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Josh Butler joins Kerri Chandler’s Kaoz Theory imprint with the ‘Piranha’ EP, featuring a collaboration with Josh Daniel and two further original compositions.

Northern England’s Josh Butler has been at the forefront of the contemporary house scene over the past decade, racking up releases for the likes of Defected, Rejected, Solid Grooves, Hot Creations, Crosstown Rebels, MÜSE and many more. Here though we see Josh returning to Kerri Chandler’s Kaoz Theory following 2023’s ‘Sunday Club’ with some fresh, dub house leaning material.

Opening the release is ‘Be There’, a collaboration with Josh Daniel, laid out across five and half minutes with dubbed out piano chords, crisp drums, a bouncy bass line and Daniel’s soulful vocal stylings.

A dub mix is offered up to follow, laying focus solely on the groove. On the flip side we have ‘Piranha’ up first, a hazy journey through dubbed out synth swells, airy vocal chants, skippy low-slung percussion and snaking sub bass tones.

‘Chess’ then rounds out the EP, laying down heavily swung minimalistic percussion, fluttering low end pulsations and ethereal atmospheric textures to create a subtly unfurling, cinematic dance floor groove.

DJ Feedback:

Junior Sanchez – Dope freshness!

Dennis Quin – Nice EP, feel the tracks

Lele Sacchi – All good deep rollers

Alexander Maier – Superb deepness in all

Ruff Stuff – Great EP! Love it!

Danny Howells – Loving this, all four tracks totally worth of support

Milos – Amazing EP, great tracks

Chris Brennan – Supremely smooth tunes, lovely lovely

Mr V – Straight fire

Northern Soul legend Billy Prince returns with his next Common Good Records dancefloor filler. Following up the sold-out Angel/I Need You 7” with a Detroit-styled uptempo heartfelt offering. Born and raised in the Motor City, Billy developed a passion for music at a very young age, in part due to him spending much of his childhood in his father’s record shop during the Detroit soul explosion. Billy is one of the founding members and lead singer of The Precisions, who are best known for the legendary Northern Soul stomper, “If This Is Love (I’d Rather Be Lonely)”.

Four Flies Records is proud to present its brand new imprint Edizioni Della Notte, which expands the label's musical range. The sound of Edizioni Della Notte is a sound of twilight atmospheres and moonlit nights, traversing genres from disco-funk to soft rock, jazz-fusion and city pop. It's the music that creeps out of smoky nightclubs and car cassette radios, breaking the silence of empty streets and offering an escape from metropolitan reality into cosmic-exotic dreamlands.

Quite fittingly, the first official release on Edizioni Della Notte is called By Night. It's the debut EP of Scerida, a solo project of musician and singer-songwriter Daniela Resconi, and a perfect match for the sound that the new imprint intends to represent.

Its four tracks explore the idea of night as a time of ecstasy and torment, as a land of freedom and imagination but also of delusion, as an accomplice, a friend and an enemy described through feelings and mental states that range from expectation and euphoria to disillusionment and resignation.

Resconi, who hails from Brescia, northern Italy, formerly released music under the moniker Cara and as part of the duo The Loud Vice. Her new alias Scerida, which combines the French term chérie with the Spanish word querida, signals both a revolution and an evolution. "Scerida is a dive into the exotic side of my imagination, into mischevious thoughts, into a crazy night where I lost and found myself again," she explains. "She is still me, Daniela, but she keeps her eyes wide open on this restless, troubled world to write songs that try to ward off the horror vacui of everyday life."

By Night celebrates the dark hours as magical and mesmerizing, even when mysterious or dangerous. It evokes images and scenarios cinematically – a taxi passing by and fading into the distance, ice-cold Martinis during a party, whirlwinds of emotion, psychedelic sunrises and neon sunsets – through a stream of consciousness filled with noir-inflected pop, lo-fi vibes, slow hypnotic rhythms, suspended grooves and swelling atmospheres.

2022 Repress

On the A-side, Portuguese producer Lake Haze delivers three techno cuts for the floor, all composed with a brutal acid line. On the B-side, Swedish producer Celldod returns with three electro and techno tunes for those who like the cold groove of northern Europe. Sometimes ravey, sometimes martial, sometimes funky, here is a new split EP with six raw bangers !

'A Winged Victory For The Sullen' is the first installment of the new collaboration between Stars Of The Lid member Adam Wiltzie and L.A. composer Dustin O'Halloran. The duo agreed to leave the comfort zone of their home studios and develop the recordings with the help of large acoustic spaces, hunting down a selection of 9ft grand pianos that had the ability to deliver extreme sonic low end.

Other traditional instrumentation was used including string quartet, French horn, and bassoon, but always juxtaposed is the sound of drifting guitar washed melodies. The recordings began with one late night session in the famed Grunewald Church in Berlin on a 1950's imperial B?sendorfer piano and strings were added in the historic East Berlin DDR radio studios along the River Spree. One last session on a handmade Fazioli piano in a private studio on the Northern cusp of Italy, before the final mixes took place in a 17th century villa near Ferrara with the assistance of Francesco Donadello. All songs were then processed completely analogue straight to magnetic tape.

Their secret to harvesting new melodic structures from the thin air of existence was for the duo to push themselves to dangerous territory, realising that clear thinking at the wrong moment could stifle the compositions. The final result is seven landscapes of harmonic ingemination. In 'Requiem For The Static King Part One' ? created in memory of the untimely passing of Mark Linkous ? they have taken the age-old idea of a string quartet and then shot it out of a cannon to reveal exquisite new levels of sonic bliss.

Of the 13 minute track 'Symphony Path?tique', Wiltzie says 'after almost 20 years of struggling to create interesting ambient drone music, I feel like I have finally figured out what I am doing'. Notable guest musicians include Icelandic cellist Hildur Gudnadottir, as well as Erased Tapes label comrade Peter Broderick on violin. A Winged Victory For The Sullen is not a side project ? it is the future of the late night record you have always dreamed of. A Major release for Forte, Non exportable.

