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LOVE, das neue – und möglicherweise letzte – Album von Dexys Midnight Runners, ist eine leuchtende Sammlung zutiefst persönlicher Geschichten aus Kevin Rowlands Leben: über Familie, Liebe und die Schicksalsschläge des Daseins. Songs aus drei Jahrzehnten treffen auf brandneues Material – von der irischen Einwanderer-Kindheit über einen Brief an seine Enkelkinder bis zur Zeit mit einem sterbenden Elternteil. Liebeslieder im weitesten Sinne, jenseits gängiger Pop-Romantik: keine Wird-sie-wird-sie-nicht-Romanze, sondern etwas Tieferes, das die volle Bandbreite menschlicher Beziehungen und Emotionen abbildet.
„Ich dachte plötzlich: Das sind alles Liebeslieder – nur eben verschiedener Art", sagt Kevin Rowland über die Entstehung des Konzepts. „Da wusste ich: Es muss LOVE heißen." Ein Liebesleben in Songform, erzählt von jemandem, der mit seiner wunderbaren Autobiografie Bless Me Father bereits gezeigt hat, wie offen er über sein Leben sprechen kann.
LOVE ist zugleich das erste Album unter dem vollen Namen Dexys Midnight Runners seit Don't Stand Me Down (1985). Produziert von David Holmes – langjähriger Fan und Wegbegleiter der Band –, mit Songwriting-Unterstützung der langjährigen Weggefährten Sean Read, Mike Timothy und Jim Paterson sowie Streichern von Brian Irving.

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Lone Bison / Nick Bonell lives by the sea in Ramsgate. Mainly a guitar player and pedal freak, Nick bought a used Korg MS20 and fell in love with synths. As one half of Stuntmen, Nick released the sample-heavy single 'You're the Beat Find' on the groovy Tummy Touch label, which led to him scoring three Ford adverts in the U.S and a few pieces of well-used production music - which paid for more synths and pedals!
An album, 'Transistor Memory' and single 'Drugs' came out via Dom Martin's brilliant Polytechnic Youth records in 2021. "Wave Construction" was released by Castles in Space in Autumn 2023. An album for the CiS Subscription Library entitled "Mechanical and Electrical" was released in late 2024.
Nick Explains: "After recording "Transistor Memory", "Wave Construction" and "Mechanical and Electrical" pretty much back-to-back, I wanted to change my sound palette a little. I started programming my Hydrasynth Explorer in obsessive detail and was also drawn to using my voice, in a sampling kind of way at first. Sampling my voice then shifted into recording more straightforward vocals and writing proper songs again. "Rise Up" started as a field recording in my local park and then some wonky piano loops with a cheap mic – somehow a song arrived. I’ve always really liked really concise records, so I got interested in packing lots of synth textures into a three-minute pop song. As the record progressed, I did less leaning on vocoders and harmonisers and developed the courage to just do more up-front vocal mixes. Things like Maths and Minimal / Maximal are more groove-based and came from recording 20 minute drum tracks then jamming bass guitar over it then editing it all down and adding loads of synths. Oh, and there’s a bit of James Williamson era Stooges at the end of Minimal / Maximal – I was a bit nervous about playing garage rock guitar on a Castles in Space record but Colin told me I would be ‘fucking mental’ if I didn’t end the record with it."
Lone Bison's music is influenced by Krautrock, electronica, post-punk, soundtracks, a splosh of modern classical/minimalism and post-rock. He's a hot genius.
The album is preceded with "The Power" which will be available on streaming platforms as well as on our Bandcamp for those who want to listen or pre-order the album. There's a fantastic remix from MAPS included as well.

STEELOVER is a Belgian Melodic Rock / Metal band. The band was formed in the early 80's by three friends living in Liege, Belgium, the guitarists Pat Freson & Mel Presti and the bassist Nick Gardi. In search of a drummer, they threw their sights on Rudy Lenners (Scorpions) upon his return from Germany, having left the famous German band Scorpions. Rudy proposed to contact Vince Cardillo, a singer who had already on the one hand good experience and on the other hand he already recorded an album in London, “It will fit perfectly” explained Rudy. They all felt the magic during the first rehearsal. In no time, Steelover recorded their first album "Glove Me” which was released under the Mausoleum label. This album sold over more than 400.000 copies of which more than 76,000 in Poland. They followed with a tour across different countries like The Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium including Forest National opening for Bon Jovi and KISS. Vince decided to leave the band. Replaced by Dani Klein, the second album was recorded but never released. Dani left the band after a short time with Mel Presti to start a new band under the name Vaya Con Dios.
The band came back in 2017 with a new E.P. (including single "Wild and Free") mixed by the legendary producer and and mixing engineer Tommy Hansen.
In 2019, Rudy Lenners greeted the audience one last time before retiring from his musical career. Vince had returned to the band at this point…after the show Vince, Pat & Nick decided to continue the Steelover adventure and in 2022 released the album “Stainless” on the Escape music label (ESM368). This was a great metal album and fans old and new longed to hear more. It’s now 2026 and Steelover are back with a brand-new recording featuring 11 tracks of hard rock / heavy metal. The band are very much in the style of that 80’s metal sound, a sort of mixture of Scorpions and Saxon if you like. These new songs all hit the mark making “Devil’s Highway” an album that needs to be checked out…

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

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

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

Spanish producer Notzing joins Alpenglühen with Vermiström, a four-track EP exploring the deeper edges of experimental dance music.
Over the past few years, Notzing has established himself as one of the most compelling voices in Spain's underground techno scene. His sound is stripped back yet immersive, built from hypnotic drones, stretched loops, and subtle rhythmic developments that gradually pull the listener into a trance-like state.
With Vermiström, each of the four tracks unfolds organically, evolving with patience and precision. Intricate, unconventional rhythms intertwine with long-form sequences and richly processed textures, creating a constantly shifting sonic landscape.
What truly defines this EP, however, is its profound sense of depth and its unmistakable dub aesthetic. Every element occupies its own carefully crafted space: textured atmospheres, meticulously sculpted percussion, and syncopated sequences that seem to exist at two different tempos simultaneously. Creative use of delays and spatial effects subtly references the language of Jamaican dub, while an exceptional level of sound design and mixing gives the record remarkable clarity and dynamic range.
Rather than revealing everything at once, Vermiström unfolds gradually. Each listen brings new details to the surface, as subtle shifts in texture, rhythm and space slowly reshape the music from within.

