quête:mad line

London's Spearmint follow-up their acclaimed 2023 record `This Candle Is For You' with the ambitious new concept album `Chase Me' New single "1986" evokes a time when the world wasn't connected by technology, but there was still a strong connection across the globe: music. Specifically in the song, it's folk in Newcastle and Madrid who are dancing to the same music. The vinyl version also features an exclusive track "Is It Just Nostalgia?" which sees the band time-travelling past `The Tube' and `Soul Train` to Friday nights of the past. Standby for the follow-up single in July_ Spearmint have been making great records since debut `A Week Away' in 1999 (`Sweeping The Nation', `A Trip Into Space', `We're Going Out'). Still the same line-up: Shirley Lee (singing, guitar), Simon Calnan (singing, keyboards), James Parsons (guitar) and Ronan Larvor (drums). This will be their eleventh album proper and the 65th release on their own hitBACK label. Re-united with producer Rhodri Marsden (Scritti Politti, Cardiacs), the `Chase Me' album tells a story of success, disillusionment, disconnection, peril, and resurrection. Anchored by three chases across a city at night, book-ended by two out-of-body experiences, and working towards a suite of uplifting love songs, it's a thriller, it's a horror, it's an allegory. Song-writer Shirley explains "The story would make a good movie I think_ but we don't know how to do that, so we did this." `Chase Me' will be available digitally, and on limited edition CD and vinyl. The vinyl version will be released on WIAIWYA records, and will include an exclusive 24 page full-colour lyric book, including photos and illustrations. Spearmint will premiere songs from the album alongside tracks from their catalogue that haven't been played for years, or ever in one instance, live at Colours in Hoxton, London, on Tuesday 29th September 2026.

Archaic Vaults is proud to present »Ley Lines«, the debut album by St Circul.

Concise collection of folkloric grime instrumentals to rise from a new moniker taken on by the elusive First Circle. A breadcrumb trail of effortlessly crafted early 2000s-era grime, trap and drill instrumentals can be found on a fairly sparse Soundcloud account and numerous NTS shows spanning the last ten years, on which he is known to play almost entirely his own material. Now a different energy takes hold on »Ley Lines«: ten tracks by the enigmatic producer to be released both on a label and in physical format for the first time.

»Ley Lines« was born from a meandering quest through South London’s more leafy dwellings. These cherished regions became a place of refuge in which to ruminate on the hopes that love and community can outlast the dwindling state of Britain’s social and political climate. Photo documentation was made which would later form the genesis for each track, and a return to the studio resulted in something which could not be fitted into the existing First Circle discography.

Harpsichord and brass samples (»A Plan Is Formed«, »Hilly Fields«) are underpinned by murky bass loops and tight militaristic percussion – motifs recognisable amongst white label grime’s most influential producers (Wiley, Skepta, Lewi White etc.) that push the formula into far more rapturous territories than any of FC’s previous productions. The more introspective moments of the album (»Wares at the Ivy House«, »Blythe Vision«) put local field recordings and devotional reverberant ambience to the forefront, alluding to St Circul’s proto-dungeon synth influences and giving the whole album a unique world all its own.

Archaic Vaults is proud to host an album which shares intrinsic roots with the label’s own South London birthplace. »Ley Lines«’ ten tracks of psychogeographic drifting are available in digital and limited cassette format via Archaic Vaults.

Mastered by Owen Pratt Design by Severin Black Artwork image by St Circul

Continuing the primordial descent that kicked off in earnest with their 2023 debut album, Pulsations From the Black Orb, ASTRIFEROUS return with their second full-length, Atavistic Unraveling. Much like that celebrated debut, the Costa Ricans’ sophomore album is perfectly titled: truly, the sensations one finds spread across this dread landscape are an Atavistic Unraveling. Thankfully, ASTRIFEROUS’ foundation has changed little – the swarming morbidity of early ’90s Finnish death metal fused with classic South American madness – but there are (dread) developments that prove the band are just now hitting their stride.

Despite its title, Atavistic Unraveling shows ASTRIFEROUS at their tightest and sharpest, with chops and execution meeting at a nexus of impossibly horrific proportions. Duly armed, the quartet take their songwriting to strange, skronking lengths, rendering their angularity both an unsettling and utterly attacking thing. Likewise, the slight cleaning-up of production has paid dividends, allowing these malformed ruminations to fully seep into the listener’s psyche – mangling the mind, wracking the body – whilst emerging with just enough linear propulsion to land the record on the right side of art rather than riff salad.

Collectively, these changes have made ASTRIFEROUS even more world-eating than before, further cementing their homeland’s death metal scene as one of the most potent around. Atavistic Unraveling awaits those who dare…

Spectral death metal conjurations will grasp you with their doom-tinged tendrils from the onset of this record. The gritty, booming riffs open a chasm of darkness for the punishing drums to cast skulls into. Met by otherworldly vocals, this is certain to grip any fan of sepulchral music with its enchanting and intense abyssal atmosphere. Do not be fooled by the slower lumbering moments into thinking this will be an easy listen. Stampeding ferocity and wild madness soon erupt from the charnel openings to give a burst of frantic psychopathy to the experience. Churning doomed violence and convulsive bestial onslaughts entwine around each other to project forth arcane death metal violence with huge dynamics and an utterly savage feeling to every second. With a natural, organic production to convey the filthy nature of the music perfectly; this is not a record that will hold your hand rather drop you into a void of souls with malicious intentions.

From the devastating drum work and monstrous riffing to the wickedly contorting bass lines; each instrument complements the others in this storm of triumphant vitriol while the commanding vocals spew malice to superb effect. The low end murmurings and rusted blades of the leads are an idyllic balance of inhospitable sounds that will surely satisfy any real underground lunatic seeking dark music. These five pieces clock in at 35 minutes and the sheer intensity is upheld for every second. Crypt-lurking doomed despair and utter ferocity become companions while the groove of the more mid tempo sections tie everything together. There is certainly nothing missing for an impactful and memorable experience. Allowing itself to decay and reform throughout; you will see, hear, feel, smell and maybe even taste the stages of cranial decay and the anguish of the brain matter breaking down into nothingness. This is a record which doesn’t follow predictable patterns nor rules but wildly possesses you with the malignant spirits from death metal’s darkest corners…

Recorded April 17 and 18, 1993, at the Union Grove Baptist Church, Ozark, Alabama.

The Wiregrass Singers' Dewey Williams began learning the shape-note tradition in his childhood. He studied under Judge Jackson, who authored the landmark 1934 hymnbook The Colored Sacred Harp. In 1971, Williams formally organized The Wiregrass Sacred Harp Singers to preserve the music full-time. This unified troupe began touring nationally and leading workshops, which ultimately launched them onto stages at the Smithsonian and Newport folk festivals up until Williams' passing in 1995 when the group disbanded. The African-American Sacred Harp tradition in the Wiregrass region has steeply declined since the start of the 21st century, due to an aging generation of singers, and today it is largely sustained through archival preservation and occasional multi-book singing meetups.

This raw recording, made at the Union Grove Baptist Church, Ozark in mid-April 1993 finds the group singing from B. F. White’s The Sacred Harp (1844), which together with his brother-in-law William Walker’s Southern Harmony (1835) formed the musical backbone of generations of Southern music and Southern musical styles.

"On almost any Sunday between the months of March and October, the season most conducive to travel and outdoor dinner-on-the- grounds, Sacred Harp devotés join with fellow songsters at the County Line Church in Slocomb, or the Mount Sinai Church in Henry County, or the Union Grove Baptist Church in Dale County, or at any one of a dozen or so churches in the southeast Alabama counties of Barbour, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Houston and Pike, to form the square and sing fa-sol-la. Approximately fifteen African-American Sacred Harp singings occur annually in the Wiregrass region of southeast Alabama. A singing tradition characteristically associated with white culture in the Deep South, southeast Alabama has enjoyed a vibrant African-American Sacred Harp tradition for well over a century.

On a day of a typical African-American Sacred Harp Singing, the participants arrive casually in the late morning, seat themselves in the square according to voice part, and begin to sing. A dinner break occurs in the early afternoon, and the singers enjoy a covered-dish "dinner-on-the-grounds" (or in the church basement) prepared by the women. The most intense and emotional singing typically occurs after the dinner break. Each singer takes a turn leading the song of his choice. He walks to the middle of the square, calls out the song's page number and waits for the designated tuner to key the song. Singers are discouraged by the other singers from repeating a song that has already been sung, or "used." This proscription is often dispensed with, however, if the singer is particularly young, particularly old, or if the song has special significance to the individual song leader (perhaps the favorite song of a recently deceased relative).

Every singer is given an opportunity to lead a song. Often, older or more infirm singers will request younger singers to lead their songs for them. The motions of the song leaders are highly stylistic and often emotional. Young children are taught in singing school to mark time with their right arm while holding the book in their left. Typically, a singer will stand in place at the center of the square while leading the singing of the notes. When he begins to lead the lyrics portion of the song, he will often begin to "walk time," rhythmically pacing from one side of the square to the other, being careful never to turn his back on the tenor section. This "walking time" is unique to the African-American tradition. As a singer grows more confident he develops his own distinctive leading style. During fuguing songs in particular, he may gesture to each section of the square as its part joins in. Skilled song leaders often elicit applause or other emotional responses from the group. Occasionally a singer may fall into a state of spiritual ecstasy and "get happy." The episode might include a personal testimonial followed by a repeat of the last verse or refrain from the previous song. The singings break up around 5 P.M."
—Henry Willett, 1997 credits

To mark its 10th Anniversary,
discover Awa Ly's Album "Five And A Feather" (Including one previously unreleased track) On Vinyl For The First Time !

