called him "George Smokey."
With Delroy Williams and Shirley Forbes he formed The Mad Lads. Leroy Sibbles auditioned them at Studio One and called Coxsone Dodd over to listen, and they recorded the same day, with Sylvan Morris as engineer and the Sound Dimensions backing them. Ten To One, Losing You and You Never Know were big with the sound systems. George then left music to study electrical engineering at CAST. Years later producer Carl Prince of Gibbous Records asked him to re-record Ten To One, and that brought him back into the studio for the 1984 album So Unusual, where both of these sides first appeared.
Gypsy Woman was one of the first songs he ever sang in class. "Gypsy Woman was originally done by Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions, one of my favourite groups. I chose to do it a little differently, in my falsetto style, like Ten To One that I recorded while singing lead with the Mad Lads."
War Is Ugly "I wrote War Is Ugly during the politically motivated tensions and killings between rival gangs and gunmen all over the island in that period. My message was to the gunmen: turn in their arms and come. War is ugly, love is lovely."
After his Studio One days with The Mad Lads and a long break for his engineering career, George Allison went back into the studio for Carl Prince's Gibbous label. The sessions ran across Channel One, Aquarius, Tuff Gong and Music Mountain, and they produced two albums in 1984, So Unusual and Exclusive. Both were released in the UK and the US. This single puts one song from each album together.
Sad - George's version of "Who's Sad" by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. Smokey was one of his first vocal models, and his school friends called him "George Smokey."
Every Hoe - "I composed Every Hoe from the Jamaican proverb 'Every hoe have him stick a bush', which means there's somebody out there for everyone. The gist of the song is that there are always problems too, because it's a curse on the human race."
Tracklist
A1 Daniel Bortz - I Met Her at the City Club
A2 Massimiliano Pagliara – Midnight Mirage
B1 Sam Goku - Unattached Voices
B2 Bostro Pesopeo & Tom Bioly – See You Again
B3 New Jackson – There Will Always Be This Love (OOPS POP Version)
Short Info
The third round of the Permanent Vacation XX series to celebrate the label's 20th anniversary brings together a lot of familiar faces and long-time vacationers. From Daniel Bortz, Massimiliano Pagliara and Sam Goku to New Jackson and the collaboration track between label head Tom Bioly and Bostro Pesopeo. Everyone brings his unique sound to the table, so that the EP offers a broad, yet cohesive variety of music that brings us to the essence of Permanent Vacation.
New York-based Japanese jazz and electronic music polymath Takuya Nakamura presents his debut album Shape The Future - almost 35 years into his storied musical journey.
An expansive double album, the album’s first LP documents a spellbinding live performance by Nakamura recorded at fabric. A hybrid set combining DJing, live electronics, vocals, and trumpet, the set also features studio versions of special collaborations with Shigeto, Currency Audio and Tim Reaper. The second LP complements the first by assembling studio recordings of select album tracks. Altogether the two volumes make for a definitive display of Nakamura’s exceptional musicianship across jazz, DnB, jungle, broken beat, deep techno and more.
Across his career, Nakamura has played Brazilian music, merengue, salsa and straight-ahead jazz. He’s opened for Sun Ra Arkestra, performed with David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Wu-Tang Clan, and Arto Lindsay, appeared on sessions with Terry Riley, ASAP Rocky, Goldie, and TV On The Radio, and remixed the likes of Quincy Jones, Sun Ra, Billie Holiday, and The Streets. He’s also played under director and playwright Robert Wilson.
Although the musical past and present of the Tokyo-born, New York-based DJ and trumpet player is undoubtedly eclectic, Nakamura is abidingly steeped in the sounds of jazz and jungle. This’ll be obvious to casual observers who may have seen any viral videos of him. But there’s more to this. The depth of Nakamura’s engagement with these kinds of music, the way they’ve made him into the person he is, the decades-long path they’ve taken him on; to now arrive at the summit of a solo album is all truly remarkable. Shape The Future resonates with every chapter in this story.
