Suche:mad work

Music springs eternal. Recognising the enduring power of timeless albums to guide us through life, Forever Records is a reissue series dedicated to rediscovering lost musical treasures from across the spectrum of head-feeding, heart-rending electronic music.

Established by Rush Hour co-founder Christiaan Macdonald and Delsin founder Marsel van der Wielen, Forever Records places heartfelt faith in a carefully curated sequence of seminal, largely forgotten records from disparate eras, scenes and spaces within electronic music history. Tipped towards the mellow and introspective, these are albums that stop time when the needle hits the groove, stirring only when it's time to flip over before you sink back into the experience. That's what albums were always meant to be about, back then, right now, always and forever.



The Release:
Striking the sweet spot between sampledelic downtempo and earth-rooted deep house, Fila Brazillia's Old Codes New Chaos is a maverick patchwork of grooves and soundscapes. Crafted in North East England in the vibrant period before chill-out was co-opted by advertising, Steve Cobby and Dave McSherry's sharp-eared funk formula remains a cult classic suite of exquisite productions spanning deep house, broken beat and ambient shot through with wry humour.
Last physically released in limited quantities in 2002, Forever Records are revisiting this 1994 gem with an extensive reissue led by a triple vinyl pressing. As well as a new LP edition of the album, there will also be a uniquely numbered, limited edition housed in a gatefold sleeve that comes with a bonus 10" featuring two previously unreleased tracks.

'Chemistry' and 'Rankine', plus an exclusive print of Catherine Brennand's watercolour painting that graces the front of the album. All editions also features liner notes by veteran music journalist John McCready.

Press response to Old Codes New Chaos:
"The album that made the world finally sit up and take notice of the avant funk grooves coming from Hull's immaculately stoned tech funk magicians." Frank Tope, Mixmag, UK 1994.
"This album… stands out a mile from most of its peers as a work of untouchable genius." Bill Brewster, DJ Mag UK 1994.

"Fila works because they fit into that no man’s land, the space in your record collection where ambient seems too much like wallpaper and house seems just too braindead for your bedroom " Frank Tope, Mixmag, UK 1994.

"Having already created the perfect desert island disc, "Mermaids" and explored the darker side of sub bass on the 17-minute extravaganza "Fila Funk", Fila Brazillia have just unleashed their moving debut LP, "Old Codes New Chaos", and to be quite honest, you'd be fool to miss out this time around." Mandi James, Melody Maker, UK 1994.

“Where Cobby and Man rip up the rulebook on the four to the floor and probably make the greatest afterhours house album in the word”. Tony Marcus, Mixmag, 1996.

SAMOH unleashes his new dancefloor weapon, four-track EP ‘Changing Worlds’, out on February 26th, as his debut on Charlotte de Witte’s prestigious KNTXT imprint.

Charlotte de Witte: ‘I have been playing SAMOH’s tracks for quite some time now and I am very happy to welcome him to KNTXT. His acid, techno and trance driven approach to music fits my lane perfectly. There is an energy in his work that feels raw, focused and completely unapologetic. This release in particular has that acidic drive that I love so much. This is powerful club material and I cannot wait to see where it will go.’

Rotterdam’s producer, DJ & live artist SAMOH responds, ‘Releasing this as my first record on KNTXT is an amazing opportunity, and I feel honoured to be able to share my music with so many people and let this sound travel further worldwide.’

‘Changing Worlds’ EP: from the title track’s rampant beat, rattling drums, acid-saturated main theme with euphoric edge, and portentous vocal (‘reality peels away...’) to ‘We Are All Waveforms’ with its psytrancey, insanely acidic builds to banshee pitch over shutter & hiss FX at which point you are indeed ‘entering a non-linear dimension’, you are then a willing victim for ‘Reality Is Gone’ to hammer-drill into the brain and take command of your feet. Final piece ‘Echoes Of Tomorrow’ starts with dystopian chattering percussion and spacey FX, before luring you into a healing euphoric dreamstate with moonstruck, melodic trancey sweetly soaring singing.

’Changing Worlds’ represents my approach to acid techno/trance in its most direct and energetic form.’ SAMOH says.‘I made this EP with three high energy tracks, followed by a more atmospheric closing piece that brings everything together. It’s about a driving motion and intensity, creating moments where dancers can disconnect from everything else and fully give themselves to the music.’

You have been warned. You may as well succumb to acid as voracious as Venusian cloudforms, techno beats galloping over your inhibitions, and trance as bewitching as absinthe for the ears. You’ll be glad you did.

Since first forming in 2016, London's High Vis have steadily polished their palette of progressive hardcore with shades of post-punk, Brit pop, neo-psychedelia, and even Madchester groove, mapping a middle ground between hooks and fury, melodies and mosh pits. Singer Graham Sayle describes their third album 'Guided Tour' as an axis of competing forces: "It's trying to be a hopeful record, while also being incensed." Rounded out by drummer Edward 'Ski' Harper, guitarists Martin MacNamara and Rob Hammaren, and bassist Jack Muncaster, the band's deep roots in the UK and Irish DIY hardcore scenes have kept them grounded but growing, inspired equally by restlessness and righteous anger. As Sayle puts it, "Everyone's scratching, everyone's working all the time, and their idea of relaxing is just getting fucked and avoiding reality. This album is an escape from that."From its opening seconds of a cab door slamming, a car revving away, and a baggy rhythm swinging to life, 'Guided Tour' sounds like a band reaching for new heights, bristling with energy. Recorded across a few weeks at Holy Mountain Studios in London with producer Jonah Falco and engineer Stanley Gravett, the results feel dynamic and dialed-in, like anthems burned into sense memory through sweat and repetition. Harper cuts to the chase: "We had a clear idea going in, every moment got used. Maybe when we're 60 we can sit around and get a drum sound right, but for now it's about getting things done."The album's 11 songs span the spectrum of contemporary guitar music, sharpened by experience, camaraderie, and societal frustrations. From swaggering street punk ("Drop Me Out," "Mob DLA") to jangling indie sneer ("Worth The Wait," "Deserve It") to heavy alt ("Feeling Bless," "Fill The Gap") to shoegazey spoken word ("Untethered"), the group's chemistry transmutes any style to their unique intensity. Sayle champions this evolving fusion: "For years coming from hardcore, we had pretty clear boundaries - other scenes were separate worlds. Now things are getting more blended, drawing from different places."Nowhere is this sentiment flexed more boldly than on "Mind's A Lie," a dance- punk anthem inspired by Harper's love of house, garage, and pirate radio. Stabs of sampled female vocals (by celebrated South London singer and DJ Ell Murphy) build into a razor wire rhythm of low-slung bass, tense drums, and sparkling guitar before Sayle's staunch voice starts barking harsh truths ("Face to face with all I've known / I can't call these thoughts my own"). After a sudden breakdown, the track regroups and takes off, cruising into the horizon in a haze of chiming guitars and Murphy's ascendant voice, from the streets to somewhere beyond.

Take Me, I’m Yours is the first collaboration album between Alan Abrahams and Jan Jelinek. Released through the latter’s faitiche, it builds upon multi-layered vocal sketches by the former. The Paris-based artist, primarily known for his work as Portable and Bodycode, supplied Jelinek with multi-layered song sketches that the German artist subjected to a rigorous process of manipulation, excavating the ambiguities of the original material and transforming its rhythms into subtle pulses. Take Me, I’m Yours is neither a typical Abrahams record nor a classic Jelinek album—it is something third, mediating between the physicality of the voice and the abstraction of electronic sound design.

The two had crossed paths before really getting to know each other after Abrahams invited Jelinek to play at one of his Süd Electronic parties. The idea of a collaboration emerged slowly. “It started as an experiment, and over the past few years grew from a few tracks into this album,” says Abrahams. He describes recording the basic material as a “tantalizing” process, not knowing how Jelinek would transform his material, some of which was based on wordless chanting, while other tracks were working with lyrical content. However, their mutual trust allowed Jelinek to remove the harmonies, radically reduce the rhythms, and concentrate on Abrahams’ voice.

Jelinek heard something “fragile” in this voice, “moments of doubt and dark premonitions.” He points to Forever as an example. “Alan’s original song reminded me of classic vocal house, but his voice seemed to almost break,” he says. “This contradiction made the piece even bigger, because we hear a singer in the moment of an awakening.” He further accentuated such tensions through arrhythmic synth modulations and time-stretching algorithms, while also adding concrete sounds from a variety of sources. With its dedication to both transforming and amplifying the emotional qualities hidden within Abrahams’ pieces, Take Me, I’m Yours functions as a dialogue between those two singular artists.