One night, Awa had a dream.

The atmosphere was enchanted, almost mystical, enveloped in a setting that summoned the moon, the Earth, and the elements. An ancestral blend of Native American and African cultures, a shamanic being was there, speaking in an unknown language, narrating stories both real and imagined. She received these tales from others, made them her own, absorbed them, shared their joy, and soothed their harbored pain or sadness.

Upon waking, the shamanic narrator had vanished, but her presence was still palpable; Awa made her the storyteller of this new album: Five and a Feather.

Five, like all things counted by fives: the senses, the oceans, the lines of a musical staff, the fingers on a hand. And feather, the magical element that connects them-the very one Awa used to write and compose the ten tracks of this new album where, under the brush of SainaSix, she becomes the first Black woman immortalized in Mucha's Art Nouveau aesthetic.

Ballaké Sissoko's kora, Paco Sery's senza, Greg Cohen's double bass, Faada Freddy's vocals, the steel guitar, or the erhu (Chinese violin) are all elements that illuminate the shamanic storyteller's tales.

Produced alongside the duo Jean Lamoot and Pascal Danae (winners of the 2015 Victoires de la Musique in the World Music category with their band Rivière Noire), Five and a Feather faithfully captures the warm atmosphere of live-recorded sessions where instruments answer and interlock with one another, creating the perfect showcase for the album's principal instrument: Awa's voice.
Words that she delicately places or lets fall onto the notes like tears of joy or sadness, flowing from that source called love.

An album written, composed, and recorded like fine lace, starry with details that only reveal themselves to those who know how to seek them out.

Originally released in 2006, Alive marked an important chapter in the career of Kate Ryan, further establishing her as one of Europe's leading dance-pop artists of the 2000s. Following the international success of earlier hits such as “Désenchantée”, “Libertine” and “The Promise You Made”, Alive showcased a more mature and contemporary pop sound, combining energetic eurodance productions with melodic pop songwriting and multilingual performances that became a trademark of Kate Ryan’s style.

The album features the Eurovision hit single "Je t'Adore", the song with which Kate Ryan represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. Although the song narrowly missed qualification for the final, it became a well-beloved track among fans across Europe. Alongside the Eurovision hit “Je t’Adore”, the album features the singles “Alive” and “All For You”, complemented by the standout tracks “How Many Times”, “Driving Away”, “Wonderland” and “That Kiss I Miss”. Many consider the album to be the strongest release of Kate Ryan.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Alive, this release brings forward an expanded edition containing four French versions and three extended bonus versions, highlighting the multilingual approach that helped define Kate Ryan’s unique crossover appeal across Europe. Blending euphoric dance-pop, emotional melodies and unmistakable early-2000s club energy, Alive remains an essential release in the discography of one of Belgium’s most successful international pop artists.

Alive (Expanded) is available as a 20th anniversary edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on green vinyl and includes an insert with liner notes by Kate Ryan.

Yup, he’s finally done it. Afters years of releasing some of your favorite DJ’s dance floor ammo, Sweater has started his own label. The inaugural release on Sauna Records is produced by the new label boss himself and features 4 tracks he’s held close to the chest for a bit of time now while testing dance floors, tweaking arrangements, and getting these baselines just right to ensure a hot & steamy dance floor experience.

The A1 “Chemical Reactions” races out of the starting line with a swampy bassline peak time heater full of classic rave sounds contrasted by Sweater’s signature lush pad and lead work creating a mad chemist’s auditory dream. A2’s “Yaoguai” bubbles with a thoughtful and playful bounce over an ear-worm bassline. B1’s “On & On & On” is the proggy tech piece of kit you didn’t know you needed to ensure “that” moment in a set. B2’s “One Chord” lands the EP in a calmer manner, acting as a production experiment to see if Sweater could keep you interested with one chord playing in the background the entire track. The result is an introspective, eyes closed, thoughtful bop.

We hope you enjoy Sauna Records first offering and use this record for the physical and mental detoxification through sweat therapy on a dance floor near you.

Ancient Infinity Orchestra return with their third album, It’s Always About Liberation, a new record that deepens the vision of their acclaimed recent work while moving into darker, more searching emotional territory.

Conceived as a partner to It’s Always About Love, this new body of work shares its predecessor’s generosity and spiritual openness, but carries a different charge. Where the previous album focused on healing and warmth, It’s Always About Liberation is largely animated by struggle, perseverance and the desire for transformation while still offering a path to betterment. It is music made in full awareness of a fractured world, yet unwilling to surrender to it.

Like It’s Always About Love the album title draws inspiration from words spoken by Moor Mother during their 2024 We Out Here festival performance that deeply affected bandleader Ozzy Moysey: “It’s always about love / It’s always about liberation.” Those twin ideas became a framework for the two albums Ancient Infinity Orchestra were creating. If one album explored love as repair, this one explores liberation as movement, continually striving toward freedom, clarity and deeper connection.
The 16-member ensemble is led by double bassist and composer Ozzy, with a distinctive line-up that explains their sound better than any artificial genre divisions: two double basses, harp, saxophones, clarinets, violin, viola, cello, oboe, flutes, mandolin, congas, piano, drum kit, with bells, shakers and other percussion instruments scattered on the floor of live sets and recording sessions, ready for members to use whenever the spirit takes them.

This orchestration, and the overlap between membership and friendship, gives Ancient Infinity Orchestra a sound that is at once expansive and intimate, earthy, and cosmic, constantly shifting yet grounded in shared intention. The attention to intention and the inviting sonic world connects the music to artists ranging from Alabaster dePlume to Gondwana label boss Matthew Halsall.
Gradually, the Orchestra became a grounding force in the emerging jazz scene in Leeds, bringing together individuals from different musical backgrounds co-founding the Café Oto-inspired Limpet Club or co-hosting the monthly Sonic Plunge (‘a platform for adventurous experimentation’) and co-founding the Leeds Improvisers Orchestra. Additionally, the ensemble acted as a bridge between musicians in Brighton and Leeds, after Ozzy spent a stint back on the south coast between 2020 and 2022.

Their debut, River of Light, was a vibrant celebration of togetherness recorded in three days and released on Gondwana in 2023. A Maida Vale session for Jamie Cullum’s BBC Radio 2 show brought them to a broader audience, as did bookings at North Sea Jazz Festival and Gretchen, Berlin. Since then, Ancient Infinity Orchestra has become a by-word for music that could be framed as ‘spiritual jazz’. Whilst Ozzy avoids the phrase when describing his music, he’s crystal clear that his heroes are associated with those words – citing Art Ensemble of Chicago, Pharoah Saunders, Coltrane (Alice and John), and Don Cherry as major influences.

Across trance-like meditations, rising grooves, moments of grief and collective uplift, It’s Always About Liberation speaks to the battle within the mind as much as the inequalities of the wider world. It acknowledges the darkness but lets connection and creativity have the last word Ancient Infinity Orchestra is a gathering of voices, traditions, and energies converging into something timeless. Their music is a journey inward and outward, always reaching toward the universal.

Shakedown’s anthemic 'At Night' has been a firm fixture in record bags since it first landed, built around that unmistakable, hypnotic vocal hook and a groove that's kept dancefloors moving for years.

It's one of those rare tracks that transcends eras — equally at home in a peak-time festival set as it is in a late-night basement club — and its staying power has made it a go-to reference point for DJs and producers alike.

Freshly reissued now compiling some of its biggest remixes , original and the sought after accappella. Purple Disco Machine brings his signature disco-house sheen and radio-friendly polish to the original's DNA. Peggy Gou then flips it entirely on its head with her "Acid Journey" remix, injecting squelchy 303 acid lines and a more raw, hypnotic energy that nods to house music's warehouse roots. Kid Crème's Club Mix sits somewhere in between — a tool-friendly, dancefloor-focused reworking built for maximum impact in a DJ set. Rounding out the package are the Original mix, for those who want the source material in all its untouched glory, and an Accapella, giving DJs and producers the vocal stems to mash up, edit, or sample as they see fit.

Bit of this, bit of that. 4 cuts of everything groove and swing.

