Search:no

12 Inch Lovers - Celebrating 15 Years of Vinyl Culture!
Belgian vinyl-only event concept 12 Inch Lovers celebrates its 15th anniversary with two new additions to its established sampler series. Now entering its seventh year, the series reflects the music and atmosphere of the events, combining dancefloor favourites with carefully selected discoveries.
Samplers 13 & 14 bring together sought-after classics, hard-to-find gems and selected tracks and versions making their vinyl debut. Each volume features nine full-length tracks across two 12-inch records, making both releases essential additions for DJs and collectors alike.
Sampler 13 includes Sorry I Am Late by Kollektiv Turmstrasse, Marea (We've Lost Dancing) by Fred again.. & The Blessed Madonna, and Lifetimes by Slam feat. Tyrone Palmer. Further highlights include Tocadisco's Morumbi and the Martijn ten Velden Remix of Guitarra G.
Sampler 14 features Dreams by Deep Dish feat. Stevie Nicks, All That Matters by Kölsch feat. Troels Abrahamsen, and the NiCe7 Remix of It's Yours by Jon Cutler feat. E-Man. Belgian favourites Decoy & Roy with Inner Life and The Mackenzie with Higher In The Sky add to the selection.
Rooted in 15 years of vinyl-only events, these two compilations capture the distinctive sound of 12 Inch Lovers, offering lasting appeal for long-time fans, record collectors and DJs looking tobring proven classics back to the dancefloor.
Nothing But (Future) Classix, Straight From Vinyl!

Sampler 14 opens with Jon Cutler feat. E-Man - It's Yours (NiCe7 Remix). This remix pairs the recognisable vocal with a punchy house groove. A fresh take on a familiar classic that sets the tone straight away. Next comes Sterac Electronics - Destination Reached, with Steve Rachmad
showcasing his feel for electronic funk. Tight rhythms and an infectious groove make this a record with lasting appeal.
Side B features Swen Weber - Maya (Rerub), a powerful club track whose build and driving rhythm keep the dancefloor moving. Deep Dish feat. Stevie Nicks - Dreams then delivers a familiar moment. Stevie Nicks' distinctive voice and Deep Dish's warm, immersive house sound
give this well-known song a character all of its own.
Side C brings Kölsch feat. Troels Abrahamsen - All That Matters, a melodic track in which the vocaland gradual build complement each other beautifully. The kind of record that feels equally at home deep into a club night or under the first rays of sunshine at a festival. Next is Chew Fu feat. Steve Clisby - Purple Rain (Mousse T.'s Home A Lone Mix). Mousse T. gives this interpretation of the Prince classic a warm, soulful house groove, leaving plenty of room for Steve Clisby's voice to shine.
On side D, Jürgen Paape - We Love takes over. Playful, melodic and full of character, it adds a different flavour to the selection. Decoy & Roy - Inner Life follows with a generous dose of nostalgia and a sound that perfectly reflects a love for Belgian club classics. Closing the sampler is The Mackenzie - Higher In The Sky, whose dreamy melodies and uplifting energy provide a fitting finale.
Nine tracks across two 12-inch records, each in its full-length version. Much-loved classics, inspired remixes and lesser-known gems, brought together withthe same love for music that has driven 12 Inch Lovers' events for 15 years.

Welcome to a new series of various artist EP’s titled ‘Sistema Sprezzatura’

We are always working hard in the background on the art of making difficult actions, complex skills, or highly curated choices appear completely natural, unforced, and spontaneous… do we pull it off we aren’t sure.. hopefully you can be the judges.

On this first EP the A- side features a new project ‘Sprezzatura' Hailing from Little Italy, Norton Street in Sydney (just a short Vespa ride from the Sicilian Coastline). Sprezzatura serves up Italo disco originals, edits and deep, carefully curated party sets built for long nights and discerning dance floors. The name is Italian, the postcode isn’t. The sound lands somewhere between sleek synths, driving basslines and just the right amount of drama. Expect strong espresso, stronger basslines and the firm belief that Sicily is less a place than a state of mind.’

And on the B -side Boxcar and the Space Jockeys return after their last well received release on Sosilly Edits with some tasteful psych rock reworks.

File not found. Library on device may be corrupted.

Nearly six years since his last full EP on Claptrap, Vanity Project returns with a fresh release, featuring a killer remix from Manchester aficionado Ruf Dug.

File Management Blues was born in the malaise that followed an irretrievable loss of studio files dating back over ten years at Claptrap HQ. Made with love in the wake of that back-up drive meltdown, these jams drift between acid, proto house and dreamy balearic sounds, moving from uptempo club rollers with swirling pads and biting acid lines to downtempo dub chuggers. Running through all of it is a melancholic digital string melody, four original versions on a theme, plus that tasty Ruf Dug rework of the A1.

Always remember to back it up kids!

Following their self-proclaimed LP trilogy (2020-2024), Straw Man Army returns with a new songwriting experiment in the form of True North; a collection of 11 songs written for acoustic instruments over three 72 hour sessions at a cabin, isolated in the woods north of NYC. The result is a concept album in practice as opposed to subject alone. Attuned to both the spiritual and political dimensions of seeking refuge in our times, it asks what exactly we mean by “peace” in this era of increasing violence, incarceration, and skepticism towards a future worth living. Does it feel like relaxation, does it tend towards silence? Is it the cooling of our collective rage? Not here. On True North, peace is a spiritual contradiction; a chimera incorporating our innermost desires and the brutality of the world that surrounds us. The album’s central character is a “sleepwalker” trudging through the waking nightmares that have defined daily life since the release of 2024’s Earthworks. Because True North is music that dreams. Sonically, the band toys with the aesthetics of psychedelia, folk, and kosmiche music for contrast, creating a still pool into which their deepest anxieties ripple and flow and flower into ever darker shapes. And while the musical palette plays on tropes of peace—lush piano instrumentals, fingerpicking guitars, gong, vocal harmony—the subject remains steeped in environmental collapse, death, mental breakdown, and the rejection of our most closely held myths. The clash of these forces is the engine that turns the musical wheel. True North is the sound of music mourning a future that never took place and a bout of anticipatory grief for something that’s only just begun…

Originally recorded and released in 1970, the Joe Henderson Quintet, At The Lighthouse: If You're Not Part Of The Solution, You're Part Of The Problem sees the influential jazz fusion sax player performing at the legendary venue in Hermosa Beach, California. Joined by George Cables, Ron McClure, Woody Shaw, Tony Waters and Lenny White the original album contained 6 live cuts. This 180-gram 3-LP Deluxe Edition, adds 5 unreleased tracks along with new liner notes from author Eugene Holley Jr.


























xy Mode for Joe [Alternate Take]*
[ya] If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the Problem [Alternate Take]*















[o] F1 Mode for Joe [Alternate Take]*
[p] F2 If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the Problem [Alternate Take]*

Faitiche presents the debut solo album by cellist, sound artist, and composer Topu Lyo: “quiet scenes from tokyo” brings together sixteen miniatures for solo cello and tape echo that oscillate between abstracts drones and rhythmic pizzicato sketches – all recorded at Topu’s Tokyo apartment. The constant traffic noise from a nearby highway has become an accompanying soundtrack for his compositions and can be heard on the recordings. Topu’s playing is marked by a distinctive idiom oriented more towards abstract electronic studio effects than classical technique.