LP includes double-sided print insert. Thorn Wych makes instruments from tree branches; bowed strings, flutes and percussion that she runs through a chain of loopers, pitch bending glitches and delay pedals. Strange songs sung in tongues, mashed up chewed and spat out. As the adder weaves her way through the dirt and mycelium hum, we play in the mud and converse with insects. 'Aesthesis' is Thorn Wych's debut LP that she recorded and mixed herself at home, often performing long improvised pieces, then later editing them down, cutting and pasting and overlaying other instruments. This album takes inspiration from such works as 'The Secret Book of John', the 1940 film 'The Thief of Bagdad', and Lata Mangeshkar's 'Meera Bhajans'. She dedicates her work to the Divine Mother Asherah, Holy Spirit, Guardian of the Tree of Life.

For close to a decade, B’licious has been best known as the voice ofThe Heliocentrics, the London psych jazz and funk collective whose collaborators include Madlib, Mulatu Astatke, DJ Shadow, Gaslamp Killer and Lloyd Miller, with stages taking her to Glastonbury, Roskilde and Worldwide festivals alongside artists including Marshall Allen and Bilal. Her appearance on Strut Records’‘Nuclear War’, a tribute to Sun Ra also featuring Marshall Allen, Knoel Scott and Bilal, is the latest marker of a body of work built over years on some of the most respected stages in UK jazz and soul. Following her 2022 solo EPSurrender, ‘Apple’ is the lead single from her debut full-length album,Serpent Dreams.

‘Apple’ was co-produced byDan Smith of The Noisettesand engineered bySie Medway-Smith, whose credits include Björk, Depeche Mode, Gang of Four and Massive Attack. On the flip side,SLICKnBOBBY— known for chest-rattling basslines and immersive, dubbed-out rhythms — deliver a live reworking that shows off their skills perfectly, drawing on a background that includes performing alongside Wally Badarou and frequent collaborations with Liam Bailey and Greentea Peng.

The breakthrough hit that cemented THE SOUNDLOVERS
as one of the leading international dance acts of the ’90s.
A timeless anthem about overcoming loneliness,
embracing emotional growth, and finding the strength to
move forward. Beneath its uplifting dance groove lies a
message of hope, resilience, and self-discovery.

"The electroclash genre sure has been having a bit of a renaissance moment. During its first coming an odd 25 years ago the French act Sweetlight was a favorite over here. Originally active between 2002 and 2010, they quickly positioned themselves within a refined strand of the global underground scene: inspired by 90s acid house club culture, they rose to prominence by releasing a sparse selection of original tracks and a multitude of remixes that were both dancefloor-effective and immediately recognizable. After the EPs stopped coming, the project seemed to have faded. But their tracks never left our bag: they combined minimalism with ambiguous elegance and retained a distinct, timeless quality, easily transcending the turn-of-the-century style they were most closely associated with. We are delighted, in what we consider nothing less than a full-circle moment, to release "Selected Recordings: 2004 - 2006" and shed light on an underrated yet, in our eyes, absolutely essential project. ALT022 is an anthology release featuring four extensive, remastered cuts. Abusator, arguably the act's hallmark track and a crossover hit, kicks off the EP. It is joined by Mecaniques Remontees, which opened the milestone Suck My Deck mix by Ivan Smagghe, and Too Shy, both initially part of the same EP back in 2004. Noir Comme Le Beat, an unreleased curiosity from the same era, closes the record. You will find dark, endless, ever-modulating arpeggiator basses, Detroit-via-Paris chord progressions, and spartan drums. The work is, in the artists' own words, low-profile, detail-oriented, and built for late hours. It's an ideal compilation or - depending on the case - introduction, especially now that new work is rumored to be finally on its way."

Bristol's Ben Pest returns to Co-Accused Records with four drops of full-pelt electro and techno on Lacquer of Empathy EP. A respected live artist and producer known for his production nouse, he’s taken his sound to Co-Accused’s Glasgow parties, Tresor and Glastonbury and released across respected imprints that include Mechatronica, Cultivated Electronics, I Love Acid and more. This release is exactly what he’s become known for turning out: rave-touched and highly effective dancefloor material.

The EP opens with 'D-Transfer', a pacey piece of machine funk which leads into ‘Mam Assid’ which right off the bat is an intensive, driving acid techno number. Over on the B Side, ‘Shruthi EB’ is a twisted machine workout, building and rebuilding through distorted synths before locking into a relentless groove. After being self-released on digital format on his own label The Glutch now gets a vinyl pressing on this EP riffing off a mechanical melody over an air-tight beat. To close out the EP is a digital bonus track with a ‘Rolling Edit’ of Shruthi EB.

Some records arrive with a clear purpose.

Others take years to reveal why they belong together.

PLNK008 is the first solo release by Natural Goofy on Planka Records. Following a series of appearances across various labels and collaborations, this record offers a deeper look into the sound he has been quietly shaping over the years.

A collection of recordings gathered over time, connected less by genre than by a shared sense of mood and movement.

Rather than chasing functionality, the record follows instinct. Loops are allowed to breathe. Details appear slowly. Tension builds almost unnoticed. Elements drift in and out of focus. The intention was never to arrive somewhere quickly, but to stay inside a feeling for as long as it remains interesting.

The release also includes a special reinterpretation of one of the EP's tracks by dear friend and talented Italian producer Shkedul.

The original version of the track will be available exclusively as a digital bonus on Planka's Bandcamp.

These tracks were not designed to demand attention. They reward it.

For those willing to spend time with them.

Limited edition. Vinyl only.

“Ruins are the style of our future cities, future cities are themselves ruins.” - Izosaki Arata

A note from Lawrence English: Nostalgia is not an ideology, though in this moment, we could be mistaken for thinking it might be just that. Over the past years, the idea of nostalgia has been filtered through various political and technological lenses and has become a tool used for forgetting, rather than remembering. Instead of embracing histories’ complexities and inconsistencies, this version of nostalgia seeks only singular recollection. This contemporary phenomenon of nostalgia has become a methodology at best, and a weapon at worst, used to erode the past and project forward a collapsed and unimaginably sanitised version of things, places, and ways of being from former times. It’s this projection that sees it playing a mounting role in a social pathology associated with reducing the imagined possibilities of future.

The Rest Is My Ghost is a record that interrogates the manifestations of this reductive futuring and celebrates those that have tried (and failed), and those who continue to push back against decayed and revisionist positions. It’s a record that considers the weaponisation of nostalgia for the purposes of cloaking possible futures.

In recent times, I’ve proposed a term for this weaponised use of nostalgia, something I have called Acid Nostalgia. I offer it as a shorthand to describe the de-contouring of the future through a corrosive fixation on a flatten rendering of the preceding times. It is, in part, a certain type of lazy cultural scripting where tropes of the past are presented in the absolute, as empty pictorials; photocopies without any original from which to draw actual meaning, or useful detail.

