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Albert Bouchard is best known as one of the founding members of Blue Öyster Cult. The original band sold millions of albums for Columbia Records with such
classic songs as “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and the #1 hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart “Burning For You”. As a songwriter, he wrote many BÖC songs including the very popular “Astronomy” (which was covered by Metallica on their 1998’s release Garage Inc) and the live staple “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll”, which he also sang lead vocals.

Albert’s famous cowbell on “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” was the basis of the popular SNL skit with Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken, which has gained over 32 million views and spawned the phrase “More Cowbell”. Imaginos IV–Rhyme Of The Starclock sees Albert continuing the story of Imaginos, a concept album about an alien conspiracy that is brought to fruition during the late 19th and early 20th century through the actions of Imaginos, an agent of evil. The album weaves scripts and poems by the late Sandy Pearlman. This is the follow up to the initial Trilogy and goes back to a young Imaginos. It features guests Blue Coupe, Ross The Boss (Dictators), Joe Cerisano (Silver Condor, TSO), and many others. The first single “Four Winds Bar” is due out July 31st, with the follow up single “Germany Minus Zero” coming on August 28th.

*Re-release of Holy Fuck’s 5th album originally released in 2020, now on clear vinyl limited to 500 copies*
Holy Fuck have today announced details of new album 'Deleter', which will be released on January 17th and is further previewed with the video for acclaimed latest single 'Luxe' (ft. Alexis Taylor). Having just concluded a US tour alongside Hot Chip, the seminal Canadian band will play a selection of European headline dates later this month (with a London show at Moth Club on October 23rd selling out immediately).

Arriving at a moment where attention spans are shot and anxieties are going into overdrive, 'Deleter', Holy Fuck’s fifth studio LP, is a defiantly full-bodied affair. Polyrhythmic and pleasure- focused, 'Deleter' sees Brian Borcherdt, Graham Walsh, Matt Schulz, and Matt “Punchy” McQuaid utilises their signature sound - seamlessly fusing the gauzy drive of krautrock and deep house’s dreamy ineffability, expertly blending purring motorik percussion with the sort of fuggy synthetic fizz and tang they are renowned for.

From the thrusting minimalism of opener ‘Luxe’ through to the triumphant chug of closing track ‘Ruby’, via club-ready rollocker ‘Free Gloss’ and the cosmic clatter of ‘San Sebastian’, Deleter is a record that joins the Holy Fuck dots within their widescreen, technicolour, crescendo- heavy sound.

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


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


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

Satoshi Tomiie Is Back on Phonogramme With "12b-Dub Pt. 2," the Second Volume of the Acclaimed Ep Series by Legendary Producer Satoshi Tomiie. This 4-Track Ep Continues to Explore Tomiie's Deep and Innovative Soundscapes, Making It an Essential Addition to Any Electronic Music Collection. Available on a Limited Edition Marbled 12'' Vinyl, "12b-Dub Pt. 2" Promises to Deliver a Unique Auditory Experience With Its Rich Textures and Masterful Production. Don't Miss Out on This Exclusive Release From Phonogramme, Showcasing Satoshi Tomiie's Enduring Influence in the World of Electronic Music....

The Veils' first three albums are returning to vinyl thanks to Rough Trade Records.

The Runaway Found (2004), Nux Vomica (2006) and 2009's Sun Gangs established the New Zealand band as purveyors of lush, romantic indie, able to sweep through cinematic vistas into intimate emotional corners, via gothic orchestration and atmospheric driving rhythms.

Founded and fronted by singer-songwriter Finn Andrews while still a teenager, over their first three albums, The Veils carved out a musical landscape of their own that was in turn deep and enveloping yet emotionally raw and direct.

Having only enjoyed a limited vinyl run on their releases, due to the format's neglected commercial status during the 2000s, the repressing of The Runaway Found, Nux Vomica and Sun Gangs, offers audiences a fresh opportunity to enjoy these records with the full depth, fidelity and artwork they deserve, and reminding listeners of the musical secrets The Veils revealed to the world.

“It is a sincere joy to see these records that are so important to us and to so many others reissued on vinyl by the label that nurtured us right from the start. I remain hugely grateful to them and to all the songs on these searching, impassioned, and magnificently youthful first attempts.” - Finn Andrews, The Veils

Modi Bardo, an alumnus of Moonshine Recordings, is another who on the surface appears to be at the nascent era of their sound experiments, but in truth is a longtime explorer of outer realms of Dub.

There is much to mention here which can be uncovered with the correct keywords, but one of the early bright points would be Spacelings and Bassheads, the Detroit-based Psych duo Modi Bardo was half of, who although seemingly limited in the realms of recorded output (with only a compilation appearance each via the Electro visionaries Interdimensional Transmissions and Booty bass / Techno orientated Intuit-Solar) where in fact not-so-limited in the era in the way of public performance, even performing at the renowned Packard Plant renegades in the 90's with UR on occasion.

Forward to now, and Modi Bardo has created something that reaches for unknown territory in Dub. With an establishing A side that is deep and primordial in tone, a' la Challenger Deep and Babe Roots releases, this proves to be merely a fantastic tone setter for the B side, which seems to find a zone where Dub Techno, Half Time, and Autonomic DnB have not quite gleaned yet. Truly a record unlike any other, while somehow being an invaluable tool for DJ's exploring the links between the aforementioned sounds and even Dancehall and Jungle in the mix.

A must for all those chasing the evolution of dub reflective arts, and the adventurous DJ in general.

At the outset of the project, Jupp assembled a palette of instruments and sounds which evoke a moment in musical history when digital studio technology just started to take over from analogue. Eschewing Belbury Poly’s earlier mid 70s obsessions, to focus on that period around 1983, when artists who could afford it started to experiment with samplers. It was a musical moment dominated by the sounds of Prophet 5, DX7 & PPG synthesizers, Fairlight & Synclavier music computers, TR808 drum machine & Simmons Drums (those ubiquitous hexagonal drum pads) and of course the much-maligned fretless bass.

It’s also an era that’s now seen as something of a golden age for fantasy, sci-fi, comics, book, TV, movies and games (particularly in Britain where it was often fuelled by a post punk reaction to Thatcher’s regime). In Jupp’s memory these things go hand in hand; as a child his nerdy fandom was soundtracked not as it was for most by Heavy Metal, but by the electronic pop of Bill Nelson, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Japan, and Frank Chickens. Also, by otherworldly TV soundtracks & production music of the era: Elizabeth Parker and Paddy Kingsland at the BBC, The Parry Music Library, Rod Argent’s new age library albums and even Clannad’s Robin of Sherwood score.