Big Crown Records freut sich, Glera zu präsentieren, Marco Beneventos Debütalbum auf dem Label. Marco Benevento hat sich schon immer wie jemand bewegt, der das Studio als eigenes Instrument begreift - nicht bloß als Raum, in dem das Spielzeug herumsteht. Lange bevor er auf Bühnen mit Freddie Gibbs und Madlib auftauchte oder in den Liner Notes von Alben von Clairo und Leon Bridges erwähnt wurde, dachte Benevento bereits wie ein Produzent: Er hörte auf Texturen, Spannungen und Negativräume - und auf jene seltsame emotionale Alchemie, die entsteht, wenn Groove und Neugier aufeinandertreffen. Sein neues Album Glera schärft diesen Instinkt und rückt Benevento nicht nur als virtuosen Keyboarder und Bandleader ins Licht, sondern als Komponisten, der aus Rhythmus, Klang und Gefühl ganze Welten formt.Glera ist ein genreübergreifendes Jazzalbum, das Soul und das elastische Low-End des Reggae mit einem offenen Sinn für Möglichkeiten verbindet. Das Projekt begann vor drei Jahren als eine Art privates Experiment: Benevento schrieb intuitiv, inspiriert von italienischen Filmmusiken und Melodien. Mit der Zeit entwickelten sich diese Skizzen zu etwas Größerem und Kraftvollerem - und mündeten schließlich in die hier zu hörende majestätische Ausformung.Entstanden ist Musik mit filmischer Bewegung, ohne dabei kostbar oder überladen zu wirken. Die Stücke fühlen sich mal wie Verfolgungsjagden, mal wie langsame Überblendungen an - manchmal sogar innerhalb desselben Songs. Jazz-Improvisation teilt sich den Raum mit Reggae-Grooves, orchestralen Elementen und einer psychedelischen Pop-Atmosphäre. Explorativ, aber geerdet; komplex, doch stets klar groove-orientiert.Der Album-Opener ,Frizzante" ist eine reine musikalische Feier - ein energiegeladener Feel-Good-Banger, auf Band gebannt, in dem Marco über einem unnachgiebigen Groove Melodien mit sich selbst austauscht. Auf ,Turandot" wird Benevento von Italiens Marianne Mirage am Gesang begleitet; der düstere, cineastische Track bewegt sich mühelos zwischen den Welten von Portishead und Serge Gainsbourg.Mit ,Big Top" erweitert sich die klangliche Palette noch weiter: ausgestattet mit Sprachaufnahmen und Pfauengeräuschen lässt sich der Song am treffendsten als ,Zirkus-Funk" beschreiben. Ein Pfiff - und das Spiel beginnt mit ,Houdini", einem jazz-fusionhaften Dancefloor-Füller, der vom ersten Schlagzeugschlag an die Tür eintritt. Auf ,I Can't Control This Bliss" mischt Benevento Dream Pop unter und bittet Dream Crease ans Mikrofon - für eine Dosis lo-fi-getränkter Schönheit. Elizabeth Steiner steuert ihre renommierte Harfenarbeit zu ,Miss Neptune" bei, getragen von einem tief vibrierenden, reggae-inspirierten Fundament.Mit Vollgas prescht ,Sprezzatura" wie eine Hochgeschwindigkeitsverfolgung durch enge Straßen, während ,Quattro Passi" das Tempo drosselt und zum entspannten Schlendern einlädt - mit Jazzsängerin Chiara Civello als Feature.Marco Benevento agiert hier auf höchstem Niveau, formt Klang mit Zielstrebigkeit und Neugier. Dieses Album kündigt sich laut an - zugleich nach außen gerichtet und zutiefst intim. Es ist Musik in Bewegung: zwischen Genres, Tempi und Registern, stets verankert in der Freude am Entdecken. Ein Album, das Bewegung verkörpert, die Vergangenheit mitnimmt und doch niemals stehen bleibt.

Big Crown Records freut sich, Glera zu präsentieren, Marco Beneventos Debütalbum auf dem Label. Marco Benevento hat sich schon immer wie jemand bewegt, der das Studio als eigenes Instrument begreift - nicht bloß als Raum, in dem das Spielzeug herumsteht. Lange bevor er auf Bühnen mit Freddie Gibbs und Madlib auftauchte oder in den Liner Notes von Alben von Clairo und Leon Bridges erwähnt wurde, dachte Benevento bereits wie ein Produzent: Er hörte auf Texturen, Spannungen und Negativräume - und auf jene seltsame emotionale Alchemie, die entsteht, wenn Groove und Neugier aufeinandertreffen. Sein neues Album Glera schärft diesen Instinkt und rückt Benevento nicht nur als virtuosen Keyboarder und Bandleader ins Licht, sondern als Komponisten, der aus Rhythmus, Klang und Gefühl ganze Welten formt.Glera ist ein genreübergreifendes Jazzalbum, das Soul und das elastische Low-End des Reggae mit einem offenen Sinn für Möglichkeiten verbindet. Das Projekt begann vor drei Jahren als eine Art privates Experiment: Benevento schrieb intuitiv, inspiriert von italienischen Filmmusiken und Melodien. Mit der Zeit entwickelten sich diese Skizzen zu etwas Größerem und Kraftvollerem - und mündeten schließlich in die hier zu hörende majestätische Ausformung.Entstanden ist Musik mit filmischer Bewegung, ohne dabei kostbar oder überladen zu wirken. Die Stücke fühlen sich mal wie Verfolgungsjagden, mal wie langsame Überblendungen an - manchmal sogar innerhalb desselben Songs. Jazz-Improvisation teilt sich den Raum mit Reggae-Grooves, orchestralen Elementen und einer psychedelischen Pop-Atmosphäre. Explorativ, aber geerdet; komplex, doch stets klar groove-orientiert.Der Album-Opener ,Frizzante" ist eine reine musikalische Feier - ein energiegeladener Feel-Good-Banger, auf Band gebannt, in dem Marco über einem unnachgiebigen Groove Melodien mit sich selbst austauscht. Auf ,Turandot" wird Benevento von Italiens Marianne Mirage am Gesang begleitet; der düstere, cineastische Track bewegt sich mühelos zwischen den Welten von Portishead und Serge Gainsbourg.Mit ,Big Top" erweitert sich die klangliche Palette noch weiter: ausgestattet mit Sprachaufnahmen und Pfauengeräuschen lässt sich der Song am treffendsten als ,Zirkus-Funk" beschreiben. Ein Pfiff - und das Spiel beginnt mit ,Houdini", einem jazz-fusionhaften Dancefloor-Füller, der vom ersten Schlagzeugschlag an die Tür eintritt. Auf ,I Can't Control This Bliss" mischt Benevento Dream Pop unter und bittet Dream Crease ans Mikrofon - für eine Dosis lo-fi-getränkter Schönheit. Elizabeth Steiner steuert ihre renommierte Harfenarbeit zu ,Miss Neptune" bei, getragen von einem tief vibrierenden, reggae-inspirierten Fundament.Mit Vollgas prescht ,Sprezzatura" wie eine Hochgeschwindigkeitsverfolgung durch enge Straßen, während ,Quattro Passi" das Tempo drosselt und zum entspannten Schlendern einlädt - mit Jazzsängerin Chiara Civello als Feature.Marco Benevento agiert hier auf höchstem Niveau, formt Klang mit Zielstrebigkeit und Neugier. Dieses Album kündigt sich laut an - zugleich nach außen gerichtet und zutiefst intim. Es ist Musik in Bewegung: zwischen Genres, Tempi und Registern, stets verankert in der Freude am Entdecken. Ein Album, das Bewegung verkörpert, die Vergangenheit mitnimmt und doch niemals stehen bleibt.

Big Crown Records freut sich, Glera zu präsentieren, Marco Beneventos Debütalbum auf dem Label. Marco Benevento hat sich schon immer wie jemand bewegt, der das Studio als eigenes Instrument begreift - nicht bloß als Raum, in dem das Spielzeug herumsteht. Lange bevor er auf Bühnen mit Freddie Gibbs und Madlib auftauchte oder in den Liner Notes von Alben von Clairo und Leon Bridges erwähnt wurde, dachte Benevento bereits wie ein Produzent: Er hörte auf Texturen, Spannungen und Negativräume - und auf jene seltsame emotionale Alchemie, die entsteht, wenn Groove und Neugier aufeinandertreffen. Sein neues Album Glera schärft diesen Instinkt und rückt Benevento nicht nur als virtuosen Keyboarder und Bandleader ins Licht, sondern als Komponisten, der aus Rhythmus, Klang und Gefühl ganze Welten formt.Glera ist ein genreübergreifendes Jazzalbum, das Soul und das elastische Low-End des Reggae mit einem offenen Sinn für Möglichkeiten verbindet. Das Projekt begann vor drei Jahren als eine Art privates Experiment: Benevento schrieb intuitiv, inspiriert von italienischen Filmmusiken und Melodien. Mit der Zeit entwickelten sich diese Skizzen zu etwas Größerem und Kraftvollerem - und mündeten schließlich in die hier zu hörende majestätische Ausformung.Entstanden ist Musik mit filmischer Bewegung, ohne dabei kostbar oder überladen zu wirken. Die Stücke fühlen sich mal wie Verfolgungsjagden, mal wie langsame Überblendungen an - manchmal sogar innerhalb desselben Songs. Jazz-Improvisation teilt sich den Raum mit Reggae-Grooves, orchestralen Elementen und einer psychedelischen Pop-Atmosphäre. Explorativ, aber geerdet; komplex, doch stets klar groove-orientiert.Der Album-Opener ,Frizzante" ist eine reine musikalische Feier - ein energiegeladener Feel-Good-Banger, auf Band gebannt, in dem Marco über einem unnachgiebigen Groove Melodien mit sich selbst austauscht. Auf ,Turandot" wird Benevento von Italiens Marianne Mirage am Gesang begleitet; der düstere, cineastische Track bewegt sich mühelos zwischen den Welten von Portishead und Serge Gainsbourg.Mit ,Big Top" erweitert sich die klangliche Palette noch weiter: ausgestattet mit Sprachaufnahmen und Pfauengeräuschen lässt sich der Song am treffendsten als ,Zirkus-Funk" beschreiben. Ein Pfiff - und das Spiel beginnt mit ,Houdini", einem jazz-fusionhaften Dancefloor-Füller, der vom ersten Schlagzeugschlag an die Tür eintritt. Auf ,I Can't Control This Bliss" mischt Benevento Dream Pop unter und bittet Dream Crease ans Mikrofon - für eine Dosis lo-fi-getränkter Schönheit. Elizabeth Steiner steuert ihre renommierte Harfenarbeit zu ,Miss Neptune" bei, getragen von einem tief vibrierenden, reggae-inspirierten Fundament.Mit Vollgas prescht ,Sprezzatura" wie eine Hochgeschwindigkeitsverfolgung durch enge Straßen, während ,Quattro Passi" das Tempo drosselt und zum entspannten Schlendern einlädt - mit Jazzsängerin Chiara Civello als Feature.Marco Benevento agiert hier auf höchstem Niveau, formt Klang mit Zielstrebigkeit und Neugier. Dieses Album kündigt sich laut an - zugleich nach außen gerichtet und zutiefst intim. Es ist Musik in Bewegung: zwischen Genres, Tempi und Registern, stets verankert in der Freude am Entdecken. Ein Album, das Bewegung verkörpert, die Vergangenheit mitnimmt und doch niemals stehen bleibt.