Acid Nostalgia describes an increasingly common political projection of nostalgia that exists without any subjective connection to the memory surrounding and contained within it. Like acid poured onto a surface, this use of nostalgia seeks to erodes and smooth out the complexity and texture of lived connection and longing, which has until recently guided contemplations of nostalgia. Acid Nostalgia instead erases the texture of histories and de-contours the past, and in doing so dematerialises the horizon of possibility, which by its very nature marks the beginning point for any (and all) imaginable futures. Acid Nostalgia is a dreamless screen, where uncertainty, restlessness and aspiration are subjected to corrosion, breaking down and neutralising the wellspring of futures which are birthed from within the ambiguously charged, complex and at times chaotic atmospheres of the present.

The Rest Is My Ghost is not however some universal reading of these things and happenings. Rather it draws its breath from a very personal pathway carved through my own fraught experiences of nostalgia and framed through a disparate collage of chance encounters, situations, places and provocations. It takes oblique notes from civic and architectural references such as Japan’s Metabolist movement, Hong Kong’s ‘one line sky’ and Los Angeles’s vanished Sodium Vapour lights. It interpolates texts – factual and fictional – by authors such as Franco Berardi, Kate Crawford, JG Ballard, Katsuhiro Otomo, Mark Fisher and Alexei Yurchak who have each so wonderfully sought to rupture the familiarity of now, and push us towards other ways of imaging ourselves, our surroundings and our very ways of being in this world.

I also owe a debt of thanks to Adam Curtis in helping launch what has become this edition. It was his provocation, in a conversation we shared about an overwhelming and profound sense of uncertainty around being able to predict the immediate future and how to respond to that, which sparked the earliest inklings of this edition.

The Rest Is My Ghost is ultimately a record about the promise of constructions and connections to come, material, social and political. It's a record that accepts the fragility of failure as a source of ultimate potential, and a position from which the deepest freedom of imagination might be sought and summoned forth to conjure even the most unimaginable, (but) possible futures.

»Ampersand Curve« initiates a brilliant new phase of work by North Manchester’s most elusive artist, best known as Michael J. Blood. His string of ruffkut club bangers, as well as jams with Rat Heart & Samizdat over the past seven years, have made his records a true cult property, and now find him signed to one of the UK’s most foundational techno imprints – more of which later this year.

But under the Sees aegis, he swims in very different waters, following his instincts to use the studio-as-instrument to produce his most impressive, deep-minded work, made from – and for – the heart. Where MJB was all about off-the-cuff club jams cooked for immediacy, his new stylistic switch reveals myriad worlds of influence swirling under the hood, where interrelated spheres of spiritual jazz, dub, ambient, and concrète more clearly light up his rich inner world.

As the story goes, MJB was burgled a few years back and lost most of his studio just as the project was hitting its stride. It prompted a personal review of his practice, re-learning new kit, allowing him to bend the rules. Adopting a sort of first-thought, best-thought approach to composition, the new methodology fuelled a renewed imagination in flux, or what he identifies as Sees: a personalised way of conveying complex emotions. That undoing of musical and mental conditioning opens the walls of his music to vast new horizons. Opener »Ithaca« fathoms sonorous midnight jazz with 10 mins of a plangent, searching sax solo in HD widescreen, like some alternate version to the Blade Runner Love Theme, while a resonant vocoder soliloquy, »Unseem«, reaches into space harmonised between Alvin Lucier and Ron Trent, and »Sheer« chases the devil out of labyrinthine dub dimensions.

The floating dream architecture of »Caprices« caps the LP’s underlying narrative and painterly qualities with a romantic conclusion of blushing pads and shivered, metallic echoes of the subtropical that suggest a coming-to-terms with worries, refreshed and good to go again.

Colorize presents Higher Note, the highly anticipated new album from Sound Quelle, a defining sound in modern melodic electronic music.
Across the album, Sound Quelle showcases his signature blend of beautiful harmonies, atmospheric melodies and driving basslines, crafting a richly detailed body of work that balances emotional depth with dancefloor energy. Building on a campaign already supported strongly by SiriusXM Chill, Vintage Culture, Diplo and Nora En Pure, Valery Lebedev continues to affirm his place as a leading voice in melodic electronic music. With over 50 million streams across DSPs, releases on Armada Music, Black Hole Recordings and Enhanced Music, and long-standing support from Above & Beyond, Ferry Corsten, Markus Schulz and Paul van Dyk, Higher Note stands as a refined and deeply musical statement from an artist at the height of his creative powers.

To celebrate the launch of the 4th and last DLC of Atomic Heart, Kid Katana Records teamed up with Mundfish to bring you this high quality album for the first time on an exclusive double vinyl.

With over 10 million players since its release, and a nomination at the 14th Hollywood Music in Media Awards, Atomic Heart has kept on bringing new content in the game, enriching the players’ experience with new Stories, Threats and Music to pursue the fight for freedom and progress.

The physical edition is a premium 2LP designed in close relationship with the game's creative team: Track selection handpicked by Atomic Heart team, including tracks from Mick Gordon, GeoffPlaysGuitar and Boogrov, and 1 new track (DLC #4 trailer exclusive) 2-colored vinyls with unique red and black “corona” effect: handmade vinyl effect melting red and black colors to shape a unique vinyl color on each product, mirroring the cover art.

Exclusive cover art with mat finishing and glossy effect on the Twin and motorcycle

Golden Ape Records unleashes another foray from the outer reaches of bass, Luke’s Anger’s - One Machine to Rule Them All EP with a Radioactive Man remix! Available in super limited edition of 100.

His mastery of this one Analogue machine has brought forth a new EP of singular intent, to give the horns, tweeters and woofers of club sound systems a proper workout! Electro rules again - bass to crush bones, drums to jerk your body and synths to rewire your brain. The overall effect is an intense, exhilarating and liberating experience that breathes fresh life into a storied music genre.

He is ably assisted by Keith Tenniswood aka Radioactive Man on remix duties of the track No Undo. He brings to fore his sweet and nasty sides to create a growling bass ridden beast that begins with a blissful promise and then puts the boot into your pleasure zones.

Handle with caution!

If It Aint Jazz, is about quality over quantity, inviting world class musicians and producers to bring a modern edge to jazz and soul roots...

Back for Volume 5 of their vinyl only series, this time they invite young Australian artists Close Counters. The duo effortless blends jazz, disco and soul with house and broken vibes for yet another killer 12".

On the A side, 'Sunshine' flips a classic gospel cut into a euphoric anthem with a raw shuffling groove that will work for the house heads and broken beat and garage fans.
'Soul to Soul' features a catchy bassline, vocal chops and added synth parts that build into a peak time disco weapon.

On the flip side, 'House of Lucien' and 'Bruk of Lucien' gives us two electric grooves that have already been setting dancefloors on fire !

