Search:opera house

Announcing Perseverance Flow, the latest album from acclaimed Chicago-based ensemble Natural Information Society (NIS), release date 2024-10-24. After a trilogy of double LPs by expanded manifestations of the band that began in 2018 with Mandatory Reality & continued through Since Time Is Gravity (a Pitchfork Best Jazz & Experimental Album of the Year selection & Mojo’s #1 Underground Album of 2023), NIS returns to its core formation of Lisa Alvarado on harmonium, Mikel Patrick Avery on drums, Jason Stein on bass clarinet, & composer/multi-instrumentalist Joshua Abrams on guimbri for one continuous 37 minute composition across a single LP. As the rocket boosters on spaceship earth sputter closer to burnout, lower your stylus into a soundfield that grows stronger the deeper you travel into it; a dose of the medicine many of us look to music to deliver awaits you inside.

One of the deep contemplations of this natural information (thanks Bill Callahan) is the wide range of source materials Abrams draws from over the band’s more than 15 year history: Ideas from minimalism, modal jazz & traditional musics are regularly reimagined in these compositions. The 2021 double LP descension (Out of Our Constrictions), with guest soloist Evan Parker, reflected aspects of Abrams’ love of party music, Chicago house, & John Coltrane. *But even veteran travelers with the NIS best brace themselves for the Perseverance Flow.

Speaking to the history & the inspirations behind the album, Abrams offers: “We played the piece for a year in concert before the recording. At Electrical (Audio Studios, Chicago) we went in at 11 & were done in time to pick our kids up from school.” Abrams continues: "In a reference world, I imagine Perseverance Flow like a live extended realization of a Jaylib lost instrumental as remixed by Kevin Shields. Or vice versa. I also think it has sympathies to some of the more rhythmically intricate dance musics out of Chicago & Lisbon.”

The core NIS ensemble heard on Perseverance Flow always address Abrams’ writing with the discipline of orchestra musicians & the creativity of improvisers. But this time around, instead of inviting living legend status musicians Evan or William Parker or Ari Brown as honored guests to solo freely over the composed materials, Abrams’ invited guest collaborator was the medium of the recording studio itself. Situated at the board with engineer Greg Norman, Abrams pushed post production techniques found only sporadically on earlier NIS records deep into the heart of the music, distorting & reshaping instruments to subtly &, at times, aggressively mutate timbre & texture, color & time.

Refracting the band’s signature mesmerizing chains of overlapping rhythmic patterns through the sonic funhouse of dub makes Perseverance Flow the most formally experimental NIS album to date. Now a soundworld fully unique to itself is listening to itself, consoling & humoring itself, & consoling & humoring you. A destruction myth & a creation myth of a soundworld together at once —”energetically nutritious” (October 2025 Issue 500 The Wire) supernatural information society.

“Perseverance Flow is skipping rope in slo-mo. A dance of co-operation to rally guts & humors & keep marching through pouring tears” (Abrams).

Free Mousse is a Paris-based collective and festival. They have been spreading their signature “Mousse” across the capital over the past three years. This year, they’ve decided to share it with everyone by pressing it on wax. To make it happen Blinkduus Dischetto and Kiss The Future, rising talented producers and close friends of Mousse team joined forces on a unique EP born from their collaboration.

On the record, you’ll find:

A1 – a banger by Kiss that has been tearing up dancefloors for a year now

B1 – a tech-house weapon from Blinkduus bringing the heat every time it’s played

Finally, both artists’ identities come together on A2 & B2 in exclusive cuts that we invite you to uncover.

We deliver mousse <3

The Cryovac machine operates independently to service the world with an original strain of techno. Our people are pioneers of their own sound and seasoned veterans of its' cause. This cause is the basis for our action and the motivation for our vinyl. Cryovac believes the vinyl format is the truest way to take in our music, and this is why we take great care to personally craft our own plates and photograph our own art. The Cryovac approach and stance make it a true oddity in a world of commodities, and we hope you realize, feel, and respect our work.

Andy Vaz is a rebel from the city of Cologne. He is a creator of techno labels that follow their own path and challenge the standard dogma. His version of the techno sound has gone from stark and funky minimalism to synth cascades and housey feels. Andy Vaz is the perfect choice to collaborate with Andy Garcia. Garcia's brand crunchy soul tech mixed with vocal nonsense is the yin to Vaz's yang. These like minds share a name, a spirit, and a drive to keep moving forward no matter the cost.

“Godzilla just walked into the room. People just stood there with their eyes and mouths wide open.” To hear Randy Holden describe the audience’s reaction in 1969 to his solo debut performing with a teeth-rattling phalanx of 16 (sixteen!) 200 watt Sunn amps is about as close as one will get to truly experience the moment heavy metal music morphed into existence. However, at last Riding Easy have unearthed the proper fossil record. Population II, the now legendary, extremely rare album by guitarist / vocalist Holden and drummer / keyboardist Chris Lockheed is considered to be one of the earliest examples of doom metal.

Though its original release was a very limited in number and distribution, like all great records, its impact over time has continued to grow. In 1969, Holden, fresh off his tenure with proto-metal pioneers Blue Cheer (appearing on one side of the New! Improved! Blue Cheer album and touring for the better part of a year in the group), aimed for more control over his band. Thus, Randy Holden - Population II was born, the duo naming itself after the astronomical term for a particular star cluster with heavy metals present. “I wanted to do something that hadn’t been done before,” Holden explains. “I was interested in discordant sounds that could be melodic but gigantically huge. I rented an Opera house for rehearsal, set up with 16 Sunn amps. That’s what I was going for, way over the top.” And over the top it is. The six-song album delves into leaden sludge, lumbering doom and epic soaring riffs that sound free from all constraints of the era. It’s incredibly heavy, but infused with a melodic, albeit mechanistic, sensibility.

Troubles with the album’s release bankrupted Holden, who subsequently left music for over two decades. It was bootlegged several times over the years, but until now hasn’t seen a proper remaster and has yet to be available on digital platforms. “The original mastering just destroyed the dynamics of it,” Holden says. “They flattened it out. Now we got a really nice remaster that should be the closest thing to the original recording.”

Stepping back into the socio-realist bass mutations of his 2024 LP Municipal Dreams, Low End Activist pulls together a heavyweight remix package responding to the source material in a multitude of ways.

Beyond the immediate soundsystem styles that inform the Activist’s sound, the scope for experimental sound design and charged, pensive atmospherics leaves a lot of space for reinterpretation. From a distinct but compatible angle, Actress naturally nudges the contours of ‘T.W.O.C’; into his signature haze, finding a squashed undercurrent of blunted techno to carry great clouds of solemn pads. Andy Martin locks into a downcast, crooked house shuffle as he twists They Only Come Out At Night out for the twilight hour.

On the B side, Demdike Stare conjure raw pressure and deadly negative space around their jagged reappraisal of ‘Hope III’, before the Activist himself plates ‘Just A Number’ with a different coat of avant-grime armour. Shelley Parker delivers a madcap finisher with her take on ‘T.W.O.C’, channelling the rapid-fire complexity of singeli into acutely angled, hard-looped sampling that rides roughshod over rhythmic stability. It’s a bold collection from some of the most serious operators in the game, all thriving on the density of the Activist’s initial ideas to deliver daring abstraction and club-ready thrills beyond the expectations of the conventional dance.

A meeting of worlds. A new kind of resonance. GODTET's upcoming release captures the alchemy of their landmark performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.

At once bold and nuanced, this album explores the friction between improvisation and orchestration. Where the orchestra is anchored in fully composed material, GODTET remains free – navigating the work's harmonic architecture with instinct and spontaneity. Structures are fixed, but expression is fluid.

Orchestrated and brought vividly to life by Novak Manojlovic, GODTET's long-time collaborator and musical polymath, the work bridges the worlds of bedroom production and classical tradition. His arrangements offer not just translation but transformation. Amplifying the ensemble's rhythmic language through the rich sonic canvas of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

The result is a deeply textural suite that amplifies the best of both disciplines: GODTET's idiosyncratic groove and live sampling artistry converging with the symphonic weight and colour of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Under the baton of Nicolas Buc,GODTET + The Sydney Symphony Orchestradoesn't just blend genres, it dissolves hierarchies. It's a declaration that music born in warehouses and bedrooms can belong in concert halls, and that authenticity transcends format. This is GODTET in full bloom, expansive, fearless, and profoundly moving.



a 01: New Sun (Live) feat. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra & Novak Manojlovic
b 02: Stepper (Live) feat. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra & Novak Manojlovic
[c] 03: The Fall Line (Live) [feat. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra & Novak Manojlovic]
[d] 04: Dub Angels (Live) [feat. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra & Novak Manojlovic]
[e] 05: Cantus (Live) [feat. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra & Novak Manojlovic]
[f] 06: Bliss Angels (Live) [feat. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra & Novak Manojlovic]
[feat. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra & Novak Manojlovic]

Originally released as an edition of 50 lathe-cut LPs housed in silk-screened jackets in 2020 (fast on the heels of What's Tonight To Eternity), Cat O' Nine Tails has long intrigued die-hard Cindy Lee fans with its combination of the classic songwriting that would dominate Diamond Jubilee a few years later and an actual suite of classical songs under the title itself.

