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2026 Restocked!

If you've been following the Payfone story over the last 13 years, you'll know that Phil Passera and Jimmy Day's long-running collaborative project has specialised in one-off musical morsels - sublime songs cooked up in cahoots with all manner of guest musicians and vocalists. Never ones to rest on their laurels, Day and Passera have now delivered a full six-track tasting menu in the shape of Lunch, their hotly anticipated debut album.

Recorded over an 18-month period at Passera's Barcelona studio and Day's studio in Brighton, Lunch is an unsurprisingly assured and musically detailed affair that's entirely made up of previously unheard songs. Unlike acid-flecked recent single 'Volt To Volt', which delivered a tweaked take on late 1980s house music, the album's six tracks showcase the trademark sound the duo has been developing since first joining forces 13 years ago.

Trawl back through Passera and Day's high-quality catalogue, which includes outings on Leng, Golf Channel Recordings and Defected as well as their own OTIS imprint, and that distinctive musical recipe becomes clear. Rooted in their love of classic drum machines and their trusty JUNO-60 synthesiser, the Payfone sound combines equal amounts of electronic and organic instrumentation, warm and inviting downtempo and mid-tempo grooves, and pertinent and thoughtful lyrics delivered with panache by an impressive roll call of guest vocalists.

Lunch, then, is a standalone sonic statement - an initially vinyl only album on their own OTIS imprint - that continues this impressive lineage. Like all Passera and Day's collaborative work, it is free of samples, with the pair preferring to create their own sounds from scratch. Opener 'Movin' On', featuring the honeyed vocals of former XL Recordings artist Willis Earl Beal AKA Nobody and slap-bass from Jo Gabriel Harris (who also features on three other songs across the album), is a deep and effortlessly evocative mid-tempo delight that perfectly sets the tone for what's to come.

Brooklyn-born April Pittman and Russian/Armenian vocalist Zara Kian lend their talents to woozy, sun-baked shuffler 'Paperman' before regular Payfone collaborator Ludmilla Rodriguez headlines 'Joan of Arc', a veritable Mediterranean breeze rich in tumbling analogue synth synths, elastic bass and tumbling guitar solos. Those yearning for a touch of lightly disco-flecked dancefloor heat will savour 'Spend The Night', where Los Angeles singer Collette Tibbetts AKA Carmella The Balls, accompanied by virtuoso keys courtesy of Parisian pianist Gabriel Cazes, rises above a sweet, melodious, dub disco-adjacent backing track. In contrast, 'Pamela' is low-slung and hypnotic, with 'Sofian' vocalist Barbara Alcindor ushering us through a deep, heady groove-scape.

Fittingly, Passera and Day round off Lunch via a vibrant and potent sweet treat, 'Pony Bar'. Headed up by the J.J Cale-esque lead vocals of man of mystery Leon Lace, the pedal steel-sporting song joins the dots between dusty Americana, kaleidoscopic Balearic beats and lilting, slow-motion disco. Like the rest of the album, you'll be thinking about it long after you've washed down the last few musical mouthfuls.

On Air is the second solo release by Alan Parsons following the split of The Alan Parsons Project. One of the creative forces was APP long-time guitarist Ian Bairnson. The concept of the album revolves around the history of airborne exploration.

The theme of “Too Close to the Sun” is escaping the labyrinth of the Minotaur. “Brother Up In Heaven” is an emotionally driven song, about the unfortunate death of Ian Bairnson’s cousin. “One Day To Fly” is a song about Leonardo da Vinci’s search to design a flying machine.

A who’s-who of lead vocalists are featured on this album; Christopher Cross, Eric Stewart, Neil Lockwood, Steve Overland and Graham Dye. The amazing looking artwork was recreated for this vinyl edition by none other than Peter Curzon of Storm Studios. Although On Air might be the most underrated Alan Parsons albums, many consider this as one of his best albums. The package includes an insert with lyrics and pictures.

For a few years, Slovakian born & Czech-based artist pantata (Stefan Barcak) has been making music for himself, while running a record store slash coffee bar (called 25,2 rpm) in Prague. Over the course of a month in 2024 pantata made many songs with different analog machines and selected the favourite tracks out of this. His music is very laidback -almost empty- analog music that reminds of K. Leimer and Tara Cross mixed with Czech & Slovakian childhood memories and love and honesty of nowadays memories. "I was born on March 3, 1998, in a small town in eastern Slovakia. In the distance, you could see the Slovak mountains. That image of big mountains on the horizon still inspires my work today. In my early years, before my family and I moved to Prague, I was quite an outsider, I liked drawing and painting and I never stopped. Nowadays, I have a nice setup at home. A few synths: Sequential Circuits Six-Trak, Pro-One, Yamaha DX7, Roland Juno, JP-8000, S-1 (a small SH-101 clone), and classic Roland drum machines like the 909 and 707. I also use a few effect pedals, an old mixer, and a Tascam Portastudio where I record everything to tape. When I make a track, I usually need to finish it in one day. I start playing my instruments, and whatever feeling I have that day needs to be recorded. If I leave a song for tomorrow, I might lose the feeling and feel something completely different, so I prefer to start a new track instead."

Deep Techno, Techno, House, Detroit Techno
James Baker aka ReKaB passed away very recently and so unexpectedly. He had only submitted the music for his new EP for YORE less than two weeks before his sudden passing.

The original title was meant to be "Let the Machines Talk", but we decided to change it to "The Last Talk of the Machines."

It feels not only sad but also surreal to hear music that was created only shortly before, knowing James is no longer with us in embodied existence. This is the very last talk of his loved Machines.

R.I.P James aka ReKaB- Lost but not forgotten.

Strictly limited to 200 Copies worldwide (NO REPRESS).

"Bitte gehen Sie weiter, bitte bleiben Sie hier nicht stehen!" - dieser Satz könnte das Motto des neuen Albums von Urlaub in Polen sein. Auch nach über 20 Jahren bleibt das Duo seinem Prinzip treu: Musik als Reise, als temporäre Erfahrung im Strom der Eindrücke. Nach dem gefeierten Comeback All (2020) knüpft Objects, Beings and Parrots an den krautrockigen Motorik-Sound an, erweitert ihn aber um eklektische Ausflüge in Noiserock, Retrofuturismus, Akustikpop und experimentelle Klangkunst. Multiinstrumentalist Georg Brenner und Schlagzeuger Jan Philipp Janzen (u.a. Von Spar, Köln) schaffen ein Album, das sich jeder klaren Genrezuordnung entzieht und gerade dadurch ein wohliges Gefühl von Mitgenommenwerden erzeugt. Aufgenommen im MARS-Studio in der Eifel, ist das Werk eine trippige Feier des Weitermachens - zwischen Bewegung und Innehalten, zwischen Waschmaschine und Waldhorn.

"Bitte gehen Sie weiter, bitte bleiben Sie hier nicht stehen!" - dieser Satz könnte das Motto des neuen Albums von Urlaub in Polen sein. Auch nach über 20 Jahren bleibt das Duo seinem Prinzip treu: Musik als Reise, als temporäre Erfahrung im Strom der Eindrücke. Nach dem gefeierten Comeback All (2020) knüpft Objects, Beings and Parrots an den krautrockigen Motorik-Sound an, erweitert ihn aber um eklektische Ausflüge in Noiserock, Retrofuturismus, Akustikpop und experimentelle Klangkunst. Multiinstrumentalist Georg Brenner und Schlagzeuger Jan Philipp Janzen (u.a. Von Spar, Köln) schaffen ein Album, das sich jeder klaren Genrezuordnung entzieht und gerade dadurch ein wohliges Gefühl von Mitgenommenwerden erzeugt. Aufgenommen im MARS-Studio in der Eifel, ist das Werk eine trippige Feier des Weitermachens - zwischen Bewegung und Innehalten, zwischen Waschmaschine und Waldhorn.

Clammbon, who have performed numerous tribute albums for artists such as Yasuyuki Okamura, Fishmans, and YMO, have released their first covers album, including
all of their classic covers. From Akiko Yano to Bow Wow Wow, the selection and arrangements show the band's depth, and the loose and casual recordings of
the Magokoro Brothers' "Summer Nude" and the Beatles' "Across the Universe" featuring Takashi Nagatsumi are particularly captivating.

The incredible story that began with The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet (TMMS) now enters an exciting new chapter: Skyscraper, the debut album by FEX.

Skyscraper features ten original tracks recorded in the early to mid-1980s-carefully re-transferred, remastered, and brought back to life. The album cover, designed by Darius S., brings the story full circle. Darius is the very person who preserved the now-iconic track Subways of Your Mind by recording it from NDR radio in the mid-80s. Without him, FEX may never have been discovered.

FEX's debut opens with its namesake, Skyscraper-a brooding, previously unreleased track the band once described as part of their "psychedelic phase." With haunting synth-helicopter textures and deep guitar riffs, it immediately sets the tone and raises tension.

The release flows naturally into the energetic and fully remastered studio version of Subways of Your Mind. This version of the TMMS - re-discovered on the "yellow label tape" by Reddit user Marijn-was long believed to be from a smaller home studio, but was actually recorded in November 1984 at Hawkeye Studios in Ganderkesee, near Hamburg.

Goldrush, first teased in raw form on FEX's YouTube channel, bends toward mechanical rhythm and shimmering synths, a snapshot of the band's experiments with programmed drum machine sound. Rückwardt's lyrics point to greed and criticizes materialism, and while the music leans toward pop sensibilities, it carries a raw, fractured edge.

Heart in Danger and I've Got My Eyes On You offer contrasting experiences-one rooted in classic post-punk tension, the other floating in melodic synth layers. The latter in particular feels like a fragment from a parallel radio history: a precise and one of a kind synth pop love song with a progressive touch.

From a rehearsal tape comes Dirty Slapstick, its urgency intact. Missing keyboard parts were later reconstructed by Michael Hädrich using his original DX7 synthesizer-recovering lost elements without rewriting the past. The lyrics take a wry look at forced optimism. Also included are the songs Talking Hands, Jenny and Strange Feeling, the latter being a slower blues-tinged cut, revealing yet another facet of the band's reach and Rückwardt's songwriting diversity.

The album closes where the legend began-with the original radio recording of Subways of Your Mind from Darius' cassette. This version of The Most Mysterious Song features alternate vocal effects, contributing to the track's enigmatic aura. Digitally transferred using a high-end Revox machine and carefully remastered, it now has its long-deserved official release.

The cover features a photo of the Eichenberg Bunker in Kiel-one of FEX's original rehearsal spaces and a symbolic monument to their sonic legacy.

Re-issue of two limited release tracks from Larry Heard's Love Arrival album sessions. Great edit by J.A.N. (aka Moodymann/KDJ) and the last missing piece from the sessions: Time Machine, a bass driven soulfull stomper that'll transport you to an early 90's dancefloor...

Two vocal tracks and two instrumentals. The classic EP structure reflects the class act that is Fred Ventura and Paolo Gozzetti. Italoconnection are back at the Bordello weaving their synthesizer magic. And those analogue lines are what immediately wash over the listener in “Like A Star.” Crisp percussion and sailing melodies break to a glorious hook before Ventura’s unmistakable voice takes hold. Paying homage to Moroder’s “From Here To Eternity”, Italoconnection deliver a vocoder dipped love affair as smouldering vocals pitch ever higher. The instrumental strips back all lyrics, but allows the breathy keys to remain and keep that human touch amidst the addictive chords and rich textures. Bold machine brass introduces “Make It Real.” These blasts form the melodic backbone for this ballad to self-belief where Ventura’s impassioned words are impeccably coupled with Gozzetti’s sparkling synthwork. That synthwork comes to the fore in the finale. With lyrics pared back, the machines sing a different song as that energy packed melody is charged with even more intensity. Quality through and through, as always with Italoconnection.

Everyone knows the story of American disco.
But few are aware that, between the late 1960s and the late 1980s, Italy wrote a parallel one — spontaneous, surprising, and incredibly creative.

It is a story that spans two distinct seasons: the Italian disco of the 1970s — melodic, handmade, sometimes naïve yet always original — and the emerging Italo Disco of the 1980s, electronic, futuristic, and lightheartedly projected toward the future.
Two different languages, yet both driven by the same desire for freedom and modernity. Discoteca Sound — Italian Discoteca Underground 1975–1986 brings together 18 rare tracks — including two previously unreleased — that tell this story of transition: from the orchestral and sentimental disco of Italian dance halls to the synthetic and visionary sound of the first drum machines.
A journey through private archives, local labels, regional studios, and forgotten voices — the sonic map of a country that has always danced, but to its own rhythm. From Mediterranean disco to the first Italo Disco, from the dim lights of provincial dance halls to the early home synthesizers, each track opens a window onto an Italy that dreamed of the dance floor as a universal language of connection during the brief season of revolutionary utopias.

This compilation celebrates ten years of work by Disco Segreta — a decade dedicated to the research, recovery, and appreciation of Italian disco and electronic culture. An act of justice owed to all those artists who had their moment yet were never remembered by history — bringing back to light an essential, still too little known part of our musical heritage.
Because dancing today remains, more than ever, a living act of memory.

Limited edition 2LP, features 2 previously unreleased tracks and a new 2025 version of Coscarella & Polimeno – Station to Station.






f Grazia Vitale – Poi (1975) Previously Unreleased










q Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble – Vivo Solo Con Te (1982) Previously Unreleased






f Grazia Vitale – Poi (1975) Previously Unreleased










q Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble – Vivo Solo Con Te (1982) Previously Unreleased






f B2. Grazia Vitale – Poi (1975) Previously Unreleased










q D4. Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble – Vivo Solo Con Te (1982) [Previously Unreleased]






[f] B2. Grazia Vitale – Poi (1975) [Previously Unreleased]










[q] D4. Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble – Vivo Solo Con Te (1982) [Previously Unreleased]






[f] B2. Grazia Vitale – Poi (1975) [Previously Unreleased]










[q] D4. Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble – Vivo Solo Con Te (1982) [Previously Unreleased]

Rakkit Records is a brand new label that specialises in darkside jungle techno.

Heading in a different direction to Radman's older releases, this EP is inspired by two of his young loves: London squat parties and militant EA raves. That darkside hardcore sound you'd hear in the morning at the squats, with the energy of the main event at a Thetford Forest party. Dark, stompin', and drenched in 303s.

It's dedicated to one of his partners in crime of the time, Phil Sayer, who introduced him to much of the above and always pushed Radman to keep releasing tunes, with his support and brutal critique. Radman took samples of one of Phil's original poems for the track ACAB, from his performance in his old living room. Phil loved vinyl, 303s, darkside and hardcore, so we think he woulda been chuffed.

Just 150 copies getting pressed. Once they're gone, they're gone.

Spandau20 delivers its eleventh various artists release, a sonically rich and future-facing blend of broken grooves, spatial moods and modern Detroit romanticism. Four tracks, four new angles on the dancefloor. ANNA Z sets the tone with 'Kabeljau', an eclectic, IDM-flirting workout. On the opening track, elastic rhythms stretch and snap while ethereal pads drift overhead, punctured by sudden turns and glitchy surprises. Moody, weird and beautifully unpredictable. Dajusch continues with 'Fallout', diving into shimmering Detroit-inspired chords and pristine production. Clean yet full of soul, its dreamy propulsion moves with effortless optimism. It's a track that lifts heads and hearts without ever losing its club focus. Flip the record and FJAAK welcome you into a breakbeat-infused haze. 'Your Time' pairs groovy percussion and airy atmospheres with those unmistakable powerhouse vocal chops, a warehouse anthem with a gentle cosmic touch, driving yet deeply emotional. Closing the EP, Claus accelerates the pulse. 'Moist Logic' is a faster, more urgent exploration of the techno continuum. Machine funk encoded into a forward-thrusting groove, a sleek atmosphere swirling around a sharp, kinetic core. With SPANDAU20 011, the West-Berlin collective celebrates a hybrid future that is rhythmically adventurous, melodically rich and rooted in the love for the dancefloor. This record combines Berlin grit with dream-state techno, balancing rough energy and refined emotion across four cuts that leave their mark on the floor.