AI-31 sees the debut release from a new collaboration between Samuel van Dijk (Netherlands) and Rasmus Hedlund (Finland). Both key proponents to the scene in Northern Europe, they come together with mutual understanding and a common vision to sound. Dialog acts as a conversational exchange that sees the interplay of dynamic frequencies, evocative imagery and contemporary sonic art. Spread across four sides, the album as a whole exists as a kind of metaphysical process, eternally growing and contracting — change is the only constant, marked by a continuous progression of sound and space.  

Expansive, deep, and at moments arresting, Dialog unfolds with sweeping soundscapes and shimmers with tactile sonic details. A chasmic rift of scintillating drone structures, each layer exposes a series of ever-deeper shades. In a play of dynamic dualities, the pair harnesses both earthly materials as well as access to more ethereal dimensions in the music. Side A begins with sub-terrestrial ruptures, gestating in a process of constant elemental changes. Rattling hits sputter amongst a state of nascent chaos, yet continues to be maintained in self-regulating stasis. Side B sets a more introspective tone, whispering with ghostly artefacts and bubbling synth lines, before building into a driving energy of layered field recordings and mechanistic timbres. The essence of form continues to be contested, until it subsides into momentary calm on side C. A cleansing period of soft drones float into the space and the pace slows, washing away remnants of past. The journey continues with side D’s conclusion - a solemn contour that reaches its internal extent, to then finally return to its source. 

The fast rising FUTURA imprint from Leon, releases its new release from Mexican DJ Producer Mike.D with stellar remixes from Len Lewis and Do Or Die to complete the package .



Salomon Records founder Mike.D hails from Juarez Chihuahua, and is considered one of the new generation talents of DJs and producers from northern Mexico. His music selection and mixing abilities have given him the opportunity to play at the legendary Mexican venue Hardpop for many years. As a producer he’s released on labels like Kanja Records, Kina Music, The Lab, Dream Culture and more which has cemented his place in the scene. His music is regularly supported and played by the likes of Arapu, Sepp, Cosmjn, Maher Daniel, Mihai Pol, Sublee, YokoO and more.


For his debut release on Futura, he drops 2 originals the first of which is the title track ‘Mente Trascendente’. An edgy minimal deep tech house track with a grooving electronic bassline, deep atmospheric pads, classy beat pattern all combining to create an elegant 8 minute journey. The second on the package is Len Lewis’s remix of ‘Mente Trascendente’. Len Lewis released his first track back in ‘93 on Jumpin & Pumpin, which then led to records on the likes of the legendary Swag. Lewis’ designated name for his sound is, SiTH, Sinister Tech House, claiming its mysterious name after a Mixmag reviewer used this description for his music many years ago. His remix fits this name perfectly, powerful low bassline drives the track effortlessly, and smooth breakdown combining with eerie incidentals and pads, treated vocal cuts providing the signature hook for the track. This is a remix that’s perfect for the heads in the scene.



Next up we have ‘Sendero Interno’. The original mix is a pure minimal work out right from the outset. The stripped back and delicate beats use popping sounds for filling the frequencies, and work perfectly against the backdrop of the brooding pads and synths make this an classy introspective underground track, which is everything the Futura label is about. To round things off we have the final remix which comes from My Own Jupiter DJ Producer, Do Or Die. Well known for producer techno and electro the fast rising producer, delivers an acid house sci-fi esq work out on this remix with punching beats cutting through the mix, whilst retaining the brooding synths and samples from the original and adding in some special vocal cuts to keep this remix unique and perfect for the floor.

Three years after he released the incredible New Experience EP (picking up plaudits from Bill Brewster, Tim Sweeney, Laurent Garnier, Horse Meat Disco, Leo Mas & 6Music’s Tom Ravenscroft, among many more), Tokyo’s Kota Motomura returns to Hobbes Music for his debut LP, Pay It Forward. This is the first vinyl release on Hobbes Music since the much-loved ‘Aranath’ EP by Leonidas & Hobbes last Spring. While the label maintains the level of quality control for which it has become recognised, the artist continues to subvert electronic and dance music norms in his iconoclastic way on this extraordinary record.

He’s a mysterious character with an ear for idiosyncratic music that runs the gamut from ambient, exotica and jazz to disco, house and techno via post punk, new wave and funk. It’s highly original and all adds up to a confection perhaps best described as ‘Balearic’.

Album opener Paradise is a certified jazz-funk JAM. Destined for dance floors worldwide, this one’s been dropping well with DJs, Motomura demonstrating his piano chops alongside Mutsumi Takeuchi’s sax. Tropical pushes the boat in a more rhythmic direction, some pretty wild drum programming laced with more sounds of the, um, tropics, before mad vocal yelps suggest something yet more tribal. To Be Free initially resembles early 90s progressive house (pulsing bassline, synth-driven melodies), before the arrival of some new wave guitar licks a la classic Talking Heads/David Byrne and ooh ooh vocal chants take it to another dimension altogether.

B-side opener Emotion features Takeuchi again (on flute this time) and more vocal chants before things take a dramatic turn, threatening to open up into a full fanfare before calming and then bursting into wild life again with the exhortation that “C’mon, everybody dancing!” Rhythm flirts with an energy and pace more akin to a techno record: drums, drums, more drums plus a fair few yelps and chants - the kind of DJ tool that will send a simmering dance floor wild in the right hands. Flower closes things in a more melancholy style, familiar to fans of ‘Aboy’ from the New Experience EP, with plaintive acoustic guitar (performed by Akichi), birdsong and big piano chords.

