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Three years following the critically acclaimed "A Journey told through Fire" (2023), the new album navigates a sprawling conceptual narrative, tracing the cyclical nature of the cosmos from its initial spark in the void to its inevitable dissolution. Lyrically, the album explores the terrifying scale of cosmic darkness and the fragility of existence within a primordial emptiness. Sworn investigates the philosophy of becoming and unmaking, where reality and time emerge from nothingness only to eventually collapse back into the same unfathomable origin. Musically, "Null Crowned the Infinite" pushes the boundaries of the band's established sound, balancing their signature melodic tension with newfound levels of aggression and atmospheric depth. The record features "The Starless Origin", a twelve-minute epic that stands as their longest composition to date, alongside " Fracture of Aeons ", which the band identifies as their most aggressive track ever recorded. Sworn collaborated with renowned producer Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios , who handled the mixing and mastering. Bogren's legendary portfolio, featuring giants such as Opeth, Arch Enemy and Behemoth, brings a polished yet devastating edge to the performances of Max Wilson, Christoffer Kjorsvik, Goran Hope and Tom Ian Klungland. The album artwork is equally striking, created by Par Olofsson, known for his iconic work with Aborted and Kreator.

Three years following the critically acclaimed "A Journey told through Fire" (2023), the new album navigates a sprawling conceptual narrative, tracing the cyclical nature of the cosmos from its initial spark in the void to its inevitable dissolution. Lyrically, the album explores the terrifying scale of cosmic darkness and the fragility of existence within a primordial emptiness. Sworn investigates the philosophy of becoming and unmaking, where reality and time emerge from nothingness only to eventually collapse back into the same unfathomable origin. Musically, "Null Crowned the Infinite" pushes the boundaries of the band's established sound, balancing their signature melodic tension with newfound levels of aggression and atmospheric depth. The record features "The Starless Origin", a twelve-minute epic that stands as their longest composition to date, alongside " Fracture of Aeons ", which the band identifies as their most aggressive track ever recorded. Sworn collaborated with renowned producer Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios , who handled the mixing and mastering. Bogren's legendary portfolio, featuring giants such as Opeth, Arch Enemy and Behemoth, brings a polished yet devastating edge to the performances of Max Wilson, Christoffer Kjorsvik, Goran Hope and Tom Ian Klungland. The album artwork is equally striking, created by Par Olofsson, known for his iconic work with Aborted and Kreator.

The first three masterpieces of Germany's EverEve, (Their name is taken from a poem out of "Lord of the Rings") "Seasons" (1997), "Stormbirds" (1998), and "Regret" (1999), are deeply emotional works of art, forged in darkness, melancholy, and poetic introspection, standing today as some of the most compelling statements ever produced within the Gothic Metal movement.In the late 1990s, while countless bands attempted to define the boundaries of Gothic Metal, EverEve effortlessly rose above convention Their music was never confined by genre limitations. It drew equally from Doom Metal's oppressive weight, Gothic Rock's romantic desolation, and the emotional grandeur of Dark Wave, creating a soundscape that was uniquely their own. "Seasons " marked the beginning of this remarkable journey. A debut album rich in atmosphere and emotional depth, it introduced a band already possessing a mature artistic identity. Its songs unfold like chapters from a forgotten gothic novel, where every melody is wrapped in shadows and every lyric resonates with profound emotional sincerity.

The first three masterpieces of Germany's EverEve, (Their name is taken from a poem out of "Lord of the Rings") "Seasons" (1997), "Stormbirds" (1998), and "Regret" (1999), are deeply emotional works of art, forged in darkness, melancholy, and poetic introspection, standing today as some of the most compelling statements ever produced within the Gothic Metal movement.In the late 1990s, while countless bands attempted to define the boundaries of Gothic Metal, EverEve effortlessly rose above convention Their music was never confined by genre limitations. It drew equally from Doom Metal's oppressive weight, Gothic Rock's romantic desolation, and the emotional grandeur of Dark Wave, creating a soundscape that was uniquely their own. "Seasons " marked the beginning of this remarkable journey. A debut album rich in atmosphere and emotional depth, it introduced a band already possessing a mature artistic identity. Its songs unfold like chapters from a forgotten gothic novel, where every melody is wrapped in shadows and every lyric resonates with profound emotional sincerity.

Out There was Eric Dolphy's second LP as a leader, taped in 1960 the same year he recorded his debut LP, Outward Bound - both for Prestige Records. Although these were his first recordings as a leader, Dolphy was already a veteran performer with considerable recording experience. He had formed part of drummer Roy Porter's orchestra during 1948-1950 (with whom he waxed his first sides), and in 1949 he made his first recording with Charles Mingus, who would serve as his employer and mentor for many years. The instrumentation used on Out There is quite unusual, with Eric Dolphy playing in a quartet format with Ron Carter on cello, George Duvivier on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums.

Der Antwerpener Songwriter Noonzy (Arnaud Stockbroekx) schlägt mit seinem Debütalbum Plan Is Bad (VÖ: 2. Oktober 2026) ein neues Kapitel auf. Nach seinem selbstproduzierten EP Post-it-tapes (2022), dem Finale von De Nieuwe Lichting und dem gefeierten Album Puppies (2025), entwickelt er seinen Sound konsequent weiter: weg von DIY-Lo-Fi, hin zu mutigem, experimentellem Indie-Pop.
Gemeinsam mit Produzent Nathan Jenkins alias Bullion (Ben Howard, Nilüfer Yanya u. a.) entstand ein Album voller eingängiger Melodien, grooviger Produktionen und überraschender Wendungen. Plan Is Bad verbindet Feel-Good-Energie mit alternativem Anspruch und vereint spielerische Leichtigkeit mit tiefgründigem Songwriting.
Das Ergebnis ist ein frischer, facettenreicher Sound, der Noonzys künstlerische Entwicklung auf den Punkt bringt – vertraut, überraschend und voller Entdeckungen. Seine musikalische Welt ist längst größer geworden als er selbst: ein kreativer Raum, in dem Zusammenarbeit, Spontaneität und Neugier den Ton angeben.