The artist spoke to Jan Jelinek about his work:

JJ: A solo cello album may seem like an odd fit for a label that has to date released only music that is electronic in the broadest sense. But I think “quiet scenes from tokyo” complements the Faitiche repertoire exceptionally well. Its sixteen miniatures showcase the cello in all its complexity: the bowed passages sometimes recall a tape feedback drone; the pizzicato playing conjures up the percussion recordings of Moondog; and the abstract textures might be mistaken for the product of a granular sampler rather than rapid finger work on the cello. I’m constantly surprised by just how rich and varied this album is – without ever losing the charm of its sketch-like quality. Could you say a few words about the making of your album – first of all, from a rather technical perspective: what production tools did you use, and why?

TL: My production tools were very sparse. Just a solo cello and my Roland 301 Space Echo, which I only used at the end, running everything through it during mixing, tape only. After years of working with electronics, pedals, and synthesizers, moving to Tokyo pushed me toward minimizing my setup. But my aesthetics shifted too, toward simplicity. I wanted to strip everything back to just the acoustic cello and see how far I could push it — replicating some of my favorite electronic effects through extended technique: slow portamento, LFOs, filters, detune, noise. I’d also been listening to a cassette of ocean sounds for years. When I moved to Tokyo I was horrified to find myself living directly across from a freeway. Eventually the freeway started sounding almost identical to the ocean — and that ended up playing a prominent part in the recording.

JJ: That’s super interesting: mimicking electronic production as a compositional idea for the cello! You say the sound of the freeway is crucial to the album: I, too, tend to interpret steady traffic noise as a positive soundscape – do we hear the freeway on the album? I can also hear other field recordings, for example on “a street car with announcements”. Can you say a bit about how these field recordings influence your playing?

TL: Yes, you can hear the freeway on the album! The freeway is most prominent in “old trees in lonely spring”, “yuyake koyake”, and “the moon” (you can clearly hear individual cars). When I first began recording I had my balcony door shut tightly, but after a while I began leaning into the highway sound and slowly opening the door little by little to control the amount of noise. “streetcar with announcements” was a moment I was recording and a car passed by making announcements in the background. I loved how it sounded! Same thing with “yuyake koyake”, and later I realized that every day at 5pm the same song plays to mark sunset, telling children it’s time to go home. Having this bedrock of sound puts less pressure on me to put music on top or to play more notes.

JJ: It’s astonishing how much this differs from what I’d imagined: I’d been picturing peaceful landscape recordings, but had never thought of a freeway. Which goes to show how open to interpretation traffic noises are. So the room by the freeway had a major influence on the album – how are you going to perform it live?

TL: The contrast between the freeway and the beautiful landscape in my head couldn’t have been starker. I too was imagining a beautiful landscape in which to create the album, but somehow it still worked out. I've been going back and forth a lot on live shows and I think the most honest way is to have it the most stripped down. I was thinking of using traffic samples etc., but I think the duet really comes from the background sounds from every unique venue/environment. So as it stands, I’ll just be doing acoustic solo cello.

For 3+ years Razor-N-Tape has held their quarterly A Joyful Noise event in the Sound Room at Public Records. Conceived as a hearkening back to an early 2000s era of NYC nightlife, it is a club night that includes both DJs and live music. Led by JKriv as musical director and bassist, the live band is a collective of luminary NYC talent including singer Brandon Markell Holmes, guitarist Peter Matson, flutist/singer Domenica and percussionist Olatunji Ojore (Underground System), trumpeter Carter Yasutake (Midnight Magic), keyboardist Jason Lindner (Donny McCaslin/David Bowie's Blackstar), drummer Jim Orso (Hot Chip/Holy Ghost!) and saxophonist Stuart Bogie (Antibalas/Arcade Fire). Merging club sensibilities with jazz, funk and afrobeat pedigree, the A Joyful Noise repertoire includes live-interpreted renditions of J’s music and remixes, features by Razor-N-Tape artists, and original works. This album is a document of this special event, capturing all the live energy, moments of dazzling ensemble interplay, and features by artists Adi Oasis, Toribio and Cor.Ece.

We don’t know much about Ariane Bonzini. Her age, perhaps. Her first name, certainly – but it’s confusing, as you’d expect. The rest, he keeps to himself, tucked away somewhere between Villeneuve-Saint-Georges and the Landes in the off-season.


What we do know is that at 16 he left everything behind to try his hand at rap. That six years later he left everything behind, again, without really saying why. That he taught himself sound engineering as one might learn a dead language.
And then came Magenta. In 2025, for three months, Bonzini set himself a challenge bordering on the absurd: to produce one track a day, write it, record it, mix it, master it, film himself doing it, and post it on social media. Without planning, without taking a step back, working until 3 am behind the screen. His monthly listeners went from 35 to 100,000.


For ‘Mec Normal’, something changed. Bonzini headed to the Rue Boyer studio – a space steeped in analogue charm, where some of the synths had once belonged to Christophe – and surrounded himself with a team for the first time: Crayon on production, Renaud Letang on mixing.


Chilly Gonzales spotted him, and from their meeting came ‘Gonzini’.


Thirteen tracks suspended between gentle melancholy and a willing detachment. Soaring synths. Recurring, obsessive ‘you’s’. A voice that whispers where others would shout.


Ariane Bonzini is unlike anything we’ve heard before. That is undoubtedly what makes her so unforgettable.

,Noah's Ark" ist das zweite Album von CocoRosie, dem Schwestern-Duo Bianca und Sierra Casady. Nach ihrem Debüt ,La Maison de Mon Rêve" entstand das Album während zahlreicher Reisen und Aufnahmen an unterschiedlichsten Orten, von Frankreich über Brooklyn bis Paris. Die Songs verbinden experimentellen Folk, verspielte Klangcollagen und intime Geschichten mit Beiträgen von Freunden und Gästen wie Antony Hegarty sowie dem französischen MC Spleen. Ursprünglich 2005 veröffentlicht, fängt ,Noah's Ark" das Gefühl eines rastlosen, nomadischen Lebens ein und verbindet fantasievolle, emotionale Momente mit der unverwechselbaren Klangwelt von CocoRosie.

Three years after the release of their debut album, Do Nothing return with their much anticipated sophomore, 'Friend World'. The Nottingham four piece consisting of Chris Bailey, Kasper Sandstrøm, Charlie Howarth, Andrew Harrison, emerge bolder, self-assured and more energetic than ever.