Support from Bill Brewster, Leo Mas, Al Kent, Red Rack’em, Nick The Record, Phil Mison, Phat Phil Cooper, KZA, Sean Johnston (ALFOS), S/A/M, Dribbler, Joe Muggs, Monolith Cocktail and more…

‘Gonna review in MÜ mag... very fine stuff!’ JOE MUGGS
‘Will be reviewed on the blog’ MONOLITH COCKTAIL 
BILL BREWSTER played Flower on the DJ History podcast #641 (25.3.22)
'I really like this album, Flower and Paradise are my favourite' LEO MAS
‘I like Paradise’ AL KENT
‘Woo this is tasty. DEFO playing on my next radio show. The label’s A&R is defo getting better and better. HM has been putting out some dope stuff and this one seems really good quality’ RED RACK’EM
‘Paradise and Flower sounding good’ NICK THE RECORD
‘Tunes sound great!’ PHIL MISON
‘Going to include Paradise and Flower on my Sunday Ibiza global radio show PHAT PHIL COOPER (Nu Northern Soul)
‘Very nice album with influences from many different genres. I especially like To Be Free with nice synths and guitar cutting, and Flower, which is a chill vibe’ KZA (Mule Musiq, Endless Flight)　
'100% correct about the ALFOS potential of To Be Free!' SEAN JOHNSTON (A Love From Outer Space)
'Stunning, will fit perfectly with the vibe of my radio show’ S/A/M (Music For Dreams, DK; Playa Del Sol, Ibiza)
'Stellar work, i'll make a bet that Flowers is a Balaeric classic this summer' DRIBBLER (Breakfast Club, Ibiza)
‘It's cool in a nice smelling psycho sense, it was a very DEEP sound that I couldn't produce. Congrats!’ ALTZ (Altzmusica)
‘Paradise is my jam, it's deep, sunny and never boring. I'm interested to see how this will work on the dance floor. Overall a great album with solid composition and impressive use of live instruments!’ SOBRIETY (fka Chloé Juliette)
'Very tidy selection' ASTROJAZZ (Kelburn Garden Party, Wee Dub, Samedia Shebeen, Disco Makossa)
‘This is a lovely release. Follows on from New Experience in the best way possible. It's got lots of vibes going on but holds together as a cohesive piece of work. Love it’ JAMIE THOMSON (La Cheetah, Glasgow)
‘To Be Free is a track i could imagine Andy Weatherall playing in one of his sets at A Love From Outer Space’ KIRSTIE PATON aka She-Bang Rave Unit (Threads Radio, Radio Magnetic)

'Bricks, Broken Bottles and Sticks' is Dean Parrish's first soul recording from 1965 which became a local radio hit and, years later, a classic spin on the UK soul scene. On the flip, Porgy and The Monarchs' "My Heart Cries For You" is another dance floor anthem that reached cult status. Some will still remember Italian American singer Dean Parrish after his brief appearance in an episode of The Soprano but for most soul music true aficionados, Parrish gained a legend status when his 'I'm On My Way' was the last record played at the last Northern Soul all-nighter at the Wigan Casino. His 'Bricks, Broken Bottles and Sticks' was his first soul side though and it was released on Musicor in 1965 achieving some success and also becoming a classic spin on the UK soul scene years later. Eternally in demand, this party record now exchanges hands for a few hundred USD, so we thought it would be a good idea to make it widely available again. 'My Heart Cries For You' by Porgy and The Monarchs became a much cherished dance floor anthem in the UK and has all the defining ingredients of most northern soul favorites: Motown sound-alike arrangements, epic vocals that are almost inviting to sing along and lyrics spiced with a bit of drama. In short, this record is a must-have northern soul double sider and there's nothing like it to get the party started!

First vinyl release on SCOPÁVIK, the label owner Scøpe’s 3 original tracks with a stunning remix by Anthony Linell of Northern Electronics.

BOSS AXIS - GOLIATH EP - BlackFoxMusic 029 The ministers
of melody are back! Good things sometimes need their time.
And if you count the gap since boss axis' last release one thing
is immediately clear: when its about years, this is not just
"good" - its awesome! The titletrack "goliath" on the A side isn't
just named like a giant - with the huge break of 2mins in the
middle and the catchy melodic bassline it's a perfect peaktimemonster to burn down nearly every danceoor. "Goliath" also
gets a new dress by northern germanys Rauschhaus who
already releases on Traum Schallplatten or Paul Hazendonk´s
Manual Music. And this dress seems to be a short and breezy
summer-wear with openair-character. On the B side you'll nd
the dreamy "lost bridge" wich don't has to hide from the A side.
We don't know wich bridge they mean, but if everything what
they lose sounds like this techhouse-styled and groovy
dancetrack, we hope they lose some more... Last but not least
"the secret": with a classic sample wich is already used in a
classic early 90s ravetrack from suspicious the massive break
climbs to the top to explode with a stompy kickdrum and let
move every feet around the globe.

finally repressed !

The Vivus family ends 2018 in style with its fifth instalment in the vinyl-only series VRV. This release brings back some familiar faces in label founder Daniel Broesecke and an old friend in Silat Beksi.

These two close friends who share their passion for music are fresh off their release on Curtea Veche back in September but they bring some raw energy on this one, resulting in timeless and hypnotic music from two creative young artists.

The first track, Mistral, starts off as strong as you would expect from its name, deriving from the cold northwesterly wind that blows from the south of France to the northern Mediterranean. The heavy bassline floats just above the surface as a cool breeze of atmospheric sounds make their way across.

Next up, on the B side, we have Get Some More, with a calmer approach but powerful nonetheless. An unexpected vocal greets us at the beginning only to make way for a steady flow of uninterrupted intertwined noises that go hand in hand with the firm bass line just underneath.

Efficient Space is honoured to share the little-heard recordings of three Yolngu songmen from Northeast Arnhem Land - Bobby Bunnungurr, Jimmy Djamunba and Peter Milaynga (d. 2007) - working in collaboration with Victorian musician Peter Mumme. Yolngu are the indigenous peoples of Arnhem Land in Northern Territory, Australia; their clans are the Marangu and Malabirr, the languages Djinang and Gannalbingu. Their songs are of instruction, story and ceremony.