Record Kicks freut sich, die Vinyl-Neuauflage zum 10-jährigen Jubiläum von ,Late Nights & Heartbreak" zu präsentieren, dem Durchbruchsalbum von Hannah Williams & The Affirmations, auf dem der Song zu finden ist, der zum emotionalen Rückgrat von Jay-Zs wegweisendem Album ,4:44" wurde. ,Late Nights & Heartbreak" kam 2016 raus und wurde von Kritikern gelobt. Seitdem ist es ein moderner Soul-Klassiker. Sein Vermächtnis wurde besiegelt, als Jay-Z den Titelsong von ,4:44" komplett um Hannah Williams' Originalaufnahme herum aufgebaut hat. Der Song, der als unverfälschtes Geständnis der Untreue genutzt wurde, war Jay-Zs Antwort auf ,Lemonade" von seiner Frau Beyoncé und machte Hannahs unverwechselbare Stimme einem weltweiten Publikum bekannt. Aufgenommen im Quatermass Studio in London - der Heimat der Kulthelden The Heliocentrics - zeigt ,Late Nights & Heartbreak" Hannah, begleitet von ihrer neu gegründeten Band The Affirmations. Produziert wurde das Album von Malcolm Catto, der für seine Arbeit mit Künstlern wie Mulatu Astatke, Orlando Julius, Floating Points, Quantic, DJ Shadow und Madlib. Das Album wurde komplett analog gemischt und auf Band gemastert und bietet einen rohen, druckvollen und zutiefst eindringlichen Sound. Auf 13 Tracks erkundet ,Late Nights & Heartbreak" viszeralen, kraftvollen Soul mit einem subtilen psychedelischen Touch. Von der eindringlichen ersten Single ,Tame in the Water" bis zum unerbittlichen achtminütigen Groove von ,Still in My Head" zeigt das Album die schiere Kraft und Kontrolle von Hannahs Stimme in ihrer elektrisierendsten Form. ,Woman Got Soul" liefert fünf Minuten mitreißenden, kraftvollen Funk, während tiefgründigere Stücke wie ,Another Sunrise" und ,Your Luck Can Change" einen üppigen, emotionalen Hintergrund für Themen wie Liebe, Lust, Sehnsucht, Wut und Verletzlichkeit bieten. Alle Songs sind Originalkompositionen, die von dem in Bristol ansässigen Kollektiv um The Affirmations unter der Leitung von Musikdirektor James Graham geschrieben wurden - mit Ausnahme einer atemberaubenden, psychedelisch-souligen Neuinterpretation von ,Dazed and Confused", die stark von der Originalversion von Jake Holmes inspiriert ist. Hannah Williams, die schon früh von der verstorbenen Sharon Jones gesegnet wurde, eroberte 2012 mit ihrem Debütalbum ,A Hill of Feathers" die Soul-Szene. Die Single ,Work It Out" wurde ein Indie-Radiohit und ebnete den Weg für eine Karriere, die von moderner Soul-Mythologie geprägt ist. Aufgewachsen in einem musikalischen Haushalt, sang Hannah ab dem Alter von sechs Jahren im Kirchenchor und konnte Noten lesen, bevor sie richtig lesen konnte. Heute ist sie eine unaufhaltsame Kraft - eine Künstlerin mit einem seltenen Talent, wie es nur einmal in einer Generation vorkommt. Zehn Jahre später kehrt ,Late Nights & Heartbreak" in dieser speziellen Jubiläumsausgabe auf Vinyl zurück und bestätigt erneut, warum Hannah Williams & The Affirmations nach wie vor zu den kraftvollsten Stimmen des zeitgenössischen Soul gehören.

2023 Backstock

New album of one of the biggest Reggae/Dub french soundsystem starring MacGyver, Rooty Step & Pupajim (who worked with Alpha Steppa, Biga Ranx, High Tone, Mungo's Hi-Fi ...).

Since their inception at start of the 2000s, Stand High Patrol have rocked sound systems to their own riddim, assimilating and re-purposing the codes of the genre in their own unique style. From tiny bars in Brittany to huge festival stages, on independent radio or across national airwaves, the crew have quietly trod their own path, never compromising their core value of independence. Connoisseurs have long recognised Stand High’s credentials both as a dub group and a leading sound system, but they stand out from the crowd because of their ability to deliver the unexpected, whether live or on record. Their ability to draw such a diverse audience is testament to this atypical approach to making music.

In 2020, almost 20 years since their humble beginnings, the collective presents their fifth album, “Our Own Way”. As with their first two albums “Midnight Walkers” and “Matter Of Scale”, now considered as classics in their genre, this new opus asserts itself as the latest representation of the crew’s versatile approach to crafting sound. Their music, a blend of its own known as “Dubadub”, has always borrowed influences from multiple sources, and over the course of their career their roots in dub and reggae have intertwined with hip-hop, jazz, new wave, trip-hop and numerous other genres. The ‘Dubadub Musketeers’ have never ceased experimenting, forever seeking to increase the sonic territory they cover, day after day. Both live and recorded, they’ve made it a point of honour to never offer up the same thing twice. Any resemblance that “Our Own Way” might bear to those first two albums is a consequence of this obvious creative continuity, rather than of going “back to basics”.

In contrast to the last two Stand High Patrol records, the hip-hop inspired “The Shift”, or the Bristol indebted “Summer On Mars”, “Our Own Way” doesn’t have a unifying concept or theme. Rather than being limited to a single aesthetic, the LP pays respect to the entire canon of Jamaican music, all unified under Stand High’s inimitable production values. With the wealth of experience gained during the recording of their last two records, the collective decided to aim for a freer project, letting themselves be guided by their own music and their own instincts. The end result is a musical portrait of what Stand High Patrol is in the present moment.

The tracks that make up the new LP burst out of the studio, each born out of unbridled, impulsive creativity. Previously unheard compositions and specially re-tooled dub plates have been assembled into a tracklist that shifts and moves like a classic Dubadub Musketeer live set. Each step of the process has been refined by years of practice : composition, effects, and the final mix. Throughout “On Our Way”, the brutal dub stepper, though still a favourite for sound system sessions, is noticeable by its absence. Instead, it’s the full weight of the crew’s reggae heritage that’s expressed in the mix. It's not just the depth and weight of each tune that strikes the listener, but also the spaces heard between the notes that grab and hold their attention.. The sense of a trip, whether musical, internal or geographic, is omnipresent throughout the LP, linking each track to those before and after. “Our Own Way” finds Stand High Patrol exploring as usual, yet also narrating their journey as they’ve rarely done before.

"I got to know visual artist, musician, and producer Guido Erfen and sound engineer, acoustic artist, and percussionist Michael Springer as part of a group of five by the name of SHM1. The members of the group organised concerts at Rhenania, a disused grain silo, where I performed with The Absurd in 1988 and 1989. The band was also featured on one of Erfen's tape releases. Erfen and Springer met when they were still at the same secondary school and soon became close friends and musical allies. With the other members of SHM they built an independent network for creating and distributing music beyond the mainstream in Cologne. Rent at Rhenania was incredibly low, allowing a recording studio to be established there.

The first traces of the Ukrainian Underground arrived at Erfen's door via a cassette tape with three bands from Kharkiv and Kyiv, the package including a long essay which detailed the rock scene in the two cities by Sergey Myasoyedow. In 1986, Myasoyedow, together with Sasha Panchenko, had founded the “Novaya Scena“ rock club in Kharkiv, presenting bands inspired by punk, the avant-garde, dadaism, and even medieval melodies. If Erfen hadn't been part of the independent mail-art scene, he wouldn't have had the chance to discover this unorthodox music. It was the summer of 1990, shortly before the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine became an independent state the following year.

In 1991, singer and keyboard player Soloveyka from Kharkiv arrived in Cologne and gave Erfen half a dozen cassettes with underground bands from Ukraine and a handful with bands from the Soviet Union. Intrigued by the original music of many of the acts, he visited Ukraine twice, made friends there, compiled a tape with his favourite tracks and finally succeeded in convincing Hamburg label boss Alfred Hilsberg to present underground music from Ukraine on the CD “Novaya Scena“ via his label What's So Funny About (the original home of Einstürzende Neubauten).
The album compiled 20 tracks recorded between 1986 and 1992 by 14 bands out of Kharkiv and Kyiv– music beyond the usual Perestroika records, often with jarring dissonances over grooves that fans of Captain Beefheart or The Fall would certainly enjoy.

On the other hand, there are tracks featuring flute and trumpet that seem inspired by folk, classical music, and punk. Ghostly chamber prog miniatures by Cukor Belaya Smert (lit. Sugar White Death) from Kyiv featuring, among others, the classically trained pianist and singer Svitlana Nianio (née Ochrimenko) and guitarist, visual artist, and spokesman Yewgeny "Yenia" Taran. Nianio sang in her native Ukrainian, as did two more of the bands. Today, this seems more relevant than ever, more culturally and historically significant from a Ukrainian point of view than it was even in 1993. Young Ukrainians were amazed at that time that rock music sung in their native tongue could work!