Lead single 'Stars' gives an insight into the upcoming LP, synth-laden with hypnotic riffs, meandering vocals and bouncing basslines. The single, already a fan favourite, paves the way for listeners to enter the 'Friend World' that Do Nothing have created. At first glance, the album is overflowing with hard hitting guitars, infectious rhythms and frontman Bailey's signature razor-sharp witted lyricism, but dive deeper into tracks such as These People Want Blood and standout track Loner, to find an alternative take on the album, representing a softer and more pensive side of the band's writing.

A torrent of brilliance released from the fingertips. The art of the piano trio by a giant of arrangement.

In 1968, Norio Maeda, the genius arranger once described as being able to “write different scores with his right and left hands at the same time,” welcomed his close musical allies Takeshi Inomata and Tatsuro Takimoto and took on the piano head-on in his first piano trio work as a pianist. This album brings together the refined melodies of the new mainstream style that led the jazz scene at the time, experimental elements using prepared piano, and even a strikingly inventive recording approach in which as many as seven microphones were placed inside the piano. With the outstanding structural power of a composer and arranger and the sharp instincts of a performer woven together at a high level, this is an important work that deserves to be engraved in the history of Japanese jazz.

Intersecting sharpness and passion. An innovative work born from the collision of two rare and extraordinary talents.

On one side was Hiroshi Suzuki, a trombonist in such demand that people said, “If you want to record a good work, secure his schedule.” On the other hand was Masahiko Togashi, a drummer who rose to prominence at a young age and dominated the jazz world, from modern jazz to free jazz. The collision of these two personalities and talents created a new current in the Japanese jazz scene. From "Castle Cats," which moves between jazz rock and free jazz, to "Suzu No Uta," where Yuji Ohno’s piano spins a beautiful melody amid the sound of bells falling like rain, and "Passion," where each musician cuts in with sharp intensity, the entire work is filled with creativity and passion. Recorded in 1969, this is said to be the first work in Japan in which new jazz and free jazz were recorded and released as an album. From this turning point, Japanese jazz began to move in a major way.

Hiroshi Suzuki (Trombone)
Masahiko Togashi (Drums)
Yuji Ohno (Piano)
Jun Suzuki (Bass)
Tetsuo Fushimi (Trumpet)

2024 Repress!

The eye of the storm: welcome to Tornado Wallace's debut album! The accumulation of about four years of work, with tracks written in Berlin and Melbourne, 'Lonely Planet' is nothing like you may have expected from the Australian expat. No stranger to fans and followers of ESP Institute, Beats in Space and Music From Memory's sister Label Second Circle, Tornado Wallace's strain of releases so far merged functionality with a musical playfulness that led him to find himself as one of the producer's behind José Padilla's International Feel album. Here, he leaves the needs of the dance floor behind in order to create a magical mystery tour de trance into his and our inner jungle. How about some references New Age sounds meet new wave melodies, Grace Jones runs into the Dire Straits at Compass Point, while a Korg Mini Pops and a Roland CR78 make amends for Sly & Robbie's absence, Michael Mann pictures Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness', Robert Rauschenberg tries his luck at naturalism and an imagined Wally Badarou echoes through all of it. Sandwiched between the title track and the yearning beauty of the album's final point 'Healing Feeling', you get all of that as well as collaborations with and contributions of NO ZU, David Hischfelder and the voice of Sui Zhen on 'Today', who would easily make Anna Domino take her proverbial hat off. Tornado Wallace created an album that supersedes the requirements and expectations of a debut. Like a lost Island Records or a never released Made to Measure album, 'Lonely Planet' soundtracks notions and ideas that recall the nostalgic future in the past as much as it looks ahead.

Twenty-five years after its original release, Markus Guentner's debut album In Moll returns in a special anniversary reissue on Black Knoll Editions, reaffirming its place as one of the defining ambient recordings of the early 21st century.

Released in 2001 during the formative years of Kompakt's influential Pop Ambient series, In Moll emerged from a period of rapid transformation in electronic music. New technologies, expanding digital networks, and shifting creative possibilities allowed artists to imagine entirely new sonic worlds. Amid this fertile landscape, Guentner's music stood apart. Combining delicate melodic fragments, slow-moving harmonies, and a remarkable sense of spatial depth, In Moll introduced a distinct artistic voice whose impact can still be felt a quarter-century later.

The album arrived shortly after Guentner's contributions to the inaugural Pop Ambient compilation, including the now-beloved "Regensburg 1," named after his Bavarian hometown. Those early recordings immediately captured the attention of Kompakt founders Michael Mayer and Wolfgang Voigt. Recalling his first encounter with the music, Mayer describes listening to a demo CDR with Voigt while wandering through Cologne late into the night, replaying the tracks for hours. "We knew that we had found something outrageously beautiful and we wanted the whole world to listen."

Across its running time, In Moll unfolds like a series of dreamlike landscapes, inviting the listener into a world that feels both familiar and strangely other. Bells, hisses, distant textures, and slow-moving bass tones drift through vast expanses of atmosphere while luminous synthesizer washes seem to blur the horizon in a fine digital mist. The album's transportive qualities are matched by a remarkable sense of compositional discipline. Every gesture feels deliberate, every texture carefully placed. Balancing warmth and melancholy with restraint, Guentner created a body of work that rewards both close listening and complete surrender.

Reflecting on the album twenty-five years later, Wolfgang Voigt describes Guentner as "one of the first, but also one of the most important ambient artists" associated with Kompakt, calling his music "an integral, timeless part of the long history of pop ambient." Music critic and former Pitchfork Editor-in-Chief Mark Richardson, who reviewed In Moll upon its original release, similarly noted that the album "marked the arrival of an important new voice," and today regards it as "one of the finest ambient releases of the decade."

The album's influence continues to extend far beyond its original audience. For many listeners, In Moll served as an entry point into a new understanding of what ambient music could be. Black Knoll boss Rafael Anton Irisarri first encountered the album shortly after its release in 2001. "It immediately opened a door to a world of music I didn't know existed," he recalls. "At a time when I was still discovering my own creative voice, Markus showed me entirely new possibilities for what electronic music could communicate." Simply put, "The Sight Below would not have existed without In Moll paving the way."

Far from a historical curiosity, In Moll continues to feel strikingly contemporary. What once sounded futuristic now feels timeless, its patient pacing, attention to detail, and sense of wonder remaining entirely intact. The album's enduring power lies not only in its influence, but in the curiosity it continues to inspire, inviting listeners to step inside its world and lose themselves within it.

To mark its twenty-fifth anniversary, Black Knoll Editions presents the most complete edition of In Moll to date. Newly remastered in full analog by Rafael Anton Irisarri, this expanded release pairs the original album with a newly reworked interpretation by Markus Guentner himself, revisiting the material through the lens of twenty-five years of artistic development. The anniversary edition also features a new visual presentation designed by Guentner, offering a visual counterpart to the album's continued evolution. Together, these recordings and visuals celebrate both the enduring legacy of In Moll and its ability to reveal new dimensions twenty-five years later.