Courant Zéro is the new moniker of Montréal multi-media installation artist and Kohlenstoff label co-founder Maxime Corbeil-Perron, signalling his return to purely recording-based electronic music production following several years focused on award-winning experimental film and audio-visual works. Solari channels his cinematic sensibility and decade-long exploration of sound art and electroacoustic counterpoint into deep cuts of maximalist ambient electronica. Drawing on his early background as a pianist and jazz drummer, Corbeil-Perron weaves a fabric of melodic and rhythmic vectors with his unique timbral palette, intersecting modern composition, IDM, ambient, glitch, and noise on a debut album brimming with sonic detail and emotive resonance. A fixture of Montréal’s sound art community as both creator and curator since the early 2010s, Corbeil-Perron’s work has ranged from “hypnotic A/V onslaught” (FACT Magazine) to the “richly nuanced acousmatic journey” of his 2018 EP Polychrome (Bandcamp Best Contemporary Classical Of The Month), with earlier electronic and techno-adjacent projects like Political Ritual, Dresden, and Le poisson d’argent garnering accolades from avant-music outlets A Closer Listen, Silence and Sound, and Musicworks, among others. Courant Zéro mobilizes this cumulative wealth of explorative sonic experience in the service of distinctive compositional architectures and electronic music pathways that fans of Floating Points, Jan Jelinek, Squarepusher, Tim Hecker, and Oneohtrix Point Never should find compelling.


Courant Zéro’s debut is a vibrant sonic rebus at the junction of electronic, electroacoustic, noise and ambient music that resists easy categorisation. Solari strikes a compelling balance of unsettled disorientation and hospitable warmth, teeming with real feeling throughout. The album’s cover art painting Cryptography I by Yen-Chao Lin represents this prevailing sensibility, its mazelike circuitry distinctly carved and crisply rendered, while filigreed with handmade detail and artisanal patina. Thanks for listening.

The Montréal psych-ambient synth-droners return with Sequence Three, their first album in five years and the final instalment in the group’s opening trilogy of records that began with Sequence One in 2019. The spectral supergroup co-founded by Stephen Ramsay (Young Galaxy) and Jace Lasek (The Besnard Lakes), usually joined in some capacity by Lasek’s Besnard bandmate Olga Goreas, deliver another dose of its trademark longform slowburn jams, forged from restored vintage synths and analogue electronic gear. Lasek and Ramsay don their seasoned producer hats to apply rockist sound design to minimalist tracks, saturated with tube compression, drenched in pink and brown noise, all queasy modulation, sparse beats, and languorous melodic lines. Evoking a humid dawn on a gas giant, these alien drone anthems meld the numinous transcendentalism of Spiritualized and Cluster with the eroded grit of William Basinski and GAS. Light Conductor has been tagged “heavyweight analogue synth nirvana” by Uncut Magazine and praised for its “fabulous, epic, shimmeringly radiant kosmische” by Electronic Sound, among other accolades. Sequence Three consolidates these strengths, while leaning into the darker disquietude that has always been an undercurrent of Light Conductor’s aesthetic.
Sequence Three rounds out a satisfying trio of full-lengths that Light Conductor has released on Constellation, featuring vibrantly minimal geometric cover art designed by label co-founder Ian Ilavsky that integrates the trilogy as a visual series as well. In keeping with the previous two albums in the set, the Deluxe 180gLP includes a 12”x24” art poster. Thanks for listening.

Montréal-based sound artist Steve Bates expands his strategies and stylistic influences on An Infinite Antenna, his second solo album for Constellation, giving freer reign to melodic components and textural dynamics: leftfield synth work, deconstructed drum machine, pointillist electric guitar, and radiostatic blur are all part of the new brew swirling around his bruitist signal-bending and field-recording sensibility. Arguably a more ambient album than his acclaimed 2022 Constellation debut, An Infinite Antenna is at the same time more densely packed with ideas, dynamics, evocations and earworms. Coming out of the anarcho-punk scene of the Canadian Prairies in the 1990s, Bates founded Winnipeg’s experimental sound festival Send + Receive in 1998 before moving to Montréal to become Sound Coordinator at Hexagram (Concordia University), delving further into sonic research and theory, tape-based composition, and installation work. Alongside the curatorial arc of his own sound art label The Dim Coast, Bates released several solo and collaborative albums on ORAL_records leading up to All The Things That Happen, the 2022 Constellation debut praised by Boomkat for its “grittily iridescent ambient billow rendering maximalist panoramas” and by Backseat Mafia as “extraordinary soundscapes of unstable, destructive cacophony and tender calm, echoes of the threat of power.” Where that album was noisier and single-minded, made with the self-imposed limit of a Casio SK-1, Bates plays more widely with instrumentation and atmospheres on An Infinite Antenna, also drawing on his post-hardcore roots in seeking a sort of track-by-track concision nonetheless driven by the album’s coherence as a seamless work. “I was trying to set durations I associate with punk rather than the longer, sprawling music coming from more ambient styles (that I very much love), and while I wasn’t able to quite pare it down to Minutemen durations, I had that reduction to essential elements as a sort of whisper over my shoulder.” Incorporating source recordings made throughout 2023-2025, including at artist residencies and site-specific sound installation visits in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the album’s cover photo was taken in Sarajevo), Austria, Greece, and Saskatchewan, An Infinite Antenna combines Bates’ “idea of slowly scanning a radio dial” with a soundworld of recurring timbral and textural touchstones that forge an integrated whole.

The album’s 12 tracks work effectively as stand-alone pieces, replete with shifting undercurrents, buried melody, and stuttering kinetics, and as a sequential flow where the brief interstitial silences between them are like short pauses to flip the next page in a sketchbook of perspectival studies of a wide but singular tableau. The glistening atonal synth expressionism of opener “Pink pink pink pink…pink pink” drifts gently toward submerged ambience, darkened by the noised rumble and static interference of “Green as a ghost”, which introduces broken beats and piano chords in its denouement. Tracks like “Battles and sieges and street trees” and “Easier sad than done” work the foundations of low-end field-recording resonance, but dappled with lovely melodic droplets of treated guitar and synth. “Waste, songs of the world” and “Disaster loans” are among the album’s most explicit stylistic references to posthardcore, with distorted ambient bass and gently abrasive drum sampling. Closing track “Swamps and factories”, the album’s longest piece, is perhaps most reminiscent of Bates’ previous record with its sustained dissonant glimmer-drone, but the journey An Infinite Antenna traces to get there is Bates at his most dynamic, diverse, distinctive, and engaging. Thanks for listening.