If you have kept a keen eye on what is going on in German thrash these days, you cannot have missed the comeback of Protector, legendary thrash/death outfit from Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. Formed in 1986, Protector first called it a day in 2003, only to return in 2011 and releasing their “Reanimated Homunculus” on High Roller Records in 2013. Protector are widely regarded as one of the most underrated outfits from the prolific German thrash/death scene of the Eighties. Their debut-EP “Misanthropy” from 1987 is a thorny gem of uncompromising thrash metal, raw and fast, and with a strong feel of evil blackness. This first official release laid the base for Protector's reputation as “Germany’s most brutal band”, as some people called them. Protector? Really? Some band from some far out place in Lower Saxony? It’s true, Protector never rose to the same heights of fame as Kreator, Sodom and the likes, but back in the days, they made a name for themselves by playing not only fierce and sharp thrash metal, but always being extremely harsh, brutal and very very evil. “Misanthropy” is a perfect testimony for this: In its six-tracks-brevity, Protector’s debut-EP is a violent attack on the listener, giving you six razor sharp cuts and leaving you behind, crushed and bleeding. “Misanthropy” was recorded in the summer of 1987 at the White Lines Studio in Braunschweig. While the band's main influences at that time were Slayer’s “Reign in Blood”, Possessed’s “Seven Churches” and Exodus' “Bonded by Blood”, “Misanthropy” actually sounds like none of these albums – but very unique; In part this is due to Martin Missy's extraordinary extreme vocal performance, which always bordered on the verge of death metal growls and thus added a lot to Protector’s very own way of evil. The reactions to “Misanthropy” were mixed: Fans and the underground media celebrated the release, while the bigger magazines were sceptical about Protector's brutal and aggressive style and sound. Anyway: “Misanthropy” made people aware of this four-piece who lived in the shadow of the then still intact German Wall, far away from the Ruhr-Area, the heart of Teutonic thrash. For the High Roller re-release, nothing will be changed about the sound, which makes total sense, given that “Misanthropy” is great just as it is. Instead, “Misanthropy” comes with a very special feature: To make the release as complete as possible, High Roller includes the two songs from the demo from 1986, “Protector of Death” and “Apocalyptic Revolution”, something Martin Missy totally appreciates: “I think this is a great thing to do. That way the fans get an idea about what Protector sounded like before the EP was recorded.” One thing is already clear: Protector never got any more aggressive, sharp and shattering than on „Misanthropy”.

With bloated souls and skeletal bodies the three mad kings of the end times walk among us, with empty eyes and insatiable hunger. Innocence thieves, blood collectors, bastard children of archaic dynasties built upon the broken bones of the weak. Their consorts are the rotten and the dead, their champions soulless, empty vessels gasping for validation as they bathe in the nectar of inflicted pain. They lead us not into temptation, but into degradation and the all-consuming fire. Born in the heat and shadows of the Australian underground, in Brisbane in 2014, Graveir have carved out a stronghold for themselves in their homeland's black metal scene. Bleak, violent and uncompromising, their music possesses a powerful individuality that sees them following their own path, lone wolves in a world of people searching frantically for a voice to tell them how to think and what to believe. After their powerful 2016 debut, Iconostasis and its critically acclaimed successor, King Of The Silent World, hailed as 'captivatingly hypnotic' by Metal Bite, Graveir are poised to unleash their third set of black prophecies - The Festering Triad. The Festering Triad begins with the sinister 'Lords Of Misrule', rising from the silence with guitars like an insect swarm before a lugubrious, dolorous shift into life and movement. The song holds you on the edge of oblivion, a constant aura of threat radiating from its broken beauty. There's a powerful underlying melody too, but it's corrupted and riddled with disease. And while this unsettling and disorientating introduction to The Festering Triad is still crawling through your veins, 'A Futile Exhortation' bursts into flame - as implacable and unstoppable as the passage of time, formed from the seething darkness on the edge of chaos and touched by something ancient and primal. You are now in the heart of darkness, jagged riffs circling like atavistic, feral presences, hammering blast beats disrupting natural rhythms. Nothing is as it should be. Nothing stays within the expected boundaries. This is a malicious attack on the laws that govern reality. 'A Thief In The Heart Of Man' flies at you in a howl of rage and bloodlust; you can feel its desperate need to tear you apart and the inherent danger is exhilarating. Title track, 'The Festering Triad' arrives swathed in an aura of decaying majesty, a triumvirate of wickedness wreathed in flame, marching onwards, entwined in black briars of unease - on into twisted soundscapes of fear and dizzying anxiety, through boiling malignancy and relentless intensity to the finale of 'The Rite Of Degradation', where portentous grandeur and bestial hunger combine in bewildering, schizophrenic fury. This album is fuelled by a determination to leave you broken, beaten and humbled - and it succeeds, absolutely.

The Dark is the second album by American heavy metal giants Metal Church and was released in 1986. Since their inception, Metal Church have released 13 albums so far and are still going strong.

The Dark is considered an essential album by thrash metal afficionados worldwide. It was dedicated to the late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, who sadly passed away nine days prior to release of The Dark.

The album itself talks of somber themes like assassination, death, and the struggles of life. It was produced by Mark Dodson, who is best known for producing albums by Anthrax and Suicidal Tendencies. it features fan favourites “Ton Of Bricks” and “Over My Dead Body”.

The Dark is available on black vinyl and includes an insert.

SML is a Los Angeles based quintet featuring Anna Butterss, Jeremiah Chiu, Josh Johnson, Booker Stardrum, and Gregory Uhlmann. Spontaneous Music Live contains two side-length pieces of unedited improvisation, recorded live at Los Angeles venue Zebulon during SML"s December 2025 three-night residency, just weeks after the release of the band"s second album HOW YOU BEEN. It was recorded and mixed live to stereo tape by Bryce Gonzales (the same engineer/wizard known for his gorgeous live captures/mixes of Jeff Parker"s ETA IVtet). Between HOW YOU BEEN and their 2024 debut SMALL MEDIUM LARGE (both of which were heavily edited, shaped and post-produced) the band has developed a reputation for records that are heavily fused, polished, and punchy. The medium is on full post-modern display on those LPs, and the band"s post-production knife can be responsible for much of the perspective - the tastiest morsels collected, arranged, and rearranged just so. But the source material from both those albums were live recordings. Longform, unwieldy, ebbing and flowing. On top of that, every performance the band has ever done has been fully improvised in that spirit. So in the sphere of live performance the band"s esteem has grown down a different path - one of linear, hypnotic, expansion. It"s a perceived split persona shared by some of SML"s most inspiring conceptual bedfellows: compare the extended madness of Can"s Live in Paris 1973 to the relative tight form of Future Days from the same year; the speed-funk chaos of Miles Davis" Dark Magus to the heavily deconstructed On The Corner or Big Fun. Spontaneous Music Live removes the curatorial perspective and pulls the curtain back on that search-pluck-reconstruct editing process. What we"re left with is the psychedelic realism of the band in situ, in their home town, collectively improvising, fully in-the-moment, mining for that moment of discovery. We hear, in macro, each nugget of sound which could be the basis for a future SML album track, spattered amongst the collective chaos-and-control like stars in the night sky.

Tropidelicos is the electrifying new album from Houston/Denver powerhouse duo Gio Chamba, a kaleidoscopic fusion of cumbia, psych-funk, and global bass. Fueled by hypnotic percussion and cosmic guitar lines , the record embodies the next wave of Latin futurism — rooted in tradition yet exploding into vibrant, genre-defying sound.
Pressed on limited-edition 1×LP “Mango Viper Swirl” colored vinyl, Tropidelicos captures the radiant heat and joy of Gio Chamba’s live energy—music made for movement, community, and spiritual release. From sweaty dance floors to desert sunsets, every groove invites you deeper into the tropidelic revolution.

Charlie Conway and his PHAASER crew are putting the Nashville underground techno scene on the map. Funky, raw, driving techno. No bullshit, all groove.

The titular “Rudded” A1 cut has a bass line you never want to stop and a delightfully maddening synth crunch squealing to psychotic ecstasy…it’s not too far off from some of the rolling minimal tech DOO records from the past few years. A2 “Zinc” brings a stomping, mineral techno funk. Some of the sounds are reminiscent of Acid Planet / Bunker Records, hardware torqued up and overflowing. The B side consists of “Why Do You”, a 12 minute masterclass in speedy, funky, groovy minimal techno. Heads have been waiting for this one!!

One of the true, undisputed pioneers of Dutch techno, Steve Rachmad appears on Dekmantel for an EP of peerless machine music. On the 3-6-9 EP, the artist also known as Sterac, Parallel 9 and many other names plies a powerful trade in funked up, gritty and soulful techno made the proper way.