For two decades, Pokey LaFarge has walked his own effortlessly cool road as an exceptionally iconoclastic troubadour - forthright, genuine, and markedly keen to put it all out there. Rent Money now sees him pushing forward yet again in what can be safely declared his finest collection to date, both as an heartfelt expression of personal experience and as no-nonsense social commentary.With its twanging guitars, plucky rhythms, and undeniably captivating melodies, the album soars and swings, its joyous refrains belying the inescapable undercurrent of constant worry and angst that permeates these troubled times. As always, the Illinois native deftly traverses the genre boundaries, seamlessly integrating the myriad strains of 20th-century American music with a freewheeling command of earnest songcraft, inspired performance, and subversive creativity. Rent Money stands tall as an indisputable high-water mark for Pokey LaFarge - a defining collection from a one-of-a-kind artist of rare ingenuity and uncommon candor, now as ever, determinedly crafting a sure-footed brand of deeply human music all his own. Tracklisting:SIDE AThe ThingMy Baby Loves MeHamboneRent MoneyStick TogetherSIDE BWorkStrangerCan't Take it With YouTold You NoBig Boss ManOn and On

Seit zwei Jahrzehnten geht Pokey LaFarge als außergewöhnlich ikonoklastischer Troubadour seinen eigenen, mühelos coolen Weg – offen, authentisch und mit dem ausgeprägten Bestreben, alles offen auf den Tisch zu legen. Mit „Rent Money“ setzt er nun erneut einen Schritt nach vorne und legt ein Album vor, das man getrost als sein bisher bestes bezeichnen kann – sowohl als herzlichen Ausdruck persönlicher Erfahrungen als auch als schnörkellosen gesellschaftlichen Kommentar.
Mit seinen twangenden Gitarren, schwungvollen Rhythmen und unbestreitbar fesselnden Melodien schwebt und swingt das Album, wobei seine fröhlichen Refrains die unausweichliche Unterströmung ständiger Sorgen und Ängste verschleiern, die diese unruhigen Zeiten durchziehen. Wie immer überschreitet der aus Illinois stammende Musiker gekonnt die Genregrenzen und verbindet nahtlos die unzähligen Strömungen der amerikanischen Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts mit einer ungezwungenen Beherrschung ernsthafter Songkunst, inspirierter Darbietung und subversiver Kreativität.
„Rent Money“ ist ein unbestreitbarer Höhepunkt in Pokey LaFarges Schaffen – eine prägende Sammlung eines einzigartigen Künstlers von seltenem Einfallsreichtum und ungewöhnlicher Offenheit, der heute wie damals entschlossen seine ganz eigene, tiefmenschliche Musik mit sicherem Gespür gestaltet.

Mit ihrem zweiten Album „Cancel Me (I’m Tired)” melden sich Fat Dog lauter, wilder und größer denn je zurück. Nach dem gefeierten Debüt „WOOF. (2024) und einer turbulenten Welttournee liefert die siebenköpfige Band aus Südlondon ein elektrisierendes Genre-Feuerwerk aus hymnischen Electro-Pop-Tracks, treibenden Dancefloor-Bangern und überraschenden Country- und Space-Rock-Momenten zu einem mutigen, unvorhersehbaren Gesamtwerk. Frontmann Joe Love verarbeitet darin die intensiven Erfahrungen der letzten zwei Jahre – von Liebe und Familie bis hin zu Chaos, Sucht, KI und absurden Popkultur-Referenzen.
Bekannt für ihre ekstatischen Live-Shows und ihren anarchischen Charme gelten Fat Dog längst als eine der aufregendsten neuen Bands Großbritanniens. „Cancel Me (I’m Tired)” beweist: Die Band ist alles andere als müde – sie fängt gerade erst richtig an.

Ltd Edition! Pat Todd & the Rankoutsiders — hervorgegangen aus der Asche der legendären Lazy Cowgirls und angeführt von einem Frontmann, dessen Name seit Jahrzehnten für das raue Herz der amerikanischen Underground-Musik steht — melden sich mit ihrem neunten Album „I’ll Dream Alone“ zurück. Zwölf Songs voller lauter Gitarren, schnörkelloser Storytelling-Tradition und der bekannten Mischung aus knurrendem 70er-Jahre-Punk, Country, Blues und klassischem Rock, die die Band seit den Lazy-Cowgirls-Tagen zum Maßstab für Authentizität in der amerikanischen Rock’n’Roll-Szene gemacht hat. Aufgenommen und produziert von Gavin Ross in den Steady Studios, Burbank, CA — demselben Studio wie die letzten beiden Alben. Pat Todd hat die Songs so geschrieben oder mitgeschrieben, wie es bei den Rankoutsiders Tradition ist — manche jahrelang live erprobt, bevor sie endlich aufgenommen wurden („Ambition Street“), andere direkt im Studio entstanden, mit Texten, die erst zum Schluss dazukamen („We’re Outta Time“, „The World It Don’t Need You“ und der Titeltrack „I’ll Dream Alone“ selbst). Das Album reicht von der an Velvet Undergrounds „Loaded“ erinnernden Ballade „Mediocre Heart“ über den treibenden Soul-Beat von „Beyond the County Line“ bis zum Update eines 60er-AM-Radio-Rockers in „The Last Of Me“. Gitarrist Nick Alexander übernimmt bei „It Ain’t All My Fault“ – nach wahren Begebenheiten – ausnahmsweise den Leadgesang, unterstützt von Stephen Vigh, Kevin Keller und Pat Todd. Den Auftakt macht die erste Single „Desire Has Left Town“, gefolgt von „We’re Outta Time“ als zweiter Single und „Blood & Gunpowder“ am Release-Tag. Die Band unterstützt die Veröffentlichung mit einer Europa-Tournee vom 9. Oktober bis 8. November 2026 und bringt „I’ll Dream Alone“ direkt ab Release quer über den Kontinent auf die Bühne.

And Their Power Is Alive is a collaborative record between the Vashon Island based artist Faith Coloccia and Ashville based guitarist Tashi Dorji out September on Whited Sepulchre Records. Coloccia and Dorji’s longstanding collaborative relationship and friendship bolsters this massive conceptual weight –– the music is as stirring as it is gorgeous, as exploratory as it is surefooted. And Their Power Was Alive manifests and rises up as a profound iteration of the interrelatedness of the personal and the political, poetically. Coloccia’s plaintive voice, as always, is clear and stirring, intimate, close, and notably here recorded without reverb. She is steady and her lyrics echo dream phrases which visited her during major life shifts: a drive through the arid desert, explaining the concept of private property to the next generation, intergenerational knowledge and caregiving. All of this establishes a melancholia of reflections on land, history, scale. The first words sung on this record are: “Cosmic Horror! I am nothing, I am no-one” and even here, Coloccia is steady. Dorji’s glacial layers of distorted howling guitar create a rise and crest and fall –– symphonies of noise, roaring but distant like fire in the hills, interwoven with piano, organ, and tubular bells.

Following one of 2025’s standout EPs, the CEO of the National Centre for Mark Fell Studies fires from the hip in brilliant, club-troubling motion. In step with 30 years of prism-pushing work — and particularly the »Nite Closures« EP, which signalled a concerted return to the dancefloor — Fell pulls aspects of hypermodern dance and electronic music from Chicago, Tanzania, and Japan into his own peculiar agenda.

The hugely distinctive results pull the body into thrillingly unusual, typically ascetic arrangements, activating every pointillist drum hit with attack and decay in a soberly ludic play of rhythmelodic tension and release, executed to delirious ends; 40 minutes of computer music.