Recorded in Los Angeles over the course of a single day at a studio in the Eagle Rock neighborhood, Dois Desertos was produced by Mario Caldato Jr. and emerged without a predetermined plan or schedule. The project took shape during Portuguese musician João Pimenta Gomes' stay in Los Angeles with his family. During that time, through Rodrigo Amarante, João met Mario and Samantha Caldato, as well as musicians Abe Rounds (drums and percussion) and Gabe Noel (bass and cello). From those encounters, the album began to unfold organically.

Working from simple scores—some containing little more than chord progressions—the sessions left plenty of room for improvisation. Every performance was captured live, in a single take, with no overdubs. The mixing process, also carried out live by Mario Caldato Jr., followed the same philosophy: effects and level adjustments were performed in real time and printed directly to the final two-track master.

At the heart of the album's sound is the Cristal Baschet, a rare instrument played by rubbing glass rods with the hands, causing metal resonators to vibrate and produce an ethereal, resonant tone. João describes its sound as "a trace, almost like a shadow." Rather than taking the lead, the instrument serves as a textural foundation, while the bass and cello carry the melodic lines. Some of these melodies are original compositions, while others draw from traditional Portuguese fado, reimagined through an open and exploratory approach.

The album has a dreamlike atmosphere, reflecting the perspective of someone experiencing Los Angeles from the outside—not in a rush to belong, but fully receptive to the city's unique energy. Two films helped shape this imaginary landscape: Model Shop (Jacques Demy, 1969), in which the French filmmaker uses Los Angeles as a pretext to simply observe and inhabit the city, and Thom Andersen's Los Angeles Plays Itself. The result is Dois Desertos, an album that, in João's own words, "could never have been made anywhere else."

With Dois Desertos, João Pimenta Gomes invites listeners into a deeply immersive experience, revealing a more exploratory side of his artistic practice while reinforcing Amor in Sound's commitment to releasing original works that engage with the many languages of contemporary music.

Reissue with bonus tracks of the legendary debut album by Madrid's Hardcore Punk legends TDK, born from the ashes of the almighty Espasmódicos. Originally released in 1984, this is a pivotal and pioneering record for enthusiasts of Hardcore Punk made in Spain. An explosive, powerful outburst of pure, unfiltered, nasty Hardcore Punk delivered with fierce energy and precision. Includes two bonus tracks, one from their split 7" with Panadería Bollería Nuestra Señora del Karmen from 1984 and one from "La Movida Madrileña" compilation from the same year and two inserts.

Montréal-based sound artist Steve Bates expands his strategies and stylistic influences on An Infinite Antenna, his second solo album for Constellation, giving freer reign to melodic components and textural dynamics: leftfield synth work, deconstructed drum machine, pointillist electric guitar, and radiostatic blur are all part of the new brew swirling around his bruitist signal-bending and field-recording sensibility. Arguably a more ambient album than his acclaimed 2022 Constellation debut, An Infinite Antenna is at the same time more densely packed with ideas, dynamics, evocations and earworms. Coming out of the anarcho-punk scene of the Canadian Prairies in the 1990s, Bates founded Winnipeg's experimental sound festival Send + Receive in 1998 before moving to Montréal to become Sound Coordinator at Hexagram (Concordia University), delving further into sonic research and theory, tape-based composition, and installation work. Alongside the curatorial arc of his own sound art label The Dim Coast, Bates released several solo and collaborative albums on ORAL_records leading up to All The Things That Happen, the 2022 Constellation debut praised by Boomkat for its "grittily iridescent ambient billow rendering maximalist panoramas" and by Backseat Mafia as "extraordinary soundscapes of unstable, destructive cacophony and tender calm, echoes of the threat of power." Where that album was noisier and single-minded, made with the self-imposed limit of a Casio SK-1, Bates plays more widely with instrumentation and atmospheres on An Infinite Antenna, also drawing on his post-hardcore roots in seeking a sort of track-by-track concision nonetheless driven by the album's coherence as a seamless work. "I was trying to set durations I associate with punk rather than the longer, sprawling music coming from more ambient styles (that I very much love), and while I wasn't able to quite pare it down to Minutemen durations, I had that reduction to essential elements as a sort of whisper over my shoulder." Incorporating source recordings made throughout 2023-2025, including at artist residencies and site-specific sound installation visits in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the album's cover photo was taken in Sarajevo), Austria, Greece, and Saskatchewan, An Infinite Antenna combines Bates' "idea of slowly scanning a radio dial" with a soundworld of recurring timbral and textural touchstones that forge an integrated whole. The album's 12 tracks work effectively as stand-alone pieces, replete with shifting undercurrents, buried melody, and stuttering kinetics, and as a sequential flow where the brief interstitial silences between them are like short pauses to flip the next page in a sketchbook of perspectival studies of a wide but singular tableau. The glistening atonal synth expressionism of opener 'Pink pink pink pink_pink pink' drifts gently toward submerged ambience, darkened by the noised rumble and static interference of 'Green as a ghost', which introduces broken beats and piano chords in its denouement. Tracks like 'Battles and sieges and street trees' and 'Easier sad than done' work the foundations of low-end field-recording resonance, but dappled with lovely melodic droplets of treated guitar and synth. 'Waste, songs of the world' and 'Disaster loans' are among the album's most explicit stylistic references to posthardcore, with distorted ambient bass and gently abrasive drum sampling. Closing track 'Swamps and factories,' the album's longest piece, is perhaps most reminiscent of Bates' previous record with its sustained dissonant glimmer-drone, but the journey An Infinite Antenna traces to get there is Bates at his most dynamic, diverse, distinctive, and engaging. Thanks for listening

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

Christophe Chassol's brilliantly-dazzling third album, crowns his trilogy of ultrascores (a method he elaborated for harmonizing, symphonizing real life, the 'here and now'), which started out in Creole-speaking New Orleans (Nola Che?rie, 2011) before pursuing its route through India (Indiamore, 2013).
In March 2014, Christophe Chassol took off for Martinique, his family's birthplace; these West Indies that epitomize everything he dreamt of expressing, from the purely personal to the perfectly panoptic. Hand-in-hand with the production sound mixer Marie-France Barrier and the sound engineer Johann Levasseur, the trio filmed and recorded a myriad of extraordinary encounters, scenes of everyday life, the carnival... a highly-evocative documentary that was to become the matrix of Big Sun.
Back in France, he composed, edited, rehearsed and created the 27 tracks of a 70- minute West Indian space odyssey. Big Sun is a weaveworld of birds' songs and Pipo Gertrude's whistling, Joby Bernabe?s poetry and a te?te-a?-te?te with a lady mountain-dweller, Sissido and Samak's rap, Mario Masse's flute, the Fort de France carnival, conch shell echoes, the ocean's music and the hullabaloo of a game of dominos. And sumptuous pieces of music like La Route de la Trace or Reich & Darwin, which suddenly spring up at a bend in the road and take our breath away.