The wait is over ... The long-awaited Rebirth EP lands on vinyl only.

Four deep cuts each with their own identity. No fillers, no compromises - just quality music built for serious selectors and late dancefloors.

Vinyl Only

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Manonmars’ 3rd album sees him at his most amorphous and psychedelic, at points sharper and laser focused, and at others more blurred and impressionistic than his previous records. Many of the core players remain the same, all of the production is once again handled by O$VMV$M (the duo of Neek and Amos Childs of Jabu) while Paulina Korobkiewicz (also of Young Echo) makes a return handling both the album’s cover artwork and contributing a series of diaristic field recordings and voice notes.

‘The project references movies, cartoons, fictional characters and video games, among other things. The album title is open to interpretation but all of these elements are forms of visual entertainment which have their own unique ability to transcend things like language barriers and cultural divides. The visual element is key because those details bridge the gap on a communicative level.’ - Manonmars

The album blends abstract, blurred braggadocio with more immediate personal details such as on ‘Volcanic Shield’ a posse cut of sorts featuring Bristol improv luminary Dali de Saint Paul and Franco Franco (½ of cyborg rap duo Kinlaw & Franco Franco) - where Mars recalls;

‘Memories of brighter days, happy meal hit the spot
Mum was spinning vinyl playing Super Ape or Pressure Drop
I would spend the weekend with the Turkish mandem on the block
single parent household, mum was studying or on the job
money came and went always was an on and off
made it back from school time to see what’s on the box’


The beat fades away to leave one of Korobkiewicz’s recordings of Mars’ mum talking about her life in London in the 80s, spending her money on reggae records as an ambient chord fades in like an echo of a jungle intro – stretching out as a link between generations of UK music.

The production by and large is brighter and more kinetic than earlier Manonmars records – with O$VMV$M drawing on everything from modern underground rap and drill through to jazz and acid ambient passages.

London is also a central character here, bustling and constantly shifting, either when bleeding in through field recordings, or as an ever-present backdrop in the lyrics;

‘I’m a fusion of Tippa Irie and Topper Harley
Hit the target like the black Atari
I dropped a tab now shit’s A Scanner Darkly
Got the munchies, Imma yam a sarnie
Pour the Wray and Ting like man at Carni
Exit Peckham Rye and turn left, walk past Hannah Barry
Get your (w)raps up like its January’

‘I've always considered London my home, despite spending some time in the South West of England too. My mum had been living in London for 25 years (...) That was a pretty big deal in some ways because it removed us from multicultural society during the period which overlapped with my teenage years. (...) I never got used to how quiet it was in the countryside (...) Bristol was the closest city to where we lived and it was through travelling there and making connections that I became involved in making music and playing gigs.’ - Manonmars

Mars’ practice as a painter (under his given name Jack Martyn Richardson) and photographer also loom heavy over the album, he cites Paul Verhoeven, Abdul Mati Klariwein and H.R Giger as influences – as well as Miles Davis, Drakeo the Ruler and DJ Rashad.

As with much of Richardson’s work the raps at times feel blurred to a point of almost inscrutability, creating a distance between the audience and himself. A process that ties into his visual work and the way he experiences the world as mainly abstract colour without his glasses. He explores this further in an ongoing visual collaboration with Korobkiewicz, ‘Fun and Games’ which serves as a visual archive of one of London's largest and oldest travelling fairgrounds.

‘I was diagnosed with very severe short-sightedness at the age of seven. I remember my early formative years as visually blurred. Some of my photography reflects this experience of partial vision and uncertainty, referencing memory and perception rather than fixed representation.’

Manonmars’ first public outing as a rapper was at a Young Echo radio event, broadcast shambolically from a practice room just off Jamaica street, Bristol in 2011, as much as things have moved on both stylistically and in terms of focus - strong links back to the city remain a key foundation throughout the collaborations and guest appearances.

‘I have no problem with being an outsider looking in. One of the things I enjoy about London is the anonymity (...) it's easy to be a stranger here when so much is happening. I feel like thats more valuable than people may realise.’

Bypass EP brings label friend Connor Wall to Stelus, his deepest body of work yet, pushing further into the core of his signature palette than anything before. The A-side sets a tone and holds it. 'Bypass' opens with melancholic ambience, patient and unhurried, establishing the mood that carries the release. 'Listen to Me Talk' follows with something stranger, crafted for late hours and darker moments. 'Maple Lok' closes the A-side as a slow burner, a long gurgling lead hook winding through textural restraint. The B-side opens at the release's peak. 'Infotrut' brings warm, powerful low end paired with swampy overtones, earning the spotlight without asking for it. 'Ocean Brain' closes in full turbine hypnosis, completing the picture and confirming the depth of Connor's sound. Depth has no shortcut.

A Chicago soul legend meets the West Coast's most reliable modern funk architects on this red-hot 7". Doug Shorts' story stretches back to 1971 and his band Master Plan Inc., and his career has earned him releases on Daptone, Cherries and Jazzman as well as a reputation for songwriting and vocals that go straight to the heart. Here he joins Cosmic Slide for something that bridges generations like a boss. Both cuts are modern funk grooves laid down with craft, rooted in soul but with a new school swag. Shorts' deep, restrained voice remains as expressive and lived-in as ever over the duo's tight, ass-wiggling production. Pure vibes.

Comes with liner notes and interview on the back of the sleeve.

Dennis & Christy Soares are a husband-and-wife duo whose prolific output - over 100 albums and nearly 2,000 songs recorded across CD, cassette, vinyl, and streaming - stands as one of the most quietly remarkable self-made catalogs in contemporary music. Based for two decades on the Big Island of Hawai'i before recently relocating to Centralia, Washington, the pair have been making music together since meeting at San Joaquin Delta College in 1986, channeling a DIY spirit rooted in sincerity, spirituality, and an unshakeable belief in the power of a song. Their work spans platforms most listeners have never heard of, distributed through sheer determination and an infectious enthusiasm for reaching new ears.

Free At Last is an 11-track anthology compiled by AGS founder Roger Bong, representing less than 1% of Dennis & Christy's total recorded output. Drawing from more than 600 songs considered over the course of 12 years, the collection makes no claim to being definitive - instead, it offers what Bong calls "simply an invitation": a way in for new listeners, and a distillation of the warmth and pure intention that runs through everything this duo creates. From their earliest recordings to the present day, Dennis & Christy have never stopped making music on their own terms. Free At Last is an introduction long in the making, and very much overdue.