As an artist who witnessed first-hand the explosion of electronic music in early ’80s Sheffield, and its interplay with house and rave as it refracted into wild new styles during the ’90s, Mark Fell is uniquely positioned to pursue his passion for the dynamics of electronic dance music to the nth degree. »Servitude In Context« continues to develop ideas around music for movement in the mid-2020s, placing decades of keen observation — from the macro and historical to the niche and hypermodern — at the service of flexing bodies in new directions.

Long-held notions of multistability manifest in what feels like two machines playing chess on the dancefloor, attempting to adapt to each other’s playing styles and patterns in real time, anticipating and zigzagging around the next move. The result is a plethora of options for limber dancers and those who only bust a move inside their heads.

The slow-fast play of accelerating and decelerating strikes, alongside monotonic chatter in »Actuations #1 (Extended)«, acclimatises the body to a uniquely sensual physics. This develops into the rudely screwed, asymmetric angularity of »Time-Slur« and the shatterproof elasticity of »Taut Manifold«, which feels like an LLM trained on Autechre.

»Low Energy Mantra« offers the EP’s closest resemblance to melodic structure, like gamelan and footwork refracted through lab-grown diamonds. Then »Anode« flashes its teeth with a rudeness recalling the latter stages of Fell’s Pat Thomas jams, before »3 Lost Contours (Pts 1–5)« tilts into 12 minutes of proper quicksilver madness, balancing the sexiness of his Sensate Focus work with an updated, clean-hoofed step and parry.

Tooloop Records celebrates its tenth release with "Orbis EP", a four-tracker from label affiliate Stab9. The record captures a moment of evolution in both Stab9’s sound and the label’s sonic identity, reflecting a broader vision of the Tooloop universe through expanded arrangements, deeper exploration and a more immersive presentation.

Opening the EP, ‘Source’ establishes its atmosphere through a constantly evolving arrangement, moving through several distinct phases while maintaining a sense of fluid progression. Carefully shifting textures, unexpected bass changes and subtle variations in dynamics reveal new details with each turn. Title track ‘Orbis’ shifts the EP towards warmer tones, built around classic house-inspired sounds, melancholic pads and polyrhythmic bass movement. Its rolling low-end and intricate percussion subtly tilt the track towards techno territory, reflecting the circular motion suggested by the track’s title. ‘Beastro’ gradually ascends through a restrained growling bassline and fractured hi-hats, dropping into an engine-cut moment in the middle of the track - a brief suspension before the groove returns, pulling the track back into motion. ‘True Story’ unfolds through a walking bassline, intricate hi-hats and smeared percussion, creating a sense of movement through a world of morphing textures and atmospheres. Its restrained melody embraces the idea of “less is more”, closing the EP with the bittersweet beauty of mono no aware.

With "Orbis EP", Stab9 presents a deeply personal approach to electronic music, where detailed studio craftsmanship meets the physical energy of the dancefloor - the label completing one full turn, and opening the next.

Dream Sonic Research returns with its second installment, blending techno with elements of trance and progressive.The release opens with The Portal, driven by a straightforward bassline, wobbling sub-frequencies, and chords that evoke Detroit techno. It is followed by Rise of June, a track that sets the mood for the party with a groovy bassline and an opening melody.

On the flip side, Blind Karma is a straight-to-the-point, psychedelic tune crafted for adventurous dancefloors. Closing the EP, Water Float takes everything to another place, an ethereal journey that draws you home.

When everything just aligns… then it feels like it is meant to be. I think we have all experienced that feeling; a feeling of completeness and that ‘full circle’ moment. Nihil Young lands his debut album packed full or memories stemming from the day he met his wife, to more recent times and the birth of his first child.

‘Compass’ takes you on a real journey of melodic music expertly written and crafted by Nihil from instruments all through to lyrics and songwriting – he has used all of his skills on this body of work – and he does not disappoint! AT ALL!

The album features collaborations alongside Rowland Giles, Leo Wood, Lasada, Jordan Arts, FRDRK, Adriana Stone, TYGR TYGR and more… Each track sounding as special as the last. THIS IS COMPASS….

This is Nihil Young … This is REALPROG

Per Hammar returns to his own Dirty Hands imprint with the four-track ‘Ontario EP’, once again showcasing his raw, robust and groove-led style.

Swedish producer and DJ Per Hammar has steadily carved out a reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary underground electronic music. As the founder of the acclaimed Dirty Hands imprint, Hammar has built a platform synonymous with deep, groove-led and uncompromising club music, while other productions have found homes on some of the scene's most respected labels including Sushitech, Kalahari Oyster Cult and Craigie Knowes. Here we see him returning to his own home and delivering stripped-back late-night tools, psychedelic excursions and deep, hypnotic dancefloor journeys. Hammar consistently balances functionality with personality, a quality that has established him as one of Europe's most respected underground talents.

Title cut ‘Ontario’ leads with Per laying down crisp, crunchy drums alongside dubby bass tones, fluttering stab sequences and intricate modulations, all delicately ebbing and flowing throughout the composition. ‘Off Disk’ follows, fusing organic percussive elements with weighty sub-bass, shifting synth flourishes and bubbling, delayed melodies that steadily unfold across the groove.

On the flip side, ‘Oops All Sixes’ shifts into more acid-tinged House territory, built around a squelchy acid bass hook and saturated drums, while sporadic, expansive delays and hypnotic reverberations drift atop the track’s raw, loopy foundation. ‘Airex’ concludes the release by diving deeper, stripping things back to oscillating percussion, a snaking low-end pulse and airy chords.

Early DJ Support: Moxie, Grant Dell, and Saoirse

HUMAN is a vinyl-only electronic music label based in Manchester, focused on music, art, fashion, and culture. We press records we believe in with no shortcuts.

HUM001 is the label's debut release, featuring E-Funk / Twisty by Scarper.

Scarper is a London-based producer and DJ known for blending melodic electronica, broken rhythms and left-field club ideas into a sound that’s entirely his own. Over the past decade, a deep catalogue of albums, EPs and remixes has taken shape, alongside work in advertising, gaming, TV and short film.

‘E-Funk’ is a hybrid club weapon - part 2-step, part house, part breaks, all energy. A certified floor starter that lives in the bag and lands every time, especially when the room hits its stride.

‘Twisty’ is probably the most dancefloor-ready cut, but the solid broken grooves dancing around acid bass lines and bleeps on each of these nine thumping tracks could work any room at the right moment.

Ian Simmonds presents his new album "The right side of kind" on Goldmin Music. Ian Simmonds is one of the most creative Nu-Jazz/Downtempo producers of the last 20 years.
Although these words can't describe his music properly as the man is always looking for an innovative sound that could cross the boundaries of musical styles. The Welsh-born found his inspiration in music from all over the world and his songs don't only express one clearly defined feeling. They are more of a subtle mix of emotions that let the listener interpret it his way. As Ian said himself: "I think there's a lot of beauty in melancholy". For example, he spent over a year living in a castle in Germany to record his last album " The Burgenland dubs" in a solitary atmosphere where he could really think, breathe, make a plan. That's the point, Ian is always re-thinking things over, looking for a new source of inspiration which results in a constant evolution. He had the chance to collaborate both with amazing musicians like Goldfrapp and electronic music heads like Mathias Kaden, Soulphiction, Krause Duo..