This 25th Anniversary Edition on Black Knoll Editions celebrates a recording whose quiet impact has only grown with time, preserving a work that remains as evocative, singular, and essential today as it was in 2001.

Twenty-five years after its original release, Markus Guentner's debut album In Moll returns in a special anniversary reissue on Black Knoll Editions, reaffirming its place as one of the defining ambient recordings of the early 21st century.

Released in 2001 during the formative years of Kompakt's influential Pop Ambient series, In Moll emerged from a period of rapid transformation in electronic music. New technologies, expanding digital networks, and shifting creative possibilities allowed artists to imagine entirely new sonic worlds. Amid this fertile landscape, Guentner's music stood apart. Combining delicate melodic fragments, slow-moving harmonies, and a remarkable sense of spatial depth, In Moll introduced a distinct artistic voice whose impact can still be felt a quarter-century later.

The album arrived shortly after Guentner's contributions to the inaugural Pop Ambient compilation, including the now-beloved "Regensburg 1," named after his Bavarian hometown. Those early recordings immediately captured the attention of Kompakt founders Michael Mayer and Wolfgang Voigt. Recalling his first encounter with the music, Mayer describes listening to a demo CDR with Voigt while wandering through Cologne late into the night, replaying the tracks for hours. "We knew that we had found something outrageously beautiful and we wanted the whole world to listen."

Across its running time, In Moll unfolds like a series of dreamlike landscapes, inviting the listener into a world that feels both familiar and strangely other. Bells, hisses, distant textures, and slow-moving bass tones drift through vast expanses of atmosphere while luminous synthesizer washes seem to blur the horizon in a fine digital mist. The album's transportive qualities are matched by a remarkable sense of compositional discipline. Every gesture feels deliberate, every texture carefully placed. Balancing warmth and melancholy with restraint, Guentner created a body of work that rewards both close listening and complete surrender.

Reflecting on the album twenty-five years later, Wolfgang Voigt describes Guentner as "one of the first, but also one of the most important ambient artists" associated with Kompakt, calling his music "an integral, timeless part of the long history of pop ambient." Music critic and former Pitchfork Editor-in-Chief Mark Richardson, who reviewed In Moll upon its original release, similarly noted that the album "marked the arrival of an important new voice," and today regards it as "one of the finest ambient releases of the decade."

The album's influence continues to extend far beyond its original audience. For many listeners, In Moll served as an entry point into a new understanding of what ambient music could be. Black Knoll boss Rafael Anton Irisarri first encountered the album shortly after its release in 2001. "It immediately opened a door to a world of music I didn't know existed," he recalls. "At a time when I was still discovering my own creative voice, Markus showed me entirely new possibilities for what electronic music could communicate." Simply put, "The Sight Below would not have existed without In Moll paving the way."

Far from a historical curiosity, In Moll continues to feel strikingly contemporary. What once sounded futuristic now feels timeless, its patient pacing, attention to detail, and sense of wonder remaining entirely intact. The album's enduring power lies not only in its influence, but in the curiosity it continues to inspire, inviting listeners to step inside its world and lose themselves within it.

To mark its twenty-fifth anniversary, Black Knoll Editions presents the most complete edition of In Moll to date. Newly remastered in full analog by Rafael Anton Irisarri, this expanded release pairs the original album with a newly reworked interpretation by Markus Guentner himself, revisiting the material through the lens of twenty-five years of artistic development. The anniversary edition also features a new visual presentation designed by Guentner, offering a visual counterpart to the album's continued evolution. Together, these recordings and visuals celebrate both the enduring legacy of In Moll and its ability to reveal new dimensions twenty-five years later.

This 25th Anniversary Edition on Black Knoll Editions celebrates a recording whose quiet impact has only grown with time, preserving a work that remains as evocative, singular, and essential today as it was in 2001.

,The Long Ear" ist das Debütalbum von Noh Age _ Charmaine Lee (Parabolmikrofon, Feedback, Gesang), John McCowen (Kontrabassklarinette, Bb- Klarinette, Blockflöte) und Li-Chin Li (Sheng) bei Kou Records - live aufgenommen über drei Tage bei Brooklyn Recording im März 2026 live aufgenommen und von Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Oneohtrix Point Never) produziert. Das Parabolmikrofon hat seine eigene Geschichte: ein Überwachungsinstrument aus dem Kalten Krieg , das dafür konzipiert war, aus der Ferne zu lauschen, um das zu orten und zu verstärken, was sonst unhörbar bleiben würde. Hier ist es nach innen gerichtet - nicht auf einen Feind, sondern auf den Klang selbst, der durch vier Vintage-Röhrenverstärker geleitet wird. Die Parabolantenne spürt Resonanzen auf, die durch den Raum übertragen werden, und stellt sich auf Frequenzen ein, die von Kontrabassklarinette, Sheng und Gesang erzeugt werden, bis sich eine Rückkopplung entlädt - ein vierter Interpreter mit eigener, unvorhersehbarer Wirkmacht. Das Ergebnis ist spektrale Musik in ihrer viszeralsten Form - verwurzelt in der Tradition von Gérard Grisey, Kaija Saariaho und Iancu Dumitrescu, doch herkommend von der Überwachungsstelle, dem Abhörposten, der Abhörleitung. In sechs Stücken, die auf kompositorischen Rahmenwerken aus zellulären Automaten und grafischen Partituren basieren, bewegt sich das Trio zwischen extremen Registerbereichen - CBC-Grundtöne gegen dichte Sheng-Cluster-Klänge , die kristallklaren Obertöne von Blockflöte und Mini-Sheng - während das Feedback durch all das wandert, sich verdichtet, auslöscht, wiederkehrt. Cover- und Rückseitengestaltung von Shintaro Kago - einem in Tokio ansässigen Manga-Künstler und Pionier der ,Ero-Guro"-Tradition, der international für seine Arbeit an Flying Lotus' ,You're Dead!" (Warp, 2014) bekannt ist. Aufgenommen, gemischt und produziert von Randall Dunn. Zusätzliche Synthesizer und Sounddesign von Randall Dunn. Gemastert von Ben Greenberg. Dolby-Atmos-Mischungen von Ben Greenberg. Schablonenschnitt von Paul Gold bei Salt Mastering.

LP with insert

In the artist’s own words:

"Thank Goodness brings together an overdubbed ‘chamber band’ of bass guitar, viola, piano, harpsichord, voice and drums. Made on my own in London and Ireland between 2023-26 as a slow channelling inward of a lot of social energy.”

Seán Being is a committed figure at the sharp edges of Irish music, including being the key instigator of the band Princ€ss, touring bass player with Maria Somerville, and a long-time affiliate of Dublin label wherethetimegoes. Their various collaborations include contributions to live and recorded projects with the likes of Spellcaster, Nashpaints, Florian TM Zeizig, Jennifer Moore, Olan Monk, Dylan Kerr, Asa Nisi Masa, Life is Beautiful, Polido, Adriana João and Usof.
Not always in the business of ‘popular music’, Seán also has Gregorian Chant and car horn performances in their repertoire.