'Channel Zero is a new release produced by the London-based Brazilian artist Protocol. It is made up of 4 unprocessed live jam recordings of heavy, stripped-down techno. Composed over a period of 2 years, the artist focuses on experimenting on the far edges of techno, inspired by early avant-garde music, drone, and Musique Concrete. It comes in a hand-numbered limited edition of 180g black labels, in a 3mm inside-out cover with a black inner-sleeve.
'The work is a confirmation that techno still thinks forwardly, but pays homage to its mostly overlooked origins. The titles come from one of the early Cybernetic Culture Research Unit essays, also named Channel Zero.
'Lost Signal (Noise) opens up the EP with reverberated static noise, followed up by a deep bass with more layers of percussion and atmospheric noise patterns, slowly evolving into unexpected rhythms. The second track, Blind Belief, is composed of a deconstructed kick sequence, with machinic-like sound structures in the background and a hi-hat that morphs with various envelopes, together with a nostalgic 909 rim-shot. Turning to the B side, Electromagnetic Shadow is an atmospheric four-to-the-floor techno track, where deep kick drums and polyrhythmic noise soundscapes move into industrial noise pattern. Closing Protocol's debut EP, Black Snow Cult brings together the EP's sound palette into aggressive patterns of Birmingham-esque industrial percussions, where synthetic sounds are put together in primitive sounding sequences together with high pitched frequencies.'

What is Buck? Buck is a state of mind, a way of life, a demeanor that gets you through the good times and the bad. If you ask Brainstory, It is also the energy that permeates their debut album. Kevin, Tony, and Eric are a trio of brothers bounded by blood, fate, and a small town with nothing to do. Their story begins in the long lost lands of the San Bernardino Valley, in the twilight zone known as Rialto, California: An arid wasteland of boredom and empty lots. Through punk rock and skateboarding they found temporary liberation from the local monotony. However, it wouldn't be long before a hunger for more led them to explore musical realms beyond that of the hardcore punk they admired. After stints at music school and steady disappointment trying to navigate their local jazz scene they moved to Los Angeles and Brainstory was born. Through a introduction from Chicano Batman's bassist, Brainstory caught the ears of Big Crown head honchos Danny Akalepse and Leon Michels. Shortly thereafter they were on their way to Queens, to record at The Legendary Diamond Mine with Michels at the helm. An instant chemistry yielded 10 songs in 10 days and now Brainstory has gifted the world with one hell of an introduction to all things Buck. Highlights include the sublime slow burner, "Dead End" which was the A-side to their first 45 on Big Crown that sold out in a matter of days. With Kevin's sublime falsetto floating atop Tony and Eric's unflappable and unmistakable backbeat, this tune has become a favorite with the ballad heads, the low-riders, and the slowie collectors. "Breathe" showcases another side of their sound taking a page out of the Shuggie Otis playbook and flipping the script with some stoned out west coast swag. Kev and Tony's father, Big Tone, an accomplished performer himself, steps in on "Peter Pan" to sing lead vocals over a chorus of friends and family. Bassist extraordinaire, Tony, takes over lead vocal duties on "Sorry", a smoked out, G Funk groove that is just waiting to be sampled. These guys have come a long way from their self released EPs and opening tours with Chicano Batman. Their musical growth is undeniable, and taking their California sunshine vibes and mixing them with Michels' NYC aesthetic has proven to be an amazing combination. It's a debut record that pulls influences from so many genres seamlessly it's hard to nail down. Call it Funk, call it Rock, call it Soul, but over here at Big Crown HQ, we've decided to call it BUCK.

After a career spanning over thirty five years, from UK underground upstarts and outliers, to major success on the international stage - including tours with UK icons Iron Maiden and genre legends Dio - My Dying Bride have themselves become a firmly established pillar of metal history with a refined and influential brand of Death/Doom metal. With enduring popularity across subsequent decades, My Dying Bride remains a productive and captivating vessel for tragedy and despair, with their studio output spanning fourteen full-length albums to date.

As part of the “Peaceville Three”, along with fellow countrymen Paradise Lost and Anathema, My Dying Bride truly became a primary force in highlighting Britain as an epicentre of this Doom revolution of the time, creating a highly distinguishable sound assisted by the inclusion of violin & a more poetic approach to the delivery of morbid and salacious topics, lending an additional air of eccentricity and eloquence to the darkness.

Anthology of Sombre Reflections is an expansive and comprehensive collection of the early and much-celebrated works of the Doom Gods, from the formative deathly rawness of the revered Towards the Sinister demo, ‘God is Alone’ 7” tracks and subsequent debut album, As the Flower Withers, through to the gothic-tinged funereal seductive delights of 1996’s highlight, Like Gods of the Sun.

With the addition of all-time genre classic opuses Turn Loose the Swans, and The Angel and the Dark River also representing My Dying Bride’s much-loved early to 90’s period, the band’s three cult EPs are also featured in this deluxe eight-vinyl boxset, with each record presented on 180gm heavyweight black vinyl. The four studio albums themselves have also been treated to new half-speed masters courtesy of Air Studios.

Accompanying the audio is a 48-page book featuring photographs and artwork, plus new interviews with Andrew Craighan and Aaron Stainthorpe exploring some of the influences and thought-processes behind the creation of such cherished works of the 90s, as well as reflections of their output over this period.

Anthology of Sombre Reflections also contains 2 large posters depicting the Turn Loose the Swans CD artwork image, plus the original poster included in As the Flower Withers. A selection of photo prints of the band from this era are also included.

LIMITED THIRD PRESS. 300 ONLY CLEAR VINYL WITH RED BLOOD SPLATTER, HOUSED IN A RED AND METALLIC SILVER SLEEVE.

The Swedish underground legends return with a brand new album. Let this reddit user take over …
“Listening to Brainbombs has been one of my weirdest experiences with music. Brainbombs are most definitely a band. I guess at the core they’re a hardcore punk/noise rock hybrid I guess? But… It's so unlike anything I’ve ever heard and I still don’t know if it's good or bad. I saw the edgelord Ed Gein album cover, and it intrigued me, so I listened to their biggest song and it was easily THE WORST thing I had EVER FUCKING HEARD. I shut it off as soon as it got to the vocals. I was shocked by the fact that it had almost a half million streams. But, a few hours later, I clicked on it again and didn’t know why.
Over the past few days, I’ve listened to all of their discography and looped a lot of it. And I don’t even think I like them. The music is abysmal, it's the same single riff and verse repeating for 5 minutes. To make it worse, the vocals are just a guy with a swedish accent awkwardly talking about murder and rape. That sounds awful right? It is awful. But at the same time I want to keep listening? It’s so childishly edgy and obnoxiously repetitive but so.. intriguing? Catchy? I’m not even sure. It's one of if not the weirdest experience I’ve ever had with music and I don’t know how to feel about it.”