Fohn conjures a dreamlike landscape of introspective beauty, loneliness and transience from analogue tape and field recordings on new album, Porcelain.

A late summer evening in southern France. The dry mistral wind billows the washing that hangs outside the windows on narrow streets, bringing with it the first whispers of autumn. In the distance children are playing in the square, their shouts caught in the dust whipped up by their feet. A bell tolls, the light dies, and a rich, compelling solitude descends.

Violinist and multi-instrumentalist Fohn, aka Tom Connolly, describes the act of making music as “building fictional environments that become places of solace,” and a process of translation and projection that bridges his internal and external worlds.

While musicians like John Also Bennett, Oren Ambarchi and Connolly’s own group Quade drift behind his sound, Porcelain draws its temperamental inspiration from films like Call Me My Your Name and Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Mirror, as well as the sculptures of Anthony Gormley, whose solitary figures stand isolated in expanses of water along the UK coastline.

How does Connolly describe the atmosphere he wants the music to evoke? “It's the feeling of the inevitability of something having to pass,” he answers. “It's compelling because it's fundamentally unattainable. You're searching and grasping for something that you can never fully hold.”

A moving, intimate and deeply personal album, Porcelain shimmers in the illusive light of melancholy. For Connolly it provided the release of catharsis, but it’s a feeling that will mean something different to everyone who listens.

Ecstatic’s dreamiest cadets bliss out on a new album of acoustic and electric guitar, harmonium and synth tapestries, notably nestling a Romance cameo within a genteel toggle of atmospheric pressure.

Back on (side) road after releasing quietly acclaimed kosmische gem ‘I Had too Much to Dream Last Night’ back in 2021 and the lysergic lushness of ‘Listen to the Sky’ a couple of years later, Celestial suggest a more sublime return to earth with the shine-eyed wonders of ‘I Can Hear the Grass Grow’, an album that soothes to the supine in eight shimmering parts of pearlescent melodic motifs marbling harmonious backdrops intended to tenderly comb nerves straight.

The duo take their role as seductive sandmen with a curious melodic wit that leaves something to the imagination whilst nudging it along the album’s narrative thread. A courtly flamenco lick flickers in opener ‘The Endless Stair’, one of the most restrained recordings we've heard from the childhood friends; blessed with just a little reverb and echo, as if a mic's been lowered into some dimly lit basement while Celestial puzzle out mystifying, interlocking harmonies. It hits a mid-point between John Fahey's raga-inspired Americana and Vini Reilly's rain-soaked Northern blues - the emotion throbs from every note.

Celestial's music is never too polished, giving it the fuzzy, uninhibited flair of a long-lost mail order private press and instilling it with a level of humanity that's rare to discover in the new-new age. Even when mysterious labelmate Romance turns up to ornament 'Mermaid Boulevard' with backmasked electronics, it's their low-slung Ry Cooder-esque guitar/bass that provides the narrative anchor, while the title track and spongiform analog textures of ‘Song For The rainy Season’ dial it right down to a Harmonia-via-BoC pastoral sublime. Vini Reilly and Eno’s influence is most surely felt on the swaying elegance of ‘Sweet Sleep, Angel Mild’, with a central motif that lingers on the mind long after it’s stopped playing, whilst their closing couplet perfectly resolves the cycle with a melancholic kiss-off for the ages.

The story of each re-release begins with the original. In the late 90s, Uwe Zahn (Arovane), along with Robert Henke (Monolake) and Stefan Betke (Pole), began releasing music on Torsten Pröfrock’s (Dynamo) newly launched DIN label. This was a very inconspicuous undertaking, but fans of the flourishing IDM, glitch, and constantly evolving abstract techno genres quickly picked up on the quality of sound coming out of Germany. After a few successful EPs, Zahn began working on his debut full-length, Atol Scrap. The release was a success, at least in the underground circles, where followers of the melodic harmonies, stuttering off-beat rhythms, and, most importantly, advanced sound design feverishly consumed the imprint’s output. There was only one thing missing – the album was never pressed on vinyl, and for decades remained in the digital domain. The fans, of course, inquired. There were multiple offers on the table, but Zahn retained control until he was assured that it was properly attained. “I thought of taking everything into my own hands and releasing the record myself,” says Zahn, “but at the end of last year, Matthias from Keplar asked me to re-release Atol Scrap on vinyl.” The label and its owner revolve in the Morr Music universe, and so it made sense for Zahn to trust the platform to treat the record right.

Listening to Atol Scrap over twenty years later it is inane not to admit how well it has held up. Where other genres clearly aged, becoming stale, bland, and dull, the music on eleven tasty tracks still keeps the neurons tickled with each note. More than an echo of the past, the bottled sound truly has matured. Many of the newly evolving techniques are recognizable on the album. “I created the digital artifacts with a digital multi-track recorder, the Fostex D80,” recalls Zahn. “The thing had a scrub wheel with which I could achieve wonderful glitch effects by winding through the audio data. I have sampled and further processed these artifacts.” And this approach is still embedded in Zahn’s sound design. “I still use my 24-track analog desk from Tascam to mix my audio. I love to use hardware synths and samplers. I’ve definitely built upon my studio experience in the 90s.” From this debut to the most recent output, Arovane’s sound has evolved to become more intricate, detailed, and pronounced. “My music has become much quieter and much slower. But that’s probably also due to the noise in the world.” And just as Atol Scrap reminds Zahn of the past, retaining charm preserved in a container traveling through time, it also jitters memories of long ago, when we were twenty years younger, less experienced, and bold. For me, among the many records of the time, this album held a special place in life, my heart, and many CD boxes moved across the world. And now I’m only happy to restock the vinyl space, where Atol Scrap belongs among the beloved records. Welcome home. - Mike Lazarev

Remastered and cut to vinyl by Kassian Troyer @ D&M. Cover art by Jim Kühnel based on a photograph by Uwe Zahn.