Aspects of all of this activity have made their way, directly or otherwise, into this first full-length album.

,Settle Down City" war 2006 das Debütalbum von Young Widows und markierte den Neubeginn der Musiker nach dem Ende der Hardcore-Band Breather Resist. Die Gruppe aus Louisville entwickelte darauf ihren charakteristischen Stil aus Post-Hardcore, Noise Rock und düsterem Post-Punk, geprägt von schweren, basslastigen Grooves, kantigen Gitarren und einer intensiven, oft beklemmenden Atmosphäre. Einflüsse von Bands wie Fugazi, Hoover, The Jesus Lizard und den Melvins sind deutlich hörbar, werden jedoch zu einem eigenständigen Sound verarbeitet. Im Zentrum stehen das kreative Gitarrenspiel von Sänger Evan Patterson sowie das kraftvolle Zusammenspiel der Rhythmussektion mit Nick Thieneman und dem damaligen Schlagzeuger Geoff Paton. Die Songs verbinden rohe Energie mit ungewöhnlichen Songstrukturen und legten den Grundstein für die spätere Entwicklung der Band zu einer der wichtigsten Noise-Rock-Formationen ihrer Generation. Zum 20-jährigen Jubiläum erscheint ,Settle Down City - Anniversary Edition" in einer umfassend überarbeiteten Fassung. Das Album wurde von James Plotkin neu remastert, mit restauriertem Original-Artwork versehen und um den bislang unveröffentlichten Bonus-Track ,White Water" erweitert, der bereits während der ursprünglichen Aufnahmesessions entstand. Die limitierte Neuauflage auf opak-gelbem Vinyl bietet damit die definitive Version eines Albums, das den Beginn der inzwischen zwei Jahrzehnte andauernden Karriere von Young Widows dokumentiert.

Initially recorded in 1996 and officially released February 1997, 2nd Family's Killaz from the Blackside tape is one of the most distinctive examples of unpolished, stripped-back & paranoid mid-90s Memphis rap. Recorded by King JC together with 2nd Family MCs Pistol Grip & Killa Chrome in a home-studio set up at the group's base in Southern Hills Apartments in Whitehaven, South Memphis (known locally as Blackhaven or the Blackside, a short trip from Graceland) the sparse, brooding and somewhat introspective production sets the record apart from the more raucous, overdriven precedent of the period. Pressed on vinyl for the first time via Death Is Not The End in an edition of 300 copies.

Rubbermaidxxx is a recent music performance project by the Irish artist Anna McCarthy, rather than simply the title of one autonomous artwork. Rubbermaidxxx is a character or unstable identity, an emancipatory underdog with a heart for daredevilry. The project sits naturally within McCarthy’s larger practice, which moves between drawing, assemblage, happenings and collective actions.

Clad in a black balaclava and fetish climbing wear, she abseils from buildings before entering the stage. For the first performance in New York City, she was invited by Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio to perform at his club Francis Kite Club in Alphabet City, NYC and since has continued to make a name for herself hanging off façades, singing, dancing and mopping the floor together with her performance collaborators Miss Philip a.k.a. Philip Errico and Michael Tapper at Pianos NYC, Kottbusser Tor and Genezarethkirche Berlin or the Villa Stuck Museum in Munich.

The album was produced in Munich and New York in 2025 in collaboration with her brother Nick McCarthy (Franz Ferdinand) and Anton Kaun (Rumpeln). What started as a quick improv turned into a high-energy 4-hour session of the siblings playing manic ball with beats, bass, guitars and vocals resulting in what laid the basis to this album. In the weeks following, Anna McCarthy, who is known for her cut-up production style, reminiscent of albums such as White Noise or Flying Lotus, continued to develop the vocals, performance and music by mixing in an amalgam of field recordings with her narrative spoken word, including sounds of protests, dollar stores or ice-cream trucks, as well as collaborating with the noise artist Rumpeln for the last two tracks of the album.

McCarthy is also known as the lyricist and singer of What Are People For? (debut 2022 on Alien Transistor) with its dystopic dance music candy-cane shows and equally humorously critical tongue-in-cheek bangers such as Bring back the Dirt, Drones or Partytime. Anna McCarthy's spoken word, social urgency and enthusiasm to experiment across mediums is comparable to other contemporaries such as Moor Mother, Miho Hatori, Gonjasufi, Tricky, or Cibo Matto.

The name itself is telling. Rubbermaidxxx evokes elasticity, artificiality, domestic labour and the commercial world of cleaning and garbage. It suggests a body capable of stretching, absorbing filth and cleaning up after society – only to revolt against the role it has been assigned.

Rubbermaidxxx is a master of deception, juggling fact and fiction as a reflection of our times – a diamond thief, a protester, or even responsible for the Louvre heist? This album invites the listener and viewer in, playfully dismantling hierarchies and power structures as she goes through a hopeful amalgam of dance, protest & love songs.

Celestial Echo Records presents Nathaniel Best – Set Your House In Order, an incredible gospel soul LP from 1986, finally back in circulation.

Originally released on Spirit Records of Nevada, the album is very much of its time in the best way — gospel music with drum machines, warm synths and basslines that push it right into modern soul and boogie territory. Nathaniel Best’s voice carries the whole record with real conviction, joined by group vocals and arrangements that give the album that rich, uplifting 80s gospel soul sound.

For us, the standouts are clear. “Call Him” is the boogie dancer — bright, driving and full of movement, the kind of gospel cut that sits perfectly in a modern soul or boogie set. The title track, “Set Your House In Order”, is something else entirely: a beautiful downtempo soul glider, deep and heartfelt, with that slow-burning quality that makes the whole LP feel so special.

Those two tracks tell the story, but the magic runs through the whole record. Scattered across the album are these amazing slower gospel soul moments, balanced with enough groove and lift to keep it moving. It’s not just a one-tracker, it’s a proper LP with feeling, range and a sound that collectors have been chasing for years.

Best’s musical story runs deep. He grew up around gospel, recorded from a young age, played piano in church, sang with the Love Center Choir under Bishop Walter Hawkins, and later worked with names including The O’Jays and The Fairfield Four.

Original copies have always been hard to come by, and the album has built a serious reputation with gospel, soul and boogie collectors over the years.

Buy or Cry.

Celestial Echo Records presents Nathaniel Best – Set Your House In Order, an incredible gospel soul LP from 1986, finally back in circulation.

Originally released on Spirit Records of Nevada, the album is very much of its time in the best way — gospel music with drum machines, warm synths and basslines that push it right into modern soul and boogie territory. Nathaniel Best’s voice carries the whole record with real conviction, joined by group vocals and arrangements that give the album that rich, uplifting 80s gospel soul sound.