Opening with the gothic soap opera theme of "Our Lady Of Sorrows" into the manic exploration of "Cat O' Nine Tails," onto the dusty western walk through Patrick Flegel's lovely guitar work on "Faith Restored," the album seems to soundtrack the coolest movie the late '60s ever produced. All of this builds to the lush and sweeping ballad of bruised hearts that introduces that beautiful voice via "Love Remains."

Side Two sees 2024 live show closer "Cat O' Nine Tails III" complete the suite to epic effect, before introducing the absolute showstopper that is "I Don't Want To Fall In Love Again." It is tender and fragile in that way that only Flegel can make both familiar and unique. Closing with the ethereal soul shuffle stomp of "Bondage Of The Mind," the album showcases nine songs from an essential time in the Cindy Lee evolution.

W.25TH / Superior Viaduct bring this collection to the larger audience as it deserves.

Lukah’s unprecedented trajectory shatters new heights with A Lost Language Found, his most thoughtful, sonically-diverse record yet. With the multiplatinum OG Statik Selektah on production duties, Lukah’s by now iconic, razor-sharp pen-game goes toe-to-toe with some of the best. Trading verses with Houston innovator Bun B, Memphis legend 8 Ball, and the larger than life Killer Mike, all parties involved operate at the peak of their skill. The first of what will be multiple collaborations with heavyweight hip-hop producers, this new LP establishes what we already knew in our hearts: Lukah is here to take over.

The stage set to deliver this latest opus is intensely personal: in the heart of his community, Lukah holds court with his trusted fellows at his great grandmother’s house in French Fort, Memphis, a historically black neighborhood long rec-ognized as a stately, proud vision of Black suburbia in a city still healing from deep racial trauma. Recently laid to rest in Elmwood Cemetery, the pain and strength of mourning her influence is present in the deep lyrics of A Lost Lan-guage Found, where Lukah traces not just his own legacy, but that of the linguistically rich and diverse dialects of his people. The cover image depicts the game room of the house, a place that once hosted civil rights leaders and revolu-tionaries, now a monument both to a history of leadership and to its future. For the first time, Lukah himself appears on the album art to mark this significant occasion, flanked by his partners, the symbolic source of knowledge in his hand. Listening to Lukah spit has always been a privilege and a revelation. His artistic power lies in uncovering secrets thru torrents of lucid, poetic rhymes. The listener is invited to share in this bountiful feast. Witness the real god expansion.

The album is available as a limited edition vinyl release of 500 copies in gatefold jacket.

Cambridge’s acclaimed psych-folk quintet Fuzzy Lights return with their fifth album ‘Fen Creatures’. Following on from 2021’s critically lauded ‘Burials’ the band have created their most conceptually focussed work to date – a mediation on environmental crises that uses the folklore and history of East Anglia as a lens to examine humanity’s fractured relationship with the natural world.

The album operates across multiple historical timelines, from Iron Age hill forts to medieval plague houses, from Byron's Romantic-era environmental warnings to the immediate threat of rising sea levels, creating a temporal tapestry that weaves ancient stories with contemporary concerns.

Musically, the quintet, Rachel Watkins (vocals/violin), Xavier Watkins (guitar/electronics), Chris Rogers (guitar), Daniel Carney (bass), and Mark Blay (drums), have pushed deeper into experimental drone territories while maintaining the crystalline folk sensibilities that have become their signature.

Lead track ‘Greenteeth transforms the traditional cautionary tale of Jenny Greenteeth, the water spirit who lures children to their deaths. "When I read this story to my daughter, she was instantly drawn into it," Watkins notes. "There's something timeless about these tales and the way they speak to fundamental fears and connections that span generations."

Elsewhere, 'War Ditches' imagines the Iron Age dead of a Cambridge hill fort keeping watch over the land, their vigil ending as modern people lose connection with the earth. 'The Promise' creates an imaginary encounter with the ghosts of Landbeach village across multiple eras, connecting the 1665 plague with our recent pandemic experience through shared narratives of community resilience and loss.

Critics praised ‘Burials’ as "way beyond folk and folk in essence all at once" (Backseat Mafia) and "folk-rock looking back squarely at the early 1970s" (Financial Times), and 'Fen Creatures' promises to cement Fuzzy Lights' reputation as one of Britain's most vital contemporary folk acts. The album positions them firmly within the lineage of artists like Fairport Convention, Trees, and Comus who understood that engaging with tradition isn't nostalgic escapism, but a way of accessing older wisdoms about how to live in the world.

‘Burials’ press:

“...the musical battle between the fuzzy and the light makes Fuzzy Lights special.” MOJO ★★★★
“...a simmering, sinister undercurrent which often explodes with apocalyptic fervour.” SHINDIG ★★★★
“...subverting genre expectations and folk melodies.” FINANCIAL TIMES ★★★★
“Way beyond folk and folk in essence all at once, it's a record that’ll bring you much reward.” BACKSEATMAFIA - 8.3/10
“a genuine delight....a stirring and unsettling listen, goosebumps adding to the pleasure of timeless music played well, with perfect precision. Don’t leave it another eight years, eh?” FOLK RADIO
“...re-inventing the folk-rock playbook and dragging it screaming through an array of influences...Fuzzy Lights’ most unique, reflective and ambitious record to date” FOR THE RABBITS

STANDFIRST Titanic, the project spearheaded by Mabe Fratti and Hector Tosta (aka I. la Católica), return with a sumptuous and life-affirming new album.



In her sensational 1929 biography Tiger Woman, dancer and socialite Betty May claimed her ‘coster’s eye’ meant she liked to wear as many colours as possible. “Colours to me are like children to a loving mother. Each is my favourite, yet I can never bring myself to deny the others by preferring one.” May’s bold and inclusive strategy is one that manages to transfer itself, almost a century later, to Hagen, the new record by Titanic.


Many will know Titanic as the Mexico City-based brainchild of cellist and singer Mabe Fratti and multiinstrumentalist Hector Tosta who is now operating under the pseudonym, I. la Católica, (taken, rather unusually, from the name of the street the pair live on). With Hagen, and their previous release, Vidrio, (2023), the pair are creating a distinctive signature sound in modern alternative pop music. Nobody else sounds quite like them. Both records have an open hearted nature and simple, winning melodies that play off against a taste for drama, spectacular orchestration and a feeling of otherworldly mystery. Hagen is the more ambitious, sometimes more mystical effort. From the opening handclaps of ‘Lágrima del Sol’, (a wonderfully uptempo playground chant translating as a tear from the sun but, surely, not referencing the brand of pineapple wine?), the record dances its way through various mid-to-late-eighties inspirations, lush and widescreen passages of melancholy and vertiginous contrasts.


Mystery is often found in the simple but slightly odd song titles. English translations of various track titles give, ‘you swallowed the gum’, ‘leak’, ‘a tear from the sun’, ‘raising the trophy’ ‘digging dimensions’, ‘the owner’, ‘the decapitated hen’ and ‘the trap is exposed’. All denote striking images, metaphysical hints and emotional cues or simple, even childlike actions. Though Fratti and Tosta don’t reveal its provenance, the album’s title could even be a crafty play on words: the listener would be forgiven in thinking the moments of brash contrast and eyebrow raising theatricalism in the music constitute a musical nod to German punk chanteuse, Nina Hagen.


On Hagen, singer and cellist Mabe Fratti once again displays her brilliant knack of speaking to us directly. There is never the suspicion of her playing to the gallery, and the directness of many of the lyrics don’t allow it. Parallel to this, Fratti has an almost magical ability to give Hector Tosta’s melodies, and her and Tosta’s lyrics ones imbued with an insight and meaning that feels otherworldly. Tosta admitted it was “pretty wild to hear Mabe take the interpretations to a different place” and the listener can pick up on the delight Fratti takes in (literally) adding a voice to the many narratives.


Two examples can be shown here: ‘Gotera’ (Leak) uses harsh slashes of cello and tough, gunfire-like guitars and drums and multiple vocal lines that could be acting as a Greek chorus. They play off brilliantly against Fratti’s soft, slightly baleful vocal take that delivers lyrics such as: ‘nobody knows where the leak is / but I know where it is / they fight in front of the door and / nobody can go in’. With ‘La Gallina Degollada’ the somewhat blithe melody melody line, sung with what could be sarcastic brio by Fratti, plays against an itchting rhythm and rasping guitar part. The punch comes when you see that the song is about a chicken that has been decapitated and read lyrics such as: ‘I already saw it, it moved, the decapitated chicken’ / ‘could it be that I'm broken’ and ‘Two people hurt each other by thinking that they no longer agree’/ ‘Hours pass and the chicken represents what scares me’.