Big Crown Records is proud to present the debut full length offering from Les Imprimés, Rêverie. The stirring and ethereal sounds of Les Imprimés have been making fans of anyone who hears them since their first 7" single hit the speakers. Morten Martens is the man behind the band. Born, raised, and working in Kristiansand, Norway, he keeps a low prole while making his heart felt, highly infectious, and unique music. This album is a long time coming for Martens and it is sure to make him a name to be reckoned with. The first thing you notice listening to Les Imprimés is the high level of musician-ship. Martens plays nearly every instrument on the recordings and handles the production and arranging. He has been making records for decades, winning a Spellemann Award (aka, the Norwegian Grammy) in 2006 for producing a HipHop album as well as getting nominations across three other genres. While awards and accolades speak to the level of his talent, this new album really shows who he is an artist on his own terms. Moving away from being a hired gun on the touring scene naturally led him to start doing more studio work. Slowly collecting gear and getting more experi-ence behind the boards he built his own studio on the island of Odderoya and was making a living playing with and recording other people's music. As the story goes, after those sessions would end he would work on his own project into the wee hours of the night. From these late night sessions, Les Imprimés was born and Rêverie began to take shape. However, "it wasn't until COVID, when things locked down, that I was really able to nd the time to focus on Les Imprimés" Morten says about creating and leading his own solo project. "It was a scary time. But I knew I had to do something with it." He took the sum of his inuences, combined them with his own vibe and got busy writing the music, playing the instruments, and singing the songs. "It's soul music, but I don't exactly have the soul voice," Morten explains humbly. "But I do it my own way, in a way that's mine. "It is his sound, his fingerprint, his sensibility, that makes his music hard to put in a box. The album showcases both Martens' range and his ability to make a cohesive album. The lead single "Falling Away" starts with a raw drum break and turns into a lushly arranged tune that paints the picture of love when it slips away. On "Still Here" he professes his resilience through life's twists and turns over a thundering track that puts a new spin on the B side ballad genre. Songs like "You" and "Our Love" mix tones from 60s and 70s Soul with arrangement nods to Doo Wop records while Martens' lyrics and delivery leave you singing the melodies long after they finish. "Love & Flowers" finds Martens in a moment of clarity with a song that ts the niche sub genre of happy break up tunes, the four on the floor track will move the dancefloor or while the message will resonate with anyone who put too much effort into the wrong situation in their lives. However, it is songs like "Muse" and "Chess" that really encapsulate the uniqueness of Les Imprimés as they push the boundaries of genre, one a profession of love for music and the other a cover of an electronic record respectively. Martens' lyrics, emotion, and delivery truly make the whole thing come together and stand out from any of his peers. There's an infectiousness and a pop sensibility in the writing that is done with the utmost class and taste giving Les Imprimés the rare quality of immediate attraction that only deepens the more you listen.

Big Crown Records ist stolz darauf, "Perak", das Debütalbum von Thee Marloes, zu präsentieren. Wenn man Thee Marloes zum ersten Mal hört, mag einem ihr spezieller Soul-Sound vertraut vorkommen. Da sind die wuchtigen Trommeln, eine sanfte Gitarre und eine schöne Stimme, die über unerwiderte Liebe und die Komplikationen in Herzensangelegenheiten singt. Aber dann ist da etwas unbestreitbar anderes an Thee Marloes und ihrer Musik, etwas Neues und Unverwechselbares. Die meisten, die mit Soulmusik vertraut sind, haben wahrscheinlich noch nie etwas aus Surabaya, Indonesien, gehört - dem Ort, den Thee Marloes ihre Heimat nennen. Thee Marloes, das sind Natassya Sianturi (Gesang und Keyboard), Tommy Satwick (Schlagzeug) und Sinatrya ("Raka") Dharaka (Gitarre und Produktion). Ihr Sound hat die universelle Anziehungskraft von Soul, Jazz und Pop, aber mit einem ganz eigenen Ansatz, der auf ihre lokale Kultur und ihren globalen Einfluss zurückzuführen ist. Die erste Auskopplung von "Perak" ist "Midnight Hotline", die heiße A-Seite ihrer Debüt-7" auf Big Crown. Eine druckvolle Dancefloor-Nummer mit einem ansteckenden Refrain, vibrierendem Piano und jazzigen Gitarrenlicks. Die B-Seite "Beri Cinta Waktu" ist auch auf dem Album und hat alles, was eine beliebte Soul-Ballade ausmacht, aber der Text ist auf Indonesisch. Unabhängig von der Sprachbarriere ist das Gefühl in ihrer Musik spürbar, was dazu beiträgt, dass ihre Songs nachvollziehbar sind und ans Herz gehen. "I Know" ist ein Mid-Tempo-Song, der davon handelt, wie man den Schleier der Lügen von einer Liebesaffäre, die auf Falschheit beruht, wegzieht. "Not Today" gehört zu den groovigsten Wohlfühlsongs, die man an einem Sonntagmorgen spielen kann. Natassya erinnert uns daran, uns selbst Raum zu geben, ganz gleich, was das Leben uns vor die Füße wirft. "Mungkin Saja" zieht das Tempo mit einem weiteren Dancefloor-Smoker wieder an, während Thee Marloes mit "True Love" in die gefühlvolle Seite des Jazz eintauchen, mit einer Beat-Ballade, die eine Tarantino-Tanzszene untermalen könnte. "Over" beginnt mit einem schweren Drum-Break und entwickelt sich zu einem epischen Arrangement, das in Schichten wunderschöner Melodien getränkt ist und das Chaos einer Liebesaffäre, die abrupt endet, perfekt einfängt. "Perak" ist eine Reise aus dem Herzen Surabayas in den Geist des Soul-Sounds. Es geht darum, einen Raum zu schaffen, wo keiner war, und es zu tun, weil man es liebt. Man spürt den Spaß, den Thee Marloes haben, ihre Musik zu machen, vom Songwriting und Aufnehmen bis hin zu den Auftritten vor Publikum. "Wir wollen das, was wir leben, mit anderen teilen", sagt Natassya. Egal, welche Sprache man spricht oder aus welcher Kultur man kommt, die Musik und die Energie von Thee Marloes sind so charmant, dass wir sie alle noch jahrelang in der Nähe des Plattenspielers haben werden.