Leeds six piece, Adult DVD, announced their signing to Fat Possum this year, with standalone single ‘Real Tree Lee’, which landed the band on the BBC 6 Music A-List along with ‘Ones To Watch’ attention from the likes of The Rolling Stone, The Line Of Best Fit and more. On September 25th they release their much anticipated debut, self-titled album. Recorded and produced by the band at hometown The Nave Studios, the new album fuses Adult DVD’s love of hook laden indie, with pulsing groove, 90's acid house influence and an undeniable humour in their songwriting. Known for their electric live show, including their recent sold out London residency plus debut USA and Japan tours, Adult DVD is a festival favourite; hailed ‘Best Of SXSW’ (Rolling Stone), 'Best Of The Great Escape' (The Sunday Times, DIY and Dork). The band are continuously on the road with routing booked through to 2027, across UK/EU/US/JP.

“Music for me, is rarely complete,” says GODFLESH mastermind Justin Broadrick, “but it has to reach a point where enough is enough. Creatively, there has to be self-discipline. One has to end it.” Broadrick is primarily referring to the nebulous process of writing and arranging songs into their various potential shapes, but he could just as easily be describing GODFLESH’s imminent conclusion. Just three years after the hypnotic crunch of Purge, 25 years after an uncertain hiatus that nearly scuttled the band, and 38 years since GODFLESH’s inception, Broadrick and bassist-at-arms Ben Green set out to mercilessly crush this cold world with their tenth and penultimate album, this year’s Decay. “Decay was born from the same sessions as Purge,” Broadrick declares of the new record’s six tracks. “It was one huge pool of songs. I picked what I felt was appropriate for what I wanted to achieve with Purge, with the intention of releasing the songs that didn't fit as a new album within a year of Purge being released. Unfortunately, two years passed whilst considering external labels, so that I didn't have to self-release GODFLESH anymore, but it took an awful lot of time to establish a comfortable home for me. The recordings were done, but as usual for me, I did change a lot of stuff once I came back to it.” Now, GODFLESH is ready to unleash an even bolder, bleaker series of sounds in Decay. These songs arrive shortly after Broadrick released a public statement about major abdominal surgery he underwent earlier this year.

Reckoning is a dense, carefully nuanced, profoundly complex text, though all nine songs are presented as directly as possible: Mary's voice, her guitar, bits of harmonica. Folk music, of a kind, but not a broadside. Nothing so easy as that. Topical songs with a long view, because she's seen and lived too much of it. Mary's most celebrated songs — “I Drink,” “Mercy Now,” “Drag Queens in Limousines” — are confessional stories, closely observed, clear-eyed and compassionate. She sings with the unmistakable languor of her native Louisiana, writes with the bluntness of Boston, where she was once a successful restauranteur, and rewrites with the fierce precision of Nashville, her home for many years. Her 2018 release, Rifles & Rosary Beads, co-written with wounded Iraq war veterans, received a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album, and an Americana Music Association nomination for Album of the Year. During Covid she wrote and saw published (by MacMillan) Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting, part memoir, part reflection on songwriting, through the lens of her most impactful songs. “A reckoning,” Mary Gauthier writes on the outer sleeve to her newest album, “can be personal, political, or spiritual. These songs inhabit all three realms at once.”

The third album from Max McNown, Leave On A Light, reveals a rare artist whose breakout success has brought him even closer to his truest instincts. Amid an explosive ascent that solidified his status as one of his generation’s most compelling singer/songwriters, the Oregon native came to a deeper conviction in music’s power to honor what matters most, such as the people and values who anchor his life. Born from a year of extraordinary momentum—including completing his sold-out, continent-hopping headline tour—Leave On A Light ultimately finds McNown more grounded than ever in his artistic vision, arriving as the fullest expression yet of his singular songwriting voice.

Three years after their debut, the synth-pop duo HERON is back: On September 25, the Leipzig-based band’s second album will be released on the O*RS Label. With “Be Okay,” the band shows itself to be more experimental than before and strikes a critical note—without losing its signature sound. Dancefloor euphoria meets synthwave drama; big sounds meet big themes: social criticism, sexual oppression, the struggle with one’s own demons, and moments of political powerlessness. But the album is also shaped by a courage to embrace tenderness and a commitment to longing—all underscored by a melancholy that you can dance to. With a playful spirit, the duo fully explores the space between anthemic pop and darkwave moments, thereby revealing their inner selves (even more) to the outside world

Picture the scene - October 2025, while staying at a friend’s apartment in Chennai, Gavsborg created umpteen ideas and contacted his good friend and bassist from back home, Delroy Pele Fyah Hamilton to collaborate. Hamilton, now based in Singapore performs and records regularly with F.Y .A.H. (successor band from Raging Fyah).

Both Blair and Hamilton share a love for Caribbean music. With this foundation the two set out to create something a bit different that sits between Bouyon, Dancehall & Dennery. The amalgamation resulted in this unique four-track instrumental EP . While the track titles are packed with broader Caribbean references, the project name and title track is an ode to the 90s dancehall pioneers, “Black Roses Crew” , who were based in Arnett Gardens (aka Jungle), Kingston, Jamaica, one of the important homes of 90s dancehall. Roses helped shape dancehall culture through dance, style, crew affiliation, and performance, largely soundtracked by Computer Paul’s Corduroy Riddim with Gerald Levy aka Bogle being the poster human.

Arnett Gardens (Jungle) is one of the key engines that produced the version of dancehall both Gavsborg and Pele draw here from. Think tight, bubbling, bouncing riddims, rolling basslines unlike anything you’ve heard before. Jamaican Dance Music for the movers and shakers

A Flower to Water, the staggering new album from Greek Progressive-Post Metal outfit Playgrounded, finds the five-piece pushing their boundaries even further; welcoming the unquantifiable depths of loss, grief and finitude into their meticulous, fractal process as friends in defiance of neglect. Hailing from Athens, Greece but predominantly based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Playgrounded have never ceased to push the envelope of Post Metal with genre-defying contemporary electronic and cinematic neo-classical elements since the band's inception almost two decades ago. A Flower to Water is Playgrounded's third full-length offering and sees the band thriving in their creative relationship with Pelagic Records. Recorded and produced by the band across multiple studios back home in Athens and Rotterdam, Playgrounded enlisted the help of longtime collaborators C. Cederberg (Leprous, Anathema) who mixed the album at Cederberg Studios in Kristiansand, Norway and George Tandero (Madrugada, Satyricon, Jaga Jazzist) who mastered it in Oslo. A profound sense of patience is keenly felt throughout the album. The deliberate spaces between each hammerblow guitar riff, pulsing bass line or hypnotic drum groove; each heavy, breathless pause and fizzing glitchy whisper all tell of unspoken loss and absence as an indelible part of A Flower to Water and indeed of Playgrounded forever more. In marking this absence however, in embracing loss head on, Playgrounded reify memory in defiance of neglect. By extracting such a colossal, breathtaking piece of work from a seemingly unassuming collection of sounds, clips and sonics; the quintet slow time to a standstill to present grief in bloom; a beautiful, perpetual flower with its roots in loved ones lost. FOR FANS OF Karnivool, Katatonia, Nine Inch Nails, Deftones, Moderat, The Ocean, Vola, Leprous, Skyharbor, Anathema