There may be death and fights to deal with, but there is also a quality of chirpy self-reliance about Hagen that is a key part of its nature. Like Betty May and her colourful outfits, Hagen’s sound often revels in its own sense of richness. Throughout, the record delivers vaulting string sections or glutinous guitar squeals that could, like the powerful, driving ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’ (Digging Dimensions) have come directly from a glossy 1980s TV series. Fratti sees this “glam sound” developed by Tosta on the aforementioned track and ‘Te Tragaste el Chicle’ (You Swallowed The Gum), as moments that were truly “revealing” for the album as a whole during its making.


What else? The thud and thump of ‘La Trampa Sale’ (The Trap is Exposed), and its sudden change of tempo and mood betrays a monstrously ambitious piece of music, the players almost greedily creating the sounds. Other moments are heart wrenching: ‘Libra’ ends on a poppy chord switch that cleverly ramps up the emotion inherent in the music’s notation. You could almost imagine a teenager in a bedroom forty years ago, rewinding the track over and over on a small, cheap cassette player, unable to get enough of that sugarsweet switch. Elsewhere, Oneohtrix Point Never adds stardust and an unearthly sense of space on the changeable, slightly moody meditation, ‘Pájaro de Fuego’ (Firebird). The record ends with ‘Alzando el Trofeo’ (Lifting the Trophy), a track that could soundtrack a state wedding, what with its beautiful cascading piano parts, a sugary vocal and short triumphal guitar riffs that add a rich patina to the overall sound. Fratti: “When I doubled those vocals on ‘Alzando el Trofeo’ I felt there was an epiphany happening, right at that moment.”


Making a good record is a team game. Tosta and Fratti recall seeing Randall from Circular Ruin Studios in NYC “tweak the drums in ‘Libra’ to make that amazing effect of the gated reverb”, or the shaping of ‘Gotera’, “when (recording engineer) Nate Salon added some synths to the track.” Drummer Eli Keszler, “an amazing and versatile player” had the songs down pat in a couple of days” and, according to Tosta, Oneohtrix Point Never “just came to one of the sessions and we hung out, and after all the recordings he and Nate were together in some studio and out of nowhere they sent us some beautiful tracks for ‘Pájaro de Fuego’! Fratti concurs. “He decided that he wanted to record because he was listening to the record (Nate works closely with him) and he really liked it! It was a total honour, indeed!”


Bedazzled by the playing, the skyscraping ambition in the arrangements and the giddy moments of contrast thrown up by Hagen, we could allow ourselves a brief moment of flippancy and state that Titanic’s new record is Yacht Rock meets Aeschylus, full-on. It’s also worth speculating that, in this hyper-sensitive, intemperate age, Titanic’s music has the power, however fleetingly, to heal hurts. Hagen is a brilliant showcase for a fresh and enriching form of pop music: displaying a magpie eye for what glints and plundering what has gone before.


Like Vidrio, Hagen was partially and additionally recorded at Fratti and Tosta’s house, aka Tinho Studios in Mexico City, as well as Golden Girl Studios & Circular Ruin Studios in New York City. Mixing was done by Santiago Parra in Pedro y el Lobo Studios, Mexico City and mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studios, New York City. The recording engineer was Nate Salon.


Hagen featured Mabe Fratti on cello, vocals & backing vocals, I. la Católica on guitar, keyboards, prepared piano, bass & backing vocals, drums by Eli Keszler and synths in ‘Pájaro de Fuego’ from Daniel Lopatin and Nate Salon.


All compositions on Hagen are written by I. la Católica, except ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’ & ‘Pájaro de Fuego’, which were composed by I. la Católica and Mabe Fratti. The record was produced by I. la Católica and co-produced by Nate Salon & Mabe Fratti. And all lyrics are by I. la Católica except ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’, ‘Gotera’, ‘Gallina degollada’ & ‘Pájaro de Fuego’, which were written by I. la Católica & Mabe Fratti.

STANDFIRST Titanic, the project spearheaded by Mabe Fratti and Hector Tosta (aka I. la Católica), return with a sumptuous and life-affirming new album.



In her sensational 1929 biography Tiger Woman, dancer and socialite Betty May claimed her ‘coster’s eye’ meant she liked to wear as many colours as possible. “Colours to me are like children to a loving mother. Each is my favourite, yet I can never bring myself to deny the others by preferring one.” May’s bold and inclusive strategy is one that manages to transfer itself, almost a century later, to Hagen, the new record by Titanic.


Many will know Titanic as the Mexico City-based brainchild of cellist and singer Mabe Fratti and multiinstrumentalist Hector Tosta who is now operating under the pseudonym, I. la Católica, (taken, rather unusually, from the name of the street the pair live on). With Hagen, and their previous release, Vidrio, (2023), the pair are creating a distinctive signature sound in modern alternative pop music. Nobody else sounds quite like them. Both records have an open hearted nature and simple, winning melodies that play off against a taste for drama, spectacular orchestration and a feeling of otherworldly mystery. Hagen is the more ambitious, sometimes more mystical effort. From the opening handclaps of ‘Lágrima del Sol’, (a wonderfully uptempo playground chant translating as a tear from the sun but, surely, not referencing the brand of pineapple wine?), the record dances its way through various mid-to-late-eighties inspirations, lush and widescreen passages of melancholy and vertiginous contrasts.


Mystery is often found in the simple but slightly odd song titles. English translations of various track titles give, ‘you swallowed the gum’, ‘leak’, ‘a tear from the sun’, ‘raising the trophy’ ‘digging dimensions’, ‘the owner’, ‘the decapitated hen’ and ‘the trap is exposed’. All denote striking images, metaphysical hints and emotional cues or simple, even childlike actions. Though Fratti and Tosta don’t reveal its provenance, the album’s title could even be a crafty play on words: the listener would be forgiven in thinking the moments of brash contrast and eyebrow raising theatricalism in the music constitute a musical nod to German punk chanteuse, Nina Hagen.


On Hagen, singer and cellist Mabe Fratti once again displays her brilliant knack of speaking to us directly. There is never the suspicion of her playing to the gallery, and the directness of many of the lyrics don’t allow it. Parallel to this, Fratti has an almost magical ability to give Hector Tosta’s melodies, and her and Tosta’s lyrics ones imbued with an insight and meaning that feels otherworldly. Tosta admitted it was “pretty wild to hear Mabe take the interpretations to a different place” and the listener can pick up on the delight Fratti takes in (literally) adding a voice to the many narratives.


Two examples can be shown here: ‘Gotera’ (Leak) uses harsh slashes of cello and tough, gunfire-like guitars and drums and multiple vocal lines that could be acting as a Greek chorus. They play off brilliantly against Fratti’s soft, slightly baleful vocal take that delivers lyrics such as: ‘nobody knows where the leak is / but I know where it is / they fight in front of the door and / nobody can go in’. With ‘La Gallina Degollada’ the somewhat blithe melody melody line, sung with what could be sarcastic brio by Fratti, plays against an itchting rhythm and rasping guitar part. The punch comes when you see that the song is about a chicken that has been decapitated and read lyrics such as: ‘I already saw it, it moved, the decapitated chicken’ / ‘could it be that I'm broken’ and ‘Two people hurt each other by thinking that they no longer agree’/ ‘Hours pass and the chicken represents what scares me’.


There may be death and fights to deal with, but there is also a quality of chirpy self-reliance about Hagen that is a key part of its nature. Like Betty May and her colourful outfits, Hagen’s sound often revels in its own sense of richness. Throughout, the record delivers vaulting string sections or glutinous guitar squeals that could, like the powerful, driving ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’ (Digging Dimensions) have come directly from a glossy 1980s TV series. Fratti sees this “glam sound” developed by Tosta on the aforementioned track and ‘Te Tragaste el Chicle’ (You Swallowed The Gum), as moments that were truly “revealing” for the album as a whole during its making.


What else? The thud and thump of ‘La Trampa Sale’ (The Trap is Exposed), and its sudden change of tempo and mood betrays a monstrously ambitious piece of music, the players almost greedily creating the sounds. Other moments are heart wrenching: ‘Libra’ ends on a poppy chord switch that cleverly ramps up the emotion inherent in the music’s notation. You could almost imagine a teenager in a bedroom forty years ago, rewinding the track over and over on a small, cheap cassette player, unable to get enough of that sugarsweet switch. Elsewhere, Oneohtrix Point Never adds stardust and an unearthly sense of space on the changeable, slightly moody meditation, ‘Pájaro de Fuego’ (Firebird). The record ends with ‘Alzando el Trofeo’ (Lifting the Trophy), a track that could soundtrack a state wedding, what with its beautiful cascading piano parts, a sugary vocal and short triumphal guitar riffs that add a rich patina to the overall sound. Fratti: “When I doubled those vocals on ‘Alzando el Trofeo’ I felt there was an epiphany happening, right at that moment.”


Making a good record is a team game. Tosta and Fratti recall seeing Randall from Circular Ruin Studios in NYC “tweak the drums in ‘Libra’ to make that amazing effect of the gated reverb”, or the shaping of ‘Gotera’, “when (recording engineer) Nate Salon added some synths to the track.” Drummer Eli Keszler, “an amazing and versatile player” had the songs down pat in a couple of days” and, according to Tosta, Oneohtrix Point Never “just came to one of the sessions and we hung out, and after all the recordings he and Nate were together in some studio and out of nowhere they sent us some beautiful tracks for ‘Pájaro de Fuego’! Fratti concurs. “He decided that he wanted to record because he was listening to the record (Nate works closely with him) and he really liked it! It was a total honour, indeed!”