Since the release of DAMAGED in 2024, Michael Fiedler aka GHOST DUBS has been surfing intensifying waves of adulation, earning praise from such diverse underground legends as Justin Broadrick (Godflesh/Jesu), Regis, Stefan Betke (Pole) and Steve Von Till (Neurosis). With second album Oblique, his mastery of sculpting sound waves results in a spellbinding set of alien soundscapes: larger in scale, richer in tone and considerably more cinematic than its predecessor. Lower, deeper and moodier, its cloudy abstractions, shadowy pulsations and submerged rhythms find Fiedler reaching further into his own sonic void, crafting blurred melodies and addictive narco loops into something simultaneously heavyweight and hypnotic. Album opener "Low Times" sets the atmospheric pressure to maximum, resembling a dream date between prime dirt-house era Andy Stott and Berlin dub-tech pioneers Basic Channel. From there, Oblique descends into a series of enchanting mood scenes: the furtive, balletic gyrations of "After All", the haunting ambience and buried heartbeat throb of "Soft Collapse", and the noirish atmospherics of "Blackout Dust", which worms its way into the mind like some forgotten David Lynch scene. The spirit of reggae is more distanced here than on DAMAGED, but the ghost of Jamaican dub still permeates these foggy soundscapes, particularly on "Bombed Suburbs", where Augustus Pablo-style melodicism is chopped, screwed and slowed into a magnetic lock groove. Superficially minimal but maximal in its minute detail, Oblique is a record of contorted reflections, mesmeric echoes and tantalising audio mirages. By the vaporous mist of closing track "Almost a Structure", obvious rhythm has been craftily filtered away, leaving a blurred and blunted residue full of mystery and implied narrative. Dense in the best possible sense and crushing when played loud yet equally potent played quiet, Oblique imagines dub techno burning its own rigid rulebook: sensual, funky and concussive rather than dry or alienating. "Second album from electronic producer Michael Fiedler's GHOST DUBS project. "Follows up from the highly-acclaimed 'Implosion' album with The Bug from 2025. "Debut album 'Damaged' sold out its three initial pressings and has just been repressed "Michael Fiedler recently scored 'Sound of Falling' which won a Cannes award in 2025 and made the shortlist for an Oscar, too.

,Memoria", das neueste Album von Carmen Villain auf Smalltown Supersound, beginnt wie ein geöffnetes Ventil; ausatmende Flötenakkorde füllen langsam eine weite Klanglandschaft und laden den Zuhörer dazu ein, das Tempo zu drosseln und in einen Zustand des tiefen Zuhörens einzutreten. Es ist eine Einleitung, die gekonnt in ein Album aus verlangsamten, spektralen Dub-Klängen führt, die schimmern, knurren und über die narrativ geordneten sieben Titel hinweg ausklingen. In dieser Hinsicht knüpft ,Memoria" dort an, wo Villain mit ihrem 2022 erschienenen Album ,Only Love from Now On" aufgehört hatte, auch wenn der Schwerpunkt des aktuellen Albums auf Klang als Erinnerung liegt - und auf Erinnerungen als sich wandelnde, nicht statische Unvollkommenheiten. Wiederholung fungiert als neu erzählte Erinnerung; die Bearbeitung zersetzt und formt den Klang neu, und Abstraktion ermöglicht eine Art Freiheit von Linearität. Inspiriert von Pauline Oliveros' Schriften über innerlich abrufbare Klänge, die für andere unhörbar sind, sowie von Apichatpong Weerasethakuls Film ,Memoria" aus dem Jahr 2021, betrachtet Villain die Erinnerung sowohl als kognitive Fähigkeit als auch als Form der Komposition und formt Samples aus ihrem eigenen Archiv zu einer kosmischen Selbstbeobachtung - wenn auch zu einer, die das Gegenteil von Solipsismus ist. Der nach innen gerichtete Blick des Albums lässt sich vom tiefen Zuhören als Form der Empathie inspirieren, das uns gleichzeitig mit uns selbst und unserer Umgebung verbindet. Die Arbeit der letzten Jahre an Kompositionen für zeitgenössischen Tanz und Installationen - darunter Kooperationen mit der Choreografin Eszter Salamon und ein Aufenthalt am IRCAM, bei dem sie erstmals ambisonische Räumlichmachung erforschte - prägt ebenfalls die verstärkte Aufmerksamkeit, die ,Memoria" dem Klang als physischem Raum und immersiver Umgebung widmet. Ein Großteil von ,Memoria" basiert auf einer Kombination aus neuen Aufnahmen und älterem Archivmaterial: Aufnahmesessions mit der häufigen Mitwirkenden Johanna Orellana (Flöten) sowie Eivind Lonning (Trompete) werden neben Villains eigenen Klarinettenaufnahmen zerlegt und zu einer dichten, aber luftigen Sample-Bank neu zusammengesetzt. Die viszerale menschliche Präsenz (Atem, Wind, die Körperlichkeit der Luft, die durch Instrumente strömt) und harmonische Stränge des Free Jazz treten durch mehrere Bearbeitungsschichten hindurch zutage, als hörte man sie aus der Ferne - oder durch die Zeit hindurch. Rhythmen und Texturen lösen sich auf. Der Klang erodiert. Erinnerungen werden neu gestaltet. Und Melodien sind, anders als auf Villains früheren Veröffentlichungen, weniger deutlich und weichen anderen musikalischen Leitmotiven. Es lässt sich eine Tradition zurückverfolgen, die zu Rhythm & Sound, Clicks-and-Cuts, Pharoah Sanders, Jon Hassell, Actress und Ricardo Villalobos führt - wenn auch oft in abstrakten Formen: Kleine Klänge werden groß, während große in einen feinkörnigen Rhythmus zurücktreten. Minimalismus ist der Schlüssel, um die Details wahrzunehmen: knisternde Elektronik, Einatmen und Seufzer hallen in weiten Räumen nach und ruhen auf einem Fundament aus Rhythmus. Diese Zurückhaltung unterstreicht Villains Neigung, Klänge und ihre geisterhaften Klanggedächtnis-Doppelgänger nach Frequenzen chirurgisch voneinander zu trennen. Paradoxerweise lässt sich jedes Artefakt als Annäherung an eine Erinnerung mit äußerster Präzision hören. Für Villain scheint die Erinnerung im Klang bequem hinter dem Mischpult eines Dub-Labors Platz zu nehmen und dort gekonnt und unvorhersehbar Lautstärken, Texturen, Filter und alle anderen Parameter - bekannte wie unbekannte - in einer sich ständig wandelnden Erinnerung zu steuern.

Flug brings his singular vision to Backspin Records with 'From My Soul', a 7-track EP that marks a powerful new chapter for both artist and label, rounded out by a remix from Kashpitzky. Moving between deep emotional techno, raw percussive functionality and high intensity, the release showcases Flug's signature precision and narrative depth while keeping things classy and never falling for overused tropes. Kashpitzky completes the package with a remix that reinterprets the source material from a darker, more straight-forward angle. ??

Opening with the title track 'From My Soul', Flug sets off on an epic 8-minute journey built on reverberating melodic layers, shimmering chord pads and a strong low endthat unfolds slowly and deliberately, balancing emotional weight with a hypnotic drive. 'Make It Loud' follows with a more stripped, functional direction, where warm low-end energy, minimal percussion and reverb-drenched sine wave synth hits create a tight, circular groove anchored by a subtle but sinister vocal presence. ??