Spandau20 delivers its eleventh various artists release, a sonically rich and future-facing blend of broken grooves, spatial moods and modern Detroit romanticism. Four tracks, four new angles on the dancefloor. ANNA Z sets the tone with 'Kabeljau', an eclectic, IDM-flirting workout. On the opening track, elastic rhythms stretch and snap while ethereal pads drift overhead, punctured by sudden turns and glitchy surprises. Moody, weird and beautifully unpredictable. Dajusch continues with 'Fallout', diving into shimmering Detroit-inspired chords and pristine production. Clean yet full of soul, its dreamy propulsion moves with effortless optimism. It's a track that lifts heads and hearts without ever losing its club focus. Flip the record and FJAAK welcome you into a breakbeat-infused haze. 'Your Time' pairs groovy percussion and airy atmospheres with those unmistakable powerhouse vocal chops, a warehouse anthem with a gentle cosmic touch, driving yet deeply emotional. Closing the EP, Claus accelerates the pulse. 'Moist Logic' is a faster, more urgent exploration of the techno continuum. Machine funk encoded into a forward-thrusting groove, a sleek atmosphere swirling around a sharp, kinetic core. With SPANDAU20 011, the West-Berlin collective celebrates a hybrid future that is rhythmically adventurous, melodically rich and rooted in the love for the dancefloor. This record combines Berlin grit with dream-state techno, balancing rough energy and refined emotion across four cuts that leave their mark on the floor.

Astropolis Records — the label born from the legendary electronic French festival — celebrates a decade of electronic devotion with a generous and deeply emotional anniversary compilation - a bit late, but never short on flair.

This double vinyl gathers the many faces of the Astropolis galaxy: in-house artists, long-time companions of the festival, and rising voices from a perpetually vibrant French scene. Across 18 artists, listeners are invited on a sonic journey where rave legacy, electronic dreamscapes, and collective fervor intertwine — true to the DNA of a festival that’s never known boundaries.



The record opens with grace and wonder courtesy of Rone, whose electronic touch channels both the intimate and the infinite. Between electronica and downtempo, The Dolphin Ambassador bathes in luminous melancholy, offering a moment of calm before the storm. In the same contemplative vein, we’re proud to unveil one of the first productions from Célélé alongside Théo Muller: Drum and Drift, a subtle blend of dubby vibrations and sunlit textures.


Astropolis has always thrived on happy collisions — and this compilation is proof of it. The unlikely meeting between Mézigue and Swooh sends house spiraling into a g-tech vortex on Broken Roll To Venice, a playful burst of groove, hybrid energy, and cheeky mischief. The same spirit of alchemy fuels Belaria & Madben, whose Into The Void burns bright as a 90s rave-meets-EBM anthem wrapped in hypnotic trance. Zaatar & Trunkline bring raw intensity to Come Into The Light, a sweaty, visceral banger at the crossroads of techno, dark disco, and EBM.


French techno pillars Scan X & Electric Rescue deliver a masterclass in elegant machine soul on Lost In Time. When Manu Le Malin teams up with Kmyle, the result is as sharp as it is cinematic: Little Big Man pulses with dramatic tension, balancing raw emotion and restrained fury. Elsewhere, Oniris & Benjamin Rippert reconnect with the melodic techno spirit of the label’s early days on Sonate, guided by a craftsman’s sense of harmony.
For the machine lovers, Legowelt & Cuften resurrect the spirit of early electroclash on Liar, a carnal fusion of analog synths and DIY attitude. And for the diehard dancefloor devotees, KiNK finally releases a cult track from his live sets: Give Me, a breakbeat-meets-vintage-house stormer tailor-made for those late-night sweats.

This anniversary compilation reaffirms the label’s openness to new generations and hybrid sounds, while paying tribute to the techno roots that shaped its foundation. Like the festival itself, it embodies sincerity and collective energy — a small manifesto linking generations, aesthetics, and territories, celebrating roots without nostalgia and the future without bending to trends.

Straight from the heart of the Motor City, Detroit Techno Records presents From The Basement With Love, a double-vinyl transmission from the legendary Detroit Basement, where the pulse of real techno still beats in raw electricity and sweat. This isn’t nostalgia. This is living history, a direct line from the city that invented techno to the artists who continue to keep its soul alive. Across two slabs of black wax, the pioneers and torchbearers of Detroit gather in one place: Suburban Knight, Body Mechanic, Erotek, Ray 7, The BS Project, Detroit Electronic Authority, Spade The Specialist, and more. Each cut drips with the signature elements that defined a movement, machine funk, militant rhythm, deep emotional circuitry, and that unmistakable underground grit. Curated straight out of the Detroit Basement, this compilation captures the true spirit of a city that never stopped creating, never stopped fighting, never stopped dancing. Every groove is a love letter to the origin, pressed by the hands that built the sound — not a recreation, but a continuation.

Some things are just too good to be hidden from view. That's certainly the case with Things To Think About, the first album from Dutch electronic music legend Steve Rachmad's lesser-known Sterac Electronics project.
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Rachmad first rose to prominence in the late 1990s, spearheading a surge in Dutch techno that was heavily inspired by the futurist intent and machine soul of Detroit. Since then, he has continued to successfully explore a wide range of dancefloor-centric electronic styles under a dizzying array of aliases.

It's a while, though, since the public has been treated to a heavy dose of Sterac Electronics material. He first established the alias at the turn of the millennium, primarily as an outlet for hardware-driven electro music shot through with funk and soul.

A handful of highly regarded 12' singles were released on Music Man and Interpersonal XP, before Rachmad began focusing on other projects. When inspiration struck, he returned to the project, jamming out tracks using a mighty collection of vintage synthesizers and drum machines.

Recently, Rachmad and Tom Trago decided to revisit the Sterac Electronics archive, discovering a killer collection of cuts created at different points over the course of the last 15 years.

Now 9 of those spellbinding hardware jams have been gathered together for the first time on Things To Think About, a warm, rich and evocative collection of electro-fuelled workouts that giddily pay tribute to the music of Rachmad's youth.

From the thrusting, synth-driven machine funk of Original Pattern' and mutant electrofunk revivalism of Game Changers', to the baggy West Coast boogie of Metratron' and intergalactic hustle of Archetype' (which sounds like Cybotron covering the 1988 version of The KLF's What Time Is Love'), Things To Think About is an lesson in the emotion-rich, mood enhancing possibilities of spontaneous hardware jams.

The highlights don't stop there, either. Check, for example, the crystalline synthesizer melodies, body popping drum hits and spacey chords of Tuning Into Frequencies' and the breezy humidity of opener Altruistic Endeavor'.

Like the rest of the tracks on the album, they feel timeless, as if they could have been made at any point during the last three decades. From Steve Rachmad, we wouldn't expect anything less.

Things To Think About will be released as a limited-edition double album, preceded by a 12' single featuring another previously unheard gem from the vaults.

Begging Dog ist das Indie-Punk-Projekt des in Los Angeles ansässigen Künstlers Jeff Kleinman. Als Ventil für seine Arbeit außerhalb der Band Choir Boy widmet sich Kleinman bei Begging Dog einem rohen, hausgemachten Sound mit Anklängen an Garage Punk und einer einfachen Sprache in den Texten. DEMO 1 ist 26 Minuten lang und voller rollender Bass- und Synthesizer-Linien, charismatischer Riffs und motorischer Drum-Beats. Textlich zeichnen die Songs eine Reihe von Beobachtungen, Szenen und Charakteren aus dem Leben: einen aufdringlichen Gewerkschaftsvertreter, einen Postboten mit einem festen Job bei der Bundesbehörde, einen zwanghaften Spieler und einen geliebten Obdachlosen aus der Nachbarschaft. Ehemalige Liebschaften werden zu einer Collage zusammengefügt, die mehrere Tracks begleitet, aus dem Zusammenhang gerissen, mit unverblümten, scharfsinnigen freien Versen. Kleinman nennt Bruce Springsteen als Inspiration dafür, wie seine Songs mit schlichter Tinte geschrieben sind, wobei er direkte Einfachheit gegenüber blumiger Prosa bevorzugt. Er greift eine gemeinsame Einsamkeit auf, die sowohl universell als auch vielleicht besonders einzigartig für das Leben in Los Angeles ist, mit schnörkellosen Nuancen und Verletzlichkeit. Im Titelsong singt Kleinman: ,Niemand liebt einen bettelnden Hund", eine Zeile, die er von einem Freund übernommen hat und die die Sichtweise des Projekts verkörpert: Die Welt kann einem das Gefühl geben, ein bettelnder Hund auf der Suche nach einem Zuhause zu sein. Auf dem Titelsong singt Kleinman ,no one loves a begging dog" (niemand liebt einen bettelnden Hund) in einer Zeile ,die er von einem Freund übernommen hat und die die Sichtweise des Projekts verkörpert: Die Welt kann einem das Gefühl geben, ein bettelnder Hund auf der Suche nach Zuneigung und Sicherheit zu sein, aber es liegt auch Schönheit in der Einsamkeit und der summenden Monotonie des Ganzen. Der synthlastige Titel ,Laughing Boy" reflektiert über den Sinn des Lebens, kritisiert hohe Mieten und erwähnt gleichzeitig den Duft von Jasminbäumen sowie die störende Präsenz der Polizei. In ,Common Place", umgeben von drängenden Drum-Machine-Kicks und Verzerrungen, singt er davon, wie er sich in einem 7-Eleven-Laden in der Innenstadt wirklich lebendig fühlt, um dann zwischen einer Tragödie, die er in einem Park miterlebt hat, und schönen Erinnerungen an das Leben in einer Wohngemeinschaft in Salt Lake City hin und her zu springen, bevor er sein neues Mantra verkündet: ,Es ist vorbei." Die Kontraste hier sind es, die diese Songs menschlich machen. Kleinman nahm DEMO 1 schnell und mit wenig mehr als sich selbst auf. Live übersetzt sich das dynamische Material von Begging Dog in eine siebenköpfige Band. Kleinman nahm DEMO 1 schnell und fast alleine auf. Live wird das dynamische Material von Begging Dog von einer siebenköpfigen Band umgesetzt. ,Egal, wie gut oder schlecht es einem geht, man sucht irgendwie nach etwas mehr", sagt Kleinman, ohne zu versuchen, eine größere Bedeutung in seiner Arbeit zu finden. ,Wenn ich über diese Dinge schreibe, versuche ich nicht, sie wichtiger zu machen, als sie sind." DEMO 1 profitiert von dieser geradlinigen, alltäglichen Bescheidenheit, die Offenheit mit Entschlossenheit und eingängigen Melodien verbindet.

Begging Dog ist das Indie-Punk-Projekt des in Los Angeles ansässigen Künstlers Jeff Kleinman. Als Ventil für seine Arbeit außerhalb der Band Choir Boy widmet sich Kleinman bei Begging Dog einem rohen, hausgemachten Sound mit Anklängen an Garage Punk und einer einfachen Sprache in den Texten. DEMO 1 ist 26 Minuten lang und voller rollender Bass- und Synthesizer-Linien, charismatischer Riffs und motorischer Drum-Beats. Textlich zeichnen die Songs eine Reihe von Beobachtungen, Szenen und Charakteren aus dem Leben: einen aufdringlichen Gewerkschaftsvertreter, einen Postboten mit einem festen Job bei der Bundesbehörde, einen zwanghaften Spieler und einen geliebten Obdachlosen aus der Nachbarschaft. Ehemalige Liebschaften werden zu einer Collage zusammengefügt, die mehrere Tracks begleitet, aus dem Zusammenhang gerissen, mit unverblümten, scharfsinnigen freien Versen. Kleinman nennt Bruce Springsteen als Inspiration dafür, wie seine Songs mit schlichter Tinte geschrieben sind, wobei er direkte Einfachheit gegenüber blumiger Prosa bevorzugt. Er greift eine gemeinsame Einsamkeit auf, die sowohl universell als auch vielleicht besonders einzigartig für das Leben in Los Angeles ist, mit schnörkellosen Nuancen und Verletzlichkeit. Im Titelsong singt Kleinman: ,Niemand liebt einen bettelnden Hund", eine Zeile, die er von einem Freund übernommen hat und die die Sichtweise des Projekts verkörpert: Die Welt kann einem das Gefühl geben, ein bettelnder Hund auf der Suche nach einem Zuhause zu sein. Auf dem Titelsong singt Kleinman ,no one loves a begging dog" (niemand liebt einen bettelnden Hund) in einer Zeile ,die er von einem Freund übernommen hat und die die Sichtweise des Projekts verkörpert: Die Welt kann einem das Gefühl geben, ein bettelnder Hund auf der Suche nach Zuneigung und Sicherheit zu sein, aber es liegt auch Schönheit in der Einsamkeit und der summenden Monotonie des Ganzen. Der synthlastige Titel ,Laughing Boy" reflektiert über den Sinn des Lebens, kritisiert hohe Mieten und erwähnt gleichzeitig den Duft von Jasminbäumen sowie die störende Präsenz der Polizei. In ,Common Place", umgeben von drängenden Drum-Machine-Kicks und Verzerrungen, singt er davon, wie er sich in einem 7-Eleven-Laden in der Innenstadt wirklich lebendig fühlt, um dann zwischen einer Tragödie, die er in einem Park miterlebt hat, und schönen Erinnerungen an das Leben in einer Wohngemeinschaft in Salt Lake City hin und her zu springen, bevor er sein neues Mantra verkündet: ,Es ist vorbei." Die Kontraste hier sind es, die diese Songs menschlich machen. Kleinman nahm DEMO 1 schnell und mit wenig mehr als sich selbst auf. Live übersetzt sich das dynamische Material von Begging Dog in eine siebenköpfige Band. Kleinman nahm DEMO 1 schnell und fast alleine auf. Live wird das dynamische Material von Begging Dog von einer siebenköpfigen Band umgesetzt. ,Egal, wie gut oder schlecht es einem geht, man sucht irgendwie nach etwas mehr", sagt Kleinman, ohne zu versuchen, eine größere Bedeutung in seiner Arbeit zu finden. ,Wenn ich über diese Dinge schreibe, versuche ich nicht, sie wichtiger zu machen, als sie sind." DEMO 1 profitiert von dieser geradlinigen, alltäglichen Bescheidenheit, die Offenheit mit Entschlossenheit und eingängigen Melodien verbindet.

A love letter to the deep history of the dancefloor, the three-tracker begins with 'Scouse Kiss', where Chicago meets Liverpool as Discothèque Credits reimagine a hidden Lil’ Louis-inspired pop mix into the 12” club dub that never was. 'Dirty Talk' follows, transforming an Italo classic, often cited as the blueprint for New Order’s Blue Monday - into a stripped-back proto-house workout from Machine Disco, dripping with machine funk and looped 808 programming. Finally, 'Burnt' burns bright with acid-soaked sharpness – a hypnotic groove built for the deeper hours of the night.

Selfish Machines, the second album by Pierce the Veil, explores themes of love, longing, and self-awareness through a blend of post-hardcore energy and melodic intricacy. The album features standout tracks like "Caraphernelia," which includes guest vocals by Jeremy McKinnon of A Day to Remember, and "Bulletproof Love," a fan favorite known for its dynamic instrumentation and heartfelt lyrics.Produced by Mike Green (Paramore, All Time Low), this record showcases the band’s technical skill and ability to balance intensity with softer, emotive moments. With its layered arrangements and polished sound, Selfish Machines offers a thoughtful take on the complexities of human emotion.

Tuk Smith is the kind of rock 'n' roll ambassador you didn't think existed anymore. Punk maverick from rural Georgia, Biters frontman, producer and solo artist, he's seen the best and worst of a music industry in constant flux. By turns it's left him critically acclaimed, poised for stadiums, dropped, burned out, back in the game and beloved by those for whom rock is still everything. Now based in Nashville, and with his own label Gypsy Rose Records, he creates from a more real place than most. "I want to do something that means something to people," Tuk says, "because a lot of shit nowadays is so disposable and so plastic. I just don't connect with that. I'd like to do things that impact people positively. It's a weird time on the planet, so to have songs about hope, but not be cheesy about it, it's something I think we need with songwriting. That's the kind of music I want to hear." Again, there's that dichotomy he speaks of. "Rock 'n' roll is essentially the illusion of not giving a fuck, right? Like, you know Axl Rose was doing sit-ups and jump rope, and Paul Stanley was on a cardio machine, and they come out and act like it just happens. The point is I sit at that piano many hours, working on this stuff."

Xexa is still undefined, gliding over her origins, influences, and points of reference. Her music is informed by uploads from all that, processing heritage and future in much the same democratic way, sure of its (her!) path. Synthetic as it may sound, »Kissom« contains the very human element of Xexa's presence, not only through her instantly recognizable ethereal vocals but also manifest in the web of grooves stopping short of »dance«. »Kizomba 003« is the closest she comes to the dancefloor, a reduced take on the popular style of kizomba, a low-key interpretation but with the vocals atypically high in the mix. A brief breath of nostalgia. »Kissom« (title track) prolongs the slow pace, almost as an extended mix of »Kizomba 003«, stretching the sexy bounce for close to 4 extra-delightful minutes.