It is in the aftermath of the “Novaya Scena“ album that the music on this LP was created. About a year after the release of the CD in August 1993, Nianio and Taran came to Cologne to work on music for the dance production "Transilvania Smile" by the dance theatre ensemble Pentamonia2.
The seeds for the Traces of Ukrainian Underground in Cologne were sown. Starting in 1994, a series of informal recording sessions took place at Michael Springer’s Phanton Studio and at SHM studio in Rhenania. Together, these sessions formed the basis of the four different incarnations of the Ukraine-Cologne connection heard on STROOMS’s compilation.

Dutch composer and pianist Xavier Boot, also known as XA4, joins Philip Glass for the second release on the New York-based record label Orange Mountain Music, owned by Philip Glass.

“Xavier is really a wonderful pianist, and I am thrilled by how he now tackles my compositions, with that elegant electronica touch.” – Philip Glass

The Sea Above features not only Glass compositions but also several original pieces by Xavier: “I recorded this album inspired by all the musical influences I’ve experienced in my life, including classical, electronic (club) music, ambient, minimal, and even Indonesian music. The title track of the album is inspired by Philip Glass’s composition Mad Rush. He told me that he wrote this piece for an event with the Dalai Lama, where it was unclear when the Dalai Lama would arrive. That’s why Mad Rush was composed to last either five minutes or an hour. I tried to convey this idea of timelessness in my music, embodying this endless portal of time and space, which was also scientifically described by Albert Einstein. Another track on the album, Train I, is a reworking from Philip Glass’s opera Einstein on the Beach. You can experience the music on this album as a kind of journey, a trip where you are energetically drawn in at the beginning and later enter more of a fantasy world where dreams and unconscious elements of your mind can emerge.”

Credits:
Tracks 1 & 3 are original compositions by Philip Glass remixed by XA4
Tracks 2 & 9 remixed by XA4 and Jaro.
Tracks 4, 5, 6, 8,10 are original compositions by XA4
Track 7 is composed by XA4 and Tenzin Choegyal.
Vocals track 1: Julia Rosenhart.
Remix, production and playing: XA4.
Piano arrangement track 3: Michael Riesman and XA4.
Remix, production track 2 & 9: XA4 and Jaro.
Production assistance track 3: Jaro.
Mixing: Studio Karakterbak.
Mastering: Laura de Rover.
Cover foto: Angelina Nikolayeva.
Graphic design: Yesser Khalefa

A great name. A great cover. And - of course - outstanding library music.

Soul City Orchestra's Meal Ticket houses titanic funk, mellow groove and symphonic disco-soul.

Released in 1977 on Rouge, a subsidiary of the prestigious and long-established British library label Music De Wolfe, Meal Ticket was crafted by the studio band Soul City Orchestra (a pseudonym for the De Wolfe in-house composers Chris Rae & Franck McDonald).

The driving instrumental funk-rock of the A Side is enhanced with strings and no little drama. However, it's undoubtedly the peerless flipside that makes this record an essential part of any collection.

Head straight to highlight "Chamber Maid"; insistent, conga-driven funky rock with lashings of string-heightened drama. It's sophisticated, classical and deeply classy.

The majestic, powerfully emotive "Sore Head" contains an excellent intro drum break and sultry slo-mo disco breaks throughout. It's low-key stunning. With a few melodic switch-ups, it's symphonic soul heaven and is comfortably the best and most beautifully crucial track on Side A.

The breezy, Philly soul-tinged "Short Change", its intense strings reminiscent of the Salsoul Orchestra and TSOP, presents an easy-glide funk that's just irresistible.

The funky, cool and slick AF "Wheeling And Dealing" is laconic flute and string-propelled sophisticated mid-tempo disco soul. It's worth the price of admission alone.

The breezy, mellowed out disco-funk workout "The Jam" is a deliciously slinky and sophisticated soul strut. Try not swaggering into the club with this in your head next time you venture into the murky world of "the night". Just ace.

The crowning glory is the sweeping, sublime symphonic disco breaks of horn-infused "Soul City Drive", an absolute monster of radiant heavy soul-funk à la Barry White with great string & brass arrangement.

Basically, this is essential for all groove-aficionados.

The audio for Meal Ticket has been meticulously remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Great Day is one of the very best albums on the Music De Wolfe label and certainly one of the most sought after library records, full stop. It's been sampled by such heavyweights as Madlib, LTJ Bukem, El-P and The Alchemist (among many others). You likely already know all this. If you don't, get to know. One listen through and the £350 asking price for a VG copy starts to all make sense...

Originally released in 1972, it's credited to Music De Wolfe legends Simon Haseley (real name Simon Park) and "Peter Reno" (a collaborative alias used by composers Clifford "Cliff" Twemlow and Peter Taylor) Confused? No matter. It's one of the most consistent libraries you'll ever hear, packed with heavy blaxploitation-esque drama-funk break themes.

It opens with the feel-good, breezy piano beat number "Little Big John" before switching up to modern sweeping orchestral with heavy drums on the warm, deeply emotive "Summer Friend". Total highlight "Hammerhead" is as heavy as you'd want, from a track so-titled. It's a driving, imposing, orchestral funk-rock monster, famously used by The High & Mighty for their classic "Dirty Decibels" and, also, it was used as the backing for Beyonce's ace "Woman Like Me".

Up next, "Crimson" is melodic, plaintive and moodily introspective; a soft, oboe-enhanced instrumental of delicate beauty. Again, ace beats and breaks abound. The expansive title track, "Great Day" is melodic and bold; a horn-fuelled, mid-tempo rhythmic workout which builds to rather big end. Rounding out this first side, "Hard Crust" ups the ante with thrilling wah-wah funk-rock, a dramatic, pounding and aggressive thriller. Killer!

Side B opens with the steady, stealthy crime-funk of "Highball" before segueing brilliantly into the Hammond-laced relentless flute-funk of the driving "Bora". The powerful wah-wah wonderful "Hold Back" is haunting orchestral funk-rock, sampled by Madlib, El-P, Rakim, Sean Price and The Alchemist. It's easy to see why. Swaggering and staggering.

The cop show funk of "Silver Thrust" is fast, purposeful and persistent. Is it a cover version of the godlike "Stepping Stones" from Johnny Harris's Movements album? Either way, with up-tempo drums, bongos and flute you're going to be thrusting all night. The dynamic "Convoy" is a brassy, organ-fuelled sports-soundtrack b-boy breaks monster. Super Bowl Soul! Essential. To close out this quite extraordinary set, the insistent "Barracuda" presents dramatic rock feels over a persistent funky flute beat. It was sampled by LTJ Bukem for his classic "Sunrain" from 2000.

The audio for Great Day has been meticulously remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Finally, finally, FINALLY! After many years of fruitless praying, a true collector grail can finally grace every turntable the world over. Bright And Shining is a miraculous leftfield library classic from the genius mind of Barbara Moore. It's Highly Addictive Happiness Music TM and one of the coolest records to come out of anywhere...ever! With originals almost impossible to find - and, when they do, going for over £300 - you already know how crucial this beautiful reissue is.

Recorded in 1981 for Sylvester Music Company, Bright And Shining is breezy, dreamy and funky in a perfectly smooth jazzy-soul-groove fashion, with Moore's patented celestial male-female vocal harmonies this time benefitting from the addition of Fender Rhodes and pumping bass lines.

As one particularly enthusiastic Discogs user put it: "If Eno is responsible for Music for Airports, Moore is responsible for Music for Holidays." Indeed, this is brilliantly unique, "maximum happiness music". If you miss the sun-dappled soft-psych soul of Koushik, the heavenly vocal arrangements of the great Library Music doyenne Barbara Moore - her depth, richness, sophistication and warmth - will see you just right.

The gigantic title track, "Bright And Shining", gallops out the gate, all sophisticated, jazzy leisure-soul with sax and guitars backing Moore's effortless vocal swag in this relaxed, mid-tempo head-nod strut. Worth the price of admission alone. Up next, the sunny, vibey "Fly Me High" features strolling, "unworded" vocals (aside from the refrain of the title) alongside breezy alto sax and electric guitar. Pastoral and perfect. The slow'n'sultry "Affluence" presents a moody elegance, a classical "downlifting" gem. Another crucial highlight is the breezy "Going On Holiday". It's happy. It's sunny. It's lively. It's cool and happy. Did we say happy? A mid-tempo, romantic sax workout, "Alto Sex"presents smooth jazzy funk before the first side closes out with the soaring, jazzy "Stay With Me". Seriously uplifting.

Side B opens with "Feel Fine", an excellent uptempo and bright jazz groove. Up next, "Canon" is wracked with refinement, a peaceful, smooth vocal harmony over repeating bass making for an elegant, late-night classic. It's followed by the laconic "Smooth And Soft", a laidback, casual sophisticated soul and easy-feeling jazz gem. The jazzy "Real Thing" is another exercise in strolling sophistication, complete with wordless vocal harmonies. The fairly self-explanatory "Voice Over Sax" sounds precisely how you would expect; a relaxed sax number with heavenly vocal support! To close, the carefree "Feeling Free" is a pleasant, light and breezy mid-tempo groove.