A connection first initiated by Yolngu actor David Gulpilil, Waak Waak Djungi's mid-90s recordings were preceded by years of respectful sharing of culture. Mumme explains that 'the aim was to produce something that is new, not in the sense of a breakthrough, but what emerges from the combining of existing ideas'. What developed was sonically unique - sprawling vocal/electronic soundscapes and field recordings that reimagine the traditional songs of black crows and white cockatoos, sharing, creation spirits and of leaving and returning home to country. Spacious and patiently durational, the songs resound in a big land with a big story to tell.

On the 1997 Waak Waak Djungi album Crow Fire Music, these interpretations were assembled with traditional recordings and additional material from Sebastian Jörgensen and Sally Grice. Falling short of generating public interest, it became well known in the Yolngu homeland. Nearly two decades later, a CD copy filed away in the 3RRR FM library would prompt a three year investigation to meet the people behind the music.

Waak Waak ga Min Min (Black Crow, White Cockatoo) combines the previously unreleased Gandi Bawong with five contemporary versions from the original album, with a new cover painting by Bobby Bunnungurr. Tracing 1997 back to many millennia ago, this is a captivating window into the richness of Aboriginal culture and collaboration.

- A spectacular reimagining of one of the all time greatest
Northern Soul tunes, Timi Yuro 'It'll Never Be Over For Me'
whilst the original can change hands for upwards on £2000 a
group of young Argentinian Mods and rude boys have come
up with a reggae version.

- On paper it shouldn't work but it does. The most requested
song on Eddie Piller's Eclectic Soul Show on Soho Radio in
2017 following a chance meeting with guitarist Kevin Finigier
from Los Aggrotones in the studio.

- Acid Jazz are proud to release this as a limited edition vinyl
single (backed with one of the bands original organ
instrumentals) as a taster for the labels release of their
European debut LP later in 2018.

Gidge is a production duo consisting of Jonatan Nilsson and Ludvig Stolterman. Based in the northern parts of Sweden, Gidge quickly built a solid fan base with releases of their albums Autumn Bells, LNLNN and Lulin. The music of Gidge seems to affect their audience in an emotional way, which eventually resulted in the duo taking the top spot as Best New Artist at XLR8R's readers poll, as well as having the 3LPs ending up on numerous end of year lists. Their main source of inspiration is the vast, snow-covered woodlands of the North. Gidge have for instance recorded all of their percussions in the forest, using only the sticks and rocks that can be found there. 'For Seoul' though came about after the duo went on a trip through Asia, and spent a number of days in the South Korean capital. They fell in love with Seoul, and later on created this two-part hymn for the giant city. Applescal created a remix for the track, which you can listen on the b side.

"Back in 2022, Ban Ban Ton Ton raved about George T’s then digital-only release, “Roll On, Kings Cross”. We described it as a “dynamite dose of poetry and digidub.” Likening the prose – which describes a train journey from the coast to the city – to Michael Smith and Joe Duggan, while comparing the production to Dennis Bovell’s remixes of Jarvis Cocker’s “Swanky Modes”, and The Sabres Of Paradise’s “Wilmot”. Melodica-led with a hefty post-punk flavour, its dub, which focuses on manipulating and morphing the bass-line, we called “hollowed out house.”

These tracks have now been pressed to vinyl for the second release on new imprint Noetic Rhythm, where they’re joined by Leonidas’ “Great Northern” mix. Eschewing his usual futuristic ethno techno jacking, here he drops into roots reggae. Creating something more skanking, more stepping. An extended “discomix” showered in filtered, Mutron Bi-phased percussion, ghostly horns and peppered with the odd syndrum pop. Washes of sampled surf appropriately accompanying George informing us that “to the left there’s the sea.”

The 12 also features, “Dr Doctor”, a fresh collaboration with Yas Mine, The singer / guitarist’s French vocals countering George’s Matt Johnson-esque delivery, and a John Barry / “Midnight Cowboy”-like melodica melody serenading the song’s slow, squelchy, electronic skanking. The dub, instead, showcasing Yas’ fine fretwork." BAN BAN TON TON review

-

"These tracks are massive! I love Roll On King's Cross the best" KAY SUZKI (Time Capsule)
"I played the dub (Dub On, King's Cross) at a club in Oslo alongside some Maurizio and it sounded great. Bit of an oddball." Also played on NTS Radio and in Mixmag mix. JONNIE WILKES // OPTIMO
"Really digging Mr Demure when he drops into dubwise" DR ROB // BAN BAN TON TON
"Yes. Nice" NICK THE RECORD
"Awesome" JONNY ROCK
"I really like this EP... Love the Leonidas dub!" CEDRIC WOO (Beauty & The Beat, LDN)
"Love the blend of Augustus P vibes with a post punk dub feel. Bingo!" DICKY TRISCO
"I love it and will be playing" TREVOR FUNG (Ibiza Legend)
"Yes this is dark but kinda friendly.... brilliant...It's like ghost town ...I love Leo's mix" FOR MANKIND (Pikes Ibiza)
"Love the release and LOVE LOVE LOVE Dr Doctor!!!! Psyched to play this one out all weekend." ZILLAS ON ACID // James Weissinger (Philadelphia, US)
"This is amazing. Dub on kings cross is a banger - really love this one" ARVEENE
"Loving the Leonidas dub" ATEMI (Blackbush Orchestra / Abstrack)
+
PREVIOUSLY
"Melodica heaven" JD TWITCH/OPTIMO (RIP)
"I love this" IVAN SMAGGHE
"It's hot!!" JONNY ROCK
+ plays/support from:
DON LETTS (BBC 6Music)
TOM RAVENSCROFT (BBC 6Music)
HARRI (Sub Club)






[f] Roll On, King's Cross [Leonidas' Great Northern Mix] 06:54
[g] Dr Doctor [Instrumental Mix] 03:25

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Koen Holtkamp has spent more than two decades shaping a body of work at the intersection of ambient, experimental, and electroacoustic music. Known for his role in the influential duo Mountains, as well as a solo catalog defined by texture and spatial awareness, Holtkamp has long explored how sound interacts with environment and perception. With Nightlife, he enters a new phase of that inquiry, one shaped as much by physical relocation as artistic evolution.