A Flower to Water, the staggering new album from Greek Progressive-Post Metal outfit Playgrounded, finds the five-piece pushing their boundaries even further; welcoming the unquantifiable depths of loss, grief and finitude into their meticulous, fractal process as friends in defiance of neglect. Hailing from Athens, Greece but predominantly based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Playgrounded have never ceased to push the envelope of Post Metal with genre-defying contemporary electronic and cinematic neo-classical elements since the band's inception almost two decades ago. A Flower to Water is Playgrounded's third full-length offering and sees the band thriving in their creative relationship with Pelagic Records. Recorded and produced by the band across multiple studios back home in Athens and Rotterdam, Playgrounded enlisted the help of longtime collaborators C. Cederberg (Leprous, Anathema) who mixed the album at Cederberg Studios in Kristiansand, Norway and George Tandero (Madrugada, Satyricon, Jaga Jazzist) who mastered it in Oslo. A profound sense of patience is keenly felt throughout the album. The deliberate spaces between each hammerblow guitar riff, pulsing bass line or hypnotic drum groove; each heavy, breathless pause and fizzing glitchy whisper all tell of unspoken loss and absence as an indelible part of A Flower to Water and indeed of Playgrounded forever more. In marking this absence however, in embracing loss head on, Playgrounded reify memory in defiance of neglect. By extracting such a colossal, breathtaking piece of work from a seemingly unassuming collection of sounds, clips and sonics; the quintet slow time to a standstill to present grief in bloom; a beautiful, perpetual flower with its roots in loved ones lost. FOR FANS OF Karnivool, Katatonia, Nine Inch Nails, Deftones, Moderat, The Ocean, Vola, Leprous, Skyharbor, Anathema

By 2004, dub had a history stretching back more than thirty years. This remarkable longevity can easily be explained by the evolving nature of this musical genre, which is constantly changing both artistically and technically, from Kingston to London, New York, and more recently Berlin, Paris, Lyon and Saint-Étienne. For example, it is worth noting that for some years now, in France and elsewhere, a good number of artists have been thinking in terms of dub from the outset, breaking free from the original Jamaican model, which involved drawing inspiration almost systematically from an existing vocal track. Thirty years on, with the release of their second album, Brain Damage aim to reconnect with this tradition. Recent collaborations with the two vocalists, Learoy Green and Black Sifichi, have indeed provided the ideal source material for the creation of five tracks, each rendered in their respective dub versions, thus forming an album with a symmetrical, even geometric character - from its very structure right down to its title: 'Ashes to ashes / Dub to dub'. At the heart of the project lies the astute choice of two guests, each operating in diametrically opposed spheres yet brought together for the occasion, thereby emphasising a certain 'unity of the circle': 'the unity of the circle'. Born of a genuine artistic vision, this geometric, symmetrical aesthetic-omnipresent in every detail of the album, both auditory and visual-complements Brain Damage's 'square' and robotic side, with its three-dimensional evocations. Always working in close collaboration with the very latest digital technologies. This brings to mind 'the balance of the cube'. Finally, the title itself, 'Ashes to ashes / Dub to dub', should be understood as a reference to the transience of all things in this world, against a backdrop of widespread, globalised, international, national and local crises_

Tropical East Asian folk fused with psychedelic electronic rock and noise driven by a winding and jagged Sanshin guitar, shape forming vocals, odd percussion and spacey sounds. A Sgt. Peppers tour through the folklore of Okinawa. Amamikyu is the creation Goddess of the colourful Island of sound visited by Phil MFU ( formerly Vanishing Twin ) on his journeys through expanding his scope of experimental electronic music effortlessly locking style in with master Sanshin player and vocalist Yuko Tsubame to create a psychedelic trippy island of sound, revisiting classic folk songs in a new far out funky light. Amamikyu are a London based band of Phil MFU ( ex Vanishing Twin ) and Okinawan electric Sanshin player and singer Yuko Tsubame, with an expanding group of live musicians.

Baltimore's End It is telling it like it is on their debut album, Wrong Side Of Heaven, set for release this summer. The hardcore band has built a reputation through being unapologetically outspoken, playing fast, ripping songs, and putting on an electrifying live show. Now they're ready to enter their next era. Formed in 2017, the band consists of vocalist Akil Godsey, drummer Chris Gonzalez, guitarist Ray Lee, and bassist Patrick Martin. Signed to Flatspot Records, End It came out strong with the release of their self-titled EP the same year they started, and followed it up with 2020's One Way Track EP. In the summer of 2022, the band took the hardcore world by storm with their Unpleasant Living EP, solidifying the Baltimore outfit as one of the most exciting acts in the genre. Following the release, End It embarked on a packed touring and festival schedule across North America and Europe, playing alongside No Warning, Terror, Cold World, Drain, Speed, Angel Du$t, Scowl, and many more. The band's reach goes even farther with breakout single "New Age Slavery" featured on the soundtrack for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4. No matter where they are and what they're doing, End It is true to keeping things authentically them and that shines through on the forthcoming Wrong Side Of Heaven. Entering Salad Days Studio with renowned producer Brian McTernan (Turnstile, Snapcase, Hot Water Music) the band came in with a few demos and wrote the majority of the album during the two month recording process in early 2025. Taking direction from classic hardcore, thrash, and soul music, End It has crafted a 15 song magnum opus centered on "Spreading awareness of the change that's coming to Americans, personal growth, and maintaining the ethics and integrity of hardcore."

Life Creates Itself is the new album by Bill Baird, releasing September 25th, 2026 on Royal Oakie Records. After years of restless wandering that took him from the Bay Area to India to Abbey Road and back again, Baird has returned home to San Antonio, Texas. Inspired by Lone Star legends Doug Sahm and Roky Erickson, the album inhabits a world where outsider country, avant-garde pop, and psychedelic folk dissolve into one.