The audio for Bright And Shining has been meticulously remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue. We'll grant the final word to MillionDollars. on discogs from about 10 years ago: "If you listen to the record on a sunny day you feel like going out surfing in a white linen suit with a blunt on your lips, catching a cool breeze."

Black Moon Mother blends light and heavy soundscapes that pull from elements of Psych-Rock, Pop, Doom Metal and Shoegaze. Formed out of a Nashville music collective in 2017, the band put together a demo EP that became their live set, kickstarting their musical journey. At the beginning of 2018, Black Moon Mother began writing new material and continued the show-a-month ritual, while adding a new song to the live set one by one. January 2020 brought Black Moon Mother to Dark Art Audio in Madison, TN where they worked with engineer and producer Mikey Allred. Their newest album Illusions Under the Sun showcases an expanded musical depth and songwriting maturity, while exploring themes of nature, purpose, and perspective.

If – in some parallel universe (or perhaps a not-so-distant-future version of the one we’re already sentenced to living in) – the evil overloads of artificial intelligence were actually successful in their attempts to create convincingly enjoyable “original music,” more specifically tasked with wholly encapsulating my own personal tastes by data-chugging some cocktail of – oh, I don’t know – the posters on my wall, the records in my “most listened to” pile, the mixtapes I made for others, intensive physical scans of my auditory cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, heart strings, whatever else they have splayed out on their autopsy table with the intention of generating one all-encompassing “perfect band” based on the fruitful sum of their findings – that band, for me, would be (or would at least sound exactly like) the Tara Clerkin Trio. It is, quite simply, without exception, the music I wish to hear.

Formed in Bristol UK (where none of them are from yet all of whom are deeply engrained) in 2020, the Tara Clerkin Trio – as it somewhat democratically exists today, despite the singular authority implied by its name – consists of the titular Tara Clerkin, her partner Sunny Joe Paradisos, and Sunny’s brother, Patrick Benjamin. I’ll confess, I don’t know what their respective roles are within the operation and there’s only a very small part of me that cares to learn, as one of my favorite qualities in an objective listening experience is the mystery of who is playing what, which sounds are “authentic” versus synthesized, which chunks are performed “live” in a room together versus meticulously Frankenstein’ed from measure to measure, or how exactly the overall sound is so (seemingly) effortlessly achieved. Though, I suspect, if and when I do witness a live performance by this band at any point, my enjoyment of the music will not be lost in my better understanding of it.

With two extraordinary mini-albums – In Spring (2021) and On The Turning Ground (2023) – making a splash on London’s formidable World of Echo label in wake of their self-titled 2020 debut, this upcoming Somewhere Good LP is, in many ways, the band’s most realised work. In running their usual gauntlet of idiosyncratic (*an overused adjective for which here there is regrettably no sufficient alternative) approaches, Clerkin & co. colour in and outside of compositional lines over the course of 40+ celebratory minutes - never wallowing, despite inherently somber subject matters of self-defeat, disease, displacement, restlessness, gentrification - allowing their arrangements and improvisations ample space and time to situate, stretch out, breathe, cross-pollinate, and ultimately take deeper hold on the listener’s imagination – all while somehow sounding more like themselves than ever before.

Of course, there are traceable influences herein, if one felt that such comparisons were necessary to properly examine and enjoy this music (they aren’t)… Being the big dumb American from the small boring town that I am, cornfed on ‘90s alternative radio with the enchantingly exotic sounds of Maxinquaye and Mezzanine emanating from my chunky tube television, I can’t help but to make a blatantly obvious reference to a “Bristol sound”, ie the whole trip-hop trip, the pastoral crooning over the suggestive urban grime of cracked electro/piano treatments, the digitally-yet-primitively reconstructed James Bond soundtrack string-beats, etc.. But the Tara Clerkin Trio is so infinitely much more than that. There are elements of avant-pop, modern classical, kraut-folk, audio verité, dare I say indie rock (and not of the beer guzzling, masturbatory fuzz-flex variety but perhaps more like a Trish Keenan-fronted Faust, Adrian Sherwood at the mixing desk of If You’re Feeling Sinister, or – in expanding on our alternate reality – a world in which High Llamas cut a full-length for Warp Records with Andrew Weatherall on coffee duty).

The hazy, unmappable skyline-mirage of droning harmonium, upright bass, peculiarly accentuated wind instruments, acoustic guitar, hushed yet literally mighty keys combine to hypnotizing effect. The band may make underlying nods to jazz, sure, but it’s not appropriation, it’s that they have the actual chops to build it out. Beneath the janky samples and oddball percussive embellishment lies actually great drumming. Beyond the manipulated vocal witchery and woefully reflective plain-spoke moments are Tara’s subtly inspired melodies, sung with what might honestly be the glue to the whole crazy equation. A calming consistency throughout the otherwise unpredictably dynamic, boldly intuitive, uniquely British exploration of this (their own) universe in song. – Ryan Davis (Chicago, February 2026)

Between electronic shadows and cinematic textures, this new album from QUENUM draws its influences from the likes of Massive Attack, Archive, and Burial. Started and produced in London, it reflects a change of time — both in the climate and within.

This project represents a personal and artistic turning point for QUENUM. He wanted to experiment with new ideas, not necessarily music for the club. The album was created in close collaboration with his son Zac, a talented musician who contributed both as a singer and instrumentalist on several tracks. They shared wonderful moments creating this album together.

He also worked hand in hand with his long-time friend Christophe Calpini, who played a key role in mixing and in developing the textures and atmospheres that shape the album’s sound. The result is an intimate, personal, and timeless journey, deeply rooted in the now.

Quenum elaborates: “The idea for my album was born during Covid in London, when concerts, museums, and social activities suddenly stopped. To cope, I started running daily and spending hours in the studio creating music. In our garden cabin I worked alongside my son Zac who was practicing piano, preparing for his entry into Trinity Laban Conservatoire. He listened to my tracks, and eventually contributed vocals with his ex-partner on two songs, ‘Blue Sky’ and ‘Never Like Before’. The album’s dark atmosphere reflects that period. Once it was complete, I asked my longtime friend Christophe Calpini to handle arrangements and mixing.”

A true pioneer of electronic music, QUENUM has been shaping the global techno and house scene for over two decades. One of his most celebrated tracks, “Orange Mistake”, co-produced with Luciano in 2001, became a turning point in his career. The success of this collaboration led them to launch the legendary Cadenza label, which rapidly grew into one of the most recognisable and respected imprints in the scene, known for its vital releases and unforgettable parties worldwide.

Over the years, QUENUM has continued to explore new creative paths and refine his artistic identity, constantly reinventing his sound while maintaining his unique musical signature. His insatiable curiosity and openness to new influences have kept him consistently in demand, from intimate underground venues to the world’s most respected festivals and clubs.

And another new volume of the Meeting Of The Minds series is here, with 4 new collaborations I've done with other producers in the jungle scene!

"Casual Loop" is a collaboration that me & Submerse started working on in 2023 but it was another one of the tracks that I had lost due to my computer being stolen in early 2024, & I hadn't fully backed up everything I had done for a few months, including this track. This meant I had to re-do a lot of the work I had done with what Submerse had started but I was lucky enough to get it near identical to how it was sounding and ready for release. Submerse has been on Future Retro London a few times, with his EP release (FR033) & a track featured on the atmospheric VA EP (FR049) that came out late last year, I'm a huge fan of his musicality & his melodies, which made this track really fun to work on, even with all the obstacles faced!

My first interaction with Quaad goes way back to 2013, when he asked me for a guest mix for a radio show called The After Party that was on C89.5FM in Seattle (which is still up on my SoundCloud for anyone curious) and then before he started his current label (Heavy Sounds), he had started a label with Wetman called Vivid Recordings, which he was sending me the releases on (but I think in standard fashion, I kept forgetting to check them!). But it wasn't until 2022 when me & Dwarde played in Seattle with him and I saw his live Amiga set where he was playing a lot of his own music, & from then on, I was better aware of what he was doing & I got to hang out with him & know him a bit better, which is when I then fully started following what he was doing. Then eventually, we ended up doing a track together (he also uses FL Studio, just like me) and "Judge Dredd" is the end result of that.

Samurai Breaks is also someone that I've known of for a long time but didn't really properly connect with until recent years where I saw what he was doing with his label Super Sonic Booty Bangers, which also does events in Sheffield which I played for in 2024. It was quite an interesting collab because I don't think many people would have necessarily expected our styles to really gel well together but I think we managed to hit a nice midpoint between his craziness & mine haha

Fixate is most likely another person that people would not have anticipated as someone that I would collaborate with, mainly because the style of tune people know him for is more tied with the footwork/halftime sound that became popular in the 2010s, as well as his output as 1/2 of dubstep duo Leftlow, but he has made some jungle in the past & I'm always down for the challenge of stepping outside of my comfort zone to work with people who are not mainly based in the newskool jungle scene but have an appreciation for it. I found out about him through the releases he had on Exit Records from 2015 onwards, plus he was also a part of Richie Brains (the project in 2016 involving many artists forming a loose collective) so I was aware of what he was doing but I properly got to know him from when I went bowling with him, Dwarde & LMajor back in 2022 and then he sent me something to work on early last year (another FL Studio producer btw!), which I took my sweet time in starting it but eventually got done & here we are! And for those wondering, the track title (May Contain Traces) alludes to me & Fixate's shared allergy towards nuts (although his is a lot more severe than mine), which was the only thing I could think of to name the track after when it came down to it!