Everything seems to dissolve into space, as if every track gently expires only to be reconfigured somewhere else, molecule by molecule, perhaps in a different location within our mind. The artist somehow corroborates the feeling, particularly regarding »Será«, »Xtinti«, and »Txe«, which she says »finish exactly where I wanted. They all end with an EQ that mutes the frequencies until they cease to exist«. Here, there, sparse beats, successive waves of ambience, half-machine lips singing close to our ears, a blend of classic 4AD and a metallic environment warmly wrapping around the music. Extra-long, »Quem és tu?« poses the question – Who are we? Who is she? And the title »Kissom« stems from another question Xexa often hears from people, »Ki som é este?« (What is this music?). The answer might well be the artist's own paste of the words »kiss« and »som«. Lovely.

Bars & Noble, the latest release by Black Soprano Family affiliate Heem, is a hard-hitting album steeped in the gritty realism and lyrical finesse that define Buffalo's hip-hop scene. Heem brings raw storytelling and powerful street narratives to the forefront, offering an introspective look at survival, loyalty, and ambition.

The album features an all-star lineup of collaborators, including Conway The Machine, Benny The Butcher himself, Jae Skeese, Boldy James, Jay Worthy, and Illy Foo, each adding their signature styles to the mix. With sharp bars and dense production, Bars & Noble is both a nod to classic hip-hop authenticity and a fresh take on the genre’s modern evolution. This project cements Heem’s voice within the underground rap echelon, balancing moments of vulnerability with defiant bravado.

A legend of the Chicago house scene, befriending Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles in his teens before forming influential house trio Risque III, and still prolific today via releases on Marcel Dettman’s ‘Bad Manners’ imprint, K'Alexi Shelby partners with Tony Loveless for their Planet E debut, ‘Ancestral Rhythm’.

Across a rolling nine-minute odyssey of old-school but future-facing jack, ‘Ancestral Rhythm’ finds the pair tapping into their most uncompromising rhythmic instincts, melding the tough machines of their studio with organic percussion and oscillating plunges into raw, escalating electronics.

In complimentary fashion, Carl Craig expands on the existing material for a subtle, tight C2 edit of the pair’s original material. Roadtested over the summer season in Ibiza and beyond, Craig masterfully sharpens the original’s frenetic edges, while adding another chorus of chants to Shelby and Loveless’s psychedelic soup.

GATEFOLD DOUBLE VINYL WITH SPOT UV FRONT COVER

Following the skewed-unself-help-brilliance of ‘Sus Dog’ (which marked his first full foray into songs, abetted by Thom Yorke), and its companion piece ‘Cave Dog’, Chris Clark returns to the dancefloor’s simple, but no less affecting pleasures, with ‘Steep Stims’.
“I found it hard to pull away from listening to this record, hard to stop making it, I had to remove myself from the Stims and stop enjoying it at some point. The album feels like nature to me. I love it when electronic music feels more naturalistic than acoustic music, more potent, that’s the devil’s trick, the promise of electronic music.” comments Chris.
“I used an old synth - the Virus on all of the tracks. I used it at Mess in Melbourne - run by my friend Robin Fox - I loved it so much I had to buy one when I got back to the UK, it took a while to find. They’re a bit clunky to program but make some of my most favourite sounds.”
‘Steep Stims’ marks a back-to-basics approach, invoking the early years of gung-ho creativity enforced by limitations in technology at the time. “Most of the tracks on this album capture the spirit of making music on old samplers, which don’t have much memory time”, explains Clark. “It reminds me of making ‘Clarence Park’, my first album, where I would have to finish tunes in the session, as they would be saved on floppy disks and I couldn’t easily go between tracks. This new record is just a few synths and a few choice sounds; the writing is the important thing.”
Made quickly, ‘Steep Stims’ reflects the immediate rave energy of his live show, but that’s not to say it’s basic floor fodder, as it’s rife with personality, synth magic, and knack for melody. Although swift and impressionistically captured rather than laboured over, it’s still formidably deft, with plenty of oddball weirdness lurking beneath the dancefloor.
Soft, orange, scorched, brutal, the opening track ‘Gift and Wound’ captures the classic dance music dread / awe / euphoria combo perfectly, before ‘Infinite Roller’ merges sparkly-minimalism with snarling bass and soft sines, which turn more dense and metallic as it progresses.
The melancholic smoke belch of ‘No Pills U’ gives strong classic vibrations, which is belied by its creation, made in just 20 minutes. “I love working quickly sometimes”, comments Clark. “Inspiration hits, rough and ready. It’s off the cuff but also screams ‘don’t gild the lily with nonsense, keep it simple keep it clean’”. Segueing into its elder brother, the piece becomes bigger and beatier on ‘Janus Modal’, where it permutates for over 7 minutes of fluttering, beatific club majesty.
At ‘18EDO Bailiff’ you inexplicably find yourself at a clearing, things have suddenly got much quieter. You enter a decrepit and eerie old house, and as you move through its unsettling interior, you arrive at ‘Globecore Flats’. A real piano tuned to 18 notes per octave gives the pair of tracks a haunted, olde worlde feel, which promptly gets eaten by a huge tech step tearout monster, birthing a strange but exotic beast.
The white hot ‘Blowtorch Thimble’ is all hooktasm-rave-hyper-amen-energy, whilst acidic flute leaps around like Ian Anderson on pingers throughout the catchily simple jump-up lurch of ‘Civilians’.
“‘In Patient’s Day Out’ is like some sort of Morricone-does-kraut-rock-with-drum-machines, but that’s probably just in my head” says Clark. “I made several versions of this then went with the early mix but cranked through some choice outboard because it just had something.”
Drumless, yet still full of exhilarating-big-trance-drama, ‘Who Booed The Goose’ flashes by in stroboscopic fast forward, then ‘5 Millionth Cave Painting’ gives a palate cleanser, letting “the virus with its delicious broken, luxurious reverb have a moment”, before ‘Negation Loop’ swoops down in all its glory, with Clark’s tweaked vocals leading deconstructed trance breakdowns, tape edits and brutal noisebursts.
An antidote to the bombast of its predecessor is ‘Micro Lyf’, which closes the set on a poignant note, of sorts. Muted staccato gives way to field recordings “that gradually put it in this outside space; alien in a meadow somewhere nameless. It feels like a sinkhole. The record kinda swallows itself up and then is gone”, ends Chris.

The project is co-led by Copenhagen-born saxophonist Andreas Toftemark, a European Jazz Master and recipient of the Bent Jædig Prize, whose career has taken him from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam to The New School in New York. He is joined by Benny Benack III, the multi-award winning Emmy-nominated trumpeter and vocalist lauded for his charismatic performances with the likes of Christian McBride, Chad Lefkovitz-Brown, Peter Bernstein and more. Rasmus Sorensen adds a vital piano voice, fresh from winning a Danish Music Award in 2024 and releasing Balancing Act (2024) featuring modern drum icon Kendrick Scott. On bass, Finnish talent Kaisa Mäensivu - leader of her own project Kaisa"s Machine - brings international credentials shaped at the Sibelius Academy, Manhattan School of Music, and festivals including Pori Jazz. Completing the lineup is New York drummer Joe Peri, a Grammy-winning artist featured on Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga"s Love for Sale and a familiar face at Birdland, Mezzrow, and other NYC institutions. Together, they craft Roadmap - a set of originals born from tours around the Copenhagen Jazz Festival and honed on the road. Each member contributes compositions: from Toftemark"s modal-driven title track and brisk swinger What Gets You to Peri"s hard-hitting opener Icebreaker, Mäensivu"s funk-tinged The Lemur, and Sorensen"s harmonically dense New York Attitude. The quintet also delivers moments of intimacy, with Again - a co-write between Toftemark and Benack - adding lyrics penned on tour and sung with understated warmth. As Benack reflects: "When I play with Andreas, I"m thinking of Joe Henderson and Kenny Dorham, of Clifford Brown and Harold Land. But this isn"t just a revival of a classic hard bop record-the heart and soul of it is the Copenhagen-New York connection."

Nach gefeierten Auftritten bei den BBC Proms, im Kölner Dom und auf der New York Fashion Week veröffentlicht die Organistin, Chor-Leiterin und Influencerin Anna Lapwood ihr aktuelles Album Firedove jetzt auf Vinyl. Neben den beliebtesten Stücken des Albums sind auch zwei neue Stücke dabei, die extra für die Vinyl aufgenommen wurden: "Nimbus" von der indonesischen Komponistin Eunike Tanzil und eine Toccata von Eugène Gigout.Für ihr Album "Firedove" hat Anna Lapwood neue Arrangements zeitgenössischer Stücke von u.a. Hans Zimmer, Rachel Portman oder Alan Menken aufgenommen. Dabei ist Anna Lapwood nicht nur an der Orgel zu hören, sondern leitet bei den Stücken "Come to Me", "Firedove" und "Make You Feel My Love" auch den Chapel Choir of Pembroke College Cambridge. Beim Stück "Flight" wird Anna Lapwood von der Saxofonistin Jess Gillam begleitet. "Firedove" wurde in den Nachtstunden im Nidaros Dom aufgenommen, einer spektakulären gotischen Kathedrale aus dem 11. Jahrhundert in Trondheim, Norwegen."Ich wollte ein Album schaffen, bei dem die Hörer nie genau wissen, wohin es als nächstes geht. Es gibt viele kleine 'Easter Eggs', die man nicht erwarten würde - so der erste Auftritt des Chors. Ich habe das Gefühl, dass ich endlich gefunden habe, was ich als Künstlerin sagen möchte. Ich bin sehr stolz darauf", erklärt Anna Lapwood.Als roter Faden durchzieht "Firedove" das Motiv des Fliegens und der Entfaltung - ein Sinnbild für Anna Lapwoods künstlerische Entwicklung. Sie ist ein Phänomen. Mit der Orgel der Royal Albert Hall, an der sich fast jede Nacht übt, begeistert sie eine neue Generation von Musikfans auf Instagram und TikTok für ihr gemeinhin als altmodisch geltendes Instrument. Sie hat sich damit nicht nur Millionen Fans auf Social Media erspielt, sondern wurde auch zu Kollaborationen mit Bonobo, MRAYE, Florence & The Machine und Aurora eingeladen. Selbst Tom Cruise besuchte sie bei einer ihren nächtlichen Proben, was zu einer spontanen Orgelstunde führte. 2024 wurde sie für ihr Debüt-Album "Luna" mit einem Opus Klassik ausgezeichnet. Neben ihrer Tätigkeit als Organistin wurde sie mit 21 Jahren zur Musikdirektorin am Pembroke College in Cambridgeshire ernannt und war damit die jüngste Person, die jemals diese Position an einem College der Universitäten Oxford oder Cambridge innehatte und leitete neun Jahre lang deren Chöre.

Die deutsche Synthie-Pop-Band Propaganda wurde 1982 in Düsseldorf gegründet. 1983 unterschrieb sie
einen Vertrag bei ZTT Records und veröffentlichte 1984 ihre erste Single „Dr. Mabuse“. Es folgte das
Debütalbum „A Secret Wish“, von dem die beiden Singles „Dr. Mabuse“ und „Duel“ in die britischen
Top 30 kamen. Das von Mertens und Dörper geschriebene Album „A Secret Wish“ erhielt viel Lob von
Kritikern und erreichte Platz 16 der britischen Albumcharts. Auf das Album folgte die Single „p:Machinery“,
die in Italien, Frankreich, den Niederlanden, Deutschland und der Schweiz ein Hit wurde. Anschließend
verbrachte die Gruppe den Rest des Jahres auf ihrer „Outside World“-Tournee durch Europa und Amerika.
Im November 1985 erschien das Remix-Album „Wishful Thinking“. Ursprünglich war das Album für den
amerikanischen Club-Markt gedacht, es wurde jedoch auch in Europa veröffentlicht. Das von ZTT-Experte
Ian Peel zusammengestellte und kuratierte Box-Set enthält neben dem Album eine Auswahl seltener Mixe,
unveröffentlichter Titel und einiger Live-Aufnahmen. Das Booklet in der kompakten, stabilen CD-Box
enthält eine Notiz von Ian Peel über die Geschichte der Band und den Einfluss, den das Album im Laufe
der Jahre hatte. Die Veröffentlichung wird von einer limitierten 1-LP-Version und einer Blu-ray (SDEExklusiv) begleitet, die einen neuen Atmos-Mix von David Kostin enthält.

The first ASFON release has been a year-long labour of love that has come into being from what felt like a lucid dream, off in the distance, too crazy to believe was real. From our first meeting in the Freerotation yurt to late-night exchanges in Bristol, Winkles (Jamie Slater) has been sharing tracks that lingered long after the party ended. Their raw textures and warped sense of time found a natural home in our sets, eventually leading to the emergence of ‘The Unavoidable EP’, a collection of four diverse tracks which form a singular, immersive experience.

On A1 journey, The Unavoidable Consequence Of Familiarity, a knocking kick opens the door to this new sound world, introducing us to the granular clicks, crazed telephony and vocoded grunts which populate the deep space of Winkles’ imagination. Machines whir and perception shifts in the space between distant synth stabs, while a pulsating bassline battles to break through the filter and create a throbbing low end. Hallucinatory and deep, this is the perfect introduction to both the EP and the ASFON outlook.

Semi Stretches sees Winkles pick up a signal from beyond the outer rim, fire up the hyperdrive and lock into the rolling hum of intergalactic techno. Juggernaut bass forms the perfect counterpoint to the rapid fire rim shots trembling away up top as this Venusian club craft battles static, drives through the milky cosmic and transports the dancing bodies to a Multicoloured Plasticine Universe.

Cutting the engines and switching to suspended animation, Winkles lets us drift through a hazy dream-space where there’s no up or down, where twinkling arps, insectile electronics and hazy sirens coalesce into a psychotropic swirl.

Out of this multicoloured mirage comes Osaka-based astral traveller Erik Luebs, who translates that peak-time ambient bubbler into a Balearic chugger which emerges from the ether to add another dimension to the EP. Rubberised bass, velvet pads and nuanced percussion ensure this is perfect for poolside play in a land of pink sand and sideways tides.