Bedazzled by the playing, the skyscraping ambition in the arrangements and the giddy moments of contrast thrown up by Hagen, we could allow ourselves a brief moment of flippancy and state that Titanic’s new record is Yacht Rock meets Aeschylus, full-on. It’s also worth speculating that, in this hyper-sensitive, intemperate age, Titanic’s music has the power, however fleetingly, to heal hurts. Hagen is a brilliant showcase for a fresh and enriching form of pop music: displaying a magpie eye for what glints and plundering what has gone before.


Like Vidrio, Hagen was partially and additionally recorded at Fratti and Tosta’s house, aka Tinho Studios in Mexico City, as well as Golden Girl Studios & Circular Ruin Studios in New York City. Mixing was done by Santiago Parra in Pedro y el Lobo Studios, Mexico City and mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studios, New York City. The recording engineer was Nate Salon.


Hagen featured Mabe Fratti on cello, vocals & backing vocals, I. la Católica on guitar, keyboards, prepared piano, bass & backing vocals, drums by Eli Keszler and synths in ‘Pájaro de Fuego’ from Daniel Lopatin and Nate Salon.


All compositions on Hagen are written by I. la Católica, except ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’ & ‘Pájaro de Fuego’, which were composed by I. la Católica and Mabe Fratti. The record was produced by I. la Católica and co-produced by Nate Salon & Mabe Fratti. And all lyrics are by I. la Católica except ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’, ‘Gotera’, ‘Gallina degollada’ & ‘Pájaro de Fuego’, which were written by I. la Católica & Mabe Fratti.

‘When The 2000s Clashed: Machine Music For A New Millenium’ is the story of how, 25 years ago, a new form of electronic music – known as electroclash - reignited a tired clubland and gave the indie scene and mainstream pop a shot in the arm in the process. Over this 3LP highlights set, carefully curated from the 5CD box of the same name (also released, 3rd October) the collection showcases the back-to-basics electronic beats that heralded in a new generation of exciting and innovative new artists - Hot Chip, Peaches, LCD Soundystem, and Ladytron, to name a handful. It also shows how the sound and attitude of electroclash plugged into the decade’s cutting-edge indie bands, (Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party), and became intrinsic to the way chart pop would sound in the first decade of the 2000s (Kylie, Goldfrapp).

The collection also shows how the scene’s underground DIY ethos evolved and inspired the next generation of electronic buccaneers (Simian Mobile Disco, Justice Vs. Simian). ‘When The 2000s Clashed’ brings together a dazzling, diverse selection of artists, producers and remixers from right across the 2000s zeitgeist – from The Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk, from M.I.A. to Soulwax and many points in-between. For good measure, there’s also one side of LP3 given over to the original post punk and electronic sounds (including Kraftwerk, The Human League and Cabaret Voltaire) who’d played such a big influence on the electroclash sound. ‘

When The 2000s Clashed’ was compiled and sequenced for Demon / Edsel by Jonny Slut, founder of London’s electroclash citadel Nag Nag Nag. Established in 2002, in a small Soho venue called Ghetto, ‘Nag’ quickly became THE hottest club, first in London and then in the whole world. A glorious mess and hedonists’ hotspot, a night at ‘Nag Nag Nag’ (if you could get in!) saw the capital’s club kids, students and creatives rub up alongside names from the fashion and music worlds - Björk, Pet Shop Boys, Kate Moss, Boy George, Alexander McQueen, and Pam Hogg were among the regulars. Madonna visited, so did John Peel, Yoko Ono asked to perform and did, Throbbing Gristle’s Chris and Cosey DJ’d, so did Marc Almond, and Too Many DJ’s.

Justin Timberlake was refused entry (too many bodyguards)… even Cilla Black was spotted getting down! Jonny shares these reminisces – and many more - in the collection’s sleevenotes. Named after the 1979 Cabaret Voltaire classic, ‘Nag, Nag, Nag’ became the first place to hear the seemingly endless flow of thrilling new tunes coming from every direction during that decade of dance. Many of them are included on this collection.

Following the lush listening LP outing by KAMM, the EG team is back in fine floorrocking form, this time with both label operatives on the dials as Rodney joins Dave Aju for his debut co-production. And what a debut it is: Highly-potent, raw, swinging house music of the highest order, complete with knocking 909 kicks, thick slapping snares, and a hypnotic melodic call-and-response tonal section that keeps things properly lifted and moving throughout. The vox evoke label boss Aju’s earlier catalog work, and he’s in particularly pointed mode here, spitting fire spoken word lines calling out various questionable corners of the dance music scene and humanity on the whole. A bold light-shining display during notably dark times, defending the once-sacred underground dance space against runaway trends of ego-driven capitalism, online image over actual skill sets, and the beyond low-ball barrier of entry into the arena. But by the time the soulful chorus lines hit and rise us up and onward toward the blissful musical finish, it is clear that this is in fact a unifying floor anthem and that indeed despite our differences amidst disheartening global chaos, at least “We Still Dancin". As always with the seasoned DJ-focussed three-piece Elbow Grease EP offerings, here we have the full A-side OG Vocal Mix cut at a crispy and tight 45rpm, a deliciously stripped and leveled-up EG Dub Mix on the B1, and finally the uplifting B2 Vibe Mix which doubles-down as half ambient instrumental builder and essential acapellacapella

In-Correcto 15–25 marks the first vinyl compilation by Bogotá’s independent label InCorrecto, created in collaboration with Austrian imprint discos elgozo. Celebrating ten years of sonic exploration and creative resistance from the Global South, this special edition brings together a vibrant constellation of artists that define the label’s sound: La Muchacha, Ana María Vahos, Felipe Orjuela, Mau Gatiyo, Conjunto Media Luna, Briela Ojeda, Zarigüeya, Buha 2030, and many more. Between mutant cumbia, Latin American folk, introspective electronics, and borderless sonic experiments, 15–25 is both a party and a statement: a manifesto of the in-correct as an artistic and collective force.

Since 2015, In-Correcto has grown from a cultural magazine into one of Latin America’s most vital independent hubs, operating as a record label, publishing house, and creative collective. With more than 160 releases ranging from punk and ambient to trip-hop and experimental cumbia, the label has supported a generation of artists whose work is as socially engaged as it is sonically daring. Through compilations, anniversary concerts, and political projects, In-Correcto has solidified its reputation as a catalyst for collaboration, solidarity, and cultural cross-pollination in Bogotá and beyond. Based in Vienna with roots on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, discos elgozo shares this vision. Founded in 2024, the label works with Colombian artists and their diaspora, releasing music that fuses ancestral knowledge, queer-feminist expression, sonic experimentation, and joy as a political force—as a way to resist cultural erasure, reactivate traditions, and recover collective vitality. Its catalog spans salsa brava, bullerengue, psychedelic cumbia, and experimental jazz, with a strong focus on vinyl as an act of listening, memory, and resistance.

Carefully pressed, In-Correcto 15–25 is more than a record: it is a bridge between Bogotá’s underground and a global network of listeners. A sonic archive and an invitation to dance, it reaffirms that joy, experimentation, and community remain powerful tools to imagine the world otherwise.

Large Music proudly presents the long-awaited reissue of David Brown – “Feel Love”, originally released in 1994 and now making its triumphant return on vinyl for the first time in decades. Cataloged as LAR010, this essential piece of Chicago house history has been lovingly remastered and pressed to wax, reaffirming its legacy as a cornerstone of the genre.

Produced by Sherman Rogers and Darren Brandon of the acclaimed Black Ice Productions, “Feel Love” is a quintessential expression of the raw, soulful energy that defined the Windy City’s deep house scene in the early '90s. Blending hypnotic rhythms, warm synths, and David Brown’s emotive vocal delivery, the track captured the hearts of underground dancefloors from Chicago to the world.
Adding to the release's weight is an all-star lineup of remixers who need no introduction:
• Ralphi Rosario, one of house music’s original architects and a member of the legendary Hot Mix 5, brings his signature peak-hour intensity and timeless groove.
• Derrick Carter & Chris Nazuka, operating under their cult alias Red Nail, deliver a raw, stripped-back interpretation, dripping with analog grit and deep, jacking flavor.

This reissue isn’t just a nod to nostalgia—it’s a powerful reminder of house music’s roots and enduring spirit. Whether rediscovered or experienced for the first time, “Feel Love” stands tall as a classic slice of Chicago house, as relevant on today’s dancefloors as it was over 30 years ago.

DJ Support: Luciano, Joseph Capriati, Carl Cox and Dennis Cruz

Circus head honcho returns with a 6 track Album sampler. Pressed on limited Purple Vinyl to match the Albums Concept.

“Colourful Authentic House Music From Dj & Producer Yousef, Using Modern Production Techniques With Live Musicians To Make Club Slammers” Yousef

Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.

At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.

There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.

The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.