Bézier ripples their way back to Dark Entries with Decompose, an LP of doomed spa music. Multi-instrumentalist Robert Yang has made numerous appearances on Dark Entries for more than a decade, with releases spanning the stylistic gamut from hi-NRG disco floor-fillers to lush ambient epics. Decompose, Bézier’s second LP, is perhaps his most introspective work yet. It is an album almost ten years in the making, a deep investigation of life, loss, and the struggle of knowing oneself. If one were to pull a tarot deck for this album it would be the Nine of Swords. The album honors the lives of the fallen victims of Pulse Nightclub. It honors lives lost or suffering through the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The title track takes the form of a Buddhist chant, a brooding synth-driven meditation that scales steadily until breaking into John Carpenter-esque arpeggios halfway through. Tracks like “Egg,” “Marionette,” and “A Fading Citadel Atop Black Sand Bluffs” build on this soundworld, one in which intricate melodies and cavernous reverb induce in the listener feelings of both claustrophobia and free-fall. The album’s dancefloor-leaning moments, like “Codebreaking” and “Split a Path Towards the Thicket” are spartan, tunnel-vision techno tracks speeding towards ego-death. Decompose chronicles Yang’s journey to find peace with himself, as a gay Asian American. During this process, they learned to “repot” long-lost parts of their identity so they could grow forth in wholesome fashion. The sleeve for Decompose was designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh, and features a photograph by Frankie Casillo of Robert laying on a bed of rocks in savasana pose, resembling an ascetic, evocative of the monastic vibes of the record.

Disco legend Sylvester comes to Dark Entries with Private Recordings: August 1970, an intimate collection of vintage jazz, blues, and gospel. While Sylvester is best known for his chart-topping collaborations with producer Patrick Cowley, such as “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” this release reveals his passion for the sounds of the 30s and 40s. In 1970 a 22-year-old Sylvester had moved to San Francisco and found himself involved with the Cockettes, the infamous psychedelic performance art troupe. Among this milieu was Peter Mintun, a pianist and record collector living in a commune devoted to retro culture. According to Mintun, “We were like hippies who lived in the twenties. We lived in a house that didn’t have anything modern in it. Nothing in it was made after World War II.” Mintun and Sylvester bonded over their love of Black singers of yore and were allotted a slot during Cockettes performances reviving the music of the Prohibition Era. One afternoon, Sylvester and Mintun recorded a number of their shared favorites using a high-end microphone a friend had acquired. Private Recordings features 9 songs from this session, including standards like “Stormy Weather,” “Happy Days Are Here Again,” and “God Bless the Child.” Sylvester’s unmistakable falsetto brings depth and a dash of camp to these familiar tunes. The recordings are casual and intimate, even capturing banter between Sylvester and Mintun; their brief rendition of “When My Dreamboat Comes Home” has the duo working out a melody in real time. In addition to their sonic explorations of decades past, Sylvester and Mintun also staged photographic shoots in vintage couture. Private Recordings comes with a 16-page booklet on firm cardstock featuring images from these never-before-seen shoots as well as liner notes from Mintun detailing his friendship with Sylvester and their experiences recording. All this is housed in a metallic silver sleeve designed by Eloise Leigh featuring a 1920’s Art Deco aesthetic. The record will be released on September 6th which would have been Sylvester’s 76th birthday, and all proceeds from Private Recordings will go to the two charities that Sylvester left his royalties after his death: Project Open Hand and PRC (formerly AIDS Emergency Fund). This essential release documents the earliest known recordings from one of disco’s greatest talents.

STRIKER TRAXX proudly presents its very first release — STX101: BALLAN “Chantal Grooves EP”.
Born as the new sub-label of SUPREME STRIKER, itself a direct emanation of the Skylax Records universe, STRIKER TRAXX sets the tone for a new era: raw, uncompromising, and forward-thinking. As always, the visual identity is entrusted to the legendary H5’s exclusive artwork (Daft Punk, Air, Logorama), delivering a striking design that transforms each copy into a true collector’s object.

For this inaugural strike, we welcome Asaf Ballan, aka BALLAN, an artist emerging with force from the vibrant beatscape of contemporary electronic music. With Chantal Grooves EP, he delivers a 12-inch packed with five club-weapons that dive deep into the essence of house and tech house, reshaping them with his own relentless, pumpy twist.

The trip opens with “How Should I Start”, a perfect ignition, teasing anticipation while locking you instantly on the groove. “Goddamnit (Club Tool)” follows as a pure machine workout, echoing Kerri Chandler’s house foundations while pushing them into today’s territory. “Members Only Club” exudes exclusive sophistication, a secret-weapon built for late-night dancefloors. On the flip, “Keep the Frequency Clear” hypnotizes with razor-sharp frequencies, proof of BALLAN’s sonic craftsmanship, before “Futuro” launches us headfirst into tomorrow—where innovation collides with the Romanian sunrise aesthetic, infused with a heavier, raw energy.

Influenced by the minimal masters (Zip, Ricardo Villalobos, Raresh) yet unwilling to compromise on drive and power, BALLAN delivers here a record where every track stands as a killer. Chantal Grooves EP is both a homage to the roots of house and tech house, and a manifesto propelling the genre into its next evolution.

STRIKER TRAXX launches with a statement: this imprint is made for DJs and dancers who still believe in vinyl as a sacred object and in the dancefloor as a transformative space. With H5’s exclusive artwork (Daft Punk, Air, Logorama)and Skylax’s uncompromising vision, each release is conceived as a weapon for the underground, and a jewel for the true collectors.

Vinyl only. For devoted believers.

the work of BIG|BRAVE is ever-expanding. The trio"s singular masterful sculpting of sonics into songcraft tucks layers of vulnerability into frenetic storms. in grief or in hope is an innovative vision of electro-acoustic sound and emotive storytelling, an endless bounty of overwhelming distortions and devastating beauty. The album marks a shift for BIG|BRAVE towards denser guitar-oriented compositions. With longtime touring bassist Liam Andrews (MY DISCO, Aicher) joining guitarist/vocalist Robin Wattie and guitarist Mathieu Ball in the studio for the first time, the pieces are keenly layered with a rich tapestry of harmonics and tonal intricacies. The trio"s instinctual progressions made more vivid through live recording, harnessing the gargantuan and storied sound of their performances. Wattie writes: "All that I could reflect on was grief and hope; death and life; cause and effect; shared experiences of being a human person." The tenth album for the ensemble, in grief or in hope pays homage to their past while looking into their future. Together the trio shift deliver emotional momentum that vividly describes the complex and deep feelings of struggle, pain, and transcendence. in grief or in hope transmits that sense of humanity with every gesture.

the work of BIG|BRAVE is ever-expanding. The trio"s singular masterful sculpting of sonics into songcraft tucks layers of vulnerability into frenetic storms. in grief or in hope is an innovative vision of electro-acoustic sound and emotive storytelling, an endless bounty of overwhelming distortions and devastating beauty. The album marks a shift for BIG|BRAVE towards denser guitar-oriented compositions. With longtime touring bassist Liam Andrews (MY DISCO, Aicher) joining guitarist/vocalist Robin Wattie and guitarist Mathieu Ball in the studio for the first time, the pieces are keenly layered with a rich tapestry of harmonics and tonal intricacies. The trio"s instinctual progressions made more vivid through live recording, harnessing the gargantuan and storied sound of their performances. Wattie writes: "All that I could reflect on was grief and hope; death and life; cause and effect; shared experiences of being a human person." The tenth album for the ensemble, in grief or in hope pays homage to their past while looking into their future. Together the trio shift deliver emotional momentum that vividly describes the complex and deep feelings of struggle, pain, and transcendence. in grief or in hope transmits that sense of humanity with every gesture.