The connection between Rachmad and Dekmantel reaches back many years via his frequent appearances at the Dekmantel Festival — he has two performances at the 2026 edition as well as sets at Dekmantel Selectors lined up later in the summer. The 3-6-9 EP lands ahead of an album and world tour that marks 45 years in service to electronic music, nodding to Rachmad's earliest roots in electro funk through to his day-one embrace of house and techno as it made its way across the Atlantic from Chicago and Detroit.

There's a rowdy, rave-spirited energy to the synth hook bucking its way through the centre of '3 Creation Energy', coming on in brassy tones laced with artful distortion while the drums dutifully jack the way they ought to. There's a more linear, pressure cooker quality to the tidal filter work guiding '6 Physical Manifestation' to its own energetic peaks, while '9 Completion and Delivery' surfs on coursing waves of arpeggiated lead lines before breaking through to the oceanic calm of grandiose pad tones.

There's no mystery to unpick here — this is quite simply techno perfection made with the instinct and experience of a master of the form, whose life is synonymous with every inch of the culture.

”What Parts & Labor have figured out how to do, in a way no one else really has, is to make noise anthemic.” —PITCHFORK “Visions of disaster sound more optimistic with every album.” —THE NEW YORK TIMES “Parts & Labor is … creating rock albums that everyone who cares about rock music should own.” —CHICAGO TRIBUNE ”Part psychedelia, part noise, part all-out rock... exhilarating stuff.” —THE GUARDIAN ”East Coast art-punk with a 21st-century overhaul.” —Q ”A joyous explosion of sound.” —MOJO After a 14-year hiatus, prismatic noise-punk fireworkers Parts & Labor, a beloved institution of Brooklyn's '00s underground, re-emerge with a double-drummer lineup and colossal double album. The 79-minute Set of All Sets (July 10, Ernest Jenning Record Co.) is an expansive, blown-out gush of apocalypse-pop that imagines utopias and confronts the overwhelming weight of the infinite. Their first album since 2011, Set of All Sets finds the band re-energized, rebooted and expanding their punk-kosmische, matching their skyscraping melodies and squelching electronics with hypnotic rhythms and frenzied tumbles of percussion. Parts & Labor co-founders Dan Friel and BJ Warshaw are joined by the simultaneous battery of drummers Christopher Weingarten and Joe Wong — asynchronous members during their critically acclaimed four-album run on indie rock titans Jagjaguwar. The power trios that made 2007's breakthrough Mapmaker and 2011's swan song Constant Future have merged into a single four-piece, at once a brand new vision, a clamorous continuation and a recapturing of the deafening sound of their "final" two shows in 2012. With eight weaponized limbs from two veteran drummers, Parts & Labor surges forth with rhythms inspired by Tanzanian singeli, ecstatic free improv and the motorik of vintage krautrock. Friel and Warshaw beam with the most majestic and triumphant melodies of their career, windswept cascades of bubblegum Boredoms and Big-Music-gone-hardcore.

Andrés Landero embodies like no other the spirit that made it possible to bring cumbia to the world. The two cumbias included on this 45 have been taken from his rare and never-reissued 1979 LP on Discos Fuentes. They became popular rebajadas (slowed down cumbias) in the Mexican sonidero scene and have not been previously available on 45. First-ever reissue. Andrés Landero legacy represents a creative pinnacle of tropical music and has influenced countless artists. In 1965, he joined the line-up of artists on Discos Fuentes' payroll. After some years releasing music on different labels, Landero returned to Discos Fuentes in 1979 with the album "Bailando cumbia". The two cumbias included on this 45 have been taken from this rare and never-reissued LP. They became popular rebajadas (slowed down cumbias) in the Mexican sonidero scene and have not been previously available on 45.

As long as she can remember, Jane Remover has practiced her own autonomy as much as possible. The nineteen year old songwriter is an omnivorous listener that produces everything herself. She has been lauded by fans and writers alike, for accidentally creating entire genres in the wake of her prolific two-year run.

The new album is more conceptually abstract than its predecessor as Jane sheds linear narrative writing. However, it takes place beginning at sundown and through the night, up until the next morningʼs earliest crack of dawn. Its winding songs are obtuse but carefully composed, and intimately follow Jane's train of thought.

Dynamic production is at the forefront. Noisy highs gleam, and are juxtaposed by dusky Post-Rock lullabies within the same songʼs runtime. Census Designated is a staggering display of maturation in every aspect when compared to her previous presentation, to a degree that makes it few and far between in the world of albums.

Despite the darker palette, Jane steps into a technicolor clarity for the first time. The album was made in both studios and at home—with recordings from Studio North (Kensington in Philadelphia), mixes from Kayla Reagan and mastered by Hector Vega.

A photo of her standing bareback while facing away towards the high plains, serves as the cover art for an album where she manages to simultaneously divulge her most confessional moments yet, and captivate the listener with unanswerable questions.

2026 Repress

DJ Support: Louie Vega, Ralf Gum, Jihad Muhammad, Zepherin Saint, Mr. V, Doug Gomez DjPope, DJ Beloved & Brutha Basil to name a few.

Sean McCabe’s Good Vibrations Music label opens the vault doors for a peek inside some of its closely guarded & much-loved releases courtesy of this special limited edition 12 inch. Featuring 4 new to vinyl releases & including a raft of luminary names from across the soulful spectrum this is sure to be a be a hot fave with long standing fans of the label.

Glenn Underground’s Jazz-Funk fuelled rework of 'This Place' kicks things off and needs no introduction… heavily supported & much loved through the soulful circles & beyond with the likes of Louie Vega, Dave Lee, Jimpster, Jamie 3:26 & Fred Everything (to name a few!) all loudly banging the drum – people have been clamouring for this to be on vinyl. You spoke, we listened!

Up next is 'Modulate', a collaborative force of the highest order between Sean & long-time friend Black Sonix. Expertly fuzzying the lines across Deep, Soulful & House is somewhat of a speciality for the duo respectively and there’s bags of all 3 intertwined throughout alongside a hefty sprinkling of sun-kissed, Latino-inspired pianos.

'Still Standing Here' kicks things off on the B-side and begin in March 2022 as vocalist Madeeha recorded an accapella vocal idea in a phone voice message, quietly singing into her phone to avoid waking the neighbours. She sent the idea to drum & bass producer from Bristol, DJ Mixjah, who then approached friend Sean McCabe with the idea. Together they produced a hypnotic afro-tinged soulful backing track to fit with the voice message, with an intention to re-record it in a studio environment. Sean and Mixjah soon realised that the music they had created blended perfectly with the sincerity, intimacy & rawness of Madeeha's heartfelt performance in the original voice message and decided to stick with it. A firm fave for Atjazz, Crackazat , DJ Spen & Emmaculate.

Wrapping things up is 'You Don’t Know', a slick & energetic dancefloor bubbler from London based producer/DJ ‘David Bailey’ and Canadian soulful songstress ‘MissFly’. David Bailey is a firm favourite amongst the London house music community. He’s produced standout releases on labels such as Idris Elba's 7wallace, Makin Moves, Good Vibrations Music, Rhemi Music & Unquantize. MissFly is known for her soulful serenades and ability to write songs 'on the fly' in the studio. She has carved out an impressive discography on soulful house nuggets such as '1972,' 'Wanna Love You' and 'Thankful'

Newly signed to indie heavyweights Heist or Hit (Westside Cowboy, Her’s) EP two: ‘Marionette’ has been produced by Daniel Fox (Sprints, Melts, Psychotic Monks, Naked Lungs, Nerves, Ronan Group) and it’s set to be seminal. A set text for future musicians with aspirations of innovation. “The theme of the marionette is present throughout each song, involving some aspect of a power struggle and a lack of control within oneself.” Opener ‘Chocolate’ bounces in on a synth line as slippery and hyperactive as anything Aphex Twin ever cooked up. Crispy offbeat electronic cymbals play counterpoint to atonal guitars and pugilistic drumming before the track dry-wretches its way into a nauseating cacophony of euphoria. It’s a tale of crippling social anxiety and a preference for an unflattering, lonely reality. The muted guitar pluck in the intro to ‘Crows’ is the sonic equivalent of biting one’s nails. An anxious, involuntary tic that speaks to the theme of guilt, especially surrounding digital culture: “children can watch what they please, just with viewer discretion.” The track lurches between textures, weaving themselves in and out of focus. Guitars blare like sirens, interrupting paranoid urban centres at 2am, while the bass sounds like the inside of an insomniac’s head on day four of a REM drought.

The metallic intent of ‘Discipline’ squats on the chest as though Steve Albini is your sleep paralysis demon. The pain of accountability spews from the industrial regularity of the beat, apt to the narrative of a soldier coming to terms with the lies that made him commit atrocious, violent acts. EP closer ‘Servant’ starts like a Spectrum loading screen. Dial-up modem-coded, it pauses for moments of white-noise-vomit and existential bloops. Fitting for a more abstract take on the idea of the power struggle filtered through religious imagery and self-awareness of one’s own actions, coupled with an inability to exert control over them. The band pile on the textures with sadistic glee until the evil is exorcized and the modem melts. Connection severed. Across the EP, vocalist Joseph has a tendency to hyper-fixate on themes of control and unhappiness. Creating rooms in which doom and isolation ricochet. Not that it’s all bad news “we like to think that by shedding light on the negative, it commands a sense of hope.” Influenced as much by the liminal-space horror and uncanny dread of Silent Hill as the existentialist theatre of The Twilight Zone or the absurdity of Twin Peaks, they occupy a space between unease and impulse. Makeshift Art Bar are not a band interested in being liked. They’re a band interested in being necessary. There’s so much eating and drinking in their work that multiple listens simply don’t satisfy; something new reveals itself on each return visit. Audacious. Idiosyncratic. Vital. A young band carrying identity, defiance and an uncompromising vision as if it isn’t a rare cargo.