For us, the standouts are clear. “Call Him” is the boogie dancer — bright, driving and full of movement, the kind of gospel cut that sits perfectly in a modern soul or boogie set. The title track, “Set Your House In Order”, is something else entirely: a beautiful downtempo soul glider, deep and heartfelt, with that slow-burning quality that makes the whole LP feel so special.

Those two tracks tell the story, but the magic runs through the whole record. Scattered across the album are these amazing slower gospel soul moments, balanced with enough groove and lift to keep it moving. It’s not just a one-tracker, it’s a proper LP with feeling, range and a sound that collectors have been chasing for years.

Best’s musical story runs deep. He grew up around gospel, recorded from a young age, played piano in church, sang with the Love Center Choir under Bishop Walter Hawkins, and later worked with names including The O’Jays and The Fairfield Four.

Original copies have always been hard to come by, and the album has built a serious reputation with gospel, soul and boogie collectors over the years.

Buy or Cry.

With the stunning Planes In Reverse, Sascha Funke, the Berlin-born producer and DJ, and long-time member of the Kompakt family, releases his first album in almost a decade, since 2017’s Lotos Land. It’s a welcome return for one of the most eloquent and elegant producers in electronic and dance music, someone who’s always been able to say more with less, and the ten tracks here, moving effortlessly between techno, house, minimalism, disco house, and home listening tunes, are all gorgeously sculpted miniatures. With guest appearances from partner Julienne Dessagne (Fantastic Twins), with whom Funke has also worked in Saschienne, there’s something homely and family about it, too; a family of sounds, a home of tone. There’s also something consummate about Planes In Reverse, as though Sascha Funke has perfected the album format. There’s no flab here, no excess – it plays out like a perfectly designed experience, ten tracks, coming in under fifty minutes, an album where every moment matters.

It’s full of variety, but everything has the unmistakable Funke thumbprint, one that was developed during the late ‘90s / early ‘00s minimal techno and microhouse moment, but which was always open to other ideas and other sounds, too. Planes In Reverse came together quickly for Funke: “Last winter, I had two or three new tracks, which gave me a core feeling: ‘Ah, this could be the direction of something like an album.’ Sometimes it can be very easy that you wrap it up and then it becomes something coherent and solid. This happened within two or three months; it was very fast and direct.” Everything fell into place – the ten tracks revealed themselves, the album sat together as a whole, and the final piece of the puzzle was returning home again to Kompakt, who have supported Sascha Funke from the very start, releasing his first single, “Campus”, back in 1999.

Planes In Reverse opens stealthily with “What You See”, where rhythms percolate and bass prowls while gaseous textures fill the sonic spectrum. It’s also the first appearance of Fantastic Twins on the album; here, she speaks a hypnotic mantra, a prelude to the title track, where Dessagne has a pure pop moment, her voice ecstatic and vibrant. Indeed, Planes In Reverse plays out like thesis and antithesis ending in synthesis, the tracks nestling next to each other even as they shuttle between sounds, genres, perspectives. There are some beautiful moments dropped throughout Planes In Reverse – the heavenly textures that make the title track feel so cloud-bound; the glassy and orbital tones that drop from the skies through the disco house inspired “Karat”; the clamour and clatter of hyper-edited voices shuffling through “Splitter”; or the field recordings of Sascha’s son football training session that drop “Zockers” into a different place and space, slowly giving way to a beautifully paced electro-pop mantra. “In Germany,when the kids play a computer game, or when they play football, we describe it as zocken. They’re the players, they’re the Zockers.“ Funke explains.

Planes In Reverse winds down with the beautiful “Kruso”, where ticklish, loving arpeggios careen around the room, and drift-work chords shimmer and shuttle between your ears. It’s a perfect comedown to an album that feels breathes in and out at an organic pace, nothing above 130 BPM, everything sitting together just so. Indeed, that’s the feeling you take away from Planes In Reverse; it sums up the spirit of Sascha Funke productions perfectly, while also existing beautifully as its own world dreamt unto itself. It’s Sascha Funke down to the very essence. Nothing unnecessary, nothing extraneous: Pure Funke.

The 2018 album Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale is the adaptation by Roger Waters (co-founder of Pink Floyd) on the 1918 same-titled theatrical work. Waters recorded this version with members of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church.

The original theatre work is one “to be read, played, and danced” by three actors (the soldier, the devil, and a narrator) and dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments. The libretto relates the parable of a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil in return for unlimited economic gain. The music is scored for a septet of violin, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet or trumpet), trombone, and percussion. The libretto is adapted by Roger Waters from the translation by Michael Flanders and Kitty Black, based on the original text by Charles-Ferdinand Ramus.

The Soldier's Tale is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on green vinyl and comes in a gatefold sleeve with linen laminate finish. The vinyl package includes a 4-page booklet with lyrics and pictures.

Minutiae is the first full-length release form Stockholm’s Ināra Quartet, made up of brothers Kasper (guitar, banjo, mandolin) and Mauritz Agnas (bass, cello), Johan Graden (piano, harmonium, synths) and Mischa Grind (percussion). Drawing on wide performance and composition experience in free improvisation, jazz, and composed new music, the quartet have carved out a unique niche where radical approaches to rhythmic organisation and group interaction are wedded to immediately accessible, folkish melodic and harmonic material. Unfolding briskly across eight pop-song length tracks, Minutiae places these folk fragments under a microscope, expanding them into intricate patterns of group interplay by turns austere and lushly psychedelic.

The quartet’s layering of independent rhythms, pulses, and tempi suggests a range of precedents, from Ligeti’s ticking clock textures to the pulse music of John McGuire, the repeating asynchronous cycles of The Necks, and the intricate irregular crosshatching of Banda music. Rhythm, harmony and melody shade into one another within each of the instrumental layers that overlap to form the music’s rippling surface. At points guitar, bass, percussion, and keyboards can seem each to occupy their own world, each player moving independently according to their own internal tactus, but attention to the details of group interplay reveals carefully planned collective movement. On ‘Klapparen’, strummed acoustic guitar chords and clinking percussion accelerate and decelerate in unison, washed over by floating synth lines. At other points, the quartet as a whole suddenly shift direction like a This Heat tape edit. Check the opener ‘Box Pieces’, where a brief percussion tag cues an unexpected cut from frenetic layering of percussive attacks undergirded by slow moving synth and bass foundations to a rumbling, locked-in dirge.

The eight pieces span a range of tones, from plaintive abstraction to surging minimalism. Touches of whimsy relieve any threat of over-seriousness: witness the wacky electric guitar glissandi that open ‘Tilting’ or the lovely, almost Pascal Comelade-esque fairground wobbles that begin the wayward journey of ‘Cadence: not even,’ before it stumbles into a totally different zone of spacious Paul Bley balladry sprinkled with banjo plucks. Recorded across two days at Stockholm’s Atlantis studios, Minutiae’s minutiae truly sparkle thanks to the careful mixing work of Ghosted drummer extraordinaire Andreas Werliin. A wonderfully approachable document of the richness of the next generation of contemporary creative musicians from Sweden, Ināra Quartet’s debut also looks back to 70s touchstones like Archimedes Badkar in its joyful embrace of musical collectivity.