Produced by longtime collaborator Jasper Leach (Tony Molina, Color Green) and mastered by indie-rock legend KRAMER (Galaxie 500, Daniel Johnston, Will Oldham), Life Creates Itself was recorded at Sear Sound in New York City in a single remarkable day — fitting for an album as indebted to Arthur Russell and Captain Beefheart as it is to Sir Douglas Quintet and Townes Van Zandt. The sessions brought together a constellation of collaborators around Baird and Leach, including Pedrum Siadatian (Allah-Las, PAINT), Phil Carluzzo, Austin Day, Oliver O'Haver, Jordan Johns, Michael Vattuone, Clara Kennedy, and Carluzzo’s dog Ernie.


Lead single "Yanaguana" — the original Payaya name for San Antonio, meaning either "land of many waters" or simply "where I am right now" — serves as a thesis statement for the album, a restless soul reckoning with what it means to finally come home. Meanwhile, "Karma Loan" is a fuzzy, sprawling psych track that spilled out of Baird during a deep immersion in Bach that features cello by Clara Kennedy and closes with a sound collage of spiritual gurus hawking easy paths to enlightenment. Then there's "Horse Moon" — built around pedal steel that shimmers like rays of moonlight, drifting through vignettes from a late night walk across New York City, with Pedrum Siadatian's lead guitar lending the whole thing an unhurried, dreaming quality. The night they tracked it, Baird climbed to the roof of Sear Sound and watched a full moon wash the city in a warm glow.


Baird has never sounded more at home, and Life Creates Itself may be his most cohesive record yet – a songwriter record through and through that stands apart from the rest of his discography. Royal Oakie Records is proud to release Life Creates Itself on September 25th, 2026, available on vinyl LP, CD, and digital download/streaming worldwide.

Hypnos , a new collection of his own mesmerising compositions, enchants us with sublime, atmospheric guitar intricacies beautifully constructed over soul- drenched hammond sound-beds. "With Hypnos , I wanted to create something paired back and super simple. These pieces were initially written as etudes for solo guitar, and they reflect the wide range of influences found in the music I love to listen to. A life spent listening to Django Reinhardt and Philip Glass! The inclusion of the Hammond organ came from a desire to pair the nylon- string guitar with an instrument you don't usually hear alongside it. For me, the Hammond evokes gospel and the classic organ trios of Wes Montgomery - it's a soulful, funk sonic and very spiritual. It was a real blessing to have Nathaniel Ledwidge play Hammond on the record and to showcase the softer side of this iconic instrument. Hypnos is the Greek god of sleep, the father of Morpheus, the god of dreams. Is the music dreamy and hypnotic, a brief slumberous escape from the madness out there? I hope so." - Robin Katz It's available as a limited- pressing 180g vinyl 'Gearbox Cut' LP and gatefold CD digi sleeve with obi strip & photo insert.

It pairs Virelles - who is known for his all-encompassing approach to creativity that is deeply-rooted in the Cuban influences of his upbringing - with two towering figures of creative music, whose individual work have helped shape the evolution of modern jazz for more than six decades. Together, they create music that is spacious, lyrical, and uncompromisingly inventive, grounded in profound listening and collective imagination. The group evolved out of Trio 3 , which featured saxophonist Oliver Lake alongside Cyrille and Workman. Following Lake's retirement, the remaining members invited David Virelles to help continue the group's legacy. Recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio , the album captures three master improvisers in an intimate, deeply expressive dialogue that unfolds through shared intuition, revealing an ensemble whose interplay is marked by subtlety, trust, and fearless exploration.

Released 50 years on from the bands' formation, the forthcoming Psycho Tornado features 10 blistering new tracks recorded in 2025. Psycho Tornado will be unleashed on coloured vinyl and CD, and will rumble into your home in September 2026. The Rezillos are a new wave/ punk band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1976. Known for their colourful, retro-futuristic style and playful attitude, they stood out from the darker punk acts of the time. Their music blended fast punk rhythms with pop melodies, sci- fi themes and a sense of humor. Their debut album, Can't Stand The Rezillos (1978) is considered a classic of the era. The band initially split in 1978 and with some members going on to form The Revillos, with a similar name and sound. But The Rezillos later reunited in 2001 and continue to perform live, maintaining a cult following for their energetic performances and distinctive style.

Released 50 years on from the bands' formation, the forthcoming Psycho Tornado features 10 blistering new tracks recorded in 2025. Psycho Tornado will be unleashed on coloured vinyl and CD, and will rumble into your home in September 2026. The Rezillos are a new wave/ punk band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1976. Known for their colourful, retro-futuristic style and playful attitude, they stood out from the darker punk acts of the time. Their music blended fast punk rhythms with pop melodies, sci- fi themes and a sense of humor. Their debut album, Can't Stand The Rezillos (1978) is considered a classic of the era. The band initially split in 1978 and with some members going on to form The Revillos, with a similar name and sound. But The Rezillos later reunited in 2001 and continue to perform live, maintaining a cult following for their energetic performances and distinctive style.

L’Eclisse is the third studio album by Garden City Movement. Drawing from psychedelia, alternative R&B, leftfield electronic music and lo-fi indie songcraft, the album weaves together guitars, synthesizers, layered vocal arrangements and groove driven rhythms into a richly detailed collection of songs. Bringing together different facets of the band's sound into a cohesive body of work, the album reflects a decade of musical exploration while further developing Garden City Movement's distinctive musical language.

Garden City Movement are the duo of Roy Avital and Johnny Sharoni. Over the past decade, they have built an international audience through a distinctive blend of dream pop, electronic music and immersive production. Their releases have received support from Pitchfork, The FADER, Clash, Stereogum and KCRW, while their music has appeared in FIFA 22 and major television productions. Alongside extensive international touring, the band has performed at festivals including Glastonbury, Primavera Sound, Pukkelpop and Lollapalooza India, and shared stages with artists such as Alt J, RÜFÜS DU SOL, SOHN and Cults.

As always at U JAZZ ME Records we have limited edition (100 numbered copies) of 180g black vinyl with insert.

Astrocyrk (Astrocircus) is the next chapter in a story that began in 2123, when Captain Harrison Focus, after an emergency landing, finds himself on the mysterious planet Carmin. Following the events described in the previous album, the main character – Triceradiplodocus – leaves the planet's surface, following Ropuch’s instructions. However, the light on the horizon turns out to be the beginning of a new nightmare, and the dinosaur is trapped in the Astrocyrk. Under Klown’s guidance, he begins exploring this dark place. Only the finale reveals the true history of the Astrocyrk and
surprisingly intertwines Triceradiplodocus's fate with events from years past and the character of Captain Harrison Focus.