Newly signed to indie heavyweights Heist or Hit (Westside Cowboy, Her’s) EP two: ‘Marionette’ has been produced by Daniel Fox (Sprints, Melts, Psychotic Monks, Naked Lungs, Nerves, Ronan Group) and it’s set to be seminal. A set text for future musicians with aspirations of innovation. “The theme of the marionette is present throughout each song, involving some aspect of a power struggle and a lack of control within oneself.” Opener ‘Chocolate’ bounces in on a synth line as slippery and hyperactive as anything Aphex Twin ever cooked up. Crispy offbeat electronic cymbals play counterpoint to atonal guitars and pugilistic drumming before the track dry-wretches its way into a nauseating cacophony of euphoria. It’s a tale of crippling social anxiety and a preference for an unflattering, lonely reality. The muted guitar pluck in the intro to ‘Crows’ is the sonic equivalent of biting one’s nails. An anxious, involuntary tic that speaks to the theme of guilt, especially surrounding digital culture: “children can watch what they please, just with viewer discretion.” The track lurches between textures, weaving themselves in and out of focus. Guitars blare like sirens, interrupting paranoid urban centres at 2am, while the bass sounds like the inside of an insomniac’s head on day four of a REM drought.

The metallic intent of ‘Discipline’ squats on the chest as though Steve Albini is your sleep paralysis demon. The pain of accountability spews from the industrial regularity of the beat, apt to the narrative of a soldier coming to terms with the lies that made him commit atrocious, violent acts. EP closer ‘Servant’ starts like a Spectrum loading screen. Dial-up modem-coded, it pauses for moments of white-noise-vomit and existential bloops. Fitting for a more abstract take on the idea of the power struggle filtered through religious imagery and self-awareness of one’s own actions, coupled with an inability to exert control over them. The band pile on the textures with sadistic glee until the evil is exorcized and the modem melts. Connection severed. Across the EP, vocalist Joseph has a tendency to hyper-fixate on themes of control and unhappiness. Creating rooms in which doom and isolation ricochet. Not that it’s all bad news “we like to think that by shedding light on the negative, it commands a sense of hope.” Influenced as much by the liminal-space horror and uncanny dread of Silent Hill as the existentialist theatre of The Twilight Zone or the absurdity of Twin Peaks, they occupy a space between unease and impulse. Makeshift Art Bar are not a band interested in being liked. They’re a band interested in being necessary. There’s so much eating and drinking in their work that multiple listens simply don’t satisfy; something new reveals itself on each return visit. Audacious. Idiosyncratic. Vital. A young band carrying identity, defiance and an uncompromising vision as if it isn’t a rare cargo.

Random ReVINYL Edition. Black Mountain, the front-line soldiers for the Black Mountain Army, an arts collective from Vancouver, British Columbia, write, perform and record music that speaks (and sings) to this realization: that solutions are rarely simple, that the world is as complex as it is ambiguous, and that music sprinkled with an inoculating dose of madness may well be the Pied Piper that takes us all back into the primordial mountain, where our hearts can be made steady and our minds can be set free. Their debut self-titled record, like a space probe built of erector set parts and transmitting secret and arcane messages to earth by string, charts territories unknown yet remains grounded by the roots of classic rock and roll. It is easy to discern these roots: Black Sabbath, Animals-era Pink Floyd, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin and Can. Principal songwriter Stephen McBean's vocals are a smoother, bluesier amalgam of the voices of Neil Young, Mick Jagger and perhaps a James Brown loaded on cough syrup. And when Amber Webber's voice joins Stephen's, the combination brings to mind the potency and chemistry of Richard and Linda Thompson singing together on Shoot Out The Lights, or of Meat Loaf and Ellen Foley howling together on Bat Out Of Hell. Musical comparisons aside, the Black Mountain full-length is one part protest song, one part pop-cultural commentary, and one part sick-groove-rock casserole peppered with mesmerizing ballads and intoxicating ditties. "Modern Music" is the lead-off hitter and counts its way to the imposing and riff-rife "Don't Run Our Hearts Around". Immediately thereafter, the sludge-rock masterpiece "Druganaut" establishes the fecund heart and tone of the record. Black Mountain have also just recently released a 12-inch single (on Jagjaguwar), including an extended mix of "Druganaut" on the A-side. And the band's currently sexploitative counterpart The Pink Mountaintops, a band that also pipes into the prolific well-spring of Stephen McBean's mind, released their self-titled debut record (on Jagjaguwar as well) this past summer. A video by Heather Trawick of the song "Druganaut" is included on the CD version of the Black Mountain self-titled record.

Bang! Records now brings Powerglide by The Hydromatics back to vinyl, giving this powerful and long-overdue album the format it deserves. A necessary reissue of a genuine cult favorite: wild, electric, and made by people who truly knew what this music was all about. In the early 2000s, The Hydromatics brought together three scenes, three cities, and one shared devotion to rock'n'roll: the fiery tradition of Detroit, the raw punch of Amsterdam, and the high-energy attitude of Scandinavia. Fronted by none other than Scott Morgan (Sonic's Rendezvous Band), one of the great voices of Detroit rock, and backed by Tony Slug (LOVESLUG) and a band built out of genuine love for the legacy of Sonic's Rendezvous Band, the result was Powerglide-a record that is tough, streetwise, soulful, elegant, and raw all at once. Originally released in 2001, Powerglide captures The Hydromatics in full flight. Original songs sit alongside explosive takes on material connected to the Sonic's Rendezvous universe, all delivered with nerve, conviction, and the kind of authority that simply cannot be faked. The guitars bite, the rhythm section drives relentlessly, and above all there is Scott Morgan's voice-capable of sounding fierce, wounded, and defiant within the very same line. Far from being a mere exercise in homage, Powerglide stands tall as a living, breathing record with a personality all its own: high-octane rock'n'roll fueled by rhythm & blues soul and steeped in the unmistakable spirit of Detroit. This is an album for those who understand that proto-punk, garage soul, and real rock'n'roll were never separated by any meaningful border in the first place.

Bun B and Statik Selektah are back with TrillStatik 5, the latest chapter in their annual live-recorded series. This time they’re setting up shop in Miami, building the album from the ground up right on the live stream, just like they do every year.

The formula stays true: Bun B’s classic Southern delivery over Statik’s signature boom-bap production, creating that easy, natural chemistry fans expect. As always, a lineup of guests will drop in throughout the session — no advance announcements, everyone gets revealed as they walk into the studio.

Simple, raw, and made in real time. TrillStatik 5 continues the tradition with a new city, new vibes, and the same spirit that makes these sessions special.

ALERT: BIG 90s ITALIAN RAVE COMP - a lot of very in demand tunes on here.

Navigators

Franco Falsini and the Interactive Test Universe

There are musicians who follow their time.

And then there are those who seem to move along a different trajectory—like navigators crossing sonic eras without ever truly belonging to any one of them. The story of Franco Falsini belongs to the latter. It is a story that begins long before raves, before techno, before the word “electronic” had even become a recognizable musical genre. A story that moves across continents, technologies, and sonic visions, eventually arriving at a small creative laboratory born in Italy in the early 1990s: Interactive Test. This compilation is a fragment of that universe. But as often happens with the hidden histories of music, understanding it requires going back. Far back.

The Beginning: Machines, Tape and Space

In the late 1960s Franco Falsini leaves Italy and moves to the United States. It is not merely a geographical journey—it is also a journey into a new idea of music. At the time, synthesizers are only just emerging from research laboratories. Multitrack tape recorders allow musicians to build entire sonic worlds on their own. Technology is still far from standardized: every studio is almost an experimental workshop. In Virginia, Falsini builds one of his own. Among cables, oscillators, electric guitars and reels of magnetic tape, a kind of music begins to take shape that resembles nothing else being made at the time. It is not simply rock, and it is not yet truly electronic. It moves somewhere in the space between the two. Out of these explorations emerges Sensations' Fix, the project through which Falsini releases a series of albums during the 1970s. Records that seem to come from a parallel dimension: cosmic landscapes, electronically treated guitars, synthesizers drifting like satellites. Many years later those albums would be rediscovered as visionary works. But at the time they were simply the result of relentless curiosity. A curiosity that would never fade.

The City That Never Sleeps

In the 1980s Falsini’s trajectory leads him to New York. The city is a sonic organism in constant transformation. In its clubs and recording studios something entirely new is beginning to take shape: music built from drum machines, sequencers, and samplers, created for the body before the living room. It is the dawn of modern dance culture. Falsini works as a sound engineer, producer and experimenter. From close range he observes electronic music transforming into a global language. Machines become more accessible, computers begin entering studios, and rhythm takes on an increasingly central role. Yet even in this phase Falsini does not simply follow what is happening. He absorbs. Observes. Reimagines. When he eventually returns to Italy, he brings back not only technical experience but also a clear vision: the conviction that electronic music is an open space, a territory still waiting to be explored.

Tuscany, Early 1990s

At the beginning of the 1990s something is happening in Italy as well. In clubs, abandoned industrial warehouses and clandestine parties, a new scene is beginning to form. It is rave culture: a spontaneous movement bringing together DJs, producers and listeners in a collective experience driven by rhythm, technology, and creative freedom. It is within this context that Franco Falsini, together with his brother Riccardo, creates Interactive Test.