Fire of God's Love ist das legendäre Album der australischen Nonne Schwester Irene O'Connor aus dem Jahr 1973 - eine aufrichtige, gefühlvolle und unbewusst psychedelische Songfolge, die der Selbstreflexion und dem Erwachen des inneren Geistes gewidmet ist. Das Album ist eine Sammlung von originellen spirituellen Folksongs, die von O'Connor geschrieben und mit Gitarre, E-Orgel, Drumcomputer und ihrer engelsgleichen Stimme interpretiert wurden. Es wurde von ihrer Mitschwester und Toningenieurin Sister Marimil Lobregat auf erstaunlich futuristische Weise aufgenommen und abgemischt. Freedom To Spend bietet die erste autorisierte Neuauflage dieses heiligen Grals seit 1976; das Album wurde mit Sorgfalt und Bedacht aus den besten verfügbaren Quellen restauriert und remastered. Als junge römisch-katholische Nonne im Orden der Franziskanerinnen von Maria begann Schwester Irene 1953 ihre musikalischen Aktivitäten, als sie von Sydney in ein Kloster in Singapur zog und begann, Kinder mit Lernschwierigkeiten zu unterrichten. Nachdem sie sich eine Akustikgitarre zugelegt und drei einfache Akkorde gelernt hatte, blühten Irenes Lieder dank der Begeisterung der Kinder auf. Durch einen glücklichen Zufall arbeitete ein Elternteil eines Schülers bei einem kommerziellen Radiosender in Singapur, und Irene wurde eingeladen, im Studio des Senders aufzutreten und aufzunehmen. Sie ging hin, trug ihre Ordenstracht und hatte ihre Gitarre dabei, und nahm dort 1965 ihren ersten eigenen Song auf. Unter dem Pseudonym Myiriam Frances, um innerhalb ihres Ordens anonym zu bleiben (,Nonnen machten so etwas nicht", bemerkte O'Connor), veröffentlichte Phillips Ende der 1960er Jahre eine Reihe von Platten von Schwester Irene. Im Kloster in Singapur lernte Schwester Irene Schwester Marimil Lobregat kennen, eine Mitbrüderin aus dem Franziskanerorden, die Anfang der 1960er Jahre von den Philippinen auf die Insel gezogen war. Mehr als ein Jahrzehnt später trafen sie sich, wie durch göttliche Fügung, in einem anderen Kloster in Point Piper in Sydney wieder. Marimil, ebenfalls Musikerin und Klangenthusiastin, arbeitete als Audio- und Videotechnikerin beim Catholic Radio and Television Centre in Homebush im Westen Sydneys. Schwester Irene, die treu an ihren musikalischen Fähigkeiten feilte, und Schwester Marimil schmiedeten den Plan, sich an mehreren Sonntagnachmittagen im Zentrum zu treffen und die Lieder zu komponieren, die später auf ,Fire of God's Love" erscheinen sollten. Die Lieder von ,Fire of God's Love" werden von Schwester Irene mit ihrer engelsgleichen Sopranstimme gesungen (mit Texten in Englisch, Latein und Malaiisch) und von Schwester Marimil produziert und auf einem Teac 3340S 4-Spur-Tonbandgerät aufgenommen. Marimil trug maßgeblich dazu bei, die unheimliche Jenseitigkeit zu zaubern, die das Album durchzieht. Die kristallklare Stimme von Schwester Irene wird exquisit von einem schimmernden Mosaik aus Hall und analogen Synthesizer-Klängen umhüllt, während sie wie eine Glocke in der Dunkelheit erklingt und so lange nachhallt, bis die Wahrheit oder das Göttliche erscheint. Themen wie Barmherzigkeit, Gnade, Licht und Geheimnis werden von sanften Akustikgitarrenklängen und ewigen Pianotönen untermalt, die sich langsam auf vibrierenden Fäden drehen. Bei den Songs mit Keyboards spielte Schwester Irene alle Parts live in Echtzeit, einschließlich der Basspedale. Die Drum Machine wurde von derselben Orgel erzeugt, die sie spielte, und gleichzeitig ausgeführt. All dies trägt zu einer Atmosphäre erhöhter Präsenz bei, einem organischen Blitz, der tief aus dem Unterbewusstsein kommt. Entstanden aus Ideen, die in einem ruhigen Kloster und abgeschieden von weltlichen Einflüssen entstanden sind, wird der liturgische Rahmen des Albums durch die innige Hingabe zweier Schwestern gefiltert - ihre eigene Interpretation von Popmusik, befreit von Anmaßung und oberflächlichem Glamour. Der Titel des Albums stammt, wie viele seiner Songs, aus einem Bibelvers, in diesem Fall Lukas 12:49. Aber Schwester Irene und Schwester Marimil haben ihn in einen Raum gebracht, in dem alle spirituell Suchenden die Übertragung oder: ungewöhnliche Hermeneutik schätzen können. Die Texte sprechen universelle Bedürfnisse, Wünsche und Sehnsüchte an: ewige Liebe und Zuneigung, ein Ende der Einsamkeit, eine neue Form der Erleichterung, Befreiung von der Angst vor dem Tod. Anstelle von Hymnenformeln bedient sich Schwester Irene, vielleicht unbeabsichtigt, der damals modischen Folk- und Psychedelic-Musik, um eine Predigt zu halten, die sich wie Liebesbriefe an eine göttliche Präsenz liest und über jede formale Religion hinaus zur Seele spricht. ,Fire of God's Love" ist ein inspirierendes Archiv früher elektronischer Experimente zwischen zwei befreundeten Frauen und Mystikerinnen, eine Dokumentation ihrer göttlichen Energie, die auf disziplinierte Weise kanalisiert wurde. Bei seiner Erstveröffentlichung war es weder ein durchschlagender Erfolg noch ein Misserfolg, sondern wurde vor allem mit Neugierde aufgenommen. Die beiden haben nie wieder gemeinsam Musik gemacht, und in den 50 Jahren seitdem zieht ihre einmalige Zusammenarbeit weiterhin Zuhörer an, die sie in Plattenläden entdecken (sei es die Originalpressung von Phillips oder die klanglich überlegene Neuauflage von 1976 bei Alba House Communications) oder eher über YouTube, als zufällig entdeckter und heiß diskutierter Kultklassiker. Heute lebt Schwester Irene in Sydney, Australien, und freut sich, dass ein neues Publikum in ihrer Musik mit Schwester Marimil einen Sinn findet. Ihre Geschichte ist ein Beweis dafür, dass man nicht viel braucht, um ein visionäres, zeitloses Album zu schaffen: ein Tonbandgerät, Freundschaft und ,The Fire of God's Love", um den Weg in die Zukunft zu ebnen. Das kann ein spiritueller Freund sein oder ein irdischer Begleiter direkt neben einem. Sister Irene O'Connors ,Fire of God's Love" wird am 14. November über Freedom To Spend auf Vinyl, CD und als digitale Ausgabe veröffentlicht.

Fire of God's Love ist das legendäre Album der australischen Nonne Schwester Irene O'Connor aus dem Jahr 1973 - eine aufrichtige, gefühlvolle und unbewusst psychedelische Songfolge, die der Selbstreflexion und dem Erwachen des inneren Geistes gewidmet ist. Das Album ist eine Sammlung von originellen spirituellen Folksongs, die von O'Connor geschrieben und mit Gitarre, E-Orgel, Drumcomputer und ihrer engelsgleichen Stimme interpretiert wurden. Es wurde von ihrer Mitschwester und Toningenieurin Sister Marimil Lobregat auf erstaunlich futuristische Weise aufgenommen und abgemischt. Freedom To Spend bietet die erste autorisierte Neuauflage dieses heiligen Grals seit 1976; das Album wurde mit Sorgfalt und Bedacht aus den besten verfügbaren Quellen restauriert und remastered. Als junge römisch-katholische Nonne im Orden der Franziskanerinnen von Maria begann Schwester Irene 1953 ihre musikalischen Aktivitäten, als sie von Sydney in ein Kloster in Singapur zog und begann, Kinder mit Lernschwierigkeiten zu unterrichten. Nachdem sie sich eine Akustikgitarre zugelegt und drei einfache Akkorde gelernt hatte, blühten Irenes Lieder dank der Begeisterung der Kinder auf. Durch einen glücklichen Zufall arbeitete ein Elternteil eines Schülers bei einem kommerziellen Radiosender in Singapur, und Irene wurde eingeladen, im Studio des Senders aufzutreten und aufzunehmen. Sie ging hin, trug ihre Ordenstracht und hatte ihre Gitarre dabei, und nahm dort 1965 ihren ersten eigenen Song auf. Unter dem Pseudonym Myiriam Frances, um innerhalb ihres Ordens anonym zu bleiben (,Nonnen machten so etwas nicht", bemerkte O'Connor), veröffentlichte Phillips Ende der 1960er Jahre eine Reihe von Platten von Schwester Irene. Im Kloster in Singapur lernte Schwester Irene Schwester Marimil Lobregat kennen, eine Mitbrüderin aus dem Franziskanerorden, die Anfang der 1960er Jahre von den Philippinen auf die Insel gezogen war. Mehr als ein Jahrzehnt später trafen sie sich, wie durch göttliche Fügung, in einem anderen Kloster in Point Piper in Sydney wieder. Marimil, ebenfalls Musikerin und Klangenthusiastin, arbeitete als Audio- und Videotechnikerin beim Catholic Radio and Television Centre in Homebush im Westen Sydneys. Schwester Irene, die treu an ihren musikalischen Fähigkeiten feilte, und Schwester Marimil schmiedeten den Plan, sich an mehreren Sonntagnachmittagen im Zentrum zu treffen und die Lieder zu komponieren, die später auf ,Fire of God's Love" erscheinen sollten. Die Lieder von ,Fire of God's Love" werden von Schwester Irene mit ihrer engelsgleichen Sopranstimme gesungen (mit Texten in Englisch, Latein und Malaiisch) und von Schwester Marimil produziert und auf einem Teac 3340S 4-Spur-Tonbandgerät aufgenommen. Marimil trug maßgeblich dazu bei, die unheimliche Jenseitigkeit zu zaubern, die das Album durchzieht. Die kristallklare Stimme von Schwester Irene wird exquisit von einem schimmernden Mosaik aus Hall und analogen Synthesizer-Klängen umhüllt, während sie wie eine Glocke in der Dunkelheit erklingt und so lange nachhallt, bis die Wahrheit oder das Göttliche erscheint. Themen wie Barmherzigkeit, Gnade, Licht und Geheimnis werden von sanften Akustikgitarrenklängen und ewigen Pianotönen untermalt, die sich langsam auf vibrierenden Fäden drehen. Bei den Songs mit Keyboards spielte Schwester Irene alle Parts live in Echtzeit, einschließlich der Basspedale. Die Drum Machine wurde von derselben Orgel erzeugt, die sie spielte, und gleichzeitig ausgeführt. All dies trägt zu einer Atmosphäre erhöhter Präsenz bei, einem organischen Blitz, der tief aus dem Unterbewusstsein kommt. Entstanden aus Ideen, die in einem ruhigen Kloster und abgeschieden von weltlichen Einflüssen entstanden sind, wird der liturgische Rahmen des Albums durch die innige Hingabe zweier Schwestern gefiltert - ihre eigene Interpretation von Popmusik, befreit von Anmaßung und oberflächlichem Glamour. Der Titel des Albums stammt, wie viele seiner Songs, aus einem Bibelvers, in diesem Fall Lukas 12:49. Aber Schwester Irene und Schwester Marimil haben ihn in einen Raum gebracht, in dem alle spirituell Suchenden die Übertragung oder: ungewöhnliche Hermeneutik schätzen können. Die Texte sprechen universelle Bedürfnisse, Wünsche und Sehnsüchte an: ewige Liebe und Zuneigung, ein Ende der Einsamkeit, eine neue Form der Erleichterung, Befreiung von der Angst vor dem Tod. Anstelle von Hymnenformeln bedient sich Schwester Irene, vielleicht unbeabsichtigt, der damals modischen Folk- und Psychedelic-Musik, um eine Predigt zu halten, die sich wie Liebesbriefe an eine göttliche Präsenz liest und über jede formale Religion hinaus zur Seele spricht. ,Fire of God's Love" ist ein inspirierendes Archiv früher elektronischer Experimente zwischen zwei befreundeten Frauen und Mystikerinnen, eine Dokumentation ihrer göttlichen Energie, die auf disziplinierte Weise kanalisiert wurde. Bei seiner Erstveröffentlichung war es weder ein durchschlagender Erfolg noch ein Misserfolg, sondern wurde vor allem mit Neugierde aufgenommen. Die beiden haben nie wieder gemeinsam Musik gemacht, und in den 50 Jahren seitdem zieht ihre einmalige Zusammenarbeit weiterhin Zuhörer an, die sie in Plattenläden entdecken (sei es die Originalpressung von Phillips oder die klanglich überlegene Neuauflage von 1976 bei Alba House Communications) oder eher über YouTube, als zufällig entdeckter und heiß diskutierter Kultklassiker. Heute lebt Schwester Irene in Sydney, Australien, und freut sich, dass ein neues Publikum in ihrer Musik mit Schwester Marimil einen Sinn findet. Ihre Geschichte ist ein Beweis dafür, dass man nicht viel braucht, um ein visionäres, zeitloses Album zu schaffen: ein Tonbandgerät, Freundschaft und ,The Fire of God's Love", um den Weg in die Zukunft zu ebnen. Das kann ein spiritueller Freund sein oder ein irdischer Begleiter direkt neben einem. Sister Irene O'Connors ,Fire of God's Love" wird am 14. November über Freedom To Spend auf Vinyl, CD und als digitale Ausgabe veröffentlicht.

Going Up, originally released in 1983, is one of the most curious and enduring records from British studio mavericks The RAH Band. Long out of print, it now sees its first ever vinyl reissue courtesy of Shocking Music and Rush Hour.

Led by super-producer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Richard Anthony Hewson, The RAH Band has always existed just outside the mainstream. Blending jazz-funk, sci-fi synth pop, and cosmic lounge, their sound never quite fit the mould. That might explain the cult status they’ve held ever since. Beloved by Balearic heads, rare groove collectors, and adventurous synth diggers, Going Up is perhaps their most influential record.

At the centre of it all is the intro track “Messages From The Stars”, the band’s runaway cosmic hit. A spacey, retro-futurist groove that has become a viral favourite in recent years, it now boasts hundreds of millions of streams, with a new generation discovering it through TikTok and YouTube. But it was originally just one track on this understated 1983 album.

The rest of Going Up is just as compelling, filled with dusty drum machines, off-kilter instrumentals, woozy vocals, and that unmistakable early '80s charm. It is a snapshot of a band in transition, blurring the lines between leftfield pop, sci-fi funk, and home-brewed synth experiments.

Out of print for over 40 years, Going Up finally gets the reissue treatment it deserves. Restored and remastered, and still sounding like nothing else.

The special one! Mr. G’s productions are distinctive, deep, driving and, above all, a listen to behold. Like the man–machine interface between hypno house and roots techno, he manages to unite dance floors either through his High Mass–like live sets full of swing, grit and soul, or simply through other DJs playing his records.
Blessing Running Back for the second time, Mr. G’s Reconnection EP is the result of a serious dive into his vaults.
City Heat (G’s Underground Dub) is a picture-perfect example of his skill to groove without a doubt: raw, funky and fabulous. Serendipity and Work on the flip side complete this picture. Decades of record buying, music making and a love supreme for this culture rolled into one. Made yesterday, released today, and it will still sound great tomorrow. A personal gift from Mr. G’s archive to Running Back.

Kalita are proud to present a 2-year anniversary repress of Emerson’s 1988 mythical electro boogie grail ‘Sending All My Love Out’, accompanied by two remixes courtesy of the genre’s most respected innovators, Egyptian Lover and Detroit In Effect. Limited to only 500 copies, pressed on electrifying yellow 12” vinyl.

Originally privately released as an obscure 7” single on LAS Records, operated by visionary power couple Emerson and Leora Sandidge, ‘Sending All My Love Out’ has since transformed into a hallowed grail among dance music collectors, enthusiasts and DJs alike, commanding sky-high prices on the second-hand scene.

A late 80’s electro boogie anthem, featuring a heavy mix of synthesizer and drum-machine euphoria, overlaid with Emerson and Leora’s own vocals, the recording truly is in a league of its own.

And to do justice to its legendary status, Kalita has dusted off the original multi-track master tapes and enlisted two of the electro scene’s most revered figures, namely Egyptian Lover and Detroit In Effect, to remix and elevate the track in their own signature style.

A truly special release.

Fin" is the fourth album by Spanish band Exnovios, a group that has been described as a blend of Spacemen 3 influences and the best of Spanish '60s pop. The new dozen songs that make up their fourth LP happily shifts away a bit from to the usual unbeatable formula of this Pamplona-based quartet (garage reverbcore as if sung by Spanish legends Juan y Junior) and add new and fascinating layers-at once fresh yet entirely logical in the evolution of such a unique band within the local scene. Exnovios' new collection of songs wasn't created in a rehearsal space or recorded in a single week in the studio. Rather, it was composed and rehearsed slowly in bedrooms and living rooms-songs that were later brought into the studio with the idea of finishing building them there. Over the course of nearly a year, the band approached each song one by one, in a handcrafted manner, alongside their trusted ally, producer Guillermo Mutiloa. The result is a treasure trove of songs, perhaps more psych-folk than ever, as acoustic pieces abound-full of exquisite melodies without abandoning the consciousness-expanding journeys that have made Exnovios a cult favorite: from the instant classic 'Nubes' (with its very Byrds-like harmonies and gorgeous twelve-string acoustic guitar), to the delightful Big Star-style fiction of 'El cine se queda en silencio', or even the fabulous cover of Stephin Merritt's 'Tú tú tú tú.' These are often drumless tracks, perhaps with some light percussion, always featuring detailed and exquisite arrangements of guitar, electronics, percussion, and even touches of strings. And despite the reduced presence of drums (which, along with the laid-back recording approach, makes this almost Exnovios' "White Album"), fans of the band's legendary fuzz-guitar reverbcore sound won't be disappointed: there's the psychedelic 'Viaje Alucinante', full of their classic riffs; their brutal cover of Psychic TV's 'Godstar' (drenched in echo and eccentric vocal effects); and the perfectly crafted 'Naves Misteriosas', which pulls off the impossible feat of sounding like 'Cerca de las Estrellas'-era Los Pekenikes in the verses, Phil Spector in the chorus, and the Ramones in the post-chorus. And there's much more: percussion reminiscent of the most 'baggy' Primal Scream on the brilliant 'Aún no es tarde'; love lyrics wrapped in an exquisite drum machine soaked in reverb and Suicide-style Farfisa on 'Ha venido a quedarse'; the beautiful two-chord electronic Christmas carol 'Ya es Navidad'; and that lysergic waltz that sings of the peace brought by karmic revenge, carried along by waves of fuzz and delay, titled 'El día del juicio final.' "Fin" reveals more sides and nuances of Exnovios than ever before-a festival of eclectic styles that all remain true to the musical vision that has defined them over the past decade, with their melodic powers at the peak of their talent.