The Gates of Slumber’s debut album and EP reissued in August Svart Records continue to reissue the works of Indiana’s true doom metal legends The Gates of Slumber by bringing back their debut album The Awakening and early EP Like a Plague Upon the Land in late August 2026. The 2005 EP Like a Plague Upon the Land is a punchy release praised for its authenticity to the genre. Never before released on vinyl, this hard-hitting fan favorite is heavily rooted in 70s rock-influenced doom. Traditional, slow, and heavy in the vein of Reverend Bizarre and Saint Vitus. The Gates of Slumber was formed by Karl Simon in 1998. Various people were in and out of the group between 1998 and 2001, when the Blood Encrusted Deth Axe demo was recorded with Jamie Walters aka Dr. Phibes/Athenar (Boulder, Midnight) on drums and bass. In 2003 Jason McCash took over the bass duties and was a long-time member of the band until his untimely demise in 2014, after which Simon decided it was time to call it quits. That was until 2019 when the renowned metal festival Hell Over Hammaburg wanted to bring the band back on stage to perform at the festival’s 2020 edition. Simon reformed the band with its original member Chuck Brown on drums and Steve Janiak on bass and got back to work, which resulted in the new self-titled album released in 2024 on Svart Records.

The Gates of Slumber’s debut album and EP reissued in August Svart Records continue to reissue the works of Indiana’s true doom metal legends The Gates of Slumber by bringing back their debut album The Awakening and early EP Like a Plague Upon the Land in late August 2026. The 2005 EP Like a Plague Upon the Land is a punchy release praised for its authenticity to the genre. Never before released on vinyl, this hard-hitting fan favorite is heavily rooted in 70s rock-influenced doom. Traditional, slow, and heavy in the vein of Reverend Bizarre and Saint Vitus. The Gates of Slumber was formed by Karl Simon in 1998. Various people were in and out of the group between 1998 and 2001, when the Blood Encrusted Deth Axe demo was recorded with Jamie Walters aka Dr. Phibes/Athenar (Boulder, Midnight) on drums and bass. In 2003 Jason McCash took over the bass duties and was a long-time member of the band until his untimely demise in 2014, after which Simon decided it was time to call it quits. That was until 2019 when the renowned metal festival Hell Over Hammaburg wanted to bring the band back on stage to perform at the festival’s 2020 edition. Simon reformed the band with its original member Chuck Brown on drums and Steve Janiak on bass and got back to work, which resulted in the new self-titled album released in 2024 on Svart Records.

The Gates of Slumber’s debut album and EP reissued in August Svart Records continue to reissue the works of Indiana’s true doom metal legends The Gates of Slumber by bringing back their debut album The Awakening and early EP Like a Plague Upon the Land in late August 2026. Crushing debut The Awakening from 2004 is an album of raw, slow, monolithic traditional doom with a gritty sound. Featuring heavy, battleaxe-in-the-gut riffs and depressing, slow leads, The Awakening is strongly influenced by Pentagram and Candlemass, with Conan-style lyrical themes and Ozzy-like vocals. An essential, cult classic album for the fans of true doom. The Gates of Slumber was formed by Karl Simon in 1998. Various people were in and out of the group between 1998 and 2001, when the Blood Encrusted Deth Axe demo was recorded with Jamie Walters aka Dr. Phibes/Athenar (Boulder, Midnight) on drums and bass. In 2003 Jason McCash took over the bass duties and was a long-time member of the band until his untimely demise in 2014, after which Simon decided it was time to call it quits. That was until 2019 when the renowned metal festival Hell Over Hammaburg wanted to bring the band back on stage to perform at the festival’s 2020 edition. Simon reformed the band with its original member Chuck Brown on drums and Steve Janiak on bass and got back to work, which resulted in the new self-titled album released in 2024 on Svart Records.

The Gates of Slumber’s debut album and EP reissued in August Svart Records continue to reissue the works of Indiana’s true doom metal legends The Gates of Slumber by bringing back their debut album The Awakening and early EP Like a Plague Upon the Land in late August 2026. Crushing debut The Awakening from 2004 is an album of raw, slow, monolithic traditional doom with a gritty sound. Featuring heavy, battleaxe-in-the-gut riffs and depressing, slow leads, The Awakening is strongly influenced by Pentagram and Candlemass, with Conan-style lyrical themes and Ozzy-like vocals. An essential, cult classic album for the fans of true doom. The Gates of Slumber was formed by Karl Simon in 1998. Various people were in and out of the group between 1998 and 2001, when the Blood Encrusted Deth Axe demo was recorded with Jamie Walters aka Dr. Phibes/Athenar (Boulder, Midnight) on drums and bass. In 2003 Jason McCash took over the bass duties and was a long-time member of the band until his untimely demise in 2014, after which Simon decided it was time to call it quits. That was until 2019 when the renowned metal festival Hell Over Hammaburg wanted to bring the band back on stage to perform at the festival’s 2020 edition. Simon reformed the band with its original member Chuck Brown on drums and Steve Janiak on bass and got back to work, which resulted in the new self-titled album released in 2024 on Svart Records.

Some people change your life in every way that a life can be changed. David Lynch is one of those people. When Alicia Witt first worked with him at age 7 in his classic Dune (1984) she had no idea what he meant to anyone as a filmmaker, nor that she would work with him 3 more times over the course of his life and that he would become one of her greatest influences. She only knew that she had found a kindred spirit and that she loved him. Between Heaven & Earth is a tribute to his energy, his legacy, and most of all, his love. When Alicia attended his memorial gathering shortly after his passing in 2025, she was struck by the depth of the relationships in that space. The knowing that if you were loved by David, you stayed loved. As those in the room spoke of their shared experience that David was still among them - directing from beyond - Alicia became ever more aware that she was being encouraged to create an album from this space of eternal unconditional love. ‘Use my name,’ David whispered. And so it was. Produced by renowned producer and singer-songwriter Joe Henry (Emmylou Harris; Milk Carton Kids; Bonnie Raitt; Rodney Crowell), this album was recorded live in studio in 5 days in New York City in January 2026. Alicia Witt on piano and vocals, accompanied by a band of 5 musicians, take you on a sonic journey that could never be recreated, channeling the energy that was brought together in this moment to honor the immeasurable effect that David Lynch had and still has on the world. He was palpably present in every moment of the making of this album. The 13 songs that were chosen reflect everything Alicia feels she learned about love from David - the acceptance, the insistent optimism, the curiosity, and the permanence. The final song, The Director, recounts messages he has sent to her from beyond over the year since he passed away.

This album is a masterpiece in which the three core pillars of Akira Ishikawa’s musical vision—jazz, rock, and African music—are fused in a sublime and thrilling balance. One arresting track follows another: the solemn and majestic “Prayer”, evoking the eternal land; the clear yet subtly psychedelic “Dawn”; the serene and beautiful “Love”; and the highly dynamic, explosive “Jumbo”.
The brilliance of Hirmasa Suzuki’s arrangements deserves special mention—simple yet profoundly deep, they give vivid clarity to the album’s overall concept and imagery. Among Ishikawa’s serious, non–instrumental-cover works, this album stands shoulder to shoulder with Electrum, Bakishinba, and Uganda, and should be regarded as one of his definitive achievements.