The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

Juan Ramos is up to bat for the next Körperspannung release with the four-track stunner EP ‘Hard Bois’. Deeply connected to the ongoing pursuit of gay excellence and endeavors, Juan honors those who have come before us and touches us deeply in our soft spots at all the right moments. Across ‘Hard Bois EP’, the Berlin resident and behind the scenes operator (IYKYK) shows precisely why he’s one of dance music’s most exciting and dependable prospects. Opening the release, ‘Hard Bois’ combines snaking drums in a melange of samples with bff Kris Baha vocalizing sizzling and snaking lyrics winding around this propulsive club cut that could easily be a snapshot right out of a scene from Chicago’s iconic Medusa Club. ‘Saviour Sound’ is music that makes iron pipes sweat with hedonistic abandon. Exposed steel vibrates to a hardcore beat. Gears interlock to move the whole building into autonomous productivity. Conduits of electricity pulsate to the drama unfolding in a dim lit factory with dank corridors leading us on a path to a flowerbed growing and thriving in a subterranean hydroponic garden.
On the flip, the alarm strikes and it’s (shout it out): ‘Werk Day’! This is your call to get buttoned up and ready to make dreams reality. Head to the gym, pump those guns and then house your body. Technological funk winding through a sturdy and rock hard kick that helps you ride through the chasms of pleasure and pain. Rounding out the release is your ‘Acid BB’ rocking and roaring through the airspace of atomized acid matter, a perfect closer to a thoroughly exciting direction Juan Ramos takes with his newfound sound. Play it loud. Play it proud. Juan is one of our own and we do all we can to take care of each other.

Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.

At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.

There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.

The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.

The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

The debut release of Collective Direction explores the incredibly broad and fascinating variety of work of Tasti Box, operating in San Francisco in the early 90’s.

This previously unreleased album, made in the early 90’s, captures the spirit of the San Francisco free party scene that exploded around that time. DJ Harvey, Doc Martin, the Hardkiss Brothers, the Wicked Crew and a host of international guests played at legendary all-night parties at locations such as under the Golden Gate Bridge, on huge custom-built sound systems. Helping to define not only the West Coast scene but also influencing the rest of the country throughout that decade. The cultural impact of this moment in time continues to inspire today’s dance music landscape.

Opening on the delicate and melodic ambient tracks Mim and Quetzcal, the A side closes on Dr Tripi, a house-infused track preluding the uniqueness and diversity of the emblematic Tasti Box sound, explored more broadly on the B side with the triptych of Desire, U Can Fly and Box, a trippy journey melting influences from breaks, house, experimental and techno, one that can be experimented at home or in a club setting. The C side opens with the killer trancey and psychedelic club track Feel It, one expected to be definitely heard on dancefloors over the Summer. It is complemented by the almost balearic Story of O and bleepy and esoteric Electrons. On the D side, some Daisy Glow tracks, showing strong late Tasti Box influence, close the musical journey with four tracks of joyful and melodic house music, a perfect ending to a night and to the double LP.
It’s a compilation for music collectors and dancers alike and those excited to explore the history of a sound not afraid to experiment. The vinyl includes a limited edition A4 design of the artwork cover, an exclusive conversation with the artists and two vinyl exclusive tracks. One not to miss!

In 2005, Headphones arrived as a seismic shift in David Bazan's already formidable canon- a collection of synth-driven confessions that push the boundaries of narrative songwriting. Stripped down to its barest essentials, the album finds Bazan and collaborators Tim Walsh and Frank Lenz constructing an audaciously raw soundscape: no guitars, just synthesizers, live drums, and Bazan's unmistakable vocals. Twenty years later, it remains a masterwork of emotional excavation and geopolitical reckoning, as relevant today as the day it was released. This 20th Anniversary edition, remastered by Christopher Colbert at National Freedom (The Walkmen, Richard Swift, Pedro the Lion), is housed in a gatefold jacket with expanded artwork by Grammy-nominated designer Jesse LeDoux, plus liner notes by writer and Belmont University Associate Professor David Dark. The self-titled album threads a delicate needle, simultaneously personal and prophetic. Songs like "Major Cities" tackle the macrocosm of American imperialism with clarity and anger, while tracks like "I Never Wanted You" unearth the raw wounds of interpersonal defeat. These are stories of inner and outer collapse, of bullies (both personal and political) wreaking havoc, yet rendered with humanity. Even in its darkest moments, though, Headphones pulses with the hope that honesty might light a way forward if only we'll bear witness to the truth. On its twentieth anniversary, Headphones feels more vital than ever. For those who've lived with it since 2005, this reissue is a chance to revisit an old wound, to press on it and see what's healed and what still aches. For new listeners, it's a chance to sit with something audacious and true an album that invites us to reckon with the ways we fail each other-and the ways we might still be good. Twenty years on, Headphones remains a rare album that doesn't just speak to you, but asks you to listen harder. + PROJECT FROM DAVID BAZAN OF PEDRO THE LION + DELUXE 20TH-ANNIVESARY REMASTERED REISSUE WITH BONUS TRACKS + DELUXE FIRST PRESSING ON LIMITED EDITION OPAQUE YELLOW VINYL LIMITED TO 750 COPIES + EXPANDED GATEFOLD ARTWORK BY GRAMMY-NOMINATED ARTIST JESSE LEDOUX + LINER NOTES BY DAVID DARK + REMASTERED BY CHRISTOPHER COLBERT (THE WALKMEN, RICHARD SWIFT, PEDRO THE LION) + LP INCLUDES BONUS 7" ON BLACK VINYL WITH TWO BONUS TRACKS

Sade House mixes ultra limited no repress

"After more than 20 years, Band Of Brothers is still considered one of HBO's most important series. Produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, the series has won major awards such as the Golden Globe for Best Miniseries and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries. Band Of Brothers is a war drama miniseries based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose's 1992 non-fiction same titled book. It follows the story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day. The score, composed by the late Michael Kamen, is credited as one of the essential elements in creating the realistic atmosphere of the series. Kamen was best known for scoring movies such as Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and X-Men, and received an Academy Award nomination for both Don Juan DeMarco and Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. Revisit the Band Of Brothers score with this deluxe reissue on white coloured vinyl, available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies. The 2LP is housed in a sleeve finished with linen laminate and includes a 4-page booklet with a large cast picture on the inside."

The first re-pressing of the Dead Milkmen's classic "Bucky Fellini" since its original release on Enigma Records in 1987. This album is a fan favorite and contains the Billboard charting "Instant Club Hit (You'll Dance to Anything)". Remastered by Phil Nicolo for contemporary vinyl, pressed in DUCKY YELLOW VINYL. The newly designed gatefold includes the original front and back covers on a beautifully produced tip-on jacket. The interior is filled with news clippings, previously unseen photographs, show posters, and QR Code WAV and MP3 downloads--all collaged together by the one and only Dean Clean. Also included, for the first time, is an inner-sleeve with lyrics and all new song-inspired art from Joe Jack Talcum. Additional bonus materials include a reproduction of a beat up, original Bucky Fellini poster and a link to download the elusive "Boner Beat" remixes. Hear what The Toronto Star deemed "a sarcastic masterpiece that takes the mickey out of a dozen cherished American icons" like never before. The Dead Milkmen aren't as stupid as they'd like to be ... Now they sound as if they might know how to play their guitars, and they produce some on-target commentary such as 'Instant Club Hit (You'll Dance to Anything)'. - eople Magazine As with all Giving Groove releases all label profits are directly donated to a 501(c)3 music-related charity-the recipient being the wonderful Philadelphia based organization Rock to the Future.

The Deep Series imprint operated as a sub-label of Diaphan Music, both of which released material between 2009 and 2014, as can often be the way for many artists family life and other responsibilities stepped up on the priority list and the label was put on hiatus.

Now back to reboot things with a fresh perspective and a focus on Georgios’ music and music from artists he admires, Deep Series begins its new chapter for 2022, bringing fresh deep and dynamic cuts and an uncompromising approach with its future direction. Leading the release and following on from his recent debut album on Dial is XDB with his ‘Back To The Roots Mix’, the title tells all as this Greek Techno aficionado delivers a classic groove fuelled by loose, bumpy drums, chugging synth stab sequences and twisted resonant loops.

‘Dark Path’ follows next, edging into dubby house territory with skippy percussion, expansive chords, choppy bass stabs and hypnotic vocal chants. Opening the b-side is ‘Distorted DRMS’, as the name suggest laying focus on raw, crunchy drums throughout while dreamy synth lines and heavy sub bass swells ebb and flow within. Lastly the original mix of ‘GR2’ rounds things out, stripping things back to hazy, ethereal textures, robust, low-slung drums and acid-tinged bass stabs.

Every so often an album of such deceptive genius, of such aesthetic clarity, comes across our desk and transfixes us. Thought Leadership's III Of Pentacles is one such work of art. It's an instant classic and glides into the pantheon of timeless guitar-soul totems. Originally out on cassette only, we present the first ever vinyl issue. It's a hideously limited pressing of 300 for the world, so don't sleep on this.

