House News

Versatility does not even come close to describing how the humble Japanese ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U is considered to be one of the best DJs in the world by many of his peers. From his debut at DJ Nobu’s FUTURE TERROR event to performing 3 years consecutively at Berlin Atonal Festival, Yukimatsu’s sets have to be heard for you to understand.

In this special mix album, Yukimatsu gathers round his producer friends to build vessels of the story structure. Threading the pages together, interweaved by friendship and sine waves, he has crafted a masterful presentation from their individual messages. Pulling and stretching all sonic shapes and shades while exploring the farthest reaches of sound, the result is a frequency soup of twelve outstanding tracks that when sequenced together, become part of a greater, grander story: Midnight is Comin’.

From the sound art experimentations of orhythmo – Nagel and wide yawning strings in Ryo Murakami – Reminiscence to the rhythmic slo-mo haze of Sapphire Slows – Hinotori and the exponentially pulsing colours from DJ Nobu - Yakou Gai. The DMT-like spacious virtual meditation hall of KEIHIN – Exhale follows the uneasy footsteps of YPY – MS to the intermissioning chapter of City – 9K. Fall into the wormhole of COMPUMA –Flowmotion (IN DUB) and be transported to the reverb-drenched, intimate experience of Coni – Ängelsbäcksstrand, the primal invocations of Gabber Modus Operandi – Kisah (which also means story in Bahasa Indonesian) to the transcendent notes of SPINNUTS - Zweimal schlafen atmosphäre. The soaring universe of Albino Sound – Celestial Sphere wraps up the album with crystalline notes.

“Versatile is not even close to describing his music selection and mixing skills as he plays anything without prejudice and is purely music loving. He is extremely humble, can mix anything and make it sound interesting.” – nolens.volens (Bangkok, Thailand)

Today, multi-award winning British-Japanese polymath Maya Jane Coles releases her eagerly-anticipated fifth studio album, Night Creature, via I/AM/ME.

Night Creature is the antidote to our collective recent experience, a slipstream into the alluring world that comes to life after dark. The album includes previously released singles ‘Got Me’ featuring Australian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Julia Stone on vocals in an incredible first collaboration from the pair, as well as ‘Run To You’ and ‘True Love To The Grave’ both featuring Claudia Kane, which were brought together in an epic queer gothic female assassin short film across two music videos.

Written, produced, engineered, mixed and performed by Maya, Night Creature features a stellar line up of international guests alongside Julia Stone & Claudia Kane, including Berlin-based Lie Ning on ‘Hypnotised’ and Swedish-Norwegian Karin Park on ‘Light’.

On the album, Maya shared: “When it comes to my music making, I’ve pretty much always been a creature of the night. My creativity tends to work at its best during those peaceful hours when my surroundings are at a standstill and I feel completely in my own world. Then on the flip side, in the club, the night can shift into some of the most energetic and ecstatic moments in time. For me, Night Creature interweaves those moments, crossing over dark to light, melancholic to energetic, my favourite kind of music to make. The incredible guest vocalists totally elevate my music to a new level on this record and I’ve spent more time on it than any release I’ve ever worked on so I’m extremely excited to finally be able to share it with the world and hope that you all like it as much as I do! <3 Maya x”

The Imaginary Museum is pleased to open its doors in 2021. It is the first museum of the imagination in the world: driven by insatiable curiosity, a deep belief in music as reliable witness and document to human history, and sound research, reflecting the desire to expand the wealth of human knowledge.

The first exhibition is a joint endeavour from Utopia Cloak and The Jaffa Kid, presenting priceless artefacts collected from their respective kingdoms where melodic electronica reigns supreme. Presented on beautiful marbled vinyl, each artist shares a side expressing their unique sonic aesthetics.

Utopia Cloak comes forth with melancholic whimsy in “Summer Holiday ‘98”, explores textures and hauntological soundscapes in “Matter Changing State” and enlists Mause to relocate that particularly meaningful holiday to a Brighton beach front with a cold can and seagulls included for good measure.