"Love it! Electronic wonkiness at its finest" - Richard Norris (The Grid)

TEA, CAKES AND THE (WO)MAN MACHINE

Curtain Twitcher could only have emerged from Sheffield.
A female electronic duo whose corrupted downtempo post Balearic chug pulses and wobbles, throbs and twitches - full of fat noises and bolshy Moogery.
It's human and appealingly analogue. More Delia Derbyshire's Radiophonic Workshop than DAF, More Tangerine Dream than Depeche Mode. Not your average bloketronica.

Frankly this music doesn't behave itself in any way you might expect. Plugged in post rave pop can be far too orderly. Music should be messy. Even on occasion revealing a tune your mum could hum.

"Leap The Dips" emerged from machine jamming with a creative freedom that only comes from friendship. That friendship is a musical one but it's also real and genuine: "We’ll talk about pretty much owt if you provide the tea and cakes".

We Are The Acid Robots - 6 electro-acid journeys from Baka (Berlin) & Acidulant (Malta).
Baka's side flows with smooth, futuristic funk, precision beats and liquid 303 lines.
Acidulant flips it to the oldschool, serving up pure electro energy with an acid twist.
Silky meets gritty, future meets foundation. Future classics in the making.

Auf "Describe" lernt Hannah Jadagu auf die harte Tour, dass Entfernung relativ ist. Nachdem ihr Debütalbum "Aperture" aus dem Jahr 2023 von Medien wie der New York Times und NPR mit begeisterten Kritiken bedacht wurde, führte Jadagus aufblühende Karriere sie weg von ihrer aufblühenden Beziehung in New York. Auf ihrem expansiven zweiten Album setzt sie sich mit dieser Trennung auseinander, findet Verbindungen, die über das Physische hinausgehen, und stärkt dabei ihre eigene Stimme. "Describe" schwingt diese Spannung zwischen dem Wunsch nach Verbindung und dem Verlangen nach Freiraum mit. Wie schon auf ihrem Debütalbum sind die Texte von einer emotionalen Präzision geprägt, die nur aus gelebten Erfahrungen stammen kann. "I've been five thousand miles away", singt sie über hallende Hi-Hats in "More" - "Why does three thousand feel like more?" Aber diese Distanz hat Jadagu auch dazu gebracht, neue Dimensionen ihres Sounds zu erkunden. "Ich stehe total auf Künstler, die Analoges mit Modernem mischen können", sagt sie, und der Umzug nach Kalifornien für den Sommer gab ihr die Möglichkeit, neue Kollaborateure kennenzulernen und mit analogen Synthesizern und Drum Machines zu experimentieren. Während das warme Summen ihrer Gitarre ihr Hauptinstrument für "Aperture" war, begann sie zu spüren, dass ihre Muskelgedächtnis sie zurückhielt. "Es war befreiend, an einem Synthesizer sitzen und eine Note spielen zu können, während ich meine Stimme erkundete", sagte sie. "Das empfand ich als etwas befreiender als das Spielen auf einer Gitarre." In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Produzenten Sora Lopez in seinem Studio in Altadena und aus der Ferne mit dem Co-Produzenten und Kollaborateur von ,Aperture", Max Baby, aus Paris, schuf Jadagu einen Sound für "Describe", der unverkennbar ihr eigener ist und sich völlig von den verzerrten Gitarrenmelodien ihres Debüts unterscheidet. Ein Großteil von "Describe" handelt jedoch von dem, was ungesagt bleibt: ,In diesem Album versuche ich vor allem, Ideen auszudrücken, die nicht immer so konkret sind", sagte Jadagu. ,Es ist einfach ein Fluss von Dingen, die ich fühle, durchlebe und ausdrücke." Passenderweise endet "Describe" mit "Bergamont", einem Song, in dem Jadagu einige ihrer bisher ehrlichsten Texte zu einem vielschichtigen Synthesizer-Sound singt, der die Anspannung und Entspannung eines langen, reinigenden Atemzugs nachahmt. "I hope you find something true to you ", singt sie. Auf "Describe" sucht Jadagu nach Worten, um die Wahrheit zu beschreiben, nach ihren eigenen Vorstellungen, und genießt die Ungewissheit dieser Reise.

Love International launch new vinyl-focused imprint with a 12" from Adam Curtain including a remix from Mr. Ho.

Revered party crew Love International expand their enterprise, channeling the buzz from another stellar year into a freshly minted sub-label: the 'Love International Floor Series'.

As the name suggestions, the series zeroes in on the dance floor, giving some form and shape to misty memories forged across protracted sessions at Barbarellas, The Olive Grove and The Beach in Tisno.

In to inaugurate the project is London based Adam Curtain - an artist focused on flexing the boundaries of UK club music who has been gathering steam as a nifty selector and a talented producer. A familiar face on both sides of the booth at Lion & Lamb, Fabric, Gottwood and of course - Love International - Adam nails the brief in delivering a record that is sharp, direct and eminently playable.

Musically - the tunes bridge old and new, nestling in that sweet spot between Breaks, Electro, UKG, Acid and Minimal. Stepped grooves, crisp snares, angular synths and oozey bass lines all unify to render a sound that's simultaneously psychotropic and crystal clear.

The cherry on the cake comes as a remix from the venerated Mr. Ho of Klasse Wrecks fame. Often paired with Luca Lozano, Mr. Ho is a master of organising chaos and here he does exactly that - rousing his machines and churning the original into a sludgy, fractal brain scrambler.

Jessica93, prodigal bastard of our glorious french squat scene, relocated on Born Bad : this is no picnic. Geoffroy Laporte, alone against all odds, alternates bass and guitar to build harsh loops with a drum machine spitting pre-Gulf War patterns. That’s where it gets tricky : every musical posse claims him. Grunge, sure, but Jessica doesn’t indulge in necrophilia. His circuit is punk, he doesn’t dress the part though. Cold wave, the atmosphere fits somehow, but the gear does not. The self-confident rock horde saw him playing with hair in his eyes… but he never joined the Party. Metal had something to say but sadly, nobody listened. Maybe it's time to give it a rest and let Jessica93 cook his great misery broth on her own, called « 666 tours de périph’ » (666 laps on the beltway). Witnessing Jessica93 live makes you dread that he'll get up the next morning, drive 200 miles and one nap later kick it again, when it takes us a good week to recover from the bad half of that same evening. Like so many other unknown soldiers during our very own world war of music, he patrols small venues relentlessly.



At the heart of this cultural pentacle painted by french weirdos Bryan's Magic Tears, and Carine Krinator, Jessica93 has built a sound validated by years of chosen vagrancy, birthing bands with joyously stupid monikers, in the humid jungle of small labels. Jessica93's debut album had a track celebrating Omar Little, HBO’s gay bandit from Baltimore. This story begins on the beltway, where Florence Rey, accidental copkiller turned to political icon of the 90’s. Geoffroy offers his brilliant analysis : " C’est la police qui nous tire d’ssus / C’est mon trou d’balle qui leur chie d’ssus « (Police shoots us down / my dripping asshole gets the job done).



A previous album was haunted by bedbugs, this one is essentially about love, a delicious scourge just as hard to eradicate. Two black diamonds peek out of the LP : ’’La colline du crack’’, heartbreak song about the ultimate temptation of violent delights, located on crackhead central in Paris. The brilliant chorus, ‘Take my hand and come with me to Crack Hill’ will put an end to the rumours, almost everything was really false. And Bébé Requin, alternative obituary that’ll make you shiver, where our nice couple states ‘’on kiffe la drogue dure et les ptits chiens’ (‘we love hard drugs and little dogs’). And that is the reason we face the wall of sound jostled by unnecessary shoulder thrusts: those nice fat chunks of charcoal poetry, hidden under light sarcasm.



The rest of the record demonstrates the know-how acquired in loop-by-loop construction of ruins that are pleasant to squat in together. There’s your classic doom delicatessen, with bits of heavy metal inside, crafted with the manic care typical of hard wankers. Arthur Satàn, who produced and mixed the album at home in Bordeaux, helped him get his head out of the reverb safe house. And Jessica93 took the opportunity to switch to the dark side of the language : french at last. Worth the wait ! Sing along : « nique sa mère / nique sa grosse mère » (translate that yourself).

Zelienople frontman Matt Christensen returns to Miasmah with Constant Green - a record of reverberant country inspired songs that puts the weight somewhere between Johnny Cash and Slowdive. Matt pours out his soul through flashes of life - small and large. His voice roaming over the guitars in a way which feels like a floating poetic deluge.

Appearing fresh from last years Zelienople album Hold You Up, Matt has made a very personal record that arrives as perfectly as it could be. It is full of beautiful sparse moments that capture the feeling of time standing still while simultaneously flashing in front of your eyes. As a child of the 70ies, growing up with country influenced AM rock on the radio, riding around in cars without seatbelts, Matt creates this nostalgic feeling of free riding through the city streets at dusk : a dream world where one can see green as a symbol for humanity and optimism. Not to say the album doesn't have it's share of darkness. Christensen always lingers deep in melancholy, driving his fears and anxieties out through music.

Visions of being able to move anywhere, picking his mother up from jail, family matters, change, the small things in life - all outtakes from what he sings about. Although it's hard to pick up on unless you really listen, as his ramblings can at one moment be fully clear while in the next drowned or muffled - becoming a mere meditative element to the music. Steady collaborators Brian Harding and Eric Eleazer from Zelienople accompanies on pedal steel and keys to further fill the sound into a warm dream, following in the footsteps of Matt ́s previous Miasmah album Honeymoons (2016). That said, while Honeymoons used drum machines and vast open spaces, Constant Green is another step closer towards the classic singer-songwriter folklore. Timeless gold from an artist that never stops creating.

Italian producer, musician, DJ, and groove architect Sam Ruffillo drops his long-awaited debut album Tipo Così on Toy Tonics – a sun-drenched, genre-blurring statement that blends classic house with Mediterranean flair, romantic funk, and tongue-in-cheek Italo vibes. Over 11 expertly crafted tracks, Ruffillo delivers a dancefloor-ready, emotionally rich LP that connects deep musicality with irresistible rhythm and light-hearted elegance.

After three acclaimed EPs and collaborations with revered artists such as Barbara Boeing, Kapote, and Fimiani, Ruffillo has firmly cemented himself as a core artist on the Berlin-based label. Known for his unmistakable signature sound — a warm mix of vintage disco, 90s house, and Italian vocals — Sam’s music has garnered widespread DJ support from tastemakers like Gerd Janson, Palms Trax, Seth Troxler, and DJ Tennis, while becoming a staple on Italian airwaves. His infectious summer anthems like Danza Organica and Perfetta Così have soundtracked countless club nights and festivals, creating a loyal following that eagerly awaited this full-length debut.

Tipo Così is the natural culmination of a musical journey that’s both playful and profound — a travel diary written in grooves, synth stabs, and melodies that feel like postcards from a parallel Mediterranean universe. The album expands and deepens Ruffillo’s world into a fully immersive experience: lush emotional chords meet tight syncopated grooves, vintage synth textures collide with irresistibly catchy pop refrains, and the boundary between sincerity and playful irony is exquisitely blurred.

Entirely written, produced, and recorded in Italy, in his beloved hometown of Bologna, the album finds Ruffillo at the helm on keys, drum machines, and production, supported by a talented cast of musicians contributing live bass, guitar, and other organic elements — further enriching his trademark fusion of electronic grooves and natural instrumentation. There’s a tactile warmth in these tracks, a hands-on feel that adds soul and depth to every beat.

This album also marks Ruffillo’s heartfelt return to singing in Italian, with standout tracks like House Tipo Così, Mi Fa Volare, Ancora, and Dentro Di Me, where romantic naïveté meets pulsing club energy in a way that feels both timeless and refreshingly new. The vocal performances add an intimate, human touch to the music, reinforcing the personal stories woven into each song. There’s poetry in the casual, a bittersweet elegance in the way the lyrics float over groove-heavy production.

Having toured extensively across Europe, Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Mexico — with sets at iconic venues like Panorama Bar and festivals such as Sónar Barcelona — Ruffillo has fine-tuned much of this album in front of live audiences. The real-world testing ground infused the record with a dynamic energy and immediacy that only comes from genuine crowd interaction. These songs weren’t just made in the studio — they were lived on dancefloors around the world.

Tipo Così is not just a collection of tracks. It’s a philosophy — playful, stylish and unmistakably personal. A modern club album bursting with heartfelt emotion and sophistication. Music for dancers with taste; for lovers of beauty, rhythm, and the little imperfections that make things feel real.

But what exactly is Tipo Così? More than just a phrase, it’s a way of being. It’s about embracing elegance without effort, mixing irony with sincerity, and letting nostalgia slip into the room without taking over the party. It’s Sam Ruffillo’s signature language: relaxed, confident, meticulous yet never rigid — where a chord progression can say as much as a lyric, and every beat carries intention.

The album’s visual identity complements this vision perfectly. The artwork and promotional materials lovingly reference Italian design from the ’80s and ’90s, combining bold graphic elements with playful pop culture nods. This aesthetic mirrors Ruffillo’s music — a fusion of vintage warmth and contemporary freshness, delivered with authenticity and charm.

Sam Ruffillo belongs to a new generation of European artists who are reshaping electronic music by blending past and present, analog and digital, groove and emotion — without nostalgia or pose. His artistic universe is coherent, vibrant, and alive; a rich tapestry of sound, images, and stories that coexist with lightness, precision, and a distinctive voice.

Reflecting on his artistic journey, Sam describes music as a vital, deeply human impulse — a tribal connection to rhythm and body that has driven him since he was a teenager. His creative process balances meticulous planning with room for spontaneity, usually sparked by clear melodic ideas that evolve naturally. Collaborations with close friends, especially vocalists like Ninfa, add warmth and authenticity, exemplified in tracks like “House Tipo Così.” For Sam, music is honest self-expression — crafted for listeners who crave memorable melodies and rhythms imbued with genuine feeling.

While technical perfection is tempting, Sam prioritizes emotion, knowing that what truly resonates is the soul behind the sounds. His long-standing partnership with Toy Tonics has been key in nurturing his vision, offering a blend of creative freedom and professional support. Looking ahead, Sam Ruffillo is excited to broaden his live performances, and release new projects that continue to blend electronic grooves with organic, heartfelt sounds — maintaining the delicate balance between playful irony and sincere emotion that defines Tipo Così.




Kurzversion:
Italian DJ, producer and musician Sam Ruffillo drops his debut album Tipo Così on Toy Tonics - a sunny blend of house, funk, Italo and pop, full of groove and emotion. Written and recorded in Bologna with live instruments and Italian vocals, it’s a playful, elegant journey shaped on dancefloors worldwide. A stylish, sincere club album where nostalgia, irony and rhythm meet in perfect harmony.

- Mi Fa Volare
Road-tested across continents and now finally released, “Mi Fa Volare” channels 90s uplifting euphoria with big breakbeats, lush chords, and Italian vocals built to stick. Somewhere between balearic bliss and piano house nostalgia, it’s a feel-good club weapon made for peak-time moments - already sung back by crowds after just one listen.


- Ancora
“Ancora” is a vibrant hi-NRG track inspired by 80s Italo disco, sung entirely in Italian. It blends driving rhythms with dreamy melodies, capturing the radiant spirit of the decade. This fresh yet nostalgic song delivers euphoric vibes and timeless energy, making it a perfect fit for both dancefloors and reflective listening moments worldwide.


- Dentro Di Me
“Dentro Di Me” channels ‘90s sensuality through a fast-paced, UK house-inspired lens. Entirely in Italian, it’s a bold and contemporary dance track where hypnotic vocals meet high-energy grooves. Blending nostalgic textures with forward-thinking production, the result is a seductive and euphoric trip - equal parts emotional and club-ready.


- Amigo
“Amigo” blends Latin groove, acoustic guitar-driven rhythm, and Mediterranean flair into a warm, magnetic, cross-cultural dance anthem. Sung in Spanish and Italian, it celebrates connection, inclusivity, and the joy of moving together - whether stranger or friend. With its unstoppable rhythm and vibrant energy, it’s a feel-good track with a unifying spirit.