In high school, Nakamura’s friends started listening to jazz and jazz fusion, which piqued his interest, especially when they started going to clubs to see it live, where they managed to see US legends like Sonny Rollins play. Eventually he began to play jazz every day and his musical skill emerged early. He soon became obsessed with getting closer to the source of this music, which led to his studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with George Russell, an influential figure who had taught Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Nakamura drank it in: not only the technical aspects but the sense of a direct connection to “a music culture where Russell and his friends changed harmony forever. I wanted to know how that was possible!”.
This was a radical experience in itself, but then another revolution happened for Nakamura. He was playing in a venue called The Western Front, near Boston and discovered that the elderly owner had his own soundsystem and was playing what was then - in 1992 - only just becoming known as jungle. This was as freeing a musical revelation as his proximity to the giants of jazz was, and in that instant the two things fused. He understood that using technology to fill a dancehall with sound and a jazz musician’s reflexes are all working to the same ends: “You’re always making decisions,” he says, “but it doesn’t have to be really difficult. It’s the truth of the frequencies, and how they’re affecting people’s minds.”
From that moment on, his life path was set. Moving to New York City, he sought out jungle and its offshoot sounds wherever he could find them, gigging and collaborating relentlessly, and gradually developing his own live and hybrid live/DJ shows. Through regular appearances at New York fixtures Zebulon and CBGBs, and continual shows elsewhere in the city, Nakamura developed his live performance and DJing and it was in these environments that he gradually weaved together his twin loves without compromising either, building an international reputation in the process.
It’s only fitting then that his first album, almost 35 years after he first found his musical direction, should be a live one: a window into this never-ending process. Even here, he had to be persuaded that he should make a record. A member of the fabric team got turned on to his music after their daughter saw him play. Of course, as a jungle lover, Nakamura knew fabric – which has a special place in the history of jungle and drum’n’bass – and “had wanted to play there since I was very young.” You can hear the club in the record: this isn’t just a live show, in keeping with his jungle roots, it’s Nakamura duetting with the soundsystem, and you can feel how the emotions in the room would have ebbed and flowed.
This dynamic translates to a transfixing record. Setting the tone with lushly textured ambient and reverberant jazz, Nakamura segues into cinematic breakbeat and stellar fusion, infusing it all with intoxicating low end and hypnotic rhythms. The LP’s midway point locks into mesmeric percussion heightened by resonant echoes of piano and trumpet. There’s an endless pull to this music. Nakamura adjusts the levels for maximum impact throughout, and the overall effect begins to evoke some harmonious hybrid between a jazz ensemble, a classic Metalheadz 12” and a Theo Parrish DJ set. His electric form continues through surreal jazz, intricate electronics and rolling sub-bass velocity, right up to the subtly devastating final cover of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush’s ‘Don’t Give Up’, with Nakamura’s fragile vocal sitting in the heart of a huge sound.
From Tokyo jazz nights to formative studies and encounters in Boston to his artistic development in New York, Nakamura reaches another milestone with his monumental debut album. It’s a release that happened just the way a Takuya Nakamura record should. In the same way his instincts led him to musical revelations, taking his own sweet time has led him to make one of the most extraordinary debut albums imaginable, all executed in his own singular style. In Nakamura’s world, the universe finds a way.
Trondheim's progressive flagship Arabs in Aspic delivers yet another long-awaited release on the renowned label Karisma Records, marking their strong partnership with the brand-new studio album "Sorgens kapittel". This will be a highly special and emotional release for the band. The album is being released on what would have been the 50th birthday of the band's longtime organist and vocalist, Stig Arve Kvam-Jorgensen, who passed away suddenly in 2025. The album title "Sorgens kapittel" sets a deep and personal frame around the band's newest work, serving both as a processing of the loss and a tribute to his musical legacy.
'AMEN is a word that moves between the sacred and the ordinary, across languages and cultures. An ancient, universal expression, born in prayer yet living beyond it - in daily life, especially in the Italian language, where it has become part of ordinary speech, used to accept, conclude, affirm, and let things be.
'The sixth release on e s p e r p e n t o opens a gateway into a timeless, transcultural dimension through a continuous, immersive sonic flow. While conceived as an intimate listening journey, this record emerged from a shared experience within the walls of Frequenze Studio (Monza). ESPER006 is the result of a three-hour improvised live session that brought together experimental music trio MYS and London-based producer Big Hands.'