The name almost sounds like a scientific experiment. In many ways, it is. Interactive Test does not emerge as a traditional record label. It begins as a laboratory—a place where ideas, sounds and musical identities can be tested and explored. Around the Falsini studio in Tuscany a small constellation of artists and DJs begins to gather, helping to shape the sound of Italy’s emerging electronic scene. Among them are Andrea Giuditta, Francesco Farfa, Gabry Fasano, Roby Mastelloni, Roby J and many others. Each brings a different musical sensibility. But they all share the same intuition: electronic music is not a genre. It is a language.

The Laboratory of Identities

One of the most fascinating aspects of the Interactive Test universe is its constant play with identity. Franco Falsini releases music under several different names: Open Space, Youth Wave, Agent Fylfoyt, Man Myth Magic. These are not simply pseudonyms.

They are different sonic perspectives, as if each project were a window opening onto a parallel musical universe. Open Space, for example, explores more atmospheric and visionary territories. Youth Wave moves between electronic groove and club-oriented rhythms. Other projects experiment with digital psychedelia or hypnotic techno textures. Interactive Test becomes something more than a label. it becomes an ecosystem.

Domestic Machines, Infinite Worlds

Looking back today at the technology used in those productions, one might almost smile. Many tracks were created on Amiga computers, MIDI sequencers and analog synthesizers wired together in home studios—tools that appear modest when compared to today’s digital possibilities.

Yet precisely these limitations became a creative force. Every sound had to be built, shaped and reinvented. Sequences developed slowly, almost like living organisms. The tracks did not always follow traditional dance music structures; often they felt like genuine sonic journeys. Music built from space.

A Hidden Constellation

Many of the records released by Interactive Test in the 1990s remained for years almost invisible objects, circulating quietly among DJs, collectors, and devoted listeners. Yet it is precisely this underground existence that helped preserve them. Listening again today, one perceives something rare: the feeling of music that does not fully belong to its own time. Music suspended between different eras. Perhaps because it comes from a vision that both precedes and transcends trends.

Continuing the Journey

Looking at Franco Falsini’s entire path—from the electronic psychedelia of Sensations’ Fix to the rave culture of the 1990s—a surprisingly coherent line emerges.

A line defined by exploration.

Each project, each pseudonym, each record appears as a new route within the same great sonic voyage.

Interactive Test was one of its stations.

A laboratory.
A community.
A creative platform.

This compilation gathers some of its traces.

Not as a simple archive of the past, but as a map of a musical territory that continues to expand even today.

Like all true sonic explorations.

A Pico is a bus/truck/jeep transformed into a rolling sound system.
It's a very popular caribean/south and center american way to make a carnival or a party, or a birthday, a wedding... whatever.

The music they play is defenitely banging, and minimal home made... Those trucks are full painted and the Pico : it also a way to name a street-art style.


DISTROPIKO is a project born from the encounter between traveling producer Luca Zod, visual artist and DJ Nicho Line, and Bari-based writer PERK aka Maffia of the UG crew. Their Apulian roots and respective influences—tropical wave, tribal imagery, and urban-funky aesthetics—merge in a dystopian sonic journey toward an urban tropical, where a piko de sonido spreads a new psychedelic vibe ready to shake the dance floor. Studio production is being handled by the historic Quadraro Basement studio in Rome.

Nobody knew. Not the crowd packed into Circolo Kessel that Sunday evening, not even the six musicians on stage. When Giardini di Mirò played on March 19, 2023, it was supposed to be just another homecoming show in Cavriago, the kind of night where you play for the people who’ve known you longest. Some were missing from the audience, though: “Our closest friends stayed home to watch the football match tonight,” Jukka quipped from the stage. “But that’s fine, we’ll deal with them tomorrow.” In hindsight, even Juventus fans who celebrated their 1–0 victory over Inter made the wrong choice.

Seventy minutes in, all the instruments converged into a one-chord riff, driven by the drums and punctuated by screaming guitars. A repetitive rhythm that paired brutal volume with hypnotic precision. Even those at the back of the room felt it: that trance-like state where sound becomes physical. Then the wall of sound collapsed. Guitar feedback lingered in the air for a few seconds before fading into nothing.

This was the last sound Giardini di Mirò made. They haven’t played since, and there are no plans to do so again. But in that moment, nobody knew.

The closing song that night was also the opener of their debut full-length, recorded more than two decades earlier. Its title, A New Start, carries an unintended irony the band would likely appreciate. It is also oddly fitting that their final show took place in the same building where they began. Circolo Kessel, previously known as Calamita, served as the band’s rehearsal space for many years. Yet since their rise to becoming one of Europe’s defining post-rock acts, they had never performed a concert there.

In a fortunate coincidence, Markus Mathis – a longtime fan who had recorded several of their shows before – also captured this final concert using two room microphones and a feed from the mixing desk.

Quasi Casa is the complete, unfiltered document of that night: an “official bootleg” spanning over 70 minutes of purely instrumental music, drawing on material from across their entire career, from the earliest releases to Del Tutto Illusorio. It captures, with striking clarity, the intensity that defined the band’s live performances.

Rather than simply uploading the recording and calling it a day, the band chose to assemble a physical release as a parting gift to their fans. The double LP includes a 16-page booklet with extensive liner notes and visual material.

Clear Vinyl mit blauer Marmorierung. Das luxuriöse Atelier Ryza (Original Soundtrack Trilogy)-Vinyl-Boxset enthält 45 Songs auf drei LPs, darunter die beliebtesten musikalischen Highlights aller drei Spiele. Jede Vinyl-Schallplatte steckt in einer polylined Innenhülle und befindet sich in vollständig illustrierten Covern mit Rücken. Das Set beinhaltet außerdem ein 24-seitiges Booklet mit Konzeptzeichnungen, Charakter-Artworks, Liedtexten sowie Liner Notes auf Englisch und Japanisch. Alles ist in einer hochwertigen, schweren Box verpackt, die diese Sammlung zu einem echten Must-have für jeden Fan des Spiels, seiner Kunst und natürlich der Musik macht, die immer ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Erfolgs der Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy war.Die Atelier-Serie ist ein JRPG-Franchise mit dem Thema Alchemie, entwickelt von GUST und seit 1997 laufend. Die ,Secret Trilogy" umfasst die Videospiele Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout (2019), Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (2020) und Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (2023). Sie ist die erste Reihe innerhalb der Atelier-Serie, die über mehrere Titel hinweg dieselbe Protagonistin zeigt. Die Geschichte folgt einem gewöhnlichen Mädchen, Reisalin ,Ryza" Stout, die die Alchemie entdeckt und gemeinsam mit ihren Freunden ein Sommerabenteuer erlebt, welches ihr persönliches Wachstum durch diese Erfahrungen widerspiegelt. Alle drei Titel im neu veröffentlichten Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack bieten Verbesserungen hinsichtlich Bedienkomforts sowie zusätzliche Inhalte, um die ,Secret"-Reise weiter aufzuwerten.

Clear Vinyl mit blauer Marmorierung. Das luxuriöse Atelier Ryza (Original Soundtrack Trilogy)-Vinyl-Boxset enthält 45 Songs auf drei LPs, darunter die beliebtesten musikalischen Highlights aller drei Spiele. Jede Vinyl-Schallplatte steckt in einer polylined Innenhülle und befindet sich in vollständig illustrierten Covern mit Rücken. Das Set beinhaltet außerdem ein 24-seitiges Booklet mit Konzeptzeichnungen, Charakter-Artworks, Liedtexten sowie Liner Notes auf Englisch und Japanisch. Alles ist in einer hochwertigen, schweren Box verpackt, die diese Sammlung zu einem echten Must-have für jeden Fan des Spiels, seiner Kunst und natürlich der Musik macht, die immer ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Erfolgs der Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy war.Die Atelier-Serie ist ein JRPG-Franchise mit dem Thema Alchemie, entwickelt von GUST und seit 1997 laufend. Die ,Secret Trilogy" umfasst die Videospiele Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout (2019), Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (2020) und Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (2023). Sie ist die erste Reihe innerhalb der Atelier-Serie, die über mehrere Titel hinweg dieselbe Protagonistin zeigt. Die Geschichte folgt einem gewöhnlichen Mädchen, Reisalin ,Ryza" Stout, die die Alchemie entdeckt und gemeinsam mit ihren Freunden ein Sommerabenteuer erlebt, welches ihr persönliches Wachstum durch diese Erfahrungen widerspiegelt. Alle drei Titel im neu veröffentlichten Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack bieten Verbesserungen hinsichtlich Bedienkomforts sowie zusätzliche Inhalte, um die ,Secret"-Reise weiter aufzuwerten.

Near the end of fifth grade, Eli Edwards’ mom gave him $20 and told him to go find a friend. His team had won its soccer game that day, so they were out celebrating at a local pizza parlor with games. But, more importantly, there had been one other Black kid that day on the pitch in Spanaway, WA, a Tacoma suburb and military-base town at the rainy northwest corner of the United States. That kid just happened to be Xayvien Young. An instant deep connection was formed between Edwards and Young—Eli and Xay, as they prefer to be called were inseparable— and now twelve years later they are the electrifying, boundary-skipping duo Casi.

Along the way, Eli had relocated to Los Angeles with the indie rock band Enumclaw he had helped found, but he found himself flying home maybe a little too much. He was ostensibly visiting his girlfriend, but he spent most of his time with Xay. They cut tracks in every bit of free time they found until they had an epiphany: Maybe this music they’d made together for a dozen years was actually something special. Casi’s 10-track, self-titled debut out on Carpark Records is the electrifying proof they needed.