Thought Leadership has already garnered big support from such tastemakers as Ruf Dug, Jason Boardman, Nathan Gregory Wilkins, J Walk, Evan Woodward, Justin Robertson and Heavenly's Jeff Barrett. The first time we heard III Of Pentacles, we nearly wept at the thought that something so beautiful, so bursting with real hope, could even exist in this brutal world. To quote the Quietus, "imagine if Stockport was situated somewhere along the Pacific Coast Highway rather than the M60, and you’ll have some idea of the coordinates to the post-industrial, sunburnt dream space opened up here."

So, who is Thought Leadership? What do we know about them? They reside in Stockport and are obsessed with ethereal guitar records. That’s about it. That and these X ideas shared with you, the listener.

Captured on a multitrack recorder in a terraced house in Stockport, this is as DIY as it gets. Glaringly obvious is a love for classic Factory and early 4AD. Perhaps it is the proximity to the River Mersey where the ideas arrived, and there being but three miles between where this and the Durutti Column’s classic “LC” was recorded, as the two operate across a familiar aural plain. Be it geographic or otherwise, limited by a true economy of means, namely guitar, pedals and drum machine, the fruit borne from these humble tools has been indelibly shaped by the perma-gloom that hangs low over the Manchester and Stockport environs.

Ushered in on 808 kicks, “I” opens the record as a beautiful Sketch for Stockport; a chiming maj7 chord dripping in chorus and delay sets us on our way. The Vini Reilly comparisons are unavoidable. “II” is all John McGeoch, with its trippy goth-psyche arpeggiated pattern cascading across the stereo image. Do those drums swing? But goths don’t swing?! They do here. We’re treated to a bit of crunch on the lead guitar part and some really lush reverb. We even step forth into shoegaze territory, albeit briefly, for the middle eight. “III”, a firm Be With favourite, continues the dreamy psyche leanings of the previous track, with an even bigger melody this time. We’re hearing The Teardrop Explodes on quaaludes here. A proto-dream pop cut soaked in melancholy. But watch out! The coda finds Johnny Marr has gotten into the ‘ludes and gatecrashed the final bars with some incredibly ignorant B minor pentatonic noodling.

“IV” ditches the drum machine for the first in a suite of three beatless electric guitar duets. The first of these semi-improvised rubato ideas is a striking departure from the earlier playful pieces, coming over emo and moody. Greyscale sulking for Stratocaster. Sign us up. “V” contains some really lyrical phrasing; a gorgeous conversation between two guitars. Real Stopfordian Primitive; meditative, crude, rain-soaked. We cycle through the same feels, then end on an alluring chord that breaks the pattern. Sometimes thoughts are like this. “VI” creeps in all plaintive, then a huge reverberating descending guitar line comes tumbling in like something off those classic Dif Juz 12”s. There’s some Maurice Deebank in there too, for sure, and the coda nods to early Meat Puppets.

“VII” rounds out the A Side, and succinctly presents a summary of all ideas explored thus far on our journey. The drum machine is back, this time with some wispy delay, before both guitars enter together playing interlocking lines. As we start, we end, with the delayed 808 guiding us out.

Opening Side B, “VIII” sees us embark on the other side of our journey as we slow down and space out. The drum machine is here, but the guitars are different now. Think Sensations Fix or Göttsching at his most peeled out. Drones, ambient drifts of broken chords and distorted lead lines all swirl round the mix. Side B is one for headphones for sure. “IX” is almost too exquisite for words. A New Age Mixolydian voyage through the cosmos. If you’re unmoved by the end you’ve probably got no pulse. We were left blunted ineffable by this one, such is the smudged elegance radiating from this idea. All hail the Thought Leader.

“X” is a full circle moment, and a fitting end. If you’ve not already elsewhere across the platter, you will be getting heavy Robin Guthrie vibes from this piece. Like the rest of Side B, this improvised jam sticks within a framework of related chords but the celestial energies channelled might invite us to wander “outside”, especially when the Tubescreamer is engaged.

RIYL Durutti Coulmn, Cocteau Twins, Dif Juz, Sensations Fix, Spike and adjacent guitar musicks – but, ultimately, this is just its own thing; such is the strength of ideas presented. "It’s good music to chill out to." (??)

Be With is honoured to present the first ever vinyl release of III Of Pentacles, carefully remastered by Be With's engineer Simon Francisco to ensure it sounds better than ever after its initial tape release. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry, in Holland. The original tape cover artwork, so crucial to Thought Leadership's striking visual aesthetic, has been rejigged for vinyl issue here at Be With. Its stark presentation befits the music contained within. They inform us that they shuffled their tarot deck to ask what the album should be called and the card you see on the cover popped out. The III Of Pentacles tarot card represents teamwork, shared vision and the ability to achieve goals through collaboration. We like to think Thought Leadership and Be With have nailed this one.

Spencer Parker returns to Rekids with ‘Better Days’. Tee Amara lends her voice to both English and Spanish versions, while Radio Slave steps up for a remix. Spencer Parker and Tee Amara arrive on Rekids with ‘Better Days’ in March, alongside a remix from label founder Radio Slave.

Originally the closing track ‘Faster Forward’ on 2018’s ‘DANCE MUSIC’ album on Parker’s Work Them Records, the track is reborn as full vocal cut ‘Better Days’ after the long search for a vocalist led the producer to fellow Berlin resident, Tee Amara. Known for work alongside Cromby, Ariel Me Llamo, and Ed Davenport, Amara’s heartfelt, soulful vocals in both English and Spanish versions bring new depth to Parker’s original track. As a longtime friend of Matt Edwards and a staple of the Rekids imprint since the mid-2000s, Parker returns to the label with ‘Better Days’, an occasion that calls for a remix from Radio Slave himself, who adds a jazzy swing vibe via additional melodic elements while he puts in a classic house groove. Spencer Parker, Tee Amara, and Radio Slave

‘Better Days’ is Rekids proper! Radio Slave’s Rekids was founded in 2006 and has since spawned successful offshoots with the Techno-focused Rekids Special Projects in 2017 and its newest sublabel, REK’D, in 2024. With Matt Edwards as the sole A&R, Rekids has been crucial in developing early artist careers and has become a haven for established acts operating in House and adjacent genres, having recently featured the likes of Hilit Kolet, William Kiss, Bushwacka, Mathias Kaden, Katerina, Sean Johnston, and many more.

Preparing your debut full length record is no small undertaking for any artist. The format itself deserves a certain frame of mind and approach – it’s different, and with Sarah Wild’s debut LP she embraces the idea. Expanding her artistic vision to offer something different, making use of the format and bringing new ideas and musical pathways to her established sound. Releasing on her imprint Midnight Operators in early 2025 – My Body Flows In Gravity constitutes a sophisticated homage to the early 2000s trance movement, integrating nostalgic motifs with her ultra-on point production that sits perfect in todays scene.

From the dreamy proto-house vibes of the opener, establishing a foundation with its understated beats, to the Orbital-esk serenity of the title track My Body Flows In Gravity the album works at evoking the emotive resonance of a golden era of music reborn. This trip is backed up by the Early-Balearic styled tracks such as “Fly With Me To The Moon” and “Visit To Mars” which pull you into hazy smoked filled dancefloor territory, hypnotic melodic progressions effectively capture the essence of Trance’s peak cultural moment.

At the mid point “I Don’t Wanna Go” introduces a different dimension, exploring a more Euro sound that is at the peak of the contemporary scene, but infused with Sarah’s unique edge, hyper pumping beats work alongside spoken word to really up the tempo. Following this the journey returns to a more progressive feel, “Floating Around” and ” On My Way Home” take things into deeper territory, bringing the focus’s of the record back the groove after the blurry eyed highs. Bringing the record in for a perfect landing. There is an emotional duality to this record, a movement through a juxtaposition of yearning and almost frantic emotions alongside more uplifting harmonics through to more introspective moments. The final track “Landing” gracefully closes this arc.

Sarah Wild delivers a sonic journey as much concerned with the process as with the destination itself. My Body Flows In Gravity shows Wild’s capacity to synthesize the deeply personal with the universally resonant, a set of tracks that equally speak to the introspective solitude as they do to the collective euphoria of the dancefloor.