After leaving Brooklyn for the relatively rural setting of New York’s Hudson Valley, Holtkamp found himself immersed in nature and embracing a slower way of life, a shift that directly informed the album’s creation. Rather than rushing into a new project, he allowed the space itself to guide him, focusing on experimentation and play instead of a fixed outcome. Over time, a new instrument emerged from his modular system, built around physical modeling techniques that emulate plucked string sounds. Drawing on a deep affinity for acoustic traditions, from guitar soli to the kora and other chordophones, he began translating those influences into an electronic language, creating music that feels tangible, effusive, and even intimate, despite its synthetic nature. As the pieces took shape, Holtkamp expanded the project into a kind of imagined ensemble. Composed with specific collaborators in mind, the album features extensive contributions from drummer Greg Fox and saxophonist and flutist Matt Bauder, whose performances subtly reshape the material and draw it toward more fluid, song-like forms, alongside a guest appearance from Ben Vida on synth bass. Yet even as Nightlife occasionally resembles a band in motion, its construction resists traditional cohesion. Acoustic and electronic sources coexist to create a hyper-dimensional sense of space, with each element deliberately placed in its own distinct environment, yielding a complex yet inviting setting that feels both otherworldly and completely natural.

Much of the album was created during late-night sessions, which became a kind of personal ritual and ultimately inspired its title. Nightlife unfolds as a series of finely detailed environments, where stillness, texture, and subtle interplay take precedence over momentum. Each piece invites close listening while remaining open and unforced, reflecting both a change in pace and a deepening of focus. The result extends Holtkamp’s ongoing interest in how sound can shape, and be shaped by, the spaces we inhabit.

Between 1989 and 1992, Sea Horses released three albums that percolated through England’s DIY underground before fading into the pre-Web ether. For a small community of listeners, however, their ornate gothic romance endured as an unusual sensibility within the broader post-punk coalition.

Hailing from towns on the outskirts of Manchester—Congleton, Scholar Green, and Macclesfield—Sea Horses forged a distinctively Northern English sound. Their dark, dreamy folk carried affinities with other groups of the time, but songwriter Richard Veal’s idyllic medievalism also took unlikely influence from madrigals and liturgical music. The exalted soprano of Clare Williams and twin sisters Jo and Liz Bromley reinforces this devotional quality, hanging in nave-like ambience (the band played several shows in local churches).

For this reason, and for the subtle psychedelia of their longer-than-average compositions, critics aligned Sea Horses with England’s New Age contingent—an association that the band could not quite understand. But Sea Horses did share certain predilections with their Aquarian counterparts. The band’s pastoralism carried pagan overtones, with songs like chapters in a Saxon epic, or odes to copses, moors, and headlands.

Sea Horses: 1989–1992 collects recordings from across the band’s output, which includes two short-run albums on Mandala Recordings—Listen (1991) and Dream into Being (1992)—and a little-known self-released cassette, The Shining Net (1991), which, until now, was only known among friends and family.

Stone Age Is Now: Poems from Lithic is the new album by musician and poet Caleb Nichols - both a companion piece to his book Lithic: A Hyperballad (Harbor Editions 2026) and a follow-up to his album Stone Age Is Back (Royal Oakie 2025). Across twelve tracks Nichols interpolates poems from Lithic: A Hyperballad with tracks from Stone Age Is Back, bringing new depth to his indie-rock and alt-folk compositions. A meditation on grief, but not in the ways you’d expect, the album explores what it means to be living and dying right now, in this moment of extraordinary change.


Inspired by the raw immediacy of Neil Young, early REM, and Califone, Nichols adhered to a first-take best-take rule and tracked the album in just five days. Produced by Nichols, the album was engineered by Jay Pellicci (Deerhoof, Om, Sleater-Kinney) at Brother’s (Chinese) Recording in Oakland, CA, with Nichols later recording the spoken word overdubs after hours at an empty bar in San Luis Obispo, CA. Pellicci later mixed the tracks and David Glasebrook (Patti Smith, Peter Case, Sugar Candy Mountain) mastered the album at The Garden Shed in Oakland, CA.


Featuring even more experimentation than Stone Age Is Back, the album is peppered with field recordings captured by Nichols from many locations, including Kew Gardens, London; Llan Tysilio, Yns Mon; Treborth, Gwynedd; a secret beach in Bangor; Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow; and Broad Street in San Luis Obispo, CA. In addition to contributions from band members John Metz and Aaron Kroeger, the album features saxophone by Lorenzo Coretese , and Rhys Trimble provides the Welsh translation and performance you hear on “Orme Dream At The Car Park”. Additionally, Nichols took some liberties adapting the poems from the book to the recordings. “You’ll notice that there are differences between the printed poems and the poems recorded here. That is because a poem is never finished and can exist in multiple instances at the same time, like in quantum mechanics. The cat in Schrodinger’s box is both alive and dead; at the bottom of the cliff, our eyes are both: closed and open” says Nichols.

On The Allfather Awakens, Amon Amarth created a definitive 10-song masterwork that further cements the legacy of the lineup’s spectacularly memorable riffs and unflinching aural power. The opening track of The Allfather Awakens, the epic tale of “Gjallarhorn,” is followed by the heroic battlefield tale “Eight Legs of Thunder,” while “Upphaf,” a translated stanza from the prophetic poem Völuspá, marks the band’s first-ever acoustic offering. The iconic Swedish melodic death metallers took a new songwriting approach for The Allfather Awakens, the band’s 13th album since 1998’s Once Sent from the Golden Hall. The Allfather Awakens came to life across two recording sessions, months apart, at producer Jacob Hansen’s studio in Denmark. Amon Amarth began writing songs while touring, rather than waiting until they were off the road. The first session was Spring 2025; the final recording was completed in March 2026.