On the flip side, 'Human Instinct' turns the energy more direct and physical, driven by a saturated kick drum, looping synth motifs and sparse vocal cuts that heighten tension without disrupting the flow. 'The Awakening' expands the emotional scope with a deep kick and tom-driven bassline, expansive droning pads and dragging percussion that build a rich, cinematic atmosphere. Kashpitzky's remix reimagines the original at a faster BPM with distorted chord stabs, off-grid hi-hats and layered synth work creating a tense, industrial atmosphere that breaks into a spacious breakdown before dropping back into a stripped,high-impact groove. ??

With the 'From My Soul' EP, Flug marks a strong first statement on Regal's Backspin Records, delivering a cohesive body of work that balances depth, emotion and dancefloor utility, reinforcing the label's dedication to innovative techno.

The fifth instalment in the label’s well-established Fluid Files series, this new mosaic of sun-streaked joints summons the voices of faces old and new, sewn together with that similar Chicago-typical, laid-back attitude and a thread of unstoppable funkiness.

Diving first with a slice of velvety, looped out piano house boogie on a solid French filtered house tip, Dutch outfit Fouk lays down a proper enticing number for the late summer hours, packed with elastic bass jack, anthemic stabs and a sun-kissed shimmer straight out a blissed out coastal escape. Label alum Danou P follows up with a further bouncy number, dishing out a seriously infectious mix of acid-abraded bass and warped floor dynamics, ready to knock dancers askew with its lush, synth-flooded hooks and fun-loving, oddball swing.

More on the muscular side of things, Ben Diggins clocks in with the steroid-fueled balearic hoodoo of ‘Mascotte’ - a tune built for the undying after vibes, when the sun begins to rise and the crowd’s levels of serotonin hit a new high. Prismatic and powered-up, Diggins’ track injects any heavy-lidded engine with his own concoction of driving percussion, utopian motifs and fluttering, ambient-leaning harmonics.

Rounding off this four-part sonic journey, Colombian vibist DFRA teams up with Argentinian singer Denise Izaguirre on the heavily Latin jazz-informed, ‘Impulse’. Soulful and oneiric, the song taps in both artists’ musical heritage whilst pushing for new directions through the combined use of electronic and acoustic instruments (congas, trumpet, synths, drum machine…) - contrasting and complementary, shaping an entirely new and singular vision that is drenched in a bittersweet blend of warm melancholy and bracing hopefulness

First Principles marks the debut release on Groove Disciples Series, a new DJ-focused vinyl catalogue from 80147, created as a natural extension of the Groove Disciples Podcast. While the podcast has connected DJs and selectors from local scenes across Europe through guest mixes and conversations, the new series continues that mission through carefully curated vinyl releases from artists who are both DJs and producers.

Opening the catalogue, Bloody G delivers four dancefloor-oriented cuts that explore the space between deep house and Detroit-inspired techno edges. From the melodic and melanchonic "Message in the Sound" to the driving "Regroup Reclaim Rebuild" and "Machine Funk" with a reinterpretation by Southbound Sounds, the EP is built with club functionality at its core, favouring groove, analogue warmth and musical restraint over passing trends.

First Principles establishes the philosophy behind the series: music first, DJs at the centre, and vinyl as the medium that continues to connect local clubbing scenes through music, collaboration and community.

Quiet, from the Latin quies, evokes a state of being still. In its verb form, quiet means to clear so that something can gradually come into focus. Kind Stranger by Amedeo Cappelletti is where quiet materializes in a more transient, even foreign, way. Each track takes a step back from noise, borne out of a slow return to music, a different pace, and a familiar place left behind for years.

Kind Stranger, released on Aurora Edition on July 24th, is about the strangeness of a return. Cappelletti's melodic scores work their way between faint noise and disquiet, and sonically muse upon the familiar. That is, when given enough time and distance, the familiar can become unrecognizable, demanding stillness to resituate oneself within it.

The album began taking shape when Cappelletti performed at Aurora Edition at Silent Green, just after he had returned to music following a three-year hiatus. In one month, he wrote forty-five minutes of new material from scratch. Then Cappelletti left Berlin after eight years and returned to the Tuscan countryside where he had grown up, back into slowness.

The album develops as an atmosphere in the truest sense. Resampled voices, found sound, and years of sound design practice converge as compositions form by overlapping texture with spatial depth. Kind Stranger cultivates a quietude that envelops the listener.

Vocal recordings made with Matthew Walsh and Sarah McInerney, collaborators Cappelletti met by chance in a Berlin ice cream shop, appear throughout the album like a current, shaped during a residency at MONOM, Berlin's spatial sound institute. Thematically, the record moves through digital addiction, fragmented attention, and the grief of work done in the darkness.

Kind Stranger is an offering to whoever finds themselves here within the quiet, in this particular quality of sound between return and lingering.

Ascendancy presents “Sow The Seed EP” by label co-owner Lo-Lo, with 4 tracks curated in collaboration with Alex Picone, that cover different moments on the dance floor. Likewise, they all share a straightforward dance energy, groovy basslines and melodic textures.

All tracks written & produced by Lo-Lo from Montevideo, Uruguay in 2025. Original graphics by Lo-Lo. Distributed by Small Black Dots. Ascendancy label all rights reserved.

'Music aged in time, resonating from the surface to the core through layers and sediments of stones - the strata. Four morning recording sessions with a separation between them of between three and ten months - a chronozone that will rest for a time and on which the next one will be added, thus forming the total of the six pieces of the album - becoming six strata.
'A slow-moving album that develops landscapes of subtle but continuous evolution, where we find layers of diverse nature created from different procedures, bathed in the calm waters of wabisabi, where melancholy, immensity, insignificance, the potential of the unemerged, coexistence and simplicity converge at the same time.'

Crooked Colours present Dirt Road Gold.

The fourth album from the prolific Australian outfit, the record signifies the next chapter for the acclaimed Crooked Colours; dreamy, poignant and unapologetically emotionally vulnerable.

As a body of work Crooked Colours (Philip Slabber) effortlessly genre-hops, from alternative euphoric builds to upbeat melodies to electronic stabs alongside his instantly recognisable heartbreaking vocals, stacked to perfection.

Key singles ‘Pink Limo’, ‘Come Thru’ and ‘I’m All Yours (feat. Georgi Kay)’ upholding the original elements Crooked Colours have become known for; yet with a modern 2026 approach proving an ever-evolving sonic escape.

Title track ‘Dirt Road Gold’ steps outside the traditional Crooked Colours sound; guitar plucks, raspy vocals and train rhythm snare. Truly highlighting Slabber’s storytelling ability in that space.

Bookended by ‘Oxford’ and ‘Honey Dog’ encapsulating the Crooked Colours aesthetic as a whole, delicate instrumentation and catchy sing-a-long hooks.