12 Inch Lovers - Celebrating 15 Years of Vinyl Culture!
Belgian vinyl-only event concept 12 Inch Lovers celebrates its 15th anniversary with two new additions to its established sampler series. Now entering its seventh year, the series reflects the music and atmosphere of the events, combining dancefloor favourites with carefully selected discoveries.
Samplers 13 & 14 bring together sought-after classics, hard-to-find gems and selected tracks and versions making their vinyl debut. Each volume features nine full-length tracks across two 12-inch records, making both releases essential additions for DJs and collectors alike.
Sampler 13 includes Sorry I Am Late by Kollektiv Turmstrasse, Marea (We've Lost Dancing) by Fred again.. & The Blessed Madonna, and Lifetimes by Slam feat. Tyrone Palmer. Further highlights include Tocadisco's Morumbi and the Martijn ten Velden Remix of Guitarra G.
Sampler 14 features Dreams by Deep Dish feat. Stevie Nicks, All That Matters by Kölsch feat. Troels Abrahamsen, and the NiCe7 Remix of It's Yours by Jon Cutler feat. E-Man. Belgian favourites Decoy & Roy with Inner Life and The Mackenzie with Higher In The Sky add to the selection.
Rooted in 15 years of vinyl-only events, these two compilations capture the distinctive sound of 12 Inch Lovers, offering lasting appeal for long-time fans, record collectors and DJs looking to bring proven classics back to the dancefloor.
Nothing But (Future) Classix, Straight From Vinyl!
Sampler 13 opens with Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Sorry I Am Late, the club track many will recognise from Solomun's legendary Boiler Room set in Tulum. Its unmistakable bassline sets the mood straight away. Next comes Skape D'Jear - Everything In You (Dedicated Clubba Mix), a
lesser-known house gem making its first appearance on vinyl.
Side B features Karmon feat. Terry Shand - Take My Hand, a melodic house track with a strong vocal performance that remains hard to find on vinyl. Tocadisco - Morumbi then takes things up a notch. With its driving percussion, this is a record that has blasted through the speakers of countless Belgian clubs and beyond.
Side C brings Fred again.. x The Blessed Madonna - Marea (We've Lost Dancing). A track about missing the shared experience of dancing, it became closely linked to the return to the dancefloor for many. Next, we head to Berlin with Kotai - Sucker DJ (Marcin "Highfish" Kozlowski Remix), a distinctive club classic that still holds its own. Daddy's Groove & Little Nancy - It's Not Right, But It's Okay closes this side with a groovy reworking of Whitney Houston's well-known song, now available on vinyl for the first time.
Side D captures the spirit of Ibiza with G Club presents Banda Sonora - Guitarra G (Martijn ten Velden Remix). Its recognisable guitar lines and gradual build make this a track to lose yourself in. This remix makes its vinyl debut here. Closing the sampler is Slam feat. Tyrone Palmer -
Lifetimes. Palmer's distinctive voice and the Scottish duo's outstanding production make this a record that still hits home after all these years.

Nine tracks across two 12-inch records, each in its full-length version. Much-loved classics, lesser-known gems and tracks making their vinyl debut. Selected with the same love for music that has driven 12 Inch Lovers' events for 15 years.

Acid Pauli returns to the curious world of Gwar Is Not The Answer (originally released 2006 on Smaul) with a carefully remastered re-release that includes two new remixes from Jonathan Kaspar and Acid Pauli. The title track unfolds at an unhurried pace, weaving loose acid traces through warm percussion and off-centre melodic fragments that seem to appear and dissolve before settling into place. It drifts forward with a quiet sense of momentum, balancing eccentric textures with a groove that remains firmly grounded throughout. With his new remix Jonathan Kaspar takes the original into leaner territory, sharpening its contours and drawing out its tension while preserving the peculiar character at its core. His remix stretches the track into a more focused club framework where rolling low-end pressure meets finely tuned rhythmic movement, allowing small details to carry unexpected weight. On the flip Acid Pauli revisits the track from a different angle. The remix opens up the source material into a spacious and fluid arrangement where shimmering tones circle around a deep pulse and subtle harmonic shifts gradually reveal themselves over time. Together the three versions explore different dimensions of the same musical language, moving between psychedelic house, understated dancefloor functionality and the kind of idiosyncratic storytelling that has long defined Acid Pauli's work.

The highly acclaimed U.K post- punk band Joy Division was originally called Warsaw . Formed in Manchester, England in the late 1970s, the group consisted of Ian Curtis on vocals, Bernard Albrecht (aka Sumner, aka Dicken) on guitar, Peter Hook on bass and Stephen Morris on drums. Hook, Albrecht and Curtis hooked up at a local concert and later formed the group Warsaw. The band's name was taken from a David Bowie- Brian Eno composition, "Warszawa". The 5 bonus tracks on this album are demos cut by the group at Pennine Studios in Manchester on July 18, 1977 with Steve Brotherdale on drums. The first eleven tracks presented here were the result of a recording session for that album that took place in early May of 1978. Rehearsals leading up to the session resulted in two new songs being added to the group's existing repertoire: "Interzone" and "Transmission." "Interzone" was based on the backing track of the song "Keep On Keepin' On," to which the band added their own lyrics. The result was a song distinctively their own. "Transmission" was written by the band during the final week of rehearsals. The first verse contains a quotation from Alistair Crowley's The Book Of Thoth. The two recordings are interesting renditions of songs which would later became famous.

M-EDITS is a vinyl-only edits series built for DJs who know. Anonymous cuts, stripped back and reworked with the dancefloor in mind. No names, no noise, just effective tools for the right moment.

This will be Mike McDowell's last (and his most personal) album under his old 'nom de guerre' of Hellboii, so all may again expect a true classic of his very own idiosyncratic 'mechagodzilla' mix of acidic techno, electronic body music, dark ambient, industrial electro and iconic futuristic (or better say brutalistic) sci-fi-soundtrack music.

DJ Support: Marco Carola, Funk D'Void, Fish Go Deep, Quentin Harris, Carl Craig, Horse Meat Disco, moodymanc and many more

Me Me Me is back after 2 years on ice, with a new focus and new priorities, built around the regional music community being driven by Man Power and friends in North East England.

Written, recorded, performed and pressed in the North East, Newcastle live artist Mac Seldom's Twenty Twenty-Three EP see's the artist find his stride after early outings on Skream's "Of Unsound Mind" label and Scuba's "Hotflush Recordings" and leans into a more house-not-house rhythmic palette to further cement his status as being one of the most exciting and adept sound designers to recently emerge in club music.