On The Allfather Awakens, Amon Amarth created a definitive 10-song masterwork that further cements the legacy of the lineup’s spectacularly memorable riffs and unflinching aural power. The opening track of The Allfather Awakens, the epic tale of “Gjallarhorn,” is followed by the heroic battlefield tale “Eight Legs of Thunder,” while “Upphaf,” a translated stanza from the prophetic poem Völuspá, marks the band’s first-ever acoustic offering. The iconic Swedish melodic death metallers took a new songwriting approach for The Allfather Awakens, the band’s 13th album since 1998’s Once Sent from the Golden Hall. The Allfather Awakens came to life across two recording sessions, months apart, at producer Jacob Hansen’s studio in Denmark. Amon Amarth began writing songs while touring, rather than waiting until they were off the road. The first session was Spring 2025; the final recording was completed in March 2026.

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.

Founded in 2019 by Nick Whaley and Luca Tantari, Piss Drunk Records was born in Northern California from a shared passion for underground electronic music and the DIY ethos that has always driven independent scenes.

Rather than waiting for opportunities, the label was created with a simple philosophy: if nobody releases the music you believe in, do it yourself. Every release represents that independent spirit, putting artistic freedom before commercial expectations.

Nick Whaley has been an active figure in the Northern California underground electronic scene for many years, continuously releasing music, cutting lathe records, and performing live sets while keeping the local DIY spirit alive. Luca Tantari, originally from Italy, lived in California where the idea for Piss Drunk Records was born. After returning to Italy, he continued developing the label, expanding its international reach while preserving its original vision and underground identity.

Although founded in California, Piss Drunk Records has always maintained strong roots in both the United States and Italy, creating a bridge between two underground communities.

The label embraces a broad spectrum of electronic music, from raw industrial techno, experimental electronics and noise to old-school hardcore, gabber and more dancefloor-oriented productions. Style is never the priority—authenticity is.

The first five releases were issued as hand-cut lathe records and a limited cassette, reflecting the label's commitment to small-run, handcrafted formats. PDR006 marks Piss Drunk Records' first professionally pressed vinyl release, representing a new milestone while remaining true to the DIY philosophy that inspired the project from day one.

Piss Drunk Records exists for one reason only: to release music that deserves to exist—without compromise, without trends, and without waiting for permission.

Meg Lui is a Northern California-born singer-songwriter, based in the Hudson Valley since 2015. In her songs, vivid lyrics and poignant melodies intertwine with a voice that feels both intimate and lasting. Through reflections on love, resilience, and the human experience, she offers listeners a window into her world.


A Californian by birth, Boston-educated at Berklee College of Music, musically raised in Brooklyn, and now settled in the Catskills, Meg has released music under the names M. Lui, Grover, and as part of the trio Ember Isles.
Her influences-ranging from Freddie Mercury, The
Cranberries, No Doubt, Sheryl Crow, and Bonnie Raitt-reflect her love for artists whose fearless individuality continues to shape her dynamic songwriting and performance.


Over the past two years, Meg has lent her voice to records including Sufjan Stevens' Javelin (2023), Sam Evian's Plunge, Denison Witmer's Anything At All, John Legend's My Favorite Dream, Keenan O'Meara's forthcoming record Bathe In The Everlasting Light, and Liam Kazar's Pilot Light. She performs regularly with Keenan O'Meara and Hannah Cohen and occasionally when the stars align, with the Hudson Valley country band Critter Bonus.

Love Big Dummy emerged as the stray creation of Jonathan Stodle (Spite Fug, HEVN III) and Kjetil Skaro (Crispy Carrot). Converging with rhythm section Halvor Dokke and Tore Paulsen, the freewheeling venture soon ripened into its own tantalizing entity. Informed by shoegaze, folk, psychedelic rock and alumni indie, their palette reaches deep into decades past while carrying a riveting sense of urgency and presence. Their melodic craftsmanship and innate ingenuity evoke the sound of life-affirming melancholy. Their self-titled debut was recorded in the cold, dim bunkers of Boksen in Oslo, with noise-whiz Morten Minothi Kristiansen (Kennel/Monomort) piloting the gearship. It"s a San Francisco breeze across the slushed northern pavements.

Pioneering Ghanaian musician King Ayisobareturns September 4, 2026 with his forthcoming seventh album Pure Confusion, recorded and produced by On-U-Sound’s Adrian Sherwood.

Ayisoba is one of Ghana’s most distinctive musical voices. The world’s foremost player of the kologo - a homemade two-string lute fashioned from a calabash and covered in goatskin - he delivers fiercely political and socially observant songs using three different voices, including the voice of his grandfather that possessed him as a child. Sherwood meanwhile is the pioneering British producer and founder of On-U Sound whose hugely influential career has connected dub, post-punk, industrial, hip hop and experimental music through collaborations with artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Mark Stewart, Horace Andy, Sinéad O’Connor, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode.

Ayisoba and Sherwood first collaborated during a BBC Radio 3 Late Junction session at Maida Vale in 2017, organised by Ayisoba’s long-time collaborator Arnold de Boer/Zea of The Ex. The pair immediately connected, and during the pandemic, when Adrian’s long-time African Head Charge collaborator Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah was in Ghana looking for musicians to collaborate with Sherwood suggested Ayisoba, who eventually featured on two tracks on African Head Charge’s 2023 album A Trip To Bolgatanga (Bolgantanga is the region Ayisoba is from). Ayisoba then returned to the UK in late 2024 and travelled to Sherwood’s Ramsgate studio where the pair laid down the songs that would become Pure Confusion: “All the songs were already in my head,” says Ayisoba. “This album is all recorded live, over one afternoon. Adrian only plays live, and I like that. And he works hard - he doesn’t sleep. I woke up in the night and he was still working.”