- Ma Sei Fuori
“Ma Sei Fuori” is a tongue-in-cheek dancefloor bomb blending raw house energy with catchy vocal phrases and a nod to classic French touch. Driven by hypnotic vocal lines and a playful attitude, it doesn’t take itself too seriously - while still proving serious club impact. Built for late-night moments, it’s bold, bouncy, and impossible to ignore.

Black Ice Vinyl. On her debut album One Sided, 20 year-old Georga-native Sydney Rose wrestles with growth: growing up, growing apart, growing within. While the singer/songwriter’s 2022 EPs You Never Met Me and This Kind of Thing Doesn’t Last showcased intimate lyricism with the help of understated synths, muted drum machines, and stacked harmonies, One Sided returns to her stripped-back roots, offering tenderhearted meditations on childhood, love, and the evolution of friendship, with a guitar in hand. After Feb 2025 single, We Hug Now, had huge viral success, Syndey Rose has sold out shows all over the US, UK, and Europe.

The Alien Dub Orchestra is ragtag collective of Bavarian musicians, featuring members of The Notwist and G.Rag y los hermanos Patchekos. The cohort formed around the idea of performing the standards of the fabled Breadminster Songbook, aka the back-catalogue of lone dubman Elijah Minnelli. Minnelli is known for constructing wheezy, forlorn odes to his hometown, both as highly sought-after self-released 7" singles, and a critically-acclaimed debut album, ‘Perpetual Musket’ for FatCat Records, lauded by the likes of The Guardian, The Wire, and The Quietus. ‘The Alien Dub Orchestra: Plays the Breadminster Songbook’ finds group covering Minnelli’s cumbia-infused dub reggae with full band, playing an eclectic array of instruments including: guiro, accordion, melodica, sousaphone, trumpet and assorted percussion.

The tale begins in 2022, when Minnelli was invited to lend his unique dubbing style to a pair of remixes for The Notwist, and what followed was an ever-flourishing relationship between the Breadminster native and the wider Munich scene. The seeds of the Alien Dub Orchestra were sown during a support gig for The Notwist, where assorted musicians joined Minnelli for a encore, reinterpreting one of his dub remixes across woodwind, brass and assorted percussion.

“The idea of real, competent professionals playing something you’ve muddled together on a computer in a damp basement is quite overwhelming,” reflects Minnelli on the process, “hearing them interpret and improve these melodies is a real joy and privilege.”

Despite the non-traditional origins of the source material, the inherent musicality of Minnelli’s songwriting shines through across his releases, and this creative kinship is what attracted the Orchestra to reimagining his work. The first live collaboration led to recording sessions and further gigs, with the Orchestra building a full set of Minnelli’s music.

The resulting album puts forward the strongest case yet of the shared musical throughline between the acts, where cumbia, dub and folk sensibilities coalesce to something all together unique. The tracks are wrought new, with melodies fleshed out and broader instrumentation expanding the sonic possibilities of the compositions. The tactility of the tracks is perhaps best demonstrated on the gorgeous ‘Vine and Fig Tree’, with it’s layed vocals and expressive bassline returning as a cavorting sousaphone line. Elsewhere, fan favourite ‘SLATS’ sounds as if it was simply written to be performed this way.

To further instill the cylindrical nature of these collaborations, the entire second half of the album is made up of dub versions of the Orchestra’s renditions. For these dubs, Minnelli is joined by Raimund Wong, who had caught his ear with his ambitious live sets, a daisy chain of tape machines and FX pedals. Again, despite their differing creative processes, the two bonded over a shared love of dub music. Each dub was a one-take, with Minnelli riding the faders and Wong’s filters and FX supplying a sound that doesn’t seek to imitate dub, so much as it tries to be it’s own chaotic self. The droning, psychedelic hypnosis of ‘Pundit Dub’ stretches the material to a whole new realm that feels outside of anything else Minnelli has produced before, an ode to the benefits of recycling sound if ever there was one. The whole second half is a perfect closing note to an album that is undoubtedly a love letter to folk tradition, dub ideology and, most importantly, the joy of uninhibited collaboration.

​Elijah Minnelli - voc, guiro, percussion
Philip Gross - accordion, melodica
Theresa Loibl - clarinet, melodica
Cico Beck - electronics, keyboards
Sascha Schwegeler - congas, steel drum, percussion
Micha Acher - sousaphone, trumpet
Markus Acher - drums, voc
Dub mixes performed live by Elijah Minnelli & Raimund Wong at Breadminster County Council Studios

Adam Wise, you may know, is Fabulous Lover and this new record marks his first for Pete Herbert's Music for Swimming Pools. It's a mature mix of 80s-inspired Balearic electro-funk with a tropical twist straight from his Bali studio. This sun-soaked collection bridges sunset vibes and dancefloor energy with 'It's Lonely At The Top' a funky opener with a squelchy bassline and playful riffs. 'Elevate' douses you in 80s synth sounds that glow warm, and label head remixes into a more buoyant Balearic house beat. Elsewhere is the gentle swagger of 'Low Bounce' and lush synth disco buzz of 'Automatic.' Feel-good grooves, for sure.

DJ Feedback

Ed Templ�:
"Stunning release!!"

Ben Gomori:
"Another beaut from Pete, gorgeous stuff"

Dicky Trisco:
"Nice chilled Balearic vibes"

Pathaan:
"Top release! Top package!"

S/A/M:
"Chunky, squelchy delights just how we like it :)"

Mat Anthony:
"Brilliant EP of 80's infused machine funk"

Justin Deighton:
"Will be playing a selection of these"

Joey Fitzgerald:
"Nice work!"

Bill Brewster:
"It's Lonely At The Top is the best track"

First time reissue of this French cold-wave / minimal-synth treasure.



November 1981 – In the heart of autumn, we set off in two cars along the Nationale 1 (!) to reach Choisy-le-Roi, where a 16-track studio was waiting for us—a place where, over the course of a weekend, we would finally be able to carve our own grooves into vinyl. We were quite nervous, as Guerre Froide had already been around for a year and a half. Our elders in Kas Product had already released two EPs—one with four tracks, the other with three—in 1980, even though they’d started only a few months before us. Admittedly, there wasn’t really a sense of urgency—some of us came from the punk movement, where the prevailing mood was still very much No Future, even if we’d long since stopped believing in it... And yet others had truly lost everything, like those from the generation before us. The reasons, ironically, were often the same: heroin and/or love—hard drugs, in both cases.

Speaking of which, I had a terrible stomach ache—due to nerves or some form of tension—which forced us to make a pit stop in the Oise region so I could rush to the toilet of a local café. That same stomach discomfort would hit me again once we arrived at the studio—whose name, incidentally, I’ve since forgotten...

We had gotten there thanks to the generous initiative of a friend, Sylvain S., known as “Perlin” (what a phonetic coincidence!?), who had specifically created the Stechak Products label to produce our record. Stechak because it was consistent with his earlier association called Tchernoziom, and Products as a plural tribute to the trailblazers from Nancy.

Guerre Froide originally consisted of four members: Fabrice Fruchart on guitar-synth (Korg MS-20), Patrick Mallet on bass, and Gilbert Deffais, known as “Bébert”, on Korg drum machine. At the time, I was already singing in a rock/post-punk band called Stress, and that’s how Guerre Froide picked up the bad habit of rehearsing in the same basement in Amiens as Stress. Within a month or two, we had half a dozen songs. We then had the opportunity to record a 4-track demo with a friend from Radio France Picardie, and to perform in October at a festival held at the Amiens municipal circus. Then came the now-legendary concert on November 11 at B.J.’s Club. After that, we self-produced and released 50 completely DIY copies of a cassette titled Cicatrice. A few concerts later—after Jean-Michel Bailleux had joined us on bass and Patrick had switched to guitar, which felt more natural to him—and with more concrete plans starting to take shape, we had to find a new rehearsal space and start renting a room.

Then came the moment when Fabrice told us he was leaving to go study in Lille... After the June 19, 1981 concert, which was naturally dubbed “Farewell to 2F,” Marie-José, Bébert’s wife, offered to take over on synth.

That’s when Perlin, who was a close friend of the Deffais couple and a great fan of our music, offered to fully finance the production of a 4-track 12-inch EP—covering the studio time, mastering, pressing, and artwork. What up-and-coming band would have turned that down? An improvised contract was signed with each member of Guerre Froide. The first step was choosing which four songs we would record. Berlin 81 was an obvious pick, having already become the group’s flagship track. We wanted to avoid reusing songs from Cicatrice, so the focus shifted to new material—some written before, some after Fabrice’s departure. Ersatz, for example, was his composition, but Mauve and Peine Perdue, which were also selected, were both written by Patrick.

5 Mag has long been a bastion of real house authority, a Chicago staple that now marks two decades of tastemaking with its first-ever vinyl release. The EP comes on Rima and features a trio of unmistakably talented and rightfully revered artists, starting with raw-as-you-like hip-house master Mike Dunn. His 'Don't Let Love (Git Cha Down)' is a laid-back groove topped with percussion and imbued with machine soul. Jamie 3:26 & Danou P offer the laidback vibes of 'Keep On' with its old school chords and smooth vocals. Roy Davis Jr closes with 'Atmospheric Flight', which is another roomy sound with loveably lazy pads and percussion. Timeless stuff.

Blue House Rockin’ is the result of a unique collaboration between Soul Sugar and Dub Shepherds — two projects united by a shared love for roots reggae, vintage studio gear, and warm analog sound.

The album was recorded live over two intense days at Blue House Studio by Christophe “French kiss” Adam, using ribbon and tube microphones from the ’50s and ’60s from the ’50s and ’60s, a Hammond organ, upright piano, Fender bass and Gibson guitars, classic amps and preamps, along with drums, syndrums and percussion. The sessions were transferred to a 24-track tape machine, and final mixes were crafted the old-school way by the Dub Shepherds at their own Bat Records Studio, using analog consoles and hardware vintage effects.
The tracklist brings together deep cuts, timeless classics, and original compositions. Curtis Mayfield’s Give Me Your Love and Aaron Frazer’s My God Has a Telephone (Colemine Records) — two soul gems, one vintage, one modern — are reimagined in reggae style, both featuring the great Jolly Joseph on lead vocals, working wonders with his falsetto. He also shines on Hold My Hand, a sweet and mellow original composition with lovers rock flair, written on the spot during the session.
Other standout moments include the soulful fire of UK singer Shniece McMenamin, who lights up Family Affair (Mary J. Blige / Dr. Dre) — flipped into a fiery hip-hop-meets-reggae version packed with energy and attitude.

Instrumentals like Disco Jack, Choice of Music, and Drum Song — all originally composed by Jamaican organ legend Jackie Mittoo — bring Guillaume “Booker G” Metenier’s Hammond work to the front. The playful exchange between organ, guitar, and a rock-solid rhythm section is elevated by swirling spring reverb, dub echoes, and filter sweeps.
The album’s explosive title track — Blue House Rock — was composed and recorded on the spot at the end of the session. A raw, greasy groove that sounds like The Meters jamming at Studio One or a lost instrumental from a Beastie Boys B-side.
Blue House Rockin’ is a vibrant blend of soulful roots reggae and funk, wrapped in the deep, dusty tones of analog tape. A joyful and authentic studio experience, captured live — and played loud.

Released in 2005, The Aftermath is a compelling live album by Danish alternative rock band Kashmir.
The album includes live versions of tracks like Surfing the Warm Industry, Rocket Brothers, and selections from No Balance Palace, highlighting the band’s musical evolution and stage presence.
The Aftermath is available on black vinyl.

D Stone debuts on Heist Recordings with a record that shows us why he's one of the hottest talents in house music right now

Chloe Caillet is in on it. Cinthie is in on it. SG lewis and Demi Riquísimo are in on it too. So are Folamour, Barry Can't Swim and, of course, Dam Swindle. In on what exactly?

In on the fact that D Stone might be the most exciting young producer and DJ you will find in the house scene right now. Oh, and he's also a great guy who says Heist was his dream label to release on. When we found out we were fans of on each other, it was only logical that we signed his 'Time Selection' EP; A 5-track record that shows us how cool and catchy underground house music can be if it's done well.

D Stone, born Daan Steenhuizen has had a meteoric rise in the scene in the past years and has only just finished his study at the Conservatory, where Lars was one of his mentors. His vinyl debut was on Cecille in 2023 with that absolute anthem 'Total unison'. He then released on Cinthie's 803 Crystal Grooves in 2024 and has a busy 2025 with releases on Chloe Caillet's label Smiile, Semi Delicious, a release planned for Barry Can't Swim's fresh label 'Earth's only paradise' and now, Heist. He's been touring relentlessly in between, already playing legendary places like Ibiza's Pikes, Amsterdam's Shelter and with big shows planned at Warehouse project and in Australia, you can just feel all the right things happening for him.

The 'Time Selection' EP kicks off with 'Yes I Am', an upbeat house track with plenty of hints of the old school, playful vocal chops and above all, some lovely piano work. It's stripped back, but full of energy, with driving 909 percussion, retro flutes and a rolling bass line. It's as much a pallet cleanser in a set as it is a teasing mid-set highlight.

'Move Over' features the vocals of ELY and sees D Stone dive deeper into vintage house territory, with a classic bassline and percussion that stays true to the core of the classic drum machines, hinting as much towards the electro-pop sound of New Order and the futurism of early Mr. Fingers releases. The vocal is daring and cute at the same time, and does a great job tapping into the nostalgia of the pop-house cross-over songs of the early 90s.

'Time Selection' is arguably the heaviest cut of the record, much in style of his breakthrough track 'Total Unison'. This track is built around a strong piano theme, supported by driving 909 drums, strings and cleverly placed disco bleeps to keep the track accessible and uplifting. Add to that a big breakdown, and you'll understand why we've been reaching for this track peak set for the past months.

On the flip, we've got 'One Thing', a subtle and introverted track built around a bumpy disco bassline with a hook that's silly on first listen but will end up being the one thing you'll keep humming for the rest of the day. In short, it's a banger in disguise.

The last track of the EP is 'Everything from the Organ', a track where D Stone is not afraid to show his love for throwback ravey elements. There's organ licks, horns and chopped vocals that propel you straight to the front-left of whichever dancefloor D Stone is reigning at that moment.

Don't sleep on the Heist debut of one of Amsterdam's biggest talents, cause this one will go like hot cakes! As always, enjoy the music and play it loud!

Yours, Maarten & Lars

Bereit für den Sound des Universums? Mit der „ZYX Italo Disco Spacesynth Box“ bekommst du eine einmalige Zeitreise zurück in die goldene Ära der 1980er Jahre, als Synthesizer den Kosmos eroberten. Diese exklusive Sammlerbox enthält drei LPs, vollgepackt mit ikonischen Tracks der größten Spacesynth-Legenden – Laserdance, Koto, Hypnosis, Cyber People und vielen mehr.

Ob pulsierende Basslines, galaktische Melodien oder futuristische Klanglandschaften – dieses Box-Set feiert den unverkennbaren Sound, der einst Tanzflächen, Videospiele und Science-Fiction-Träume gleichermaßen beherrschte.

Limitierte Loser Edition: "Coke-Bottle Clear & Orange Vinyl" 2LP // 30-jähriges Jubiläum der Neuauflage des Noise-Rock-Klassikers ,Severe Exposure" von Six Finger Satellite aus dem Jahr 1995 auf farbigem Vinyl, Doppel-LP, komplett remastered, inklusive der EP ,Machine Cuisine" von 1994 und einem Download mit 17 Bonustracks // Für Fans von The Jesus Lizard, Gang of Four, Devo, Shellac, LCD Soundsystem, Les Savy Fav. // Sub Pop feiert das 30-jährige Jubiläum von Six Finger Satellites zweitem Album ,Severe Exposure" mit einer erweiterten Doppel-LP-Edition des Albums. Zusätzlich zum Originalalbum enthält ,Severe Exposure: Deluxe Edition" eine Bonus-12"-EP mit der ,Machine Cuisine EP" von 1994 und einen Download mit 17 zusätzlichen Songs, darunter seltene Singles, Compilation-Tracks und unveröffentlichtes Material. Das gesamte Material wurde von JJ Golden neu gemastert und die Vinyl-Platten sind in einem schönen Slipcase mit individuellen Covern für jede LP verpackt. Six Finger Satellite wurde 1990 in Providence, Rhode Island, von J. Ryan (Gesang/Keyboards), John MacLean (Gitarre), Peter Phillips (Gitarre), Chris Dixon (Bass) und Rick Pelletier (Schlagzeug) gegründet und unterschrieb kurz darauf einen Vertrag bei Sub Pop für die EP ,Weapon". 1993 veröffentlichten sie ihr bahnbrechendes Debütalbum ,The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird" und 1995 ,Severe Exposure". ,Severe Exposure" war ein Vorbote des Post-Punk- und Synth-orientierten Rock-Revivals der frühen 2000er Jahre, indem es den bissigen, angespannten Post-Punk-Sound der Band um Synthesizer ergänzte. Damals schrieb Trouser Press: ,,Rabies (Baby's Got The)` und ,Simian Fever` sind animalisch aggressiv und chaotisch, während sie gleichzeitig die synthetische Digitone-Lust der New Wave teilen." Und die SF Weekly lobte es als ,ein Party-Album, das man genau dann auflegt, wenn man möchte, dass ,bestimmte Leute` nach Hause gehen." Und es ist das Lieblingsalbum von Seth Jabour von Les Savy Fav! In seinen Worten: ,Ich bin immer wieder überrascht, wie sehr ich es liebe und wie wichtig es für uns während unserer Entwicklung als Band war." Severe Exposure ist das meistverkaufte Album der Band und wurde von der Band in ihrem eigenen Studio, The Parlour, in Providence, Rhode Island, aufgenommen.