Im Juni 2023 teilten sich Lust For Youth und Croatian Amor während des Vivid Live Festivals die Bühne im kultigen Sydney Opera House. Diese Begegnung hat ihre kreative Partnerschaft wiederbelebt und den Grundstein für ihr gemeinsames neues Album "All Worlds" gelegt. Inspiriert von der Goldenen Schallplatte, die als Botschaft der Menschheit an das Unbekannte ins All geschickt wurde, spiegelt "All Worlds" diese Sehnsucht nach Verbindung und Verständnis wider. Jeder Track fängt ein Fragment eines Gefühls, einer Kultur oder einer Erinnerung ein und bietet einen kaleidoskopischen Blick auf die menschliche Erfahrung. Der Titel des Albums spiegelt die Idee wider, Fragmente von unterschiedlichen Orten, Gefühlen und Geschichten zu sammeln. Jeder Song enthüllt für sich eine einzigartige Welt, die zu den übergreifenden Themen der Erforschung und Selbstbeobachtung beiträgt. Diese Welten repräsentieren die inneren Landschaften, die wir in uns tragen und die unsere Identität formen. Der Titel ist auch eine Geste der Verbindung - als ob diese Welten durch den Raum schweben und darauf warten, entdeckt und verstanden zu werden. Letztlich verkörpert "All Worlds" die Suche nach Zugehörigkeit und Bedeutung. Auf einer klanglichen Reise durch Isolation, Widerstandsfähigkeit und Wunder verflechten sich introspektive Texte mit üppigen, beschwörenden Klanglandschaften. Die träumerische Atmosphäre, die sowohl für Lust For Youth als auch für Croatian Amor charakteristisch ist, wird durch die hallgetränkte Produktion des Albums beibehalten und verleiht ihm eine ätherische, nostalgische Qualität. Während Themen wie Melancholie und Sehnsucht im Mittelpunkt stehen, sorgen energiegeladene Beats und aufmunternde Arrangements für eine bittersüße Harmonie, die zwischen Verletzlichkeit und Euphorie oszilliert. Das Album markiert einen Wechsel im Tonfall und entfernt sich von den synthiegetriebenen Post-Punk-Wurzeln von Lust For Youth. Stattdessen setzt "All Worlds" auf eine tanzbare Ästhetik, die pulsierende Rhythmen und von Techno inspirierte Motive mit überlagerten Gesangssamples verwebt. Das Ergebnis ist eine strukturierte Klanglandschaft - eine Erkundung der emotionalen Zerbrechlichkeit durch schimmernde Produktion und introspektive Melodien. Zwölf Jahre nach ihrem 2013 erschienenen Ambient-Industrial-Album "Pomegranate" spiegelt "All Worlds" die Entwicklung von Lust For Youth und Croatian Amor wider. Dieses Album ist sowohl eine Antwort auf ihre früheren Arbeiten als auch eine Weiterentwicklung, die von einem Jahrzehnt des Wachstums und der Veränderung geprägt ist. Es vertieft ihre Erforschung von Klang und Bedeutung und spricht direkt zum gegenwärtigen Moment. Wie die Goldene Schallplatte, die im Weltraum treibt, ist "All Worlds" eine Sammlung von Momenten, die darauf warten, sich mit denjenigen zu verbinden, die zuhören wollen.

Legendary French DJ and producer The Hacker debuts on Radio Slave’s Rekids with the ‘Laser & Smoke’ EP on 21st February 2025. The two-track ‘Laser & Smoke’ EP harkens back to The Hacker’s early 90s roots in Detroit-inspired Electro & Techno. First, he starts with ‘Turborave’, a tasteful, bleepy cut with an unignorable bassline and muted dub chords that wash over its snappy groove. ‘Turborave’ is the kind of heads-down, lose-yourself dancefloor moment for the later hours before ‘Harmonia’ sees The Hacker play with high-voltage cables on the B-side. Charged-up zaps and zippy acid call and respond while bodied drum hits keep the rhythm moving, whistles and pads occasionally joining in.

Pioneering DJ and producer The Hacker is renowned for being a leading proponent of Electroclash in the early 2000s, his Techno and EBM-infused sound, and iconic collaborations with Miss Kittin. With releases on labels like Dark Entries, Mannequin Records, and Turbo, as well as remixes for Air, Soft Cell, Dave Clarke, and Front 242, The Hacker remains a vital force in electronic music. He now adds Radio Slave’s Rekids to his extensive discography for the first time via the ‘Laser & Smoke EP.

Radio Slave’s Rekids was founded in 2006 and has since spawned successful offshoots with the Techno-focused Rekids Special Projects in 2017 and its newest sublabel, REK’D, in 2024. With Matt Edwards as the sole A&R, Rekids has been crucial in developing early artist careers and has become a haven for established acts operating in House and adjacent genres, having recently featured the likes of Harry Romero, Hilit Kolet, William Kiss, Bushwacka, Mathias Kaden, Tiger Stripes, Tal Fussman, and many more.

Magic Source is back with an exclusive 2 tracks single filled with their special rootsy cosmic funky touch.

Led by producer & notorious tape operator Björn Wagner (of Mighty Mocambos, Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band and Mocambo Records), the group follows up to the release of their 2nd LP last year, Voyage Spectral. This time again, the German band dives into the Tropical and international aspects of Disco and Funk music, always using 100% organic production and recordings material.

On this 2 tracks single, you’ll first find a blazing and unexpected covers of “Voodoo Ray” the classic acid-house track by A Guy Called Gerald, with special vocals by Mounam & Gizelle Smith. Following up to this already dancefloor classic, comes “Interplanetary Bounce”, a new and exclusive composition from the band also tailored to make you move, with its Boogie touch and heavy breaks.

Repress!

Mint Condition - A brand new record label focussed on excavating the outer fringes of classic House and Techno. Unreleased mixes, classics and overlooked gems mined from the last 20+ of contemporary dance music are the order of the day. From Chicago, Detroit and New York to London and beyond, Mint Condition have got their expert digging hats on to bring you exclusive heat and those rarer than rare jams that have been on your wants list for years! Dig in.... Another dyed-in-the-wool house classic here, from all the way back in the golden mists of 1987 on the tiny, cult Danica label. Don't forget, Mint Condition's mission is to bring you the classics too, a nice, new copy to play out in the club so you can keep your original nice and fresh! We care about these things. That's why we're happy to present this monumental slab of Chicago house history from one of the absolute gods of this culture - Mr. Frankie Knuckles - this time operating under his Night Writers alias. We're not sure too much needs to be said about this one, it's all here really, that classic Knuckles deep touch, the musicality, the vibe... Ricky Dillard's vocals encapsulating that feeling when the music takes over, pure abandon. The pairing of these two talents results in what would eventually become a bona-fide house CLASSIC. No arguments. If you're not familiar you're in for a treat, if you already know then you're nodding your head and agreeing with everything you've just read. Simple really - YOU NEED THIS ONE ! 'Let The Music Use You' has been legitimately re-released with the full involvement of all license holders for 2017 and remastered by London's Curve Pusher from the original sources especially for Mint Condition. 100% legit, licensed and released. Dug, remastered, repackaged and brought to you by the caring folks at your new favourite reissue label - Mint Condition!

On their spellbinding sophomore album, "Whispers in the Speech Machine," the young Ohio siblings from The Laughing Chimes fully embrace their Southern Gothic influences, cannily balancing the light of their infectious pop with the shadow of their rust belt environs. While attending an afterschool music program at their local opera house, Evan and his brother Quinn began recording The Laughing Chimes' debut album "In This Town," released in 2020. A string of well-received digital singles and a cassette EP for Slumberland followed, dazzling savvy pop fans with their Paisley Underground-inflected jangle that owes as much to the Flying Nun sound as it does to 80s Athens, GA.

The eight assured songs of "Whispers in the Speech Machine" prove The Laughing Chimes deserve the attention and accolades, while their approaches to songwriting and sonic aesthetics continue to evolve. "Southeast Ohio is the foothills of Appalachia, so it has this indescribable mood and atmosphere to it," guitarist/vocalist Evan Seurkamp told The Big Takeover. "Sometimes there's a haunting weight of decay you want to escape, but at the same time there is some sort of strange romanticism surrounding ghost towns. We've tried to channel those moods to add more regional flavor into our sound."

On their spellbinding sophomore album, "Whispers in the Speech Machine," the young Ohio siblings from The Laughing Chimes fully embrace their Southern Gothic influences, cannily balancing the light of their infectious pop with the shadow of their rust belt environs. While attending an afterschool music program at their local opera house, Evan and his brother Quinn began recording The Laughing Chimes' debut album "In This Town," released in 2020. A string of well-received digital singles and a cassette EP for Slumberland followed, dazzling savvy pop fans with their Paisley Underground-inflected jangle that owes as much to the Flying Nun sound as it does to 80s Athens, GA.

The eight assured songs of "Whispers in the Speech Machine" prove The Laughing Chimes deserve the attention and accolades, while their approaches to songwriting and sonic aesthetics continue to evolve. "Southeast Ohio is the foothills of Appalachia, so it has this indescribable mood and atmosphere to it," guitarist/vocalist Evan Seurkamp told The Big Takeover. "Sometimes there's a haunting weight of decay you want to escape, but at the same time there is some sort of strange romanticism surrounding ghost towns. We've tried to channel those moods to add more regional flavor into our sound."

Legendary House don Harry Romero joins Rekids for the first time with the ‘Nice To Meet You’ EP comprising two massive tracks with classic NY House DNA with the sort of modern twist Romero’s become synonymous with throughout his two-decade-plus career. The Bambossa Records founder now lands on Radio Slave’s flagship label following an impressive 2024, which featured releases on Faith, Nu-Groove, and Defected.

After his appearance on Rekids’ podcast series in August, House hero Harry Romero starts the label’s 2025 with the ‘Nice To Meet You’ EP. First up is the title track, a uniquely hypnotic cut with a bold kazoo melody and raw, club-ready low-end that shines on the breakdowns and high-impact drops. ‘Danny’s Groove’ is next, a track with real Romero energy, its rhythm carefully layered with an organic drum shuffle at the centre, an ear-catching whistle melody in the back, and plenty of synth hits in between - the ‘Nice To Meet You’ EP is a masterclass in building and releasing energy on the dancefloor.