Flip over to witness The Jaffa Kid illustrate smokey ambient atmospherics in “A Certain Retro”, punchy dynamic electro scenery in “Jig Jag Electron” and pure braindance indebted melody in the masterful “Carago”, worthy of Richard D James at his very best.

Floofy - An ear-bugging flute, a huge Moog bassline and cosmic synths, what more do you need for an ecstatic club anthem?

Charlize - Let’s add a “Spacer Woman” style handclap towards the lush pads. Rex club dance floor approved.

Lezaki - Inspired by a fond memory of a one-time festival at the polish seaside, a fusion between disco and trance elements. Long-lasting friendships will develop while you get lost in the song.

This recording is dedicated to nomads, space travelers, free spirits that visits earth for a brief time to make a mark here on their way to other worlds. They leave traces on tram wagons, walls and in our minds in our cities before moving on into the unknown. Especially one.

A slow build up to a jungle crescendo is how “Iris” develops. This is a fine example of how Fontän effortlessly makes crossover music – no compromises needed in neither end of the spectrum, this music flows naturally. The dreamy music box-sounding intro of “Mast” falls into a deep half beat where warm E-bow guitars and sweeping synthesizers carries the music higher and higher away from the ground.

These two tracks are a peaceful homage to all the cosmic kings and queens that have spent time here on earth. Safe travels!

Artist/composer/producer and Algebra Records head Casually Here's ambitious second solo album Possible Worlds will be released on the 1st of April on vinyl and digital distributed by Kudos.

Casually Here (Nic Nell) is a multidisciplinary artist, composer, sound designer & record producer with a background in art & mathematics. Recent projects include producing, co-writing & mixing Orlando Weeks' acclaimed 'A Quickening' album (PIAS) with playlisting and 200+ plays across BBC radio and fantastic reviews "Nothing short of stunning" DIY. And a collaborative electronic art/dance album 'Many Worlds' w/ Lawrence Hart (Hotflush Recordings) released as a series of EPs with wide DJ/radio support in the dance world from DJs like George Fitzgerald, Sasha and The Blessed Madonna, and featured in two Radio 1 Essential Mixes.

His music has been featured by The Guardian, Pitchfork, FACT Magazine, The Fader, Dummy, The Sunday Times, Dazed etc. Other projects include being half of both Young Colossus & art pop duo Rainer. His music & productions have been streamed over 15 million times & released on labels such as XL Recordings, Play It Again Sam, Hotflush Recordings & Bella Union.

Nic founded and runs Algebra Records with a focus on supporting emerging artists practically, technically and collegiately to help foster artistic community and context. Recent Algebra releases included the two debut EPs from Heavenly Stems, artist/composer/architect Emma-Kate Matthews' 'Far Flung EP', Liam Hutton's Trials EP, ELY's debut album 'Are You Invested In The Economy Of Love?', Lake Turner's Prime Mover EP and Sunplus' debut album 'More Colour'.

Artist/composer/producer and Algebra Records head Casually Here's ambitious second solo album Possible Worlds will be released on the 1st of April on vinyl and digital distributed by Kudos.

Casually Here (Nic Nell) is a multidisciplinary artist, composer, sound designer & record producer with a background in art & mathematics. Recent projects include producing, co-writing & mixing Orlando Weeks' acclaimed 'A Quickening' album (PIAS) with playlisting and 200+ plays across BBC radio and fantastic reviews "Nothing short of stunning" DIY. And a collaborative electronic art/dance album 'Many Worlds' w/ Lawrence Hart (Hotflush Recordings) released as a series of EPs with wide DJ/radio support in the dance world from DJs like George Fitzgerald, Sasha and The Blessed Madonna, and featured in two Radio 1 Essential Mixes.

His music has been featured by The Guardian, Pitchfork, FACT Magazine, The Fader, Dummy, The Sunday Times, Dazed etc. Other projects include being half of both Young Colossus & art pop duo Rainer. His music & productions have been streamed over 15 million times & released on labels such as XL Recordings, Play It Again Sam, Hotflush Recordings & Bella Union.