The song sets the tone of this album. A simple structure, over which a web of rhythm is woven using an instrumentation of old drum machines in dialogue with live drums and percussion. Lots of sax, tenor and baritone! A pumping bass. A frisky pizzicato violin. And some classic keyboards: the Fender Rhodes, the Hohner Clavinette D6, the L-100 Hammond organ. And lots of analogue synthesisers: a rippling Juno-106 marks the path to follow, which is crossed with phrases from other museum pieces: Crumar's Stratus, Farfisa's Synthorchestra, Sequential's Prophet-10. Or still the Casio Club M-100, which is basically a toy, but has been subtly colouring SKC's songs for years!

SKC has often dived deep into the repertoire of artists he holds in high esteem, looking for pearls, forgotten or not, to work on. Likewise on this album with versions of songs by Prince, Dez Mona, Alain Bashung…

After delighting fans of all ages with the surprise children's hit "Long Legged Larry," underground hip-hop icon Aesop Rock returns with "Roadwork Rappin'," a joyful ode to construction vehicles and the kids who love them. Inspired by the fascination many children have with bulldozers, front loaders, and cranes, the track delivers clever rhymes and vivid descriptions in classic Aesop fashion_this time with a whimsical twist. Over a minimal beat with a bouncing bass line that evokes the lumbering roll of oversized construction tires, Aesop celebrates the sights and sounds of work zones, bringing dump trucks and backhoes to life with vivid wordplay. The song is part educational, part imaginative world-building, capturing the wonder of watching giant machines reshape our surroundings. What makes it shine is Aesop's funny and wildly specific wit, packaged in a format that's approachable for younger listeners but still rewarding for longtime fans. With "Roadwork Rappin'," Aesop continues to expand his creative universe in unexpected ways, proving once again that his pen knows no bounds. Whether it's blaring from a car seat playlist or sparking nostalgia in adults who once chased garbage trucks down the block, this track is a joyful celebration of curiosity, machinery, and the poetry hiding in plain sight.

Rivet’s new album for Editions Mego is an uplifting and joyous affair coming in the wake of tragedy and disenchantment. It is yet another rebirth from an artist willing to take a step back and reprise the current situation he is in. Mika Hallbäck has a long credible history in the Swedish underground. First recognised for his industrial techno works under the Grovskopa moniker he worked privately on more experimental works that eventually came out as On Feather and Wire, an album released on Editions Mego in 2020. After much acclaim for this bold new direction that blended electronic abstraction, pop and industrial forms into a heavy synthetic trip two tragedies struck. One was the passing of label boss Peter Rehberg and then the passing of his dog Lilo, who was as close as a companion one could have. These events led to the release of the more unsettling follow up L+P-2 (Lilo and Pita minus two) on Midnight Shift Records in 2023. Peck Glamour sees Rivet return to the reawakened Editions Mego with an album of optimism inspired by reconciliation with loss and further explorations of new mental/sonic realms.

Hallbäck defines his approach as not being married to any particular machine, instrument, process or genre. However he holds a particular affinity to sampling, of which, he says, provides the dirt and grit amongst what would otherwise be pristine, generic machine music. The contemporary crate digging method of scouring obscure download music bogs for unique sounds was his preferred research practice.

Peck Glamour is an album full of tracks brimming with the excitement of exploration. It's the results of a mind informed by punk, industrial, techno, dancefloor, disappointment, trauma and rebirth. Here the synthetic and authentic is viewed simply as the same means of human rationale and expression.

The opening, ‘Catch Up to Light’, sets the scene with ecstatic and odd fluorescent vocals sliding amongst crystalline likembe whilst synths swirl amongst the external festivities. ‘Orbiting Empty Cocoon’ is somewhat a homage to the alien sound worlds of The Orb, one which takes the listener deeper into a mind melting array of teased potential as visual elements are executed in a mask of audio wizardry and euphoric staccato rhythms, the later being a nod to Singeli music. ‘Patitur Butcher’ is more dance frontal utilising the Ghatam drum and a YouTube rip of a Chinese language lesson. ‘Plastic Bag Putain’ was made during the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and should be clear of its intent. ‘All that Heaven Allows’ is a marimba cover of an imaginary Love Parade anthem. 'Kyrie Geire’ potentially briefly fills the void left by the demise of Coil. The entire trip of Peck Glamour is sewn up with ‘We left before we came’ whereby extraneous recordings of double bass player Gregory Vartian-Foss (tuning/strumming/moving the bass) are superimposed with local field recordings to create a gorgeous bed of sounds acting as an exciting exit music to this sharp collection of cinematic ear excursions.

'The story of IDM in the USA begins in Miami’ - Fact Mag

Control Freak Recordings are thrilled to be launching its new reissue sub-label with Soul Oddity’s Tone Capsule - a seminal electro/IDM classic from mid-90s Miami.

Originally released as a series of 3 EPs, the reissue compiles these into an album, newly remastered by Keith Tenniswood (Radioactive Man) - available digitally and, for the first time, on 2x12" LP album.

Soul Oddity marked the first outing for a pair of musicians who were instrumental in bringing the UK's post-rave IDM scene to the US. Having bonded over a love for the Warp output at the time, the pair fused this influence with the sound of their native Miami, where hip-hop, breaks and bass soundtracked a lively party scene.

A masterpiece of machine-driven, emotionally abstract storytelling, Tone Capsule rivals some of the best of 90s leftfield electronica. Twitchy beats and gloopy synth-funk are melded into jams that make for a seriously otherworldly listen - as forward-thinking now as it was in 1996.

This record kickstarts our new reissue sub label Capsule Freak - marking the beginning of our dive into the rich past of dance music history which has brought the scene we love to where it is today. We can’t think of a more fitting time capsule to begin this journey with - over two years in the making, we hope you find this release as wild and intriguing as we do.

Planet Trip Records is pleased to present Aqua Terra, the latest EP release from Friedrich Trede and Stephan Braun, the respected Munich-based DJ and production duo better known as Rhode & Brown. Since 2010, they’ve racked up a slew of quality releases through Permanent Vacation, Public Possession, Shall Not Fade, and their own Slam City Jams imprint, while playing well-received DJ sets across Europe. Along the way, the two longtime friends have spent the last fifteen years incorporating influences from electro, italo, synth-pop, breakbeat trance, rave music, and ambient into their blend of uptempo house and techno productions.

Shifting gearspeed, Aqua Terra sees Rhode & Brown trying something completely new and unexpected from them: a record inspired by UK street soul, digi-dub, and transatlantic R&B and boogie from the 1980s and 1990s. Beginning with the Loose Ends slanted synthesiser chords and shuffling machine beat of ‘Heart Attack’ and the glossy new jack swing bounce of ‘Passion Sauce’ (both featuring sultry Berlin-based New York singer Marlena Dae), Aqua Terra quickly reveals itself as a treasure chest of heavy tunes. Steeped in love and lust, ‘Heart Attack’ and ‘Passion Sauce’ are essential sing-along numbers for the warm-up and the warm-down.

The exemplar of a groove that keeps on giving, ‘Aqua Terra (Acid Frog Mix)’ is a note-perfect example of digi-dub redone for the 2020s. Keeping us guessing, Rhode & Brown flip the script on ‘Longo Doggo’ by borrowing elements from sampledelic ‘90s turntablism and blending them with a post-disco/electro beat and a slinky bassline for the ages. From there, ‘Multiflora’ sees our protagonists back in a bassy digi-dub mode, before closing things out with an acid breakbeat slanted demo mix of the title track.

‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ is the latest collection selected by Mikey Young (Total Control, EddyCurrent Suppression Ring) and Keith Abrahamsson (Founder and Head of A&R at AnthologyRecordings), the mangled minds behind the beloved ‘Follow the Sun’, ‘Sad About the Times’,and ‘…Still Sad’ compilations. The twenty tracks of ‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ make a conscious(and unconscious) detour from its predecessors, sourced entirely from private press releases,spanning new decades and production modes within homespun folk, soft rock and otherwise70s and 80s FM radio adjacent music.  The magic of ‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ is the untold story of the artists behind these songs; thosewho missed the big time, but whose song craft and unrequited care hit the right notes, bothhigh and low.
Where ‘Follow the Sun’ and ‘Sad About the Times’ introduced us to the fame chasing, ambitioncrashing crooners who missed their shot in the mainstream, ‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ delvesdeeper into the isolated wilds - a private world where production quirks, late-night tape hiss andone-man studio dreams were not necessarily a choice but the hand that was dealt.
With the parameters set to ‘private press only’, Young and Abrahamsson follow a circuitous trailof invention and emotion, documenting a spirit that’s more homespun, sometimes lonelier andoften a little weirder. The guitars still strum, but the keyboards’ hum is more prevalent andprecious; wistful harmonies brush up against lo-fi drum machines; a bittersweet fog lingeringover even the brightest melodies.
As with their previous collaborations, Young and Abrahamsson weren’t interested inconstructing a museum or drafting a historical survey. ‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ is a sentimentalmixtape, assembled late at night when the mind wanders and old memories blur with imaginedfutures, those within reach and those far too mysterious to ever encounter. Songs wereunearthed in personal collections, deep YouTube burrows, dilapidated web archives and thedim corners of Discogs, with many selections tied not only to intuition but to personalconnection.  Some tracks arrived via friends - Kelley Stoltz, a frequent guide for Young, tipped him off toboth Peter Kraemer’s lost gem ‘Let the Light Slip’ and Awakening’s revelatory closer - addingan unseen but deeply felt thread of camaraderie to the compilation.
The journey takes in a wide, strange sweep: The Watson Brothers Band’s ‘Just Whistle’ opensthe collection with a sigh and a shrug, a song that feels like it’s been waiting for decades to beheard again. Jim Huxley’s ‘Tessa on a Magazine’, rediscovered after a long and winding searchby Young, shimmers with a distinctly Australian melancholia. The heartbreak of Rick Penta’s‘My Story Changes’ and Twice As Nice’s delicate ‘Thoughts of You’ float easily alongside themore buoyant, radio-dream sheen of Barracuda’s ‘Baby I Love You’ and MAK’s sunshinedappled ‘That’s Life’.
Widening the aperture to the late 1970s and early 1980s allows for a deeper exploration intoevolving production techniques and musical technologies. The Squad’s ‘D.L.M.H.I.M.A.’ andChristoph Spendel Group’s ‘Forever’ crackle with the kind of bedroom synth warmth that couldonly come from the analogue age, while the soulful, yearning undercurrent of Awakening’s‘Gotta Do Somethin / Might As Well Cultivate’ caps the collection with a call for action - ormaybe just acceptance - in an accidental Brian Eno ‘Here Come the Warm Jets’ parroting.
While ‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ moves away from the ‘sad man with guitar’ archetype that hoveredover its predecessors, it remains tethered to a familiar emotional gravity - a balance of longingand lightness that defines this corner of the musical universe. Each track shuffles gentlybetween resignation and hope, sadness and serenity, as if the artists themselves were chasinga dream just beyond reach, recording not for fame but for the simple act of getting it, thatprimal, creative itch, out into the world.
Available on CD and 2LP, featuring the third eye-opening artwork of Dang Wayne Olsen. Thedouble LP set arrives in an outrageous double-wide spine jacket with printed inners and adream journal entry by Pacific Northwest artifactual authority Josh Lewellen.

Die seltenste Chicagoer Sweet-Soul-LP, zum ersten Mal seit einem halben Jahrhundert wieder im Druck. Arrow Browns unvergleichliches Album "The Magic of The Majestic Arrows" entstand im Keller seines Harems/Hauptquartiers in Bronzeville und war das Ergebnis jahrelanger Arbeit am Rande von Chicagos berühmter Record Row. Die auf seinem eigenen Bandit-Imprint erschienene LP ist eine mit Streichern besetzte Fantasie, die sich zwischen dem Doo-Wop der 50er Jahre und dem Studioexzess der 1970er bewegt. Unterstützt von den Chosen Few und den Scott Brothers, arrangiert von Benjamin Wright, gesungen von Browns 17-jähriger Tochter Tridia und dem marokkanischen Falsettisten Larry Brown und gezeichnet von Eugene Phillips von The Wind, ist das Album ein Außenseiter-D.I.Y.-Soul-Genie, das darauf wartet, dass die Reibung einer Phononadel seine unsterbliche Magie offenbart.

Die seltenste Chicagoer Sweet-Soul-LP, zum ersten Mal seit einem halben Jahrhundert wieder im Druck. Arrow Browns unvergleichliches Album "The Magic of The Majestic Arrows" entstand im Keller seines Harems/Hauptquartiers in Bronzeville und war das Ergebnis jahrelanger Arbeit am Rande von Chicagos berühmter Record Row. Die auf seinem eigenen Bandit-Imprint erschienene LP ist eine mit Streichern besetzte Fantasie, die sich zwischen dem Doo-Wop der 50er Jahre und dem Studioexzess der 1970er bewegt. Unterstützt von den Chosen Few und den Scott Brothers, arrangiert von Benjamin Wright, gesungen von Browns 17-jähriger Tochter Tridia und dem marokkanischen Falsettisten Larry Brown und gezeichnet von Eugene Phillips von The Wind, ist das Album ein Außenseiter-D.I.Y.-Soul-Genie, das darauf wartet, dass die Reibung einer Phononadel seine unsterbliche Magie offenbart.

The incredible story that began with The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet (TMMS) now enters an exciting new chapter: Skyscraper, the debut album by FEX.

Skyscraper features ten original tracks recorded in the early to mid-1980s-carefully re-transferred, remastered, and brought back to life. The album cover, designed by Darius S., brings the story full circle. Darius is the very person who preserved the now-iconic track Subways of Your Mind by recording it from NDR radio in the mid-80s. Without him, FEX may never have been discovered.

FEX's debut opens with its namesake, Skyscraper-a brooding, previously unreleased track the band once described as part of their "psychedelic phase." With haunting synth-helicopter textures and deep guitar riffs, it immediately sets the tone and raises tension.

The release flows naturally into the energetic and fully remastered studio version of Subways of Your Mind. This version of the TMMS - re-discovered on the "yellow label tape" by Reddit user Marijn-was long believed to be from a smaller home studio, but was actually recorded in November 1984 at Hawkeye Studios in Ganderkesee, near Hamburg.

Goldrush, first teased in raw form on FEX's YouTube channel, bends toward mechanical rhythm and shimmering synths, a snapshot of the band's experiments with programmed drum machine sound. Rückwardt's lyrics point to greed and criticizes materialism, and while the music leans toward pop sensibilities, it carries a raw, fractured edge.

Heart in Danger and I've Got My Eyes On You offer contrasting experiences-one rooted in classic post-punk tension, the other floating in melodic synth layers. The latter in particular feels like a fragment from a parallel radio history: a precise and one of a kind synth pop love song with a progressive touch.

From a rehearsal tape comes Dirty Slapstick, its urgency intact. Missing keyboard parts were later reconstructed by Michael Hädrich using his original DX7 synthesizer-recovering lost elements without rewriting the past. The lyrics take a wry look at forced optimism. Also included are the songs Talking Hands, Jenny and Strange Feeling, the latter being a slower blues-tinged cut, revealing yet another facet of the band's reach and Rückwardt's songwriting diversity.

The album closes where the legend began-with the original radio recording of Subways of Your Mind from Darius' cassette. This version of The Most Mysterious Song features alternate vocal effects, contributing to the track's enigmatic aura. Digitally transferred using a high-end Revox machine and carefully remastered, it now has its long-deserved official release.