Musically, the album develops Twoosty Mayonez's distinctive style – one that focuses on improvisation and cinematic storytelling. Each composition represents a new chapter in the story, creating a cohesive musical journey through the world of Astrocyrk. Subsequent tracks lead the listener through the ship's dark attractions.

The new album is a natural continuation of the story from planet Carmin, while also opening a completely new chapter in the Twoosty Mayonnaise universe – one that is bigger, darker, and even more unpredictable.
The album features guest appearances by Szymon Białorucki (oud), Marek Konarski (sax), and Bartłomiej “Eskaubei” Skubisz (rap). The recordings were made at the Twoosty Room studio in Warsaw by the band's drummer.

Hailing from Providencia, Colombia (Old Providence Island), Henner, Derrick, Luis, Feliciano and Senen are the Black Diamonds; a band that seamlessly blends the irresistible grooves of reggae with the infectious rhythms of calypso, creating a sound that is both timeless and refreshingly original.

For years, Black Diamonds have been synonymous with the laid-back, soulful reggae sound of Old Providence Island, crafting songs that reflect the Caribbean's easy rhythms and rich cultural heritage. Their debut release, however, takes an unexpected—and thoroughly enjoyable—detour into upbeat calypso, proving that the band is more than capable of stepping outside its comfort zone.

"De Seh Seh" (gossip.. chat and talk to much about the others in Creole) also features a remix by Venezuelan producer and multi-instrumentalist Caribombo, who transforms the song into a dancefloor-ready journey, blending electronic textures with soukous-inspired Afro-house rhythms for a bold, cross-Caribbean reinterpretation.

"Solaris", das zwölfte Studioalbum von The Ocean, würdigt die bisherige Entwicklung der Band und verleiht ihr eine neue, intensive Note. Mit Mitgliedern aus sechs verschiedenen Ländern im Kern-Line-up kehrt The Ocean zu einer kollektiven Besetzung zurück und schöpft aus dem Erfahrungsschatz und Talent eines Pools außergewöhnlicher Musiker. Nachdem man mit dem Vorgängeralbum "Holocene" einen anderen Weg eingeschlagen hatte, zeichnet für den weitläufigen, organischen Klang von "Solaris" erneut der schwedische Produzent Jens Bogren verantwortlich, der bereits die beliebtesten Alben der Band - "Pelagial" sowie "Phanerozoic I" & "II" - gemischt hat. Das neue Album stellt die Sänger*innen Lane Shi und Enrico Tiberi sowie die Gitarristen Emmanuel Jessua und Marco Gennaro vor. Sie ergänzen den Gründungs-Gitarristen Robin Staps, den langjährigen Bassisten Mattias Hägerstrand und Schlagzeuger Jordi Farré. Jeder von ihnen bringt seine ganz eigene Note ein, um dieses fast 70-minütige Opus zum Leben zu erwecken. Für die Aufnahmen wurde der Kreis der Mitwirkenden noch weiter gefasst: Thorsten Quaeschning (Tangerine Dream) steuerte modulare Synthesizer bei, der griechische Komponist Orestis Zafiriou (Playgrounded) lieferte ebenfalls Elektronik- und Synthie-Elemente, und Simen Eifring von der norwegischen Post-Rock-Band Spurv übernahm den Posaunenpart. Aufgenommen wurde das Album in den legendären Berliner Hansa Studios, wo bereits Klassiker wie David Bowies Low und Heroes, Iggy Pops Lust For Life und Depeche Modes Construction Time Again entstanden. Innerhalb dieser Studiowände entwickelte sich "Solaris" zu einem lebendigen Zeugnis für die Kraft von Entdeckergeist und Teamarbeit. Da der neue Sänger Tiberi zudem ein versierter Pianist und Multiinstrumentalist ist, wurden Klänge von Celesta, Flügel, Rhodes-Piano und Hammond-Orgel zu einem integralen und unverwechselbaren Bestandteil des Solaris-Sounds. Der für The Ocean typische, atmosphärische Post-Metal wird durch den experimentierfreudigen Geist der neuen Mitglieder sowie die Beiträge der exzellenten Gastmusiker bereichert. Ein Werk, das für The Ocean hinsichtlich Ambition und erzählerischer Tiefe einen neuen Höhepunkt darstellt. Das CD- und 2LP Gatefold-Sleeve ist jeweils aus 360g Spezial-Karton gefertigt und auf Vorder- wie Rückseite mit roter Metallic-Heißfolien-Prägung veredelt. CD mit 6seitigem Fold-Out-Booklet, die 2LP in bedruckten Innenhüllen kommt zusätzlich mit A2-Poster.

Zum 30-jährigen Bestehen gönnt sich das Hamburger Dub-Label Echo Beach ein multidimensionales Porträt seiner Heimat- und Hansestadt Hamburg. Musikalisch hat das Label bereits die ganze Welt bereist und Dub-Sets aus UK, Südafrika, Neuseeland, New York, Jamaika und Germany veröffentlicht. King Size Dub - Hamburg ist die erste Album-Compilation, die sich exklusiv der Dub-Musik aus Hamburg widmet. Schon als das Label mit einer Compilation mit UK Dub die Bühne betrat, gab es mit Soundhaudegen wie Silly Walks und Dub Me Ruff, Projekten um den Producer Matthias Arfmann sowie Bands wie Dub Division und Di Iries eine vitale Dub-Szene in Hamburg, die im Lauf der Jahrzehnte ebenso wilde Blüten trieb wie outernational das Echo Beach Label, wobei es durchaus zu Überschneidungen und Kreuzungen kam. Nun ist die Zeit der Ernte gekommen: Für die Vinyl-Version hat sich das erste Dub-Label am Platz mit dem nicht nur für Dub-Heads besten Plattenladen der Stadt zusammengetan und jeweils eine Rille voller Versions, Specials und Exclusives aus den Hamburger Studios gepresst.