“In my role producing it, I just let it roll to make a good vibe,” says Sherwood. “We recorded it completely live, did some programming and processing on some tracks, using dub techniques live on the mixing desk and adding some slick touches. We wanted the colours on the album to swing off what Ayisoba was doing, so we invited some friends to participate. Doug Wimbish (Sugar Hill Gang) arrived from America and lent his services playing bass on a couple of tracks; the wonderful Ivan Hussey (Celloman) played bass, keyboards and cello - cello is not really featured on African recordings so we thought it would be really cool to try it. I'd been working with Alex White (Fat White Family/Primal Scream) on my album (The Collapse of Everything) and so he added sax to a few tracks and I brought Alan Glenn down especially - Alan was in Little Axe but also Nine Below Zero and played in the Yardbirds – to add some mouth organ; Mark Bandola added a bit of flavour with his Juno, Ayisoba’s long-time Ghanian collaborator Ayuune Sule added some percussion and vocals and Matt Smith did some programming.”

“King Ayisoba is quite amazing, so unique,” Sherwood continues. “He’s got his own handmade instrument and three different voices - when you’re listening you think it’s three different people. He’s a breath of fresh air, full of love for the music which he wants to share with everybody. Some tracks we kept very straight and others we experimented with - adding dubby psychedelic little touches to trip you out a bit. The added production we did at On-U has given it a shine while still keeping it vibrant, live and spontaneous. I’m really proud of this record”.

On Pure Confusion, Ayisoba documents the anxieties, contradictions and changing social realities of contemporary Ghana. “Land is a problem for everyone,” says Ayisoba of the opening track “Property”. “If you don’t build on your land they will take it away. Plenty corruption in Ghana, plenty confusion. They sell the land to two, three, four people and then everybody fights.”

Elsewhere Ayisoba explores illness, spirituality and social stigma on “Bemba”, warning against hiding sickness out of shame or fear of “bad juju”: “People hide their sickness and the sickness kills them.” “Tewigiloge” reflects on cultural difference and open-mindedness encountered through world travel: “We will tour the whole world and we will see many things we may not like or understand… your eyes will see, but don’t talk - you have to be open-minded.”

Spirituality runs deeply throughout the album. Ayisoba’s grandfather was a respected spiritual healer whose presence the musician says still guides him today. “The grandparents’ spirits are the ones you can contact,” he explains of the spiritual chant “Nkaase”. “This song talks about the forefathers.” The closing track “Leeda-Mampanga (It’s Not My Strength)” acts as a statement of humility and gratitude: “You have to be humble, even if you have talent. God gives you the power.”

For more than two decades, King Ayisoba has been one of Africa’s most distinctive musical innovators, transforming northern Ghanaian kologo traditions into a bold contemporary sound rooted in hypnotic rhythms, social commentary and spiritual intensity. Since the breakthrough success of 2006’s Modern Ghanaians, Ayisoba has built an international following through acclaimed albums, relentless touring and collaborations with artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Orlando Julius and African Head Charge. Performances at Roskilde, WOMAD, Le Guess Who? and the Barbican have further cemented his reputation as a singular live performer and cultural force.

The third release on Uprising pairs a sax-driven rockabilly thumper with one of the coolest dance craze records of the mid-60s. ‘Red Hot Car’ was Bobby Verne’s only recording and came out on the tiny Californian Doc Holiday label in 1962. Judging by the current price and collector demand for an original copy only a small quantity were pressed. This is a powerhouse of a tune that has been filling dancefloors across the globe for some time now.
As for the flip, in 1965, Buddy Wayne added self-penned lyrics to Gary Paxton’s rendition of the James Bond theme. Released on the Big Ben label – that only put out four records − it sat unwanted for decades. Then the rockabilly scene picked up on it in a big way when they discovered that it was the perfect stroller. This was closely followed by the northern soul and mod scenes. Today, it is at last crossing over to a more mainstream audience.

505 Games und Laced Records präsentieren die mitreißende Musik von „WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers“ auf Doppel-Vinyl.

Die gesamte Musik wurde von Joe Caithness speziell für Vinyl gemastert. Das Gatefold-Cover ziert ein Artwork des Entwicklers Leenzee, das den Protagonisten Bai Wuchang darstellt.

Die Handlung spielt im Land Shu während der Ming-Dynastie, und die Filmmusik spiegelt eine Welt wider, die von kriegführenden Fraktionen, einer mysteriösen Krankheit und monströsen Kreaturen heimgesucht wird. Die Musik fängt die feierliche Schönheit der Landschaft und die darunter lauernde Furcht ein und verbindet traditionelle chinesische Instrumente und kraftvolle Gesangsdarbietungen mit grandiosen Orchesterarrangements und unheilvollen Gesangseinlagen.

Zusammen bilden Musik und Artwork ein Werk, das sich zugleich elegant und unheilvoll anfühlt – ein Artefakt, das der untergegangenen Dynastie, die es repräsentiert, würdig ist.

Das neue Album 3 von Saagara ist der dritte Teil der gefeierten Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem polnischen Produzenten und Multiinstrumentalisten Waclaw Zimpel und vier virtuosen Musikern aus der karnatischen Musiktradition Südindiens: den Perkussionisten Giridhar Udupa (Ghatam), Aggu Baba (Khanjira) und K Raja (Thavil) sowie der Geiger Mysore N. Karthik. Es ist eine schwirrende Gegenüberstellung von dichten indischen Rhythmen und pulsierenden elektronischen Mustern. Ein Album mit zutiefst transformativen Kompositionen, die sich zwischen Tradition und Experiment auf dem Weg zum Universellen bewegen.