Nic founded and runs Algebra Records with a focus on supporting emerging artists practically, technically and collegiately to help foster artistic community and context. Recent Algebra releases included the two debut EPs from Heavenly Stems, artist/composer/architect Emma-Kate Matthews' 'Far Flung EP', Liam Hutton's Trials EP, ELY's debut album 'Are You Invested In The Economy Of Love?', Lake Turner's Prime Mover EP and Sunplus' debut album 'More Colour'.

Hanagasumi - hazy curtain of flowers, cherry blossoms appearing from afar like a white mist - this phenomenon can be seen during the sakura blossom in Japan.

The third release on the label from the musician Shine Grooves. This vinyl is a mini LP of five tracks with different moods. The release is opening with a melodic track with exciting keyboard chords, performed in the best traditions of electro rhythm. On the second track, the mood changes towards a glitch house with a 4x4 beat and a naive melody that penetrates deeply into the mind. The first side of the vinyl is closing with a techno track - a loop recorded on a Roland TR-606 drum machine with an atmospheric melody that flutters in the air throughout the entire composition.

The second side of the vinyl starts with a 10-minute ambient ode, with cosmic synthesizer sequences and fragments of phrases from telephone conversations - a slow entrance to another reality. The last track on the record has an experimental IDM flavor with melodic guitar tones.

This LP is made on 12" vinyl, hand stamped, limited to 300 copies. High quality analogue mastering by Sergey Luginin at Luginin Studio.

Deep percussive house tracks by A Drummer From Detroit. Jazzy funk inspired Dance floor heat from this well known producer from Detroit (who released on some of the best Detroit labels!). Classy release that easily makes it into our list of favorite Detroit releases of 2011!

French House legend​ - Boston Bun (Ed Banger / Circa ‘99)​ is set to release his debut album - ​‘There’s A Nightclub Inside My Head’ ​this coming April. Containing ​8 unreleased tracks​, ​‘Whenever You’re Ready’​ and the Annie Mac favourite ‘Nobody But You’, the album conceptualised during last year's lockdown & provides an introspective space for the producer and his listeners to enjoy.

‘Sometimes it’s great to take a break, sometimes it’s not. If you were on planet Earth during the year of 2020, you know what I’m talking about. I took that time to visit the nightclub inside my head. The last one open, actually. The booth, the sound system, the stairs, the bar, the smell, the noise of my left shoe on the sticky floor, everything was exactly how I left it. It got me a bit emotional to be honest, so I started thinking about the right soundtrack that could fit in that space. And here it is. I hope you’ll enjoy the night.’ - Boston Bun

‘There’s A Nightclub Inside My Head’ ​is for everyone, anyone who needs a moment to reflect, dance or simply be present with themselves. A chance to be transported to your own secure space, to interpret and visualise the music however you wish.

As his release rate continues its logarithmic trajectory, Klaus eeks out a couple more of his trademark subbed-out, spaced-out numbers to close out the series.

'proper headswimmers' (sully shanks)

'yh u got the sunglasses, screw face + gun finger salute with these' (mellowdramatics)

'I'm gonna charge my feedback, pound a word' (akash)

2 X LP 2 x coloured vinyl 1 Red 1 Blue with a full picture sleeve, Limited numbered 1 - 1000

First Word Records is very pleased to bring you more music from Werkha!

Following on from his EP 'The Rigour' from early 2020, the Mancunian musician dropped a little taste of his new material late last year in the form of single 'Battered Mars Bar' and limited cassette 'Beat Tapestry'. Now we have a double aa-side single featuring two cuts from his forthcoming album 'All Werk Is Play'.

'Eterno Retorno' features the glorious Portuguese vocals of Moreiya, gliding across Werkha's uniquely skippy bruk vibes, with squelchy bass stabs and delicate guitar strums in tow.