For his sixth solo album, Ezéchiel Pailhès returns with a new collection of songs infused by a sunny wandering spirit.
Within each of the twelve songs on SOL is a thread of melancholic happiness that has permeated much of Pailhès’ music and songwriting. He addresses love, the passing of time, hope, lost illusions, fleeting moments of grace, the temptation of forgetting, a need to escape, and desire. All this is
insulated by understated orchestrations that blend acoustic and electronic instrumentation with deft confidence.
The Portuguese and Brazilian concept of saudade—a form of melancholic longing and nostalgia— pervades, thanks in part to Pailhès decision to record the album in Rio de Janiero and to reinterpret some of the finest works of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB). In particular, he revisits a handful of
lesser known classics from the mid-century samba and bossa nova era—originally written or performed by talents including Vinícius de Moraes, João Gilberto, Tom Zé, Dorival Caymmi, João Donato, Os Tincoãs, and Ataulfo Alves.
The shift from Brazilian Portuguese to French and the decision to adapt rather than perform a straightforward cover versions, allows Pailhès to invent a form of prosody and euphony (the musicality and harmonious combination of words) that feels vibrant and unlike anything else in today’s French
chanson landscape.
“Some lyrics are simple translations from Portuguese, in what I’d call an expanded version. For others, I started from a single word or a single phrase and embroidered an entirely new text that carried me elsewhere,” explains Pailhès. “I allowed myself great interpretive freedom, while preserving the humanist dimension of the original songs. I’ve always been deeply moved by the way Brazilians transfigure reality through heightened emotion. I love this visceral and spontaneous country, which always seems to live through emotion. And above all, I love its music both popular and unifying,
bringing together all social classes. In that sense, it’s very political music, but even more so utopian, made by the people and for the people.”
On this new album, however, the French artist was keen to avoid cliché. Each song is therefore built around a carefully balanced interplay between Pailhès’ piano and synthesizers, alongside restrained arrangements of percussion, brass, bass, and cavaquinho (a small four-string plucked guitar). These parts were recorded in Rio de Janeiro with two musicians who regularly perform alongside the legendary Caetano Veloso—Kainã Do Jêje and Alberto Continentino—joined by Thomas Harres, Antônio Neves, Eduardo Neves, and Gabriel Loddo.
Since the 1960s, France and Brazil have shared a long-standing cultural and musical relationship. Some Brazilian artists, most famously Gilberto Gil, took refuge in France during the dictatorship years (1964–1985). But above all, French chanson quickly fell in love with the richness and ingenuity of
bossa nova and samba, translating and reinventing them in the language of Molière. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, albums and hits by Henri Salvador, Georges Moustaki, Pierre Barouh, Pierre Vassiliu, and Claude Nougaro all drew from the MPB repertoire.
Fifty years later, with SOL, Ezéchiel Pailhès reinvents this rich Franco-Brazilian musical legacy, bringing to it a personality and modernity that stand confidently alongside those of his forbears.

French producer Yse Saint Laur'ant is exactly the sort of artist you want to hear from as the sun begins to shine more often. He's a master of escapist, beauty, classy grooves that marry disco and Balearic into pure magic. 'Space Ride' does that on a bubbly groove with a cosmic edge and 'Saint Tropez' brings loose-limbed funk and boho percussion to a Provencal sound. 'Monaco' is bathed in sunlight and made all the more classy with some gorgeous stings and mellifluous chord work then 'Esplanade' shuts down with a dubby, flute-led sound with a whimsical charm. Twenty First release on the much sought after Vinyl Only label.

Minor Notes continues to explore and open up the world of Russia's underground electronic scene. The new vinyl release is a collection of original works by the highly experienced Kaluga-based music producer Chivee Gres. The record perfectly showcases the sound of Deep House and Jackin, showcasing Nikita's subtle sampling, masterful arrangement, and deep knowledge of production techniques. This music is made for the dancefloor: Side A is the perfect companion to any warmap, while Side B will brighten up primetime with its bouncy sound.

To mark 10 years since SOPHIE’s game-changing singles collection PRODUCT, Numbers are celebrating with a special edition featuring 11 songs across Deluxe Vinyl and Compact Disc.

This anniversary release includes bonus tracks, track-by-track slide posters, and a SOPHIE PRODUCT Card. Physical editions are now available for pre-order and released on 11th July 2025.

SOPHIE classics ‘BIPP’, ‘LEMONADE’ and ‘VYZEE’ are joined by two immaculate PRODUCT-era songs ‘OOH’ and ‘GET HIGHER’ recorded and produced at the time, each with colourful single artwork completing the set.

‘OOH’ is one of SOPHIE's earliest productions that has been through several revisions since 2011. It was one of three original tracks that Numbers had signed when SOPHIE uploaded the song alongside 'BIPP' and 'ELLE' to her Soundcloud, and while it had been through several iterations and speed changes, this finalised version was completed by SOPHIE in 2019.

SOPHIE once described ‘OOH’ as “hi tech club dance pop”. Musically speaking, the earworm hook is carved out by her signature portamento-infused synths and candy-coated lyrics, a firm cult classic approved by AG Cook and Charli XCX. Initially titled 'MAKE RESPECT', the track was first performed live by SOPHIE in 2011 to a handful of lucky people at a beach afterparty surrounding Sonar Festival, Barcelona and later that year at Manhattan's New Museum. The vocal was recorded as the first track in the same one-day recording session as SOPHIE's debut single 'NOTHING MORE TO SAY', released on the Huntley & Palmers label, where Sophie's songwriting was performed by the London vocalist Jaide Green.

The genesis of the ‘OOH’ and ‘NOTHING MORE TO SAY’ recording session is lore-worthy in its own right: after watching Jaide Green perform live with Olly Murs during the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009, SOPHIE reached out and invited Jaide to record in her home bedroom studio.

‘GET HIGHER’ was born during joyous sessions in 2013, when SOPHIE’s beat was introduced to the vocalists Cassie Davis and Sean Mullins. The track feels like a visionary precursor to ‘Vroom Vroom’, and doesn't sound out of place next to the sub-clang intensity of SOPHIE’s ‘HARD’ and ‘MSMSMSM’. Striking a playful balance between blissed-out hyperpop and club-ready Atlanta trap, it showcases SOPHIE’s signature, laser sharp sound design. Originally released as a bonus track on the Japanese CD edition of PRODUCT, ‘GET HIGHER’ has remained a hidden gem.

A groundbreaking producer, songwriter and performer, SOPHIE's visionary approach reshaped the landscape of pop and electronic music. Emerging in the early 2010s, SOPHIE introduced a hyper-detailed, futuristic sound defined by metallic textures, elastic basslines, and an uncanny blend of synthetic and emotional tones. Collaborating with artists including Charli XCX, Madonna, Vince Staples and Arca, SOPHIE helped pioneer a new pop movement while challenging conventions around identity, genre and production. SOPHIE's work continues to resonate deeply, leaving a lasting impact on a generation of artists and listeners alike. Discography: PRODUCT (2015), OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES (2018), SOPHIE (released posthumously, 2024).

As Poorly Knit completes it's first arc of the Sun, it's children become four, as a new mini LP is born.

Tending to his crop with dreams of rotation, Bruce sows and scythes four new grains in the porky mill. Of this strange fruit, that further explores his increasingly familiar, hyper-real and sonically surreal work within this current “movement,” he finds his foothold once more in a wild world intensity: fear and fury grappled in equal measure.

What's more, in celebration of the plentiful harvest thus far, (let alone in the interest of seed diversity), Bruce invites four fellow reapers to the farm, offering their recipe from the spoils of the label's yield:

Vancouver based Brit-abroad, dj_2button pulls apart 'The Hand,' with his 'Accidental Mood Mix,' to be reborn as an Odyssian 13 minute stomper: "a fight of emotions, of light and dark; in quiet protest to the incessant fear mongering that slowly numbs us on a global scale." Balearic shores can be seen glimmering in the distance, whilst you are dragged by part man part (very horny) bull into the depths of dancefloor madness.

re:ni proves she is the captain of her own ship as sweet SSRI numbness billows in the sheets and fraying, dubwise halyards tether and tear through her devilishly elegant 'sertraline queen mix'. polyrhythms plotted and percussion plundered; the vocal from 'Golden Water Queen' sounds oh so sweet in the claws of its new Regina.

Hotly titted deep house reviver, fka boursin empties clips with their bubblegum 'boomkat mix,' of 'The Price,' swivelling the original's brash and bawdy bonce, to face a 120 reality we all need to wake up and start sniffing. Sprinkled with trauma on an icing of a bassline more than a little rood, boursin is packing enough cake for the whole function to take home in (dreadful) goody bags (and even allowed compression in the mastering - mental).

Last and indubitably not least, from lying somewhat dormant in the depths of UK dance music legend, none other than flippin' Untold (!?) rises to seal the release with typically megalithic prowess. Proving he was just resting his eyes for a bit, his 'A1 Mirabelle Mix,' weaves and whips an otherworldly beauty, technically tantalising 'Dham's Jam' in adornments both sour and sweet. It's nothing short of a cloaks and daggers banger, primed for the darkest of dancefloor cosmic moments, and serving as a little less-than-warm-reminder that Untold’s presence in the world of dance music is crucial as ever.

Frankly, if you couldn't tell from all the verbose waffle, they have all absolutely smashed and finessed it: they were all approached after expressing a real resonance from the previous releases and it's such an honour to have them and their fantastic visions on the label.