Broshuda returns on the newly born label Ballads Infinite with another array of absurdist vignettes, lowercase hi-tech ambience and textural degradations of radio transmissions from the bicameral mind. Weaving multiple sonic timelines into silky yet slippery articulations, he sculpts each sound with deliberate care making it breathe, slither and shimmer. Spells conjures a subterranean force through its vanishing presence, with the restraint in the sonic palette feeling utterly refreshing, as watering, drop by drop, a ghostly flower in the dromoscopic netscape of overreaching stimuli.

Deliriously patching fragments of unnoticed memories, gliding freely— slightly inebriated—through the ocean of sound: what does it take to capture the transitory entities inhabiting the latent space of this hyperconnected manifold? An assemblage of mechanical debris reduced to their bare-bone essentials; the Tao of discharge brings life to corrupted data, unpacked through textural ruminations.

Broshuda doesn’t just cast the spell, he patiently coils it around you, dissolving each and every thought in the hiss, manipulating subtle energies by making them move beyond and outward. What’s the sound of matter silently falling apart? The serpent sheds its subtle yet solid armor, revealing the space between each spire blooming with gentle eruptions of broken melodies. Where do we land now? What are we turning into? An ontological enigma still awaits to be solved.

Mastered by: Inner Lakes @ Tapewave Studio

Celebrating 45 years since its original release, ‘I Love Rock ’N Roll’, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ seminal, groundbreaking album, is a landmark of rock history, selling over 10 million copies worldwide. The title track dominated the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks, becoming a global anthem and earning spots on multiple “greatest songs” lists. The album also delivered the Top 10 hit “Crimson & Clover.” Featuring its instantly recognizable, iconic cover, ‘I Love Rock ’N Roll’ remains a bold, enduring statement of raw attitude and timeless rock power.

In Walter Benjamin’s seminal essay “Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, he posits that the aura of art objects is destroyed by the ability to photographically reproduce them. When you had to make a pilgrimage to a work it remained elusive, charged, ever distant; but when you can easily see a reproduction, such aura dissipates. What Benjamin did not anticipate is that in the age of AI and the frictionless fount of digital content, we have imbued mechanical and analog means of media production with aura. Film cameras from the last 100 years are in high demand (the point and shoot Olympus Mju I featured in Wim Wenders film Perfect Days still sells for $200), vinyl sales continue to grow year by year, 35mm and 70mm film screenings have become aura-drenched events people travel across country for, and as to the world of vintage and analog synthesizers, when a friend asked for the price on the Yamaha CS-80 synth used on Toto’s “Africa”, the answer was a cool $60,000.

Despite the ability to simulate almost any synthesizer on a computer, the original physical units retain their mystique. Perhaps this lies in the physical process, many of these synths are temperamental and difficult to fully utilize, and the effort and ingenuity can be felt in ways that will always be absent from easy digital simulacra. Perhaps there is an aura in their imperfection, as Brian Eno wrote: “Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature. CD distortion, the jitteriness of digital video, the crap sound of 8-bit - all of these will be cherished and emulated as soon as they can be avoided.” Some may call this nostalgia, but such sonic imperfections are the sounds of humans interacting with the physical world, and it is understandable to feel a pang of emotion and attachment in a time of exponential alienation.

Marche 22 was recorded over a week at the Museo Del Synth Marchigiano in Macerata, Italy. The museum is filled with rare and obscure synths (especially CRB, GEM & Elka) as well as salvaged materials from a nearby shuttered Farfisa organ factory, including MARS, an unfinished realtime audio processing application developed by IRIS - similar to the now well known MAX/MSP. Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein play a suite of pieces that encompasses the last sixty years of synthesizer music—there are nods to Cluster, Tangerine Dream, Jean Michel Jarre, and Morton Subotnick. Dixon and Stein are like jazz masters playing the American songbook with their own riffs and quotations. What shines through in these varied works that are sometimes rhythmic, sometimes melancholic, and sometimes both, is a soul, a spirit, an emotion vibrating through the tones like the charge of coming rain or the thrum of a distant train on the tracks. - Neil Fauerso

Leap Life is Saul Williams’ first solo album in over 10 years and marks a major return for one of the most influential voices in spoken word and experimental music. Named after Saul’s leap year birthday, the project has been carefully sequenced by composer and producer Carlos Niño as a fully immersive, front-to-back listening experience.

The album expands Saul’s sound into electronic and ambient territories while remaining rooted in spoken word, with rich sound design built from nature recordings, environmental textures, and expansive instrumentation. It also sees Saul step further into the role of producer, drawing influence from Fela Kuti, Black church traditions, and South African electronic music. The record features a standout cast of collaborators including Kamasi Washington, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Moor Mother, Gonjasufi, and Surya Botofasina, alongside material developed with Robert Del Naja (Massive Attack). Released via Big Dada, the album marks a full-circle moment with the label where Saul originally launched his solo career.

For any other artist, an album like Asher White’s Love Aggregates might come out of a conscious push to treat no idea as off-limits, to make something bold and new. Jubilant art-funk about cocaine addiction—absolutely. Swooning orchestral pop about Jerry Garcia—why not? Rippling electronic noise, jazzy brushed drums, an elderly motorcyclist with dementia, a profoundly emotional bass solo—put them all in one song. There are threadbare folk tunes, glammed-up power-pop bangers, “Sir Duke” horn charts, Morton Feldman string arrangements, layers of guitar feedback like violins made of liquid chrome. Yes, for another artist, Love Aggregates might be the most adventurous album in their catalog. For Asher White, it’s what passes for settling down.

White is 25 years old and has been making records—writing, recording, producing, and playing almost everything herself—for over a decade. She’d released two dozen of them on Bandcamp before catching the indie-rock industry’s attention with 2024’s Home Constellation Study and last year’s 8 Tips for Full Catastrophe Living. The latter album’s dizzy eclecticism and formidable craft landed her on Rolling Stone’s Future 25 list with the likes of xaviersobased and Oklou, along with a slew of other accolades. That came as something of a surprise to White, who didn’t craft the chaotic 8 Tips with a breakthrough in mind. Love Aggregates feels like a chance, for one of the most thrilling musical talents of her generation, at a more deliberate introduction.

She wrote and recorded her new album while her previous one was gathering
momentum, tinkering in the DIY recording studio where she always works, acutely conscious now that people would be listening to whatever she came up with. At around the same time, her years-long romantic relationship ended in a flurry of betrayal and addiction, her first experience of devastating heartbreak. Even so, Love Aggregates is not a bitter album about wallowing or seething, but instead making use of those impulses as raw materials in work that transcends the specificity of its origins, fashioning them into something surprising and new.