Radio Slave’s Rekids imprint was founded in 2006 and has since spawned successful offshoots with the Techno-focused Rekids Special Projects in 2017 and its newest sublabel, REK’D, in 2024. With Matt Edwards as the sole A&R, Rekids has been crucial in developing early artist careers and has become a haven for established acts operating in House and adjacent genres, having recently featured the likes of Hilit Kolet, William Kiss, Bushwacka, Mathias Kaden, Katerina, Sean Johnston, and many more.

I first saw Hugh and Jackson play together at Good God’s ‘Soft Future Piano Bar’ at the Sydney Opera House in 2017. That year was a fruitful year for the two as artists and for the Sydney music community in general. I remember that all of us, along with Greville and Brad, hosted a DIY party in a tunnel under a highway somewhere near Sydney Airport. Is that the same tunnel that Tunnel Dancers derived their name from? 7 years after that first meeting at the Sydney Opera House, Hugh and Jackson have released an album. Listening to these songs there is an audible patience and understanding between two musicians. They probably could have released something else a long time ago, but chose to wait - instead enjoying bowls of laksa on their lunch breaks and sharing long, quiet conversations at The Babylon Sauna & Spa. When the next warm bowl of noodle soup arrives on your table, how long will you let it sit before you dive in? Soup first or noodle first? If you learn from these songs, perhaps you will know to first observe the whole bowl. Observing in this way, the moment settles and hovers and remains for much longer than a moment.

A familiar face to the art circles of NYC and Detroit, Scott Avery is the tabbed alias for Philly-born, Detroit-based producer, Amani Olu — an ambitious creative who makes his music debut via Child Self. The EP includes four disparate tracks that explore wanderlust, play, experimentation, and unencumbered curiosity. An homage to innocence and the source of his creative expression, Child Self represents a juncture in Avery’s personal history, a moment of reflection as the artist considers the roads which have led him to the present.

Throughout the EP, memory—both personal and historical—resurfaces in roundabout ways, unlocked in ecstatic sonic transmissions, expressing the depths and sentiments that language can’t express. Coupled with Detroit’s legendary history and an aching devotion to the early years of Avery’s life, Child Self richly entwines sounds with spiritual expression. With subtle reference points and underlying samples seamlessly flowing between disco and rap, house and Motown, Child Self is a composition of gradual histories tactically woven back together into proof of concept for an ambitious and varied career to come.

Maria Callas was born to a Greek family in New York in 1923. Her vocal training took place in Athens, where her teacher was the coloratura soprano Elvira de Hidalgo, who had sung with Enrico Caruso and Feodor Chaliapin. After early performances in Greece, Callas’s international career was launched in 1947 when she performed the title role in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda at the Arena di Verona in Italy.

Her voice defied simple classification and her artistic range was extraordinary. In her early twenties she sang such heavy dramatic roles as Gioconda, Turandot, Brünnhilde and Isolde, but over the course of her career her most famous roles came to be: Bellini’s Norma and Amina (La sonnambula); Verdi’s Violetta (La traviata); Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Anna Bolena, Cherubini’s Medea and Puccini’s Tosca. Though her timbre was not always conventionally beautiful, Callas’s musicianship and phrasing were in a class of their own. She brought characters to vivid life with her skill in colouring her tone and making insightful use of the text.

She is credited with changing the history of opera: by placing a perhaps unprecedented emphasis on musical integrity and dramatic truth, and by transforming perceptions – and reviving the fortunes – of the bel canto repertoire, particularly Bellini and Donizetti.

The 1950s marked the height of Callas’s career. Its base lay in the opera houses of Italy, and she became the prima donna assoluta of Milan’s legendary La Scala – notably in the productions
of Luchino Visconti – but her operatic appearances also encompassed London’s Royal Opera House, the New York Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opéra, the Vienna State Opera, and the opera houses of Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Lisbon, and, in the early 1950s, Mexico City, São Paolo and Rio de Janeiro.

From 1959, when she started a life-changing love affair with the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, her performing career slowed down and her voice became more fragile. Her final stage performances came in 1965, when she was only 42.

There were many plans for a return to the stage – and for further complete recordings – but they never reached fruition, though in 1974 she gave a series of concerts in Europe, North America and Japan with the tenor Giuseppe di Stefano; he had partnered her frequently in the opera house and in the studio, not least in the 1953 La Scala Tosca under Victor de Sabata, considered a landmark in recording history. Callas died alone in her Paris apartment in September 1977.

While 1995's Washing Machine LP moniker was a thinly-veiled jab at the corporate aesthetic ("no, you cannot turn Sonic Youth into a household appliance brand", the band even considered changing its name to Washing Machine but settled on the album title instead), their major label relationship was indeed a curious buzzpoint of talk on the street after their intake to DGC in 1990. It wouldn't be fair to say that this state of existence propelled the band to reinforce its independent mindset by releasing a series of opaque-looking, French-language-dipping, highbrow-looking releases on their own that focused on the more abstract improv/compositional side of the band; in all truths they had been heavily steeped in self-releasing spillover material prior to that. But after a pressure pot of the early 90's indoctrination into a new operational mode for the band and its visibility, and the forces around it attempting to shape their direction, it seemed like a good time to create a strong show of radical concept.

The Anagrama EP became the first in a series of the SYR label's Perspective Musicales releases seemingly cementing Sonic Youth's connectivity to an increasing public awareness in experimental composers of the 20th century (French or otherwise). The irony was that many of those original avant composers being rediscovered by the indie audience (Partch, Neuhaus, Reich, Messaien) often found themselves on major labels anyway! So, perhaps this reverse approach was a necessary concept/comment given the music biz climate of the 90's. Regardless of how apples and oranges fell in Xenakian probability/theory, it was clear that both Sonic Youth's stature in progressive music, aided by now unlimited taperoll time thanks to a home base studio downtown established after their Lollapalooza stint, gave the band plenty of trailblazing time for their self examination of untraveled avenues.

"Anagrama" unfolds into nine minutes of delicate textures, starting with thick drone segueing into moments reminiscent of the post-crescendo flutter/comedown of "Marquee Moon's" trail-out; Thurston, Lee and Kim's guitars all circling round each other taking delicate pokes and stabs before drifting into some post-rock rhythmic moves tapered with delicate percussive guidance from Steve Shelley. "Improvisation Ajoutée" reaches further out into dissolve with whirring oscillations, guitars hissing and clanking radiator-style in a short blast format that continues into "Tremens" and a spooked-out landscape of gelatinous notes snaking up slowly. The sparseness of attack is colorful, textures emit and linger, silent spots shine, all flanked by tasteful drumming that provides the thread to all the abstraction. Shelley's approach here is interestingly sideways to any kind of usual rock action, it's tempered, mutant and metronomic simultaneously. The finale track "Mieux: De Corrosion" is a real pedal-palatte showcase. Here, Plutonian guitar wash flanges upwards to buoy a myriad of colorful eruptions of amp-spuzz, chopped up tone blasts and general confusion. Out of the blue, some metallic one-note choogle kicks in and threatens to explode into some Judas Priestly motion, before it all sputters into aural glass showers, clang, and finally a ferocious wave of more flange hiss that crashes down on a dime.

This initial foray into SY's Perspectives Musicales series continued onward with releases featuring other co-conspirators, peaking with the ambitious 2CD Goodbye 20th Century that finally connects the band into full-on interpretations of other composers' pieces (as well as displaying their own new ones). The whole series is not so much an outlet for another "side" of the band, but a run that went hand in hand building new approaches of songcraft onto their own, more overground direction which included Jim O'Rourke (who hopped on during SYR3), adding additional density to A Thousand Leaves and other LPs of his era. Fans of the '86 Spinhead Sessions as well as the recently-exhumed later jams of In/Out/In will take in the sounds of SYR1 with glee.

Innershades comes with a follow up on his Clone Jack For Daze debut from 2019 with his buddy Betonkust.. This time he digs in the local history from his homebase Belgium. The country that brought us the New Beat craze which had its breeding grounds in club's such as Boccaccio. A venue which used to be one of the prime locations in the Benelux to hear the latest House and Techno releases in '89,'90 and '91. All the fresh new sounds from Chicago, Detroit, the big New York labels and producers, Early UK rave and of course the local producers from the Benelux and specificaly those on labels such as R&S, Music Man and USA Import records could be heard in this euphoric club. No surprise that Serge, the founder of Clone records has some fond memories of his visits to Boccaccio and no surprise that this era always has been a huge influence on Innershades. This Homage EP brings a collection of tracks drenched in bleepy acid lines, topped with choir pads and slightly detuned slowly phased chords and dominant mixed bass sections. Energetic tracks that capture the spirit of those days with a contemporary touch from Innershades. Tracks that fit perfectly to the Clone Jack For Daze series inspired by these early days, where people danced for daze on all these energetic and futuristic sounds from the underground.