"Ich möchte lieben und geliebt werden, aber ich will mich auch frei fühlen. Die Spannung zwischen diesen beiden Dingen ist die zentrale Frage meines Lebens", sagt Julia Jacklin - und genau diese Ambivalenz durchzieht ihr viertes Album The Gem. Nach ihrem Umzug nach Melbourne 2017 fand Jacklin in einer kleinen Bar namens The Gem einen Ort der Selbstfindung - ein Sinnbild, das dem neuen Album seinen Namen gibt. Acht Jahre später, nach den hochgelobten Erfolgen ihrer ersten drei Platten - Don"t Let the Kids Win (2016), Crushing (2019) und PRE PLEASURE (2022) - schlägt sie ein neues Kapitel auf: Erstmals veröffentlicht sie bei dem renommierten, stilprägenden Label 4AD, das seit Jahrzehnten für künstlerische Vision und ikonische Indie-Veröffentlichungen steht. Ohne äußeren Druck und frei von Erwartungen schuf Jacklin in Melbourne ihr bislang persönlichstes Werk. The Gem entstand im engen Kreis vertrauter Musiker:innen und entwickelte sich über Monate hinweg - ein intensiver Prozess, geprägt von Selbstreflexion, Zweifel und dem Mut, eigene Entscheidungen kompromisslos zu vertreten. Songs wie "Brand New" oder "Real Life" wurden dabei grundlegend neu gestaltet, bis sie sich ehrlich und richtig anfühlten. Der eröffnende Track "Brand New" setzt ein elektrisches Statement zwischen Aufbruch und Selbsttäuschung, während Stücke wie "God Sometimes" oder "The Hardest Thing" von Selbstbestimmung, Verlust und innerem Wachstum erzählen. Klanglich erweitert Jacklin ihre bisherigen Indie- und Folk-Ansätze um kraftvollere, teils nahezu hymnische Momente. Auch die besondere Aufnahmeumgebung - ein Studio über einer lebhaften Kneipe - prägt den Sound: roh, direkt und atmosphärisch dicht. Mit The Gem gelingt Julia Jacklin eine eindringliche Rückkehr zu sich selbst. Zugleich knüpft sie an die Stärke ihrer bisherigen Alben an und entwickelt ihren Sound konsequent weiter - ein weiterer Beweis dafür, warum sie zu den prägendsten Stimmen des modernen Indies zählt.

Crafting another beautiful experience in sensorial delight, fleet.dreams returns to Vinezza with the label’s 3rd offering “A Voice Without Color” - born from an ever-deepening practice of groove-powered depth tech melded with realms of dubwise kineticism, enchanted cognition, and expressive, dreamlike synthesis.

“A Voice Without Color” finds fleet.dreams’ music in its most rave-activated mode yet, crafting 4 pieces of infinitely mixable spectral matter - all part of their own universe beckoning to be heard under the glow of stars in the night sky, or floating amidst the mesmerizing fog & lights pumping out of the system on your favorite dancefloor.

Awash in kaleidoscopic splendor and psychedelic intrigue, “A Voice Without Color” finds kinship in everything from the best of expansive dancefloor kineticism, time dilated wonder, and the vivid reverbations of the natural world floating in the mix. At once quintessential, contemporary, and ubiquitous is fleet.dreams’ own remarkable production technique, each track unfurling in seemingly endless swells of simmering rhythm and hypnotizing atmospherics - new memories of circadian entrancement in their molten essence, designed to blissfully guide you deeper and deeper towards the primordial exhilaration of movement. Undulating with vivid pulsations and clarion calls for the hips and mind echoing across a spiraling gyre, the sprawling waltz of “A Voice Without Color” glides through dazzling chroma and effulgent radiance greater than the sum of its parts.

Painting with bold, prismatic strokes of iridescent friction amidst the listless gray of our increasingly dispassionate timeline, fleet.dreams delivers another EP of style, substance, and vision for the dancers and DJs alike - a future classic of a possible world ready to be activated together.

*words by Kiernan Laveaux

Early support from: Kiernan Laveaux, Daniel Rincón (NAP), Scott Zacharias & Amelia Holt

Terminal Recordings launches with a four-track split release.

The A-side, produced by Luis Malon, delivering two cuts driven by heavyweight basslines, broken rhythms and machine-controlled tension. Make Shoot sets the system in motion with relentless groove and low-end pressure, while Inside Your System dives deeper into a darker, more hypnotic environment where fractured percussion and synthetic textures take control.

On the B-side, Molen takes over the signal with a pair of electro transmissions. Pathcord unfolds through precise sequencing, robotic funk and evolving circuitry, building a dynamic journey across interconnected rhythms. Codec closes the release with sharper frequencies, coded melodies and futuristic electro architecture designed for late-night dance floor communication.

The sequence has started.
Enter the Terminal.

Originally from Bristol, England, Ben Jacobs, aka Crackazat, is a multi-Instrumentalist and electronic producer. Since his emergence on the international scene, he has quickly become recognised for his unique fusion of Jazz and House music. He now presents his latest EP, ‘The Nervous Chill’, releasing on longstanding House label Nervous's sublabel ‘Nervous Chill’.

Crackazat’s influences range from the underground hip hop of Madlib to the Jazz-funk of Jamiroquai, showcasing downtempo beats and synthfunk. In 2015, he released his debut album ‘Crescendo’ to critical acclaim, as well as forming an alliance with Swedish house label Local Talk and performing supporting sets for Bonobo and Floating Points. Crackazat’s growing popularity has led to remixes by Joey Negro, Moulinex, and Tom Misch.

He now debuts on Nervous Chill with four sophisticated and downbeat tracks. Rooted in jazz, Crackazat’s signature keyboard solos, gilded violin chords, and glistening textures blend swinging grooves with silky melodies. Wind instruments anchor the tracks without limiting versatility, paired with dynamic percussion and featherweight pads. ‘The Nervous Chill’ sees Crackazat crafting a joyous, soulful EP that works both on and off the dancefloor.

Bassline brings together Russell Ruckman and Marcia Carr for a 12", which was originally part of a 2025 digital album, but now drops on wax and has been remastered for extra punch. Side A opens with the vinyl debut of Rani G & Raul Riena's 'Feels So Right' (World-Life-music Raw Teaser remix), which will soon transfix the floor while the driving groove of Hot Issue's 'Motion 96' is a cool vibe with wet clasp and dusty drums brought to life by cute little melodies and plenty of snap. Side B leans into deeper territory with Mercedes' Living For The Moment (Booker T remix)' and the uplifting dub energy of Never Gonna Give Up. If you like soulful house with a classic New York edge, this one bangs.

Five years on from its first outing, Standards & Practices returns with a second volume of Out of Practice that assembles a roster of exclusive, unreleased material that moves between broken techno, electro, dub techno and bass-heavy experimentation. The strength lies in its range: in this third 12" instalment, Patrick Russell's opener brings meditative dub pressure, Ghost Warrior's 'Second Wave' is a sparse, suspensory underwater world, Pessimist layers deft percussion into fractured rhythm science and Blood Music's 'Figures For Laser' has a cascade of 8-bit melodies adding futurism to jazzy, off-grid drums in what is an eerie and engaging closer. A snapshot of a label finding new ways to bend electronic music's tried and tested boundaries.