It feels like a lifetime ago that the first Rat Cage demo tape was spat into the Hardcore Punk underground. Maybe that’s because for the past 10 years Bry Suddaby has been relentlessly chucking out a slew of pummelling records, arming many Punks worldwide with a soundtrack to survival in the modern age of death and destruction.
Fourteen bloody releases later, the third RAT CAGE LP comes crashing in as the state of global horror reaches a grave pinnacle. In true RAT CAGE fashion, the drums relentlessly hammer away under rollercoaster riffs, while Bry’s viciously cynical bark spills the trials and tribulations of trying to get by in 2026.
For the uninitiated, RAT CAGE pulls influence from 80’s Northern European Punk like MISSBRUKARNA or APPENDIX, contemporary Swedish sweet spot Hardcore like HERÄTYS or FYFAN, ripping USHC ala POISON IDEA or OUT COLD, while naturally adding a classic British injection of GBH or THE VARUKERS.
As always, there’s the constant apprehension that you never quite know what’s around the next bend, and with ‘Not Asking for Much’ Bry has cast the net even further. There’s moments that get as heavy as BASTARD, as melodic as the UK SUBS, and even a title track that gets as rocking as the PINK FAIRIES. All amounting to a distinctive and characterful sound that’s unmistakably RAT CAGE.
With little to be hopeful about as we all suffocate within the authoritarian nightmare, this LP could once again be your beacon of fire. So, light the match and burn alone at maximum volume.

Sex Magick Wizards is a Norwegian-Sámi quartet blending psychedelic rock, free improvisation and joik into hypnotic, ritualistic soundscapes. For years they have stormed Europe's underground and experimental music scenes, earning acclaim for intense and unpredictable live performances. The double album Suola ja Noaidi (The Thief and the Shaman) draws on themes of colonisation, weaponised religion and Sámi resilience. Working from this cultural material, Sex Magick Wizards have created a double album combining traditional joik elements with their signature experimental rock sound and freeform avant-garde improvisation. By combining fragments of Northern Sámi from the original poem with new lyrics in both English and Northern Sámi and focusing more heavily on vocals, the band creates a highly distinctive sonic language rarely heard within experimental rock. The album also contains a new interpretation of an old traditional joik from guitarist/singer/joiker Viktor Bomstad's childhood home, Ivgorássa.

Erscheint auf schwarzer Vinyl

I, Scvlptor is an exclusive release from Behemoth featuring 8 previously unreleased songs — 7 new studio recordings and one live track. It is an autonomous body of work that bridges the band's foundational past with their present creative _re. The release features brand-new studio material embodying the full force of Behemoth's live energy and intensity. Two tracks — Rise of the Blackstorm of Evil (from The Return of the Northern Moon, 1992) and In Thy Pandemaeternum (from Pandemonic Incantations, 1998) — are newly re-recorded versions of early Behemoth material, reshaped with modern sonics while preserving their original spirit; a tribute to the bands who had a huge in_uence on Behemoth: "In League With Satan” (originally by Venom, feat. Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir) and "The Return of Darkness and Evil” (originally by Bathory, feat. Sakis Tolis of
Rotting Christ). Available on CD, LP, MC and Limited Edition Box Set through Massacre Records worldwide.

Indie Exclusive
Erscheint auf schwarzer Vinyl

I, Scvlptor is an exclusive release from Behemoth featuring 8 previously unreleased songs — 7 new studio recordings and one live track. It is an autonomous body of work that bridges the band's foundational past with their present creative _re. The release features brand-new studio material embodying the full force of Behemoth's live energy and intensity. Two tracks — Rise of the Blackstorm of Evil (from The Return of the Northern Moon, 1992) and In Thy Pandemaeternum (from Pandemonic Incantations, 1998) — are newly re-recorded versions of early Behemoth material, reshaped with modern sonics while preserving their original spirit; a tribute to the bands who had a huge in_uence on Behemoth: "In League With Satan” (originally by Venom, feat. Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir) and "The Return of Darkness and Evil” (originally by Bathory, feat. Sakis Tolis of
Rotting Christ). Available on CD, LP, MC and Limited Edition Box Set through Massacre Records worldwide.

When one thinks of the terms “mass” and “massive” in music, especially contemporary music, perhaps certain aural images come to mind: generic metal heaviness; dynamics-bereft noise; ear-battering dance floor madness; the multitudinous forms of drone darkness. All of these are massive in their own fashion. However, this newstudio album from 7FO (pronounced “nana f o”), a composer-performer based in northern Osaka, investigates and inhabits a different aspect of the massive. A glorious combination: dense low frequencies; sculpturally condensed blocks of sound, subtly swinging gravitational fields ― and a surprising sense of rolling and rollicking joyfulness and play. “Massive” doesn’t have to mean “dark” ― consider the sun. This is the third 7FO release on EM Records, following the well-received Ryu no Nukegara (Dragon's Husk) (2018). On these 2024-25 recordings, 7FO focuses his drum machines, synths and musical vision into eight compact structures which were partially inspired by the intense essence of American pre-war blues and the shining soul of traditional Ethiopian music, especially the works related to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. While not obviously evident, the glowing core of these musics has been captured and condensed here; another inspiration is the massive sculptural 1980s works of Yoshi Wada ― although there are obvious differences, there is a similar material tangibility to the vibration of the air. The final piece, “Shirohebi”, is an update of the b-side of 7FO's 7-inch single "Healing Sword" (2023), featured on Henry Rollins’ radio program. We invite you to experience and enjoy these eight massive blocks of sound, imbued with 7FO’s heartfelt warmth and humour, dense but not dark; shifting, rolling, appearing and disappearing: 7FO once picked up a roadside stone, which split as it sat in his palm. This experience, referenced in the release’s title, hints at the metaphysical magic of music, a realm beyond mere coincidence: even the massive density of stone can split, and reveal the magic within. Available on CD, LP and digital download.