Space Afrika, das in Manchester und Berlin ansässige Duo aus Joshua Tarelle Reid und Joshua Inyang, schafft rohe, detailreiche und eindringliche Musik mit Anklängen an Ambient, Trip-Hop, Techno und moderne Klassik, wobei es aus den Konturen seiner Stadt weitläufige urbane Dub-Landschaften entwirft. ,Quiet Storm" erweitert ihren Klang und ihre Bandbreite zu einer weitläufigen, kollaborativen Vision, die mit tiefer Geduld und Absicht geformt wurde und ihre eigene Coming-of-Age-Geschichte in eine bewegende Suite kathartischer Abstraktion einbettet. Die Songs spielen auf Spiritualität und die conditio humana an, auf die Spannung zwischen Kühnheit und Sanftheit, Ehrgeiz und hartnäckigen inneren Dämonen. ,Quiet Storm" ist eine Antwort auf den Werdegang des Duos seit der Veröffentlichung von ,Honest Labour" im Jahr 2021. ,Wir haben uns selbst und unsere eigenen Vorstellungen von Identität herausgefordert, insbesondere in Bezug auf Klasse und Diaspora, und wie dies in verschiedenen Musikgenres dargestellt wird. Wir wollten die Charakteristika unseres Projekts durch die Menschen zeigen, mit denen wir zusammenarbeiten wollten", sagt Reid. Inyang merkt an: ,Bei der Entstehung dieses Albums haben wir keine Kompromisse gemacht. Die Idee begann als eine Hommage an die Kunst der Schwarzen. Unsere Kooperationen waren sehr bewusst gewählt, als wir die Grundpfeiler der Geschichte entdeckten." Von der multidisziplinären Natur des Projekts zeugt die Beteiligung des gefeierten Künstlers Glenn Ligon, dessen Werk sich mit schwarzer Identität und Queerness befasst. Ligon, der zu Beginn der Aufnahmen eine zentrale Inspirationsquelle darstellte, stellte sein Werk ,Figure #30" (2009) für das Cover-Artwork zur Verfügung und erklärte sich nach Abschluss der Aufnahmen bereit, dem Projekt seinen Namen zu geben - eine beispiellose Geste dieses wegweisenden Künstlers. Beim Anhören der endgültigen Fassung dachte Ligon an ,Quiet Storm", das Radioformat der 1970er Jahre, das für seine sanfte Late-Night-Programmgestaltung mit Themen rund um Leben und Liebe bekannt war. ,Quiet Storm" führt den Hörer durch verschiedene Szenen, Zwischenspiele und Handlungsbögen, geprägt von dem Gefühl, dass seine Bewegung fließend und seine Figuren flüchtig sind. Monologe vor dem Spiegel setzen sich mit dem Existentiellen und dem Unmittelbaren auseinander: Überleben, Autonomie, Sinn. Das Album beginnt mit dem explosiven, von Streichern begleiteten ,Vanity", bei dem die Grammy-Preisträgerin Axelle Fanyo zu hören ist. Zunächst auf die Spalten eines stillen Raumes fixiert, entfaltet sich ,Vanity" unter Fanyos ausdrucksstarkem Sopran und durchläuft ein breites emotionales Spektrum von erhabener Kontemplation bis hin zu ergreifendem, herzzerreißendem Schmerz. Auf dem gesamten Album werden gesprochene und gesungene Worte sparsam eingesetzt, um eine kraftvolle Wirkung zu erzielen. Die Schönheit und Katharsis von ,MLN" ist ein kollektiver, langsamer Marsch, bei dem der britisch-nigerianische Künstler Tony Njoku mitwirkt, begleitet von Gabriel Evans an Gitarre und Lead-Bass, PIKE aus London am Schlagzeug und GB aus Kopenhagen an Keyboards und Streichern. Der letzte Satz verleiht ,Quiet Storm" seinen krönenden Höhepunkt. ,If This Is Hell" ist in einem einzigen Take als Bewusstseinsstrom des New Yorkers Deuén aufgenommen, dessen nachvollziehbare Spirale geistiger Aktivität von jazzigen, frenetischen Percussion-Klängen begleitet wird. Das Druckventil öffnet sich, als die phasenverschobenen Drums und die scharf beobachtenden, dialogartigen Phrasen abrupt nach der Zeile ,I wonder if that's what heaven's like?" abbrechen. Wir bleiben in der Behaglichkeit des Album-Closers ,Regards" zurück. Regentropfen treffen auf Orgel, Drone, Streicher und Keyboards, während das Nachladen von Waffen dem ruhigen Summen gegenübergestellt wird. Schwer und doch hoffnungsvoll erinnern Joshua Tarelle Reid und Joshua Inyang an ihre bisherige Reise. Als passend geheimnisvolles und mitreißendes Outro für ihr offenes Opus ist ,Quiet Storm" ein Meilenstein: selbst produziert, selbst finanziert und aus purer Tatkraft und Überzeugung entstanden. Durch verzerrte Zeit und schummrigen Dunst ist Space Afrika zweifellos angekommen

After regular appearances at Berghain since his debut two years ago, Altinbas now presents his contribution to Ostgut Ton, tying together five tracks that outline an expedition through celestial bodies in ‘Beyond the Veil’. Deepening his research on intricately crafted ambiance, the EP strikes a balance between commanding rhythm and blossoming synth work that reaffirm his inimitable style. ‘Beyond the Veil’ is a conceptual collaboration between an artist and a room; describing the dancefloor as an organism and the architecture of its surroundings.

Over the years, harmony has become synonymous with the Belgian artist’s sound. Deeply tuned and cohesive, Altinbas’s productions walk the boundary between insistent anticipation and unparalleled warmth. Although dancefloor effect remains a central theme for him, ‘Beyond the Veil’ is the latest chapter in a long study of obscurity in music that qualifies almost as ritualistic. Tracks like ‘Beyond the Veil’ and ‘Charming the Cosmic Snake’create tension in the keys that resonates like an expedition into new soundscapes. With weight and stability in the percussion, airy textures and hypnotic synth lines roll off the rhythm to mesmerize the listener. Sculpting his arrangements around the development of rich, dubby and atmospheric tones, Altinbas capitalises on the natural flow of his elements to provide an organic touch to tracks that are tuned especially for high pressure sound systems. ‘Entanglement’ and ‘Winter’ are both examples of this : soulful techno that ebbs and flows with each transition. Dimension is pushed dramatically into each of the five pieces of the EP as a direct response to the current climate of tool oriented techno. Keeping a safe distance from this approach, Altinbas invites listeners to explore the shape of his sound in an embrace rather than submit to its abrasion. The project concludes with ‘Antichamber’ - the fifth track of the EP that announces a departure from strict club codes. Dampening the rhythm from a pulse to a sway, a dreamlike landscape rises from deep within the record, smoothing over any of the rougher residuals from the preceding tracks. The descent that is ‘Antichamber’ is the result of an accumulated euphoria, gently guiding the listener back to consciousness.

‘Beyond the Veil’ represents a checkpoint for Altinbas in his research of moving a dancefloor not only physically, but emotionally. Carving out his own space in dancefloor-oriented music, he offers highly expressive compositions in defiance of the status quo. Altinbas offers this EP as a personal statement of where he stands; five tracks of carefully tended tone and harmonic glow create an emotional urgency for the collective experience.