Quiet Village invites Eric Duncan AKA Dr Dunks for his latest EP ‘Plateau Alone’ featuring Zopelar. Dr Dunks is one half of DJ duo Rub-N-Tug.

New York music veteran Eric Duncan AKA Dr Dunks lands on Quiet Village with his latest release ‘Plateau Alone’ featuring Zopelar, dropping 18th September. Beginning his journey over three decades ago in New York's underground scene as one half of the duo ‘Rub-N-Tug’ alongside Thomas Bullock and one half of DFA’s ‘Still Going’, Duncan has built a reputation for his genre-defying music and sets, mixing disco, house, funk and electro. His production and remix catalogue over the years includes Grace Jones, Todd Terje, LCD Soundsystem, Groove Armada, and more. Producer and DJ ‘Zopelar’ hails from Brazil, taking inspiration from the Brazilian music scene and lacing it with jazz, soul, and house, with releases on Apron Records, Tartelet Records, Soul Clap Records, and Selva Discos

The ‘Plateau Alone’ EP comprises three funk-fuelled tracks. Syncopted electro synths fl ood opening track ‘Plateau Alone’ with an 80s-inspired groove, where bass melodies and textures create an otherworldly feel. Second track ‘Slow One Eleven’ slows the pace; percussion and strings featuring rock accents create a steady groove as Duncan adds his signature sonic sound. Low-down bass blends with dub-chords and alien textures in ‘88 Lights’, creating a warm and cosy closing to the EP.

Uncompromising Italian DJ/producer The Southern makes his vinyl debut on Mutual Rytm's sub-label, Spectra, with remixes from Alarico, Temudo and Sciahri. An EP marking an impressive label debut, Carmine Portarulo, aka The Southern, lands on Mutual Rytm’s sub- label Spectra with a powerful showcase of his much-loved sound. With the lead track featuring as one of label head SHDW's most requested IDs of the year so far, and packaged alongside outstanding remixes by close label associates Alarico, Temudo and Sciahri, the EP comes having established himself with a sound rooted in old school value and pure techno, favouring energy and authenticity over hype. The track’s backstory comes from the moment Carmine and his partner found out they were expecting a child and went for their first ultrasound appointment. Overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment and the beauty of what nature is capable of, he returned home and poured those feelings into the music. The result, ‘Ultrasound’, is an anthemic, punchy techno cut with euphoric energy rising up through the synths and its catchy lead melody. Joyful melodies sparkle amid vocal groans, adding a raw emotional pull as the warm, driving drums march on. Berlin-based artist Alarico is the first to remix on his return to the label, and his ‘Sad Mix’ has a more melancholic mood, with dark chords and tightly programmed drums that bring lo-key funk. Hayes Collective founder Temudo also returns and flips the vibe on his ‘Neuro Interpretation’ with a more psyched-out, twisted tune featuring trippy synths and booming drums for peak-time impact. Italo-Iranian Sublunar Records head Sciahri then drops his trance- inducing, hypotonic ‘Tunnel Vision Mix’, followed by two digital bonuses: ‘The Stripped Mix’, a bouncy workout with futuristic melodies, and Temudo’s ‘Neuro Interpretation 2’, which is raw, textured, and dark.

Courant Zéro is the new moniker of Montréal multi-media installation artist and Kohlenstoff label co-founder Maxime Corbeil-Perron, signalling his return to purely recording-based electronic music production following several years focused on award-winning experimental film and audio-visual works. Solari channels his cinematic sensibility and decade-long exploration of sound art and electroacoustic counterpoint into deep cuts of maximalist ambient electronica. Drawing on his early background as a pianist and jazz drummer, Corbeil-Perron weaves a fabric of melodic and rhythmic vectors with his unique timbral palette, intersecting modern composition, IDM, ambient, glitch, and noise on a debut album brimming with sonic detail and emotive resonance. A fixture of Montréal's sound art community as both creator and curator since the early 2010s, Corbeil-Perron's work has ranged from "hypnotic A/V onslaught" (FACT Magazine) to the "richly nuanced acousmatic journey" of his 2018 EP Polychrome (Bandcamp Best Contemporary Classical Of The Month), with earlier electronic and techno-adjacent projects like Political Ritual, Dresden, and Le poisson d'argent garnering accolades from avant-music outlets A Closer Listen, Silence and Sound, and Musicworks, among others. Courant Zéro mobilizes this cumulative wealth of explorative sonic experience in the service of distinctive compositional architectures and electronic music pathways that fans of Floating Points, Jan Jelinek, Squarepusher, Tim Hecker, and Oneohtrix Point Never should find compelling. Title track "Solari" opens the album with a cavernous ambient glitch-drone soundscape that envelops ever-shifting timbres of modular arpeggiation, serving as introduction to the clarion call of "En deçà du réel", an homage to video artist Manon Labrecque, where layers of interweaving melodic counterpoint played on Buchla and other synths slowly build to widescreen immersive intensities; "I have this vision of Labreque vibrating eternally between two frames of magnetic VHS tape_ the slow pace of the piece also inspired by Tarkovsky's approach to scenography" says Corbeil-Perron. "Strange Aorta" is ectoplasmic ambient with wistful melody lines transmuting along a central filament, awash in shifting waves of low-end and ricocheting tonal glitch, the title a reference to "the thumping rhythm beating around the main melody_and the heavy remnants of grief related to my father's passing and a brutal confrontation with my own mortality a few years back." Tracks like "La peau des dents" and "Eroding Us" are more firmly rooted in electroacoustic and aleatory systems music, where colliding loops are shaped into unstable flows of deconstructed slippage and reconvergence. Those two pieces bookend the album's pivotal center: the gorgeous piano digitalia of "Horizon n'arrête" and the skittering electronica of 9-minute opus "Unyeldd", its loping broken beat and cascading melodic glitter like a cluster of wind-up music boxes in a dappled forest _ and for Corbeil- Perron also partly inspired by now fellow Constellation labelmates Do Make Say Think: "I spent a lot of time rediscovering their records after seeing them last September 2024 which definitely influenced this piece." Courant Zéro's debut is a vibrant sonic rebus at the junction of electronic, electroacoustic, noise and ambient music that resists easy categorisation. Solari strikes a compelling balance of unsettled disorientation and hospitable warmth, teeming with real feeling throughout. The album's cover art painting Cryptography I by Yen-Chao Lin represents this prevailing sensibility, its mazelike circuitry distinctly carved and crisply rendered, while filigreed with handmade detail and artisanal patina. Thanks for listening.

Limited 150 copies, on red vinyl.

A sound meeting Bloody Fist and old school UK Speedcore... Back to the roots of the roots !