'In Saint-Gilles' keeps the tempo up, cleverly switching between a 4/4 and a half-time rhythm. This one bringing more European vibes with the talents of Brussels-based DJ/Producer Le Motel also behind the boards.

Both tracks have already been shown support from the likes of AtJazz & DJ Paulette.

Werkha hails from Manchester and has been releasing music for a decade, collaborating and remixing artists such as Quantic, Bryony Jarman-Pinto, Marcos Valles and Andrew Ashong, and touring with Bonobo, Chet Faker and Mr Scruff.

This single is released February 4th 2022 on vinyl & digital via First Word Records.

New Berlin based label Dead Sound Records kicks off the first in a series of leftfield house & techno releases.

The first E.P is from Cosmonaut, with the whole E.P fittingly taking influences and inspiration from his native Uruguay whilst still adding his unique flavour to each production. The E.P shows the depth and range of Cosmonaut’s ability as a producer with the A-side featuring two heavyweight 4/4 peaktime tunes. The B-side showcases a deeper side to Cosmonaut’s producing skills but with the dancefloor still very much in mind. TC80 rounds of the E.P with a delicate, emotional interpretation of The Cristal Ensemble Orchestra.

Follow-up EP for Multi Culti from this Berlin duo merging sleek Krautrock influences, decades long production experience, jazz-percussion chops and funky German vocals.

‘Kometenschweif’ will sound the most familiar to fans of Sascha Funke’s club-ready tracks, with percussive and vocal flourishes from Niklas Wandt. ‘Kreidekreis’ takes the tempo down while ramping up the trippiness, a circular journey into funk bass, synth prog, and again, a percussion masterclass.

Finally, ‘Weg Vom Leder’ sounds like a lost Falco tune, brought up to date. On the remix side, Alexander Arpeggio somehow manages to swing ‘Kreidekreis’ into a digital reggae slowburner, while Whodamanny turns Kometenschweif toward indie-kraut-wave bop.

New imprint and musical project from Benjamin Diamond (french iconic member of Stardust and voice of the hit "Music Sounds Better With You") & Ulysse Genet!

Two numbers referring to the year 1972.

And in two numbers, everything is said.

The project is simple and ambitious, it is the soundtrack of life passing by, of our lives, of theirs: those of two boys who became two men, both born the same year. 1972. And contrary to its commercial destination, the «TM» sometimes af fixed to these two letters appears here rather like a real mental tattoo, if not a purely aes thetic gesture, as if to tell us: these sounds, these feelings, these immaterial emotions, were deposited in the dark recesses of these two brains, these two minds, before passing through their bodies, passing through their fingers, then through the keyboards, the ins truments, to transform themselves, to turn into sounds, which, themselves, through the alchemy of creation, become music.

And this music is the soundtrack to these two lives: Benjamin Cohen. Ulysse Genet. And these two lives which at one point crossed, met. And from this crossing was born 72. From these two experiences, from these memories, from the memories of the two artists, music is revealed. Four tracks for the moment, instrumental, mixing the reminiscences of hip hop, the echoes of the ‘ambient’ created by Brian Eno, the techno vo lutes of Detroit, and more particularly those of Carl Craig. Without forgetting the roots of what has been called the French Touch... this unique musical adventure revealing France abroad in a singular way, in which Benjamin Cohen has actively participated.

Do you believe in ghosts ? Those things that cannot be explained which lurk where we fear to tread once that last light goes dark ? Paranormal Sounds of the Synthesizer, was written and conceived as a library record for just that. Electronic music composers Repeated Viewing and Timothy Fife have created a record to take you into the world of the paranormal, the unexplained, and what happens when the light goes out
Paranormal Sounds of the Synthesizer is a “split” LP. Repeated Viewing covers side A, while Timothy Fife handles side B. Repeated Viewing’s mood is of dread and darkness. They build a musical world of haunted parlors, candles flickering, and incantations spoken in whispered tongues. Timothy Fife, by contrast, takes us into the world which lies between here and there. Electrical pulses and droning currents make contact with the other side, giving static charge and access to afterlife conversations with those long from this earth.