Available digitally or on high quality cassette, the final chapter of the Poorly Knit's first act has been woven whimsically into the fraying folds.

a A1. It Ain’t Over Till… 04:37
b A2. Wesley’s Sniped All Our Bleeding’ K (Re-Vamped) 05:40
[c] A3. Rockfall [05:06]
[d] A4. You Were Right [10:00
[e] B1. The Hand (dj_2button's accidental mood mix) [13:07]
[f] B2. Golden Water Queen (re:ni's sertraline queen mix) [05:36]
[g] B3. The Price (fka boursin's boomkat mix) [08:30]
[h] B4. Dham's Jam (Untold's A1 Mirabelle Mix) [09:42]

[a] A1. It Ain’t Over Till… [04:37]
[b] A2. Wesley’s Sniped All Our Bleeding’ K (Re-Vamped) [05:40]
[c] A3. Rockfall [05:06]
[d] A4. You Were Right [10:00
[e] B1. The Hand (dj_2button's accidental mood mix) [13:07]
[f] B2. Golden Water Queen (re:ni's sertraline queen mix) [05:36]
[g] B3. The Price (fka boursin's boomkat mix) [08:30]
[h] B4. Dham's Jam (Untold's A1 Mirabelle Mix) [09:42]

Finnish dub-techno craftsman TM Shuffle, head of Vuo Records, resurfaces with a deep and distilled EP that goes straight for the late-night heart of the dancefloor. Rooted in Tampere’s raw, analog dub sound, his productions have long balanced weight and warmth, smoked-out chords, rolling low-end and subtle shuffle that keeps the groove in constant motion.
The lead track “Kellari” dives into basement mode: pressure-cooker drums, slow-burning stabs and a humid, lived-in atmosphere that feels equally at home on a huge system or in headphones at 4 a.m. On the second original cut, TM Shuffle links up once again with long-time collaborator Monoder, the alias of Jussi-Pekka Parikka, known for his dubbed-out explorations on labels like Statik Entertainment and Pakkas-Levyt since the early 2000s. Their joint track stretches time, letting echo, tape hiss and distant melodic fragments float around a rock-solid groove, channelling years of shared studio language into one focused, hypnotic flow.
On the flip, Anton Kubikov (SCSI-9) steps in with a lush reinterpretation of Kellari. A true Russian techno veteran with a catalog that spans Kompakt, Force Tracks, Mayak and beyond, Kubikov melts the original into a widescreen, dream-state trip, soft-focus pads, gentle yet insistent percussion and that unmistakable rolling pulse that made his work so enduring. The remix doesn’t just extend the track; it opens a new dimension, turning the basement pressure into a slow-rising, celestial drift.
Pressed on limited coloured vinyl, this EP is built for selectors who like their dub techno deep, human and timeless, a record that will quietly live in bags for years and keep resurfacing whenever the room calls for true late-night elevation.

Globally adored Spanish techno protagonist Indira Paganotto releases her debut album 'Arte Como Amante' via ARTCORE / PIAS Électronique. It brings together thirteen fearless tracks that stretch way beyond any one genre. It's high-pressure, high-energy, and deeply personal. A full-spectrum dive into the world of one of electronic music's most dynamic artists.

It follows a huge 2025. She debuted at Coachella. Played her first ever b2bs with Armin van Buuren at Sonar and Sara Landry at EXIT. She became the first woman to close Monegros. She held down her first Club Room residency at Hï Ibiza for 14 weeks, and even launched her own creative studio space, ARTOPIA, in Santa Eulalia. Her label ARTCORE the home of this special album also took their presence in the dance world to the next level with their own curated stages at Tomorrowland, Mysteryland and Dreambeach.

Now, she's telling her story. The title 'Arte Como Amante' means 'art as a lover'. For Indira, that's not just a phrase. It's her life. This album has been 14 years in the making. It began in Madrid in 2012, when she was 19, and was completed in 2024. She waited for the right moment. She lived life. She collected experiences. She built the sound. "I know to take 14 years to make an album seems crazy," she says, "but without living those experiences, how could I have made the music about them?"

The result is a diverse, adrenaline-fuelled body of work that hits hard and moves deep.

Following up after the recent Circadian Rhythms release is Sebastian S under his Caustic 14 alias with a yummy yummy 2x12” six tracker full of speedy bleep science breakbeat and colorful jungle techno compositions that could only be made in BRUXHELL (Brussels).

The selection is a patchwork of various unreleased works from around 1993 to 1996. A silent witness of these rave-days said the following about the production process of the tracks on this new Basic Moves release:
“We were eager to share our individual sound universes with each other and see where it would take us. These compositions emerged during many sleepless nights spent watching videos of science fiction series such as Babylon 5 or Star Trek, scrutinising each episode while composing.”

Ovatow made quite a stir when he first started dropping deep dubs on his mysterious MySpace page (the main social media at the time). The tracks on the little crappy audio player got hunted down by a flock of DJ's and label heads. From behind a curtain of anonymity he soon started releasing his material on various labels, becoming cult classics in the dub-techno world. It was 2007 when X-dub first appeared on the Dutch imprint SD Records, followed up by his classic release on Frantic Flowers and a string of other projects while keeping his identity secret to everyone. Years later, the rumors proved true... the artist behind these mysterious projects was non other than the Frantic Flowers / Frustrated Funk label head himself. Just testing the waters around him, receiving release offers from close friends and colleagues while he kept his anonymity up. A fun little joke for himself, though the tracks are still relevant and sought after classics today. Both X-dub versions re-appear now, for the first time after almost 20 years, fully retouched and remastered, together with an unknown unreleased jam called Autistic Navigational Spectrum. This is the first in a series of Ovatow work, revived for the heads that appreciate the foggy deep of the Undacurrnt.

Swiss DJ and composer Dexter Troy has made a name for himself with notable productions on labels such as « King Street Sounds, » « Groove Culture, » and « Mood Funk Records, » alongside iconic artists like Kerri Chandler, Dennis Ferrer, Masters At Work, Satoshi Fumi, and Dimitri From Paris. For over 15 years, he has shared his passion for electronic music in bars, clubs, and festivals in Switzerland and abroad.

His rich and diverse musical universe draws from multiple influences: house, funk, disco, all enhanced with a touch of electro-techno. »

One year after the part 1, « The Double Take part 2 » is coming to put the finishing touches to the project. He’s joined by BAKA G, a talented artist who made a name for herself on the Brussels house scene and distinguished herself with releases on labels such as Happiness Therapy.

HAVEN are back with their vinyl operation with a fresh plate of grubby Techno heat from Irish heavyweights Faetch & Sunil Sharpe on the Grotteca EP. Featuring 4 original rippers and a remix from Italian legend DJ Plant Texture of upfront club pressure, the NZ-based label are proud to transmit some of the finest in creeping electronics from across the globe.

The A-side kicks off with 'Bleed In' with its tough drum-work and hypnotising atmospheres eventually descending in to an all-out stomp with one of the filthiest synth-lines in the label's history hitting half-way through. This is followed up with 'Test Breaks' - a broken-beat slammer with a ton of gritty synth design and rear-shaking rhythms. The first side is closed with DJ Plant Texture's remix of 'Bleed In', where driving 909 hits combine with the original synth line for a club-ready weapon ready to get those feet moving.

On the B-side 'Vapornation' keeps the energy rolling with its rolling congas, heavy kick, and eerie atmospheres tailor-made for a concrete basement. Finally, 'Shinplant' closes the record with full-steam-ahead drums and squalid synth rhythms to end yet another plate of dance-floor ammunition from the HAVEN camp.

When I first started Future Retro London, primarily as a club night, the first event was meant to take place in April 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the date got pushed to June 2020 in the hopes that venues in the UK would have re-opened by that time. They very much were not re-opened by then and navigating the various lockdown periods that occurred meant the first event didn't actually happen until December 2021.

Dead Man's Chest was part of the original lineup intended for the first event but by the time it was actually able to happen, he had temporarily relocated to Portugal & it meant he wasn't able to make it for it. Various attempts were made afterwards to try & include him in events I was doing but nothing came together until I finally had him play the 2nd joint event I did with Distant Planet in December 2024.

He runs a label called Western Lore which I've featured on previously, with 2 different remixes I did of Plastic Face by Response & Pliskin, as well as a track featured on the first Blunted Breaks compilation. It only made sense to eventually work on a joint label project as his label is a key figure in the current wave of jungle music, plus I hadn't put any music from him on Future Retro London yet so now I can finally tick him off the list!

Big up to Dead Man's Chest for his work on the collaborations & for his involvement in making this release a reality.

Pixl has been sending me so much of the music that he's been doing solo as well as his collabs with Duburban, Ark X & Peeb. I've been playing quite a few of them on my shows on NTS Radio & it only made sense to eventually put together a full release of them, so here is Old Citrus by him & Peeb, representing the atmospheric style of jungle that they are both excellent at.

Big up to both of them on this release & to Equinox for his fantastic remix of Old Citrus.