In their countless years of deep digging, Dark Entries has uncovered many curiosities, oddball Italo and synth-wave creatures too rare to live, too funky to die. Dark Entries’s conservationist efforts began with 2020’s Endangered Species Vol 1. Six years later, we are finally treated Endangered Species Vol 2, an even more ambitious effort which features eleven specimens previously deemed extinct, now safely preserved on vinyl. Things kick off with an extended mix of Palazzo di Danza’s “Play That Song For Me,” a lavishly produced German-Italo number propelled by a slinky bassline. Russian Olga Vosconyan’s “Cars” delivers what might be the moodiest song ever produced for a car commercial.

Fuzz Dance maestro Alexander Robotnick appears with a previously unreleased male vocal demo version of “I Wanna Believe,” a legendary track that would later appear under the name Gina & the Flexix. Canadian industrial royalty Dwayne R. Goettel (Psyche) and cEvin Key (Skinny Puppy) team up on the horror-sampling hit-heavy blaster “Bastards.” Belgian EBM progenitors à;GRUMH... report for duty with a slab of machine funk on “The Army.” UK DIY stalwarts Khmer Rouge bring Krautrock-inflected minimalism with “Take Me (Across the Floor Tonight) In Dub.” Endangered Species Vol 2 comes housed in a sleeve designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh, and includes a 16 page booklet featuring liner notes, lyrics, and photographs of each featured project. Please assist Dark Entries in their efforts to preserve the rarest of beasts (and beats).

2026 Repress

King Street Sounds continues to reissue house classics from their legendary back catalogue, this time releasing a second VA sampler featuring four deep soulful house tracks.This compilation showcases dancefloor fillers from notable artists such as Dennis Ferrer, Lil Louis, Masters at Work, Mood II Swing, and Kimara Lovelace. These underground anthems have stood the test of time and still sound as fresh as when they were first released.House music enthusiasts can once again come together and take the opportunity to own these incredible tracks on this fantastic EP.

2026 Repress

It's been 32 years since Hyper Go Go's 'High' crashed into life, combining the best of Italo House and rave into an exuberant, floor destroying piano anthem.

Fast forward to 2024 and HOOJ reissue this 92 classic with the Original & Cloud 9 Mixes on the A side with 2 newer remixes on the B side.

Remixes come from Fast rising Scottish duo Testpress, who strip things back a bit, working the original riffs around a thumping kick and hooky new synth line & Kyle Starkey, the youngster takes no prisoners, tearing into the OG with slamming 135bpm drums, big drops, the odd snare roll, and lots of drama, for an energy driven update.

raum…musik welcomes Jaffa Surfa back for its 121st release with ‘Tribal Diesel EP’, a four-tracker moving through progressive techno, industrial-tinged minimal, house and broken beat. Rather than treating these as fixed genres, Surfa reshapes them into something uncanny and unmistakably tribal, while keeping the groove firmly at the centre.

That approach is clearest on the A-side. “Diggers Diesel” has a ritual pull and, as the EP’s title suggests, finds Jaffa Surfa at his most tribal. Processed drums and splintered voices gradually lock into a hook while murky synths shift beneath them. “Lidl Sin” takes a leaner, slightly industrial but definitely understated route. Its reduced arrangement leaves enough room for each detail to register, with drums, synth stabs and sequenced lines appearing to exist in a state of constant mutation. On the b-side, “NGLZ” is the EP’s most direct house cut, driven by heavy low end, syncopated rhythms and flashes of phased samples. Breakbeat accents and old-school vocal fragments nod towards US house, though the track’s restless movement keeps it from settling into anything conventional. “Upstarz Galeri” closes on a wider screen, carrying traces of krautrock and decades-old sci-fi and cyberpunk soundtracks without ever feeling nostalgic. Airy and expansive, it pairs breakbeats and growling basslines with densely layered samples, giving its machine funk an unexpectedly emotional charge.

'Tribal Diesel EP' never overstates the contrast between its parts. Jaffa Surfa holds everything together through texture, rhythm and an almost cybernetic atmosphere. It is clearly built for the club, but carries enough personality and ambiguity to reward closer listening.

A staple of the ’80s electro-funk and disco scenes, On The Shelf by The B.B. & Q. Band is a classic 1985 disco-funk track. Remixed by legendary Dutch producer and DJ Ben Liebrand. (“BL” stands for Ben Liebrand), who created several extended and “Finest” mixes for the group’s seminal 1986 Genie album. Now remastered and reworked, these mixes are on point: electro drums, punchy keys, and really warm, subtle bass. A very sexy slice of mid-80s disco funk with soul.

Ever since the release of his first solo album more than 20 years ago, German musician and producer Christian Kleine has experimented with blending and contrasting the varying textures and approaches of post-rave IDM, breakbeats, shoegaze and punk. His latest album offering, Touch & Fuse, shows he's continued to refine and perfect that combination, which is less a conscious concoction and more of a natural outcome of the music he likes. From the edgy Aphex-isms of 'Val 2' and the heavily filtered breaks of 'Reverse Angle' to the slowed down grunge meets pure electronics of 'Return of the Underground', this is unique, accomplished stuff.

On Board Music returns for its sixth installment of the Various Artists EP series, but this time with a different approach. Five fresh remixes breathe new life into Point C, originally released in 2021 and consisting of tracks from Foreign Material, Hironori Takahashi, Hiver, Sylve and Alan Backdrop.

For the 2024 update, On Board enlists five of the finest deep techno practitioners to twist the originals into bold new forms. US artist Patrick Russell dives deep into his signature, tripped-out zone, with dub and half-time sensibilities grounding the remix in an eyes-down headspace. Estrato Aurora, who remixes Hiver’s cut, goes equally subterranean, perfectly setting up the nimble drumming and bright melodies of Polygonia’s contribution.

Shoal corrals three original solo productions into ISOTOOP’s fourth record, each demonstrating refinement of the artist’s sound and technique, finished by a fitting retelling of ‘Interlocking’ by Antony Linell.

It begins with helical hypnotism; ‘Strange Blue Knots’ drives directly forward on muscular bass, but pointillistic synthwork creates an aural illusion of a spiral aperture tightening; the landscape remains broad, but focus is drawn down to the loci of motion. All containment is blown away by the incomparable force of ‘Roxellana’. Here, the forward motion is not illusory but the irrefutable command of hurricane tailwinds. Thunder heralds full-band waves of unbridled sound, and though the rudder is surrendered to the billowing storm, no part of the weapon is directionless chaos.

Shoal’s tale concludes with ‘Interlocking’, a step back from the monstrous energy of the preceding track (anything and all would be); attention is built again on guile and quiet magnetism, commonly felt attributes throughout the artist’s repertoire. This concept of restraint as force receives a sharpening by Antony Linell, whose sonic influence is present throughout the record, like fossilised footprints. In the calm, sheltered lee of the mountain, the slope behind the wave’s punching crest, Linell’s calmer, stripped-back version feels like a fireside retelling of a myth; still full of the magnitude of the original events, the space surrounding the action is foregrounded. 

Every tale may be reduced to the same core elements: the hand; the knife it holds; vivid silence presaging the moment of action. Fitting that the tale of three parts is summarised by a fourth, wider perspective.