The anniversary album “20Years 2raumwohnung” including new edited versions and two new songs! - 2RAUMWOHNUNG - the duo of Inga Humpe and Tommi Eckart - two of the leading protagonists of German electropop, released eight albums, sold over 1.000.000 records, made remixes (Ennio Morricone, Herbert Grönemeyer, “Trip to Asia”), soundtracks ("Tatort", "Das Sams", "Mädchen, Mädchen"), collaborated with famous musicians (Moritz von Oswald, Paul van Dyk, Paul Kalkbrenner, Westbam, DJ Koze, Ricardo Villalobos, Dieter Meier, UMAMI, Rosenstolz), won awards and accolades (Dance Music Award, 1Live Krone, Goldene Stimmgabel, Fred-Jay-Preis der GEMA for Inga), played concert tours in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and performed in New York, Japan, China, Spain, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, and Korea.

"Ostriconi" is the first full length album from French multi-instrumentalist Jean Dasso, betterknown as Yeahman, and its release at the start of 2021 on New York based WonderwheelRecordings is guaranteed to kick the new year off with dreamlike finesse.The album is named for the Ostriconi valley in Corsica, France - and across it's 9 mellifluoustracks, listeners are transported to the lush and picturesque banks of the valley's eponymousriver. The at times surreal beauty and tranquility of the region is sonically recreated by Yeahmanand his collaborators on "Ostriconi", who lead us on a melancholic journey down from themystical mountains to the vibrant sea, giving us a sense of a diverse and unfurling world at ourfeet.The recording and production of the album were the product of Dasso's singular artistic vision,and give musical form to artistic alliances he built between Toulouse, Dakar, Napoli andMarseille. Yeahman shares his first opus as an invitation of sorts for us to reunite in a sleepyworld, one where we all yet long for the flames of dancing to reignite. "Ostriconi" bids everyoneto dream of an uplifting future, and arouses that sleeping hope for such that lives in us all.The languidly beautiful "Deelalhli" grounds the start of journey in rhythm and lively melodiesright from the off, setting a tone that is explored across the rest of the album. "Baixi Baixi"follows as an ode to nature before "Soupe Feu" returns us to Yeahman's roots in a percussiveand sample-based dancefloor tune. The lead single "Sakoneta" needs no introduction as itelevates the tempo before "Ouloullou" and "Sueño Contigo" slowly bring us back to earth, apassage that culminates nicely with the introspective and pulsing "GLI-F4". Mina Shankha,Hajna and Yeahman join forces to restyle a Peruvian cumbia classic "Cariñito" before the albumcloses with "Lecce74". Featuring El Buho, this last song is a melancholic ode that returns us toreality and puts a beautiful bow on the electric trip that is "Ostriconi"

Kalipo prepares to launch his new album Happy Little Accidents, which counts with twelve electro-focused tracks as well as the participation of feature artists Rampue, Ira Atari, Oberst & Buchner and subkutan. Iconic 80s painter and TV host, Bob Ross is celebrated for his thirty-minute landscapes, recognizably soothing voice as well as the 'happy little quotes' he imprinted on pop culture. One of Ross' most memorable turns of phrase, "We don't make mistakes; we just have happy accidents," went on to encourage thousands worldwide. And not just painters. "For me, this album was about letting the songs develop very quickly and not evaluating them too much, or trying to avoid mistakes," says German electronic music producer, Kalipo (Jakob Häglsperger) who named his latest release Happy Little Accidents after Ross' signature phrase. "Bob Ross really impressed me as a child, he was always so accessible to everyone and demonstrated how easy it was for anyone to work creatively," says Kalipo, who translated Ross' fast and instinctive wet-on-wet painting technique to music-making on Happy Little Accidents. The 12 tracks that make up PART I and PART II of the album are a celebration of the method - sometimes it's a floaty journey with tinkering sounds, at other times dark fast beats create the core of the music, but there's always a sense of intuition and heart driving Kalipo's productions.