He runs a label called Western Lore which I've featured on previously, with 2 different remixes I did of Plastic Face by Response & Pliskin, as well as a track featured on the first Blunted Breaks compilation. It only made sense to eventually work on a joint label project as his label is a key figure in the current wave of jungle music, plus I hadn't put any music from him on Future Retro London yet so now I can finally tick him off the list!

Big up to Dead Man's Chest for his work on the collaborations & for his involvement in making this release a reality.

Phonica AM welcomes long-time friend of the shop Voigtmann, appearing under his A Thousand Futures alias with a release that feels perfectly at home on the imprint. Known for precision engineering and playful groove work, he delivers a 12″ that’s subtle, characterful and built for repeat play.

Across four tracks, Voigtmann moves between sleek, futuristic club moods with ease: from the ghostly, cosmic drive of “Leftfoot Lover” and the acid-flecked momentum of “Outer Edge,” through to the jacking electro-funk tension of “No Room For Squares.” The record closes on “Sunshine Capital,” a warm, chord-led cut that still carries his trademark grit - a deeper moment without losing focus.

Curated by Phonica’s Luther Vine, the AM series champions the stranger, more late-night corners of the dancefloor, and this release fits the ethos with style. Touching lightly on progressive house, tech house and electro-leaning minimal, the record avoids strict genre lines and instead prioritises feeling: trippy, functional and made for DJs.

Following on from the November release of the Material Things / Pike album Rain & Cymbals, 12th Isle enter the new year with a limited vinyl edition of Through Global Frequency, a prescient work of ambient synth, electro-acoustic music and voice recordings by long-standing Dutch multimedia artist Michel Banabila (b. Amsterdam, 1961). Structured around a poem largely composed of titles from recordings he has made over the years, and written during a period marked by new Dutch migration policies, the genocide in Gaza, and the rise of the far right across Europe, Banabila enlists the voices of friends and family, each reciting the poem back to him in their native language. These voice recordings are set within a unique composition that works with the tonality, cadence and rhythm of the vocals, encompassing languages such as Arabic, Spanish, isiZulu, German, French, English, Japanese, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Dutch. Contributions come from Scanner (Robin Rimbaud), Ines Kooli, Sebastian Lee Philipp (Die Wilde Jagd), Yuko Kobayashi, Simone Eleveld, Cengiz Arslanpay and more.

“I felt the need to create something warm, something that embraced diversity. Every voice here is uniquely recognisable and reflects how I know them. I truly enjoyed working with these recordings, focusing on their personalities and the distinctive sound of their languages. For me, making music has always been a way to stay sane, and I have always loved working with voice recordings.”

Music, mix and poem by Michel Banabila,
track 3 featuring Robin Schaeverbeke,
track 8 featuring Cengiz Arslanpay,
track 10 featuring Machinefabriek.
Cello on track 9 by Peter Hollo.

Cut The With The Cake Knife was recorded by Rose McDowall in 1988/89 following the break up of her group Strawberry Switchblade. Produced with the aid of several musicians in several studios, the album features songs written for the fabled second Strawberry Switchblade album. More importantly perhaps it showcases the honest, direct and life-affirming songs of one of the greatest unsung songwriters of the modern pop era at a tumultuous time in her career.

Tibet opens the set and could be one of the best pop songs you've never heard. The innate sadness of the songs' content - the loss of a friendship, impending sorrow - is heightened to heart-melting level by McDowall's pop nous and melodic sensibility. Choruses and hooks are everywhere on Cake Knife, from the outsider take on stadium 80s pop in Wings Of Heaven to the spiraling, ecstatic So Vicious, a glorious anthem that highlights the human fragility in McDowall's vocal performance, an instrument that has never lost the naïve purity it first exemplified in Strawberry Switchblade's early 80s recordings. The centerpiece of the album, the title-track, is the greatest Switchblade pop chart hit that never was. Like the veiled melancholy of her former group's hits, Cut With The Cake Knife hints at a darkness beneath the gloss, a darkness that saw McDowall delve into more esoteric territory with her subsequent recordings and collaborations. Cut With The Cake Knife serves as the bridge between the pop music McDowall had been making with her friends Jill Bryson, Lawrence from Felt and Primal Scream to what became a more extreme, deep sound informed by neo-folk and post industrial music.

Rose McDowall's role in the canon has always been one of an outsider. Beginning in Glasgow's East End in the avant proto-noise group The Poems, achieving fame briefly in the 80s and then disappearing into counter-cultural folklore, the emphasis in the internet-age has been skewed towards her image and cultural significance. Unseen to many, her solo work, her groups Sorrow and Spell and her collaborations with a whole host of underground luminaries have still touched lives. As McDowall elucidates: 'They're real sad songs, about real life. I've had people come up to me to say I'd connected with them and helped them. I remember a gig in America when we made a whole room cry. It was bizarre. A couple at the front of the stage started crying and then these two boys beside and suddenly everyone was crying. And I thought, "that's power."

Night School's issue of Cut With The Cake Knife includes unpublished photographs, extensive sleeve notes from Rose McDowall and 2 bonus tracks culled from the bootleg 7' 'Don't Fear The Reaper.' First vinyl pressing is Clear w/ Black swirl; 500 only / has DL card and booklet, with a poster
CD has extensive booklet and is packaged in anO-Card.

Laseech, a Croatian producer and Cosada label owner with releases on BBE, Lumberjacks In Hell, Red Ember Records, and Forbidden Dance, is continuing a string of excellent releases with Rising Soul. Known for his dedication to house music, Laseech has built an international reputation through collaborations and remixes with some of the genre's most respected architects, including Ron Trent, Patrice Scott, Javonntte, and Dego. "Rising Soul is actually one of the first tracks I did back in 2017 while I was heavily into sampling. I was jamming with my MPC1000, and Rising Soul came up. I never thought that it would become such an effective song that works on the dancefloor every time." Laseech explains. Kez YM, a highly respected Japanese producer and DJ, has been a key figure in the global house music scene for almost two decades. Originally from Chiba and now based in Berlin, his unique approach to house music has led to releases on esteemed labels such as City Fly, Faces Records, Yore, and 4Lux. When describing his version of the track, Kez simply stated: "VIBES." Well, no one will argue with that. The last version comes from Cycle Records' founder Jan Kincl, a prominent Croatian music producer and DJ with releases on labels like BBE, Far Out, Sonar Kollektiv, and Get Physical. "I've been playing Andrej's original for years. He undoubtedly made some good stuff recently, but this one remains among my firm favourites from him. Kez delivered a beautiful version that took it further towards jazz territory, so I decided to make a version that would bridge those two." Jan explains. "I knew we could build a very good record around Rising Soul, with versions that would give DJs different options for different moments during the party. I guess we did a good job because some of the early supporters include DJs from all over the place - Laurent Garnier, Alex Barck from Jazzanova, Marcel Dettmann, Alex Nut (Eglo), Sasse, Chicago's K' Alexi Shelby, Lakuti, Ian Friday and Truncate, among others.

Forthcoming on our home label Prospektiva, PRZ11eleven marks the first VRSION release in nearly a decade.
The alias made its debut on Craig Richards’ The Nothing Special in 2015, with a remix from the late, great Trevino, before resurfacing in 2016 on Constant Sound, accompanied by a remix from Jesper Dahlbäck under his much-coveted moniker, The Persuader.

This release follows a long hiatus for VRSION, aka Irish producer Gavin Herlihy, a once-prolific fixture of the late 2000s whose work spanned a who’s who of leading techno labels before he retired his work under his own name in 2014. In 2024, Herlihy re-emerged with Between The Lines, a collaborative EP with debut artist Nikol under the name Body Copy, released via Barcelona's respected label O.C.D.

PRZ11eleven picks up where VRSION left off, delivering four tracks of timeless, acid-laced house and breakbeat techno with an ear to the future as well as the past.

2026 Repress

Whether in the studio or the club, Daphni has always been a pursuit where Dan Snaith lets the music find its own path. With Cherry this is more evident than ever, this sense of the tracks as objects with life and desires outside of Snaith’s control has now become a driving force in their creation. "There isn't anything obvious that unifies it or makes it hang together" Snaith says, "I think it was good that it was made without worrying about any of that. I just made it."
Recorded over a prolonged period, Snaith let the music go where it wanted to go. It wasn’t until he put everything he’d been tinkering with together that he realised what he had. "It's weird that when the tracks were put in what felt like the right order it took on a new coherence" he says, "where it pings quickly from one idea to the next and, at least for me, hangs together in way that feels unified. Maybe because it's hard to avoid the musical fingerprints I leave on the music I make, whether I want to or not."
The component parts have this same sense of independence, the essence of Daphni always present over music that is more free-wheeling than it’s ever been, almost escaping Snaith's grasp as it tumbles and spirals. "As is often the case when you're working quickly and intuitively, new pieces of equipment played a part" he says.
New gear and ways of working meant Snaith was able to sit at the centre of the music but let things get away from him a bit more as equipment began to make its own decisions before reeling it back in to suit his purposes, or as he puts it "getting the snake to eat its own tail".