On the record, they enthusiastically explore every musical interest they have ever had—explosive hip-hop and unbridled hardcore, high-gloss nü metal and a little bit of emo—as a pair. These songs don’t ignore genre lines; they delight in destroying them, in finding ways to slam hip-hop and hardcore, emo and nü metal together until it seems illogical that they were ever apart. Take “Jumper,” where heavy metal guitars and face-kicking drums stir the moshpit for rabid verses about crushing ICE and the lessons you learn riding the poverty line. And take closer “Bridges,” where the melodic imprint of Deftones meets the relentless confessions of Death Grips. Here are the hard, funny, and loud stories of two 23-year-olds, screaming about the world over a breathless composite of all the music they’ve ever loved.

When Eli was in Los Angeles, Xay missed his friend. But in his absence, he also felt the spark of inspiration. Music was something that had just been their childhood hobby, but now Eli was in a rock band that had press accolades and tours. He got serious about the craft. Eli would write about the dislocation and isolation he felt in California, while Xay would document the hardships of being a young Black man with a complicated family while working menial jobs in Spanaway.

This isn’t a coming-of-age album for Casi; it is, instead, a raw and riveting snapshot of that process, painful as it can be. “Eleven87” is a breakup song, a soul beat springing beneath arching emo vocals. And “Intrusive Thoughts” treats that topic like a punching bag, Eli and Xav fighting against the mental habits that keep them down. These 10 songs instantly close that gap.

‘MASH DOWN BIRMINGHAM: THE EARLY RECORDINGS OF MUSICAL YOUTH’ NEWLY UNEARTHED EARLY RECORDINGS BY THE FIRST LINE-UP OF MUSICAL YOUTH Mastered from the original tapes by Guy Davie at Electric Needle Mythology, the label founded by music writer, author and broadcaster Pete Paphides, is thrilled to announce ‘MASH DOWN BIRMINGHAM: THE EARLY RECORDINGS OF MUSICAL YOUTH’ – an album of rare and unheard early recordings by Musical Youth, the Birmingham reggae group propelled to worldwide fame with the release of their chart-topping single PASS THE DUTCHIE. ‘MASH DOWN BIRMINGHAM: THE EARLY RECORDINGS OF MUSICAL YOUTH’ combines songs from Musical Youth’s first John Peel session, recorded in 1981 with newly unearthed recordings taken from quarter-inch reels stored for over 40 years by the group’s mentor and producer Toney Owens. The project was seeded as early as 2020, when Paphides sent a speculative message to Owens, after he saw his producer credit on the group’s independently released 1981 single Generals/Political. Paphides wanted to know if Owens had made more recordings of the group in a similar heavier roots reggae vein to those on their debut single. Happening upon the message by chance three years later, Owens allowed Needle Mythology access to his archive of quarter-inch tapes, dating back as far as 1978. The recordings gathered together on ‘MASH DOWN BIRMINGHAM: THE EARLY RECORDINGS OF MUSICAL YOUTH’ shine a light on the exceptional musicianship inculcated into the group by their first frontman Frederick Waite, formerly singer with revered Jamaican rocksteady group The Techniques. Backing Frederick Waite in the early lineup of Musical Youth (originally billed by Toney as Cultural Musical Workshop Youths, were two pairs of brothers) Patrick and Junior Waite, and Kelvin and Michael Grant.

Ten years ago, Anderson .Paak didn't just release an album; he staged a full-scale takeover of the soul and hip-hop landscape. Released on January 15, 2016, Malibu served as the definitive arrival of an artist who had spent years grinding in the underground before a star-making turn on Dr. Dre’s Compton. While his previous work hinted at his potential, Malibu was the moment the world met the "Cheeky Andy" persona in full—a virtuosic drummer, a raspy-voiced crooner, and a sharp-witted rapper all rolled into one. The album is a sprawling, sun-drenched journey through the Southern California coast, blending 1970s funk, church-reared gospel, and gritty boom-bap into something that feels both nostalgic and entirely futuristic. With a heavyweight production lineup including 9th Wonder, Madlib, Kaytranada, and Hi-Tek, the record maintains a warm, analog texture that was a breath of fresh air in an increasingly digital era. It’s an album that breathes, full of intentional imperfections and the kind of "in-the-pocket" groove that can only come from a seasoned live performer. Beyond the infectious, dance-floor-ready energy of tracks like "Am I Wrong" and "Come Down," the album is a deeply autobiographical masterwork. .Paak uses the 65-minute runtime to unpack his life story with startling clarity, touching on his mother’s gambling addiction, his father’s incarceration, and his own brushes with homelessness with a sense of resilience that never feels heavy-handed. He weaves these heavy themes through a lens of triumph, grounded by vintage surfing documentary samples that give the project its cinematic, coastal atmosphere. It’s a celebratory record born out of struggle, anchored by his impeccable technicality on the drums and a guest list—featuring ScHoolboy Q, Rapsody, and The Game—that feels hand-picked to complement his specific brand of West Coast swagger. A decade later, Malibu stands as a modern classic and the blueprint for the soulful revivalism that would eventually lead .Paak to global superstardom and Grammy-winning heights. It remains a testament to the idea that the most profound music often comes from the most personal places, proving ten years on that the best way to move forward is to stay rooted in the groove.

Mr. K’s latest is a sureshot double-sider with two much-loved classics given the exclusive treatment from the edit master.

The Shades Of Love, a powerhouse female vocal trio led by the sensational Meli’sa Morgan, dropped an absolute boogie bombshell in 1982 on their first collaboration with superproducer Patrick Adams. ‘Body To Body’ has an easy midtempo swing that’s perfect for a dancefloor (or roller rink!) with a chunky bass line and crisp claps pushing things along, giving Morgan’s sultry vocals the perfect springboard. Previously only available as a 7-inch on obscure Dutch and Brazilian pressings… but that was a remix version, this custom edit by Mr. K is from the version Larry Levan made famous at the Paradise Garage, a welcome addition to any dance 45s crate.

Taking things back to the early days of disco music, Crown Heights Affair provide a shimmering slice of uplifting magic on ‘Dreaming a Dream’. Originally an instrumental break of a vocal song, this wordless take became a hit in its own right when it was released as a single in 1975. That famed version, however, sadly ends far too early. The magnificent waves of sparkling keys, rushing

The fourth instalment in the Hutson Sevens 7‑inch series finds Home of the Good Groove Records taking a slight detour away from the vaults of unreleased material this time, but back to a pivotal moment in LeRoy Hutson’s creative journey.

Fear not: more unheard gems are on the horizon. But for this chapter, the label rewinds to 1994, a year that marked a meaningful renaissance for the soul legend.

After years of legal battles and persistence, Hutson finally reclaimed partial ownership of his catalogue in 1989 — a hard‑won victory that opened the door to a new era. Though celebrated as a musician, composer, lyricist and performer, the world of publishing was uncharted territory for the musical legend. By 1994, Hutson stepped confidently into that new chapter, signing his first licensing agreement with a Japanese label and publisher.

From that landmark agreement come two recordings now making their debut on 7‑inch vinyl, presented with the care and reverence they deserve.

The A‑side brings us “Lucky Fellow (’94 Mix)”, a track with a storied lineage. First recorded by Maurice Jackson in 1971, it became one of Hutson’s signature moments when he released it on his 1975 album Hutson — a version that remains a fan favourite to this day.

Nearly two decades later, Hutson returned to the studio to revisit the song once more, applying his unmistakable production finesse to craft a fresh, radiant mix. Initially released in Japan on Lucky Fellow: The Best Vol. 2 and then later resurfacing on a Deepbeats Hutson compilation album in 1997.

Now, for the first time, this ’94 version arrives on 7‑inch vinyl — a lovingly curated snapshot of Hutson’s evolution, and a reminder of just how timeless his artistry remains.

Hutson’s “Lucky Fellow” gets a striking reimagining here, trading the warmth of the original for a brighter, crisp production, lifting the melody into sharper focus. While the added vocal riffs don’t just embellish the track — they give it a fresh, expressive identity.

Think of “Lucky Fellow (94 Mix)” as the cool cousin who shows up uninvited and immediately steals the spotlight. It tightens the groove, brightens the melody, and sprinkles in a handful of sly vocal riffs that flip the familiar tune into something delightful and freshly polished.


The flip side of this release digs a little deeper into Hutson’s 1994 chapter, bringing the track “Reality” to the 7‑inch format for the very first time — a moment many collectors and soul devotees have been waiting on.

Originally recorded in 1982, the track spent twelve quiet years on the shelf before finally surfacing on a 1994 P‑Vine CD Hutson compilation. It reappeared twice again on CD throughout the following years and made its first vinyl appearance on a Deepbeats Hutson compilation in 1998.

Nearly two decades later, in 2017, French record label Saph Records reintroduced the track to a new wave of listeners as part of its Unreleased Boogie Tracks 12‑inch series, cementing somewhat of a cult status among Hutson boogie fans.

Cut during the sessions for Hutson’s Paradise era, “Reality” carries the unmistakable sheen of early‑’80s soul — a buoyant, melodic groove wrapped in Huston’s recognisable warmth.
Now freshly remastered in 2026 by UK’s Phil Ward, the track gains an added depth and clarity that enhances its rhythmic glide without losing its vintage charm.
It’s a notable moment in Hutson’s catalogue and a killer selection to finally receive the 7‑inch treatment — a long‑overdue spotlight for a track that has spent far too long in the 7-inch shadows.