Originally released in 2006, Radiohead tribute album Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads returns to its original home at BBE Music, two decades on from its debut. Featuring eclectic cover versions of Radiohead’s songs by Mark Ronson, Bilal, Sia, Meshell Ndegeocello, Questlove Sa-Ra, The Cinematic Orchestra, Osunlade and Matthew Herbert to name but a few, the album gave BBE Music its first Top 40 single in the UK with Mark Ronson’s cover of “Just”, and has gone on to become an enduring classic, paving the way for many similar projects in the years since (like BBE's David Bowie tribute Modern Love and Naive Melodies, a tribute to the Talking Heads). Twenty years later, with several of its contributors now major names in their own right, its reputation as a genre-bending classic has only grown. People get confused about cover versions. They are a labour of love, not some sort of disrespectful treatment of the classics. Everyone involved in the "Exit Music" project loves the music of Radiohead; "Songs with Radio Heads" doesn't attempt to replace the originals as "definitive versions." Instead, like the Futureheads cover of Kate Bush or the Slits cover of Marvin Gaye, this is an exercise in translating well-loved tracks into a different genre. "Exit Music" also taps into the dance-floor potential of Radiohead, long recognised by DJs and producers ranging from Burial and Flying Lotus to Kendrick Lamar. The band themselves are devotees of both hip hop and dance music, commissioning remixes from respected figures such as Modeselektor, Madlib, DJ Shadow and Four Tet. Now a bona fide cult favourite, this 20th-anniversary reissue collects together the finest hip hop and dance cover versions of Radiohead songs. Ranging from gentle acoustic treatments to raw funky versions, BBE have taken the songs of Radiohead into realms even he couldn't imagine…
For two decades, The Oscillation has occupied its own space within the psychedelic underground, continually reshaping a sound built as much from texture, repetition and atmosphere as it is from conventional songcraft. On 'Interference', released October 30th 2026 via Fuzz Club, Demian Castellanos pushes that approach further than ever, creating what he describes as "a painting of sound rather than music”. It’s an album where noise and melody constantly collide, dissolve and reform into something strangely beautiful: “I wanted it to be accessible but also quite extreme, a sort of beautiful noise. I did my best to push out the parameters whilst trying not to allow it to disintegrate into something with no meaning or focus.” Chasing an elusive balance between accessibility and abstraction, the result is a record that feels simultaneously immediate and disorientating: dense layers of drones, feedback and motorik rhythms give way to unexpected moments of warmth, colour and even uplifting euphoria. Across its runtime, chaos never overwhelms; instead it becomes another instrument, carefully sculpted into hypnotic, immersive compositions. Much of the album emerged through instinct rather than intention. Fragments originally conceived as intros, outros or abandoned ideas gradually eclipsed the songs they belonged to, with tracks revealing themselves organically through a process Castellanos likens to "playing Chinese whispers with musical instruments." Elsewhere, two long-forgotten compositions – ‘Stasis’ and ‘When You Close Your Eyes’ – finally found their place after lying unfinished for almost twenty years. Recorded and mixed by Castellanos at his home studio in the Czech Republic, ‘Interference’ also benefits from a key collaboration with Lorena Quintanilla of Mexican band Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, who provides a transformative presence. Her haunting vocal on ‘La Alusion’ (which she also wrote the lyrics and melody for) became the breakthrough moment that crystallised the album, turning an instrumental sketch into a dreamlike centrepiece and helping shape the final sequence. She also lends her voice to ‘Isolation Freeway’, adding another layer of mystery to an album that continually blurs the line between structure and dissolution. Perhaps most remarkably, ‘Interference’ was created during a period in which Castellanos had largely stopped listening to music altogether: “My hi-fi broke a couple of years ago so I kind of wanted to see what would happen if I didn’t listen to too much music.” Instead of consciously absorbing outside influences, he trusted instinct, memory and experimentation to guide the process. The result is one of The Oscillation's most adventurous and emotionally resonant records to date: a vivid collision of hypnotic repetition, spectral beauty and controlled sonic disruption that confirms Castellanos remains one of modern psychedelia's most singular voices.