The cover features a photo of the Eichenberg Bunker in Kiel-one of FEX's original rehearsal spaces and a symbolic monument to their sonic legacy.

Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.

At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.

There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.

The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.

The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

Wonderful weird manouevres from Thomas Cox's QED, here releasing its first album. Expect dubbed up echofests and reggae sound system sirens ('Crushed By A Speaker Stack'), grungy distorted bassline rumbles ('Riot In The Dancehall') and sparse machine funk ('Spikes & Studs & Chains'). Like the musical lovechild of a leftfield 90s Vienna session a la Mego or Cheap, and a dubby take on the Berlin's Digital Hardcore Recordings sound, those who loved their electronics on the wayward, limit-pushing side, should find this a rather special listen.

Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.

At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.

There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.

The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.

The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

"You Give Love a Bad Name" is the third studio album by the transgressive American punk rock musician GG Allin, and is jointly credited to Allin and a one-time studio band named The Holy Men. The Holy Men featured such New York City heavies as Gerard Cosloy (Conflict fanzine, Matador Records) and Mike Edison (Raunch Hands, Sharkey's Machine) and originally released on Homestead Records in 1987. That year, Cosloy's Homestead label signed Allin and released this album with the Holy Men, You Give Love a Bad Name. Featuring some of GG's best work like "Scars on My Body, Scabs on My Dick" and a cover of Charles Manson's "Garbage Dump". His second effort for Homestead was 1988's Freaks, Faggots, Drunks & Junkies, a fan favorite that introduced some of the most popular numbers in his later repertoire.

"You Give Love a Bad Name" is the third studio album by the transgressive American punk rock musician GG Allin, and is jointly credited to Allin and a one-time studio band named The Holy Men. The Holy Men featured such New York City heavies as Gerard Cosloy (Conflict fanzine, Matador Records) and Mike Edison (Raunch Hands, Sharkey's Machine) and originally released on Homestead Records in 1987. That year, Cosloy's Homestead label signed Allin and released this album with the Holy Men, You Give Love a Bad Name. Featuring some of GG's best work like "Scars on My Body, Scabs on My Dick" and a cover of Charles Manson's "Garbage Dump." His second effort for Homestead was 1988's Freaks, Faggots, Drunks & Junkies, a fan favorite that introduced some of the most popular numbers in his later repertoire.

Leng Records proudly presents Everything You’re About to Hear Is True: Volume 1, a compilation carefully curated by Rotation Soundsystem. Brought together by Rotation founders Dean Meredith and Ben Shenton, alongside the Wrekin Havoc trio of Rob J, Stuart Robinson, and Rich Hall, this debut volume captures the collective’s shared vision – shaped by decades of crate-digging.

Founded in 2013, Rotation has grown from a modest gathering in Staffordshire into a thriving community of like-minded music lovers, attracting heads and partygoers from across the UK – and well beyond. What began as an intimate affair has evolved into a full-scale, three-day celebration, now held in a grand yurt and powered by a bespoke six-way sound system. The rig features four Klipschorns, two JBLs with twin 18” and 15” sub reinforcements, compression horns, and an Isonoe 420 mixer.

Meredith explains: “With the help of my brother, Martin, I’m constantly looking at ways to improve the setup. I love the way Larry Levan did that at The Paradise Garage. We have a few things that are custom-made. I want our system to be unique to us.”

According to regular attendee, DJ and writer Steve KIW: “In the right hands, the sound system at Rotation – very much Dean’s labour of love – is untouchable. The comparisons with Mancuso’s Loft come easily because they are deserved. There isn’t a bad spot in the yurt. Wherever you are, it sounds incredible.”

As the dancing continues through the weekend, the DJ line-up has grown to match the occasion. Guests and headliners have included a roll call of legendary selectors: Bill Brewster, Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy, Phil Mison, Nick The Record, Ruf Dug, Mark Seven, and The Idjut Boys — the latter playing a marathon 10-hour set in 2024. The parties have also featured live performances from Emperor Machine, Quinn Lamont Luke, Reuben Vaun Smith, and Orbs of Light.

Presented on gatefold double vinyl, this lovingly assembled collection is the result of decades spent digging through dusty crates, reflecting the selectors’ deep-rooted passion for uncovering rare gems and overlooked treasures. Decidedly European in spirit, the album brings together 14 rarities with standout selections from Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Germany, and France. The vast majority of tracks are true obscurities, and nearly every one is a mid-tempo bumper.

“This has been a long time coming – something we’ve always dreamed of doing. We’re incredibly thankful to Leng Records, who understand our vision and what we’re trying to build. This compilation pulls together some of our favourite tracks from over the years. It’s not just a playlist – it’s a journey, a window into the sound of Rotation,” says Meredith.

GRAMMY-award winning blues icon Koko Taylor was a force of nature. The legendary Queen of the Blues was one of the genre’s best-selling and most recognizable artists. With her huge, gritty voice and the backing of her powerhouse band, The Blues Machine, she delivered tough Chicago blues over a 45-year career, ending with her death in 2009. For people all over the world, her music IS the blues as much as BB King’s or Buddy Guy’s. Crown Jewels is the first new Koko Taylor vinyl to be released in 35 years, and as the title makes clear, it’s packed with over 50 minutes of the finest performances from her celebrated Alligator years. These are songs blues fans know and love by heart, from “Wang Dang Doodle” to “Hey Bartender” to “Let The Good Times Roll.” It’s gritty, unvarnished, old-school blues and proud of it, every track infused with Koko’s ageless energy and passion. Fellow Chicago blues greats Buddy Guy and Carey Ball guest.

Let's go back to the open-minded days of the '90s, when Goa-trance wasn't strictly defined! DICA & Antidot are the perfect example of genre-crossing artists. French artist DICA is already a well-known name in the acid scene and teamed up with his friend Antidot for this EP. After visiting ZNA and Apsara, their love for Goa-trance deepened...and it shows!
Picture a room full of analog machines and two guys tweaking them like madmen. The result? A high-energy acid/Goa-trance crossover with a touch of hard trance. All tracks have been tested on dancefloors with truly uplifting results! We hope you're ready for this madness too!

Vice Squad are 100% DIY and record everything in their home studio with guitarist/riffmaster Paul Rooney engineering and mixing. There is nothing sloppy here; the whole album is concise and intelligent with lightning-speed diction, passion, and intent. The glorious ‘If I Knew What I Know Now’ and ‘The World Is Wrong’ are examples of Vice Squad’s ability to write instantly catchy, witty songs, and the more gut-wrenching material from their last album, ‘Battle of Britain’, showcases some enormous riffs and a voice that is a million decibels from Beki's untried teen vocals. The album opens with the deliciously effervescent ‘If I Knew What I Know Now’, followed by the sparkling old-school tongue-twister ‘Out of Reach’. Next up is the visceral ‘Get A Life’, an angry anti-suicide note to the desperate, originally the title track from their 1998 comeback album. This is followed by a shimmering version of Vice Squad's old-school classic ‘Resurrection’. While the treatment of the old songs remains true to the original teenage renditions, the upgraded versions pack more of a punch with detuned guitars and growling bass. The tribal tom-toms of ‘Allergy’ underpin just over two minutes of punk protest about the delights of pollution and asthma. Then comes the sublime ‘Sniffing Glue’, a near-perfect punk love song that would be a huge hit if not for its subject matter. ‘Ordinary Girl’ is punk-pop perfection brimming with hook lines and harmonies, warmly mocking the life that could have been chosen instead of the grindstone at the sharp end of the music industry. ‘The World Is Wrong’ is anthemic, joyous, and wonderfully contrary, and one would expect nothing less from a band that has soldiered on and grown through the decades. It’s always great when bands lead by example. In these increasingly tough times where our survival is threatened by the gargantuan greed of a few individuals, it's important to continuously stick two fingers up to the grabbers and spoilers. 'The World Is Wrong' does just that in an impassioned, melodic, and optimistic style. 'Hold your head up, stand your ground, and don't let the bastards grind you down.' Then we roar into the final single Beki wrote with original and now sadly deceased guitarist Dave Bateman, ‘Citizen’, and continue with another teenage opus, the quite brutal ‘Scarred For Life’. ‘Voice of the People’ is a bulldozer of a song, all swagger and ballsy riffs, and the chorus, ‘Freedom of speech is against the law; now we’re all criminals,’ snarls its derision at red-handed red tape. ‘Punk Police’ sneers over a catchy-as-COVID guitar riff, and the lyrics, ‘Regulation cut, you must measure up, down on the street, PR companies, monied families, running the scene,’ call out the hierarchies that now permeate Punk. Baritone guitars add extra darkness to one of the first-ever animal rights songs, ‘Humane’, and I’m struck by how relevant the older songs are. Chocks away, and the awesome ’Spitfire’ takes flight like Motörhead on extra amphetamines. Merlin engines fade into ‘Born In A War’, the second in the triumvirate of conflict-themed songs, an absolute stonker with huge muscular riffs and lyrics that roar pure outrage. Then comes the ominous Last Rockers, with all the angst of the original plus added depth and resonance. Beki: ' "Last Rockers" is a typically depressive adolescent song about nuclear war and being too young to die but too late to live. I believed Punks were the ‘Last Rockers’, the final youth cult before the Apocalypse. I was obsessed with punk, and all I wanted to do was sing in a band and be part of the movement, so I would often romanticise the idea of punk in my lyrics.' The four bonus CD tracks kick off with ‘Coward’, another teen Bateman/Bond composition. ‘No You Don’t’ is just over two minutes of vocal acrobatics over a Dexedrine-driven Devo-esque chord sequence, and the frantically brilliant ‘I Dare To Breathe’ from ‘Battle of Britain’ continues the aural assault. Then the final sombre entreaty of ‘You Can’t Buy Back The Dead’ warns us that ‘Enough’s never enough; absolute power will corrupt; the war machine still rumbles on’ before fading into the future.

The Pretty Reckless haben dem Rock 'n' Roll den nötigen Schwung für eine neue Generation gegeben, und sie haben es auf ihre ganz eigene Weise geschafft. Seit 2008 haben sie sich als die ungewöhnlichste Naturgewalt entpuppt, die in INTERVIEW Magazine, Nylon, ELLE, Good Morning America und Entertainment Tonight erscheinen kann - und sich eine Bühne mit Guns N' Roses und Soundgarden teilt. Zusammen mit dem verstorbenen Produzenten Kato Khandwala entfachten sie diese Flamme auf Light Me Up 2010 und Going To Hell 2014. Letzteres enthielt drei Nummer-1-Hits - das Platin-zertifizierte "Heaven Knows" (der größte Rocksong des Jahres 2014), "Fucked Up World" und "Follow Me Down". Nach "Who You Selling For" von 2016 stieg "Take Me Down" auf Platz 1 der US Mainstream Rock Songs Chart und machte die Band laut Billboard zur "ersten Band, die ihre ersten vier Singles auf Platz 1 der Charts schickte". Im Jahr 2021 wurden sie mit dem Album "Death By Rock and Roll" in den Himmel gehoben. Die vierköpfige Band ging in die Geschichte ein als "die erste von einer Frau angeführte Band, die zwei Mal hintereinander auf Platz 1 der aktiven Rock-Charts stand" und "die erste von einer Frau angeführte Band, die sieben Mal auf Platz 1 der Billboard Rock Radio Charts stand". Das Album wurde nicht nur vom V Magazine, Spin und anderen gelobt, sondern landete auch auf Platz 1 der Billboard Top Album Sales Chart. Bemerkenswert ist auch die Zusammenarbeit mit Legenden wie Matt Cameron und Kim Thayil von Soundgarden bei "Only Love Can Save Me Now" und Tom Morello von Rage Against the Machine bei "And So It Went". Diese Grenzenlosigkeit treibt "Other Worlds" Fearless Records an, wo sie ihre ersten richtigen akustischen Aufnahmen, unerwartete Covers und andere Neuinterpretationen abliefern und einmal mehr Neuland betreten.

Emotional Rescue completes the series of non-defined reissues where the label licenses an all-time favourite, remasters and then reappraised with new interpretations by contemporary producers for today’s collectors.

After the series started back in 2019 with Hawkwind’s sprawling psychedelic electronics, featuring deep drone mixes by the esteemed digger Cherrystones (ERC074), the bouncing cosmic-Balearics of Thomas Leer with wonderful reworkings by friend and producer Bullion (ERC075) and then the post punk dubs of The Embrace and Timothy J Faiplay’s brooding italo-dub excursions (ERC076), there was always one artist and producer left out. Finally, then the percussive excursion of the early 80s band The Impossible Dreamers and their cult B side jam, Spin, coming with 9 minutes percussion-dub extravaganza of an extended reversion, plus a dub heavy reprise, by label go-to Dan Tyler (Idjut Boys /Noid), under his NAD moniker.

Started by a group of friends while at Exeter University that centered around Caroline Radcliffe, James Hood, Justin Adams and Nick Waterhouse, their debut 12” record is one of just three on the 100 Things To Do label. The other two releases have already been covered with the Hamburger All Stars ‘Swinging London’ 12” (ERC114) of 2022.

Recorded before the move to West London, ‘Life On Earth’ was a raw post punk vocal pop cut, with influences of dub, funk, hip-hop and African music shining through, there were in their own words, “young music fans starting out, with no agenda”.

However, it was on the B side that things got interesting. Enamored by the growing trend of extended 12” singles, they decided, with the A side wrapped up, to have some studio experimentation by recording a drumming jam, with all the members playing percussion, followed by some overdubbing. Memories are hazy, but at the time the band was an 8-piece, so the results a chaotic explosion, capturing the essence of that time. Featuring Nick and James on 4 hand piano, plus Caroline on Oboe, with some additional hollering and wooping vocals, Spin was a 5-minute burst of energy.

In effect, self-released in 1982, the band didn’t expect much to come of it, but the 12” acted as a calling card leading them to London and later signing for RCA. At the same time, Spin was being discovered in the early eighties alternative club world. On a trip to New York, the track was heard being played Downtown, and on enquiring it was discovered the DJ was playing a 7” that was never an official release but cut in the US solely for the club DJs there.

Its resonance extended further, to Italy and the Cosmic club of the resident, an ever-searching Danielle Baldelli, before being picked up a few years later by a young Andrew Weatherall during his pursuit of an alternative “Balearic” beat during the late eighties Summers of Love and has even recently received the Joe Clausell edit treatment back again in NYC.

For the remake to fit the label series, it was only right to ask label friend Dan Tyler to do what he does so well, putting the original through his array of dub machines and pedals, extending and cutting with aplomb to create an incendiary ‘Reversion’ that will send dancefloors literally in a spin. Teasing the percussion incandescent, looping and teasing, the piano held back before finally releasing in a haze of dub effects.

This is followed by the ‘Riddim Reprise’. Working with London based drummer Matt Bruce (Claptrap), this is the perfect DJ tool, taking the original idea of the band, to just jam see what happens, twisting it full of space echo and reverb, to offer a perfect 12” Extended Mix.

The Sorcerers' latest long player lands in perfect time for the summer, offering a further progression into their unique take on Ethio-inspired jazz. Other Worlds and Habitats is, of course, released on ATA Records and is blessed with the analogue recording and painstakingly loving production we have come to expect from this boutique studio. This, The Sorcerers eagerly anticipated fourth LP, follows on from the success of I Too Am A Stranger, a record which garnered praise from BBC Radio 2’s Jamie Cullum, “I love this, this is so good!”, Ethio-jazz legend Mulatu Astatke, “I like the grooves, and it is good to see The Sorcerers interpret Ethio jazz in their own unique way”, and Nightmares on Wax, “This sounds great! Love the way it's recorded”.

Never ones to stop moving forward, and ever vigilant to avoid the realm of pastiche, The Sorcerers see the Ethiopique sound as a building block for their natural progression as a group, but a block that sits at the base of a much larger, ever expanding, structure, The addition of keyboardist Johnny Richards, whose use of the Jen 73 piano, Mellotron and Farfisa Compact Duo, alongside the core members of the group, has opened some exciting doors for The Sorcerers, fusing the future looking optimism of the late 60s and 70s (when artists began to experiment with the new electronic technology and synthesisers becoming more readily available) and more traditional sounds. Taking inspiration from Ethiopian keyboardist Hailu Mergia and Nigerian musician William Onyeabor, Other Worlds and Habitats, as the name suggests, showcases The Sorcerers' shift to a new, and deeply exciting, musical landscape.

The Sorcerers’ Other Worlds and Habitats is a natural progression in the world they have created for themselves. Richer for shared experiences, and accepting the rise of the machines, they prove that while their journey is always going forward, there are many different paths to take.