Buscar:play n fill

In Gianfranco Rosi’s portrait of Naples, Sotto le Nuvole, the ground shakes periodically. Between Mount Vesuvius and the Tyrrhenian Sea, the fumaroles of the Phlegraean Fields hiss volcanic gas and steam. Below the sleeping volcano, modern day Naples emerges in black and white and fills with voices, with lives. From the traces of history and the concerns of the present, Rosi documents a city immersed in its continuous past, with Daniel Blumberg’s minimal soundscape hovering in a sonic space between liquid and air.
Tasked with creating a soundscape that would suspend space within Rosi’s film, Blumberg called upon the extended technique of saxophonists Seymour Wright and John Butcher to create a gossamer fabric of traces and sounds abstracted from their instruments. Having transitioned from theoretical physics to the saxophone, John Butcher has always deeply considered space in the context of his playing. His concerns are with flow, density and how the saxophone is situated in the living world. Zeroing in on the core sonic properties of the mechanical and acoustic components of the saxophone, Seymour Wright has integrated its every breath, reed vibration, keypad clatter and hissed microtone of his alto into his own, unique improvisational language. In his work with these two seminal players, Blumberg makes his most concentrated soundtrack to date - reinforcing the film's sense of overlapping time and space, and pushing at the limits of experimentation.

Initially recorded in Daniel’s flat in London, Butcher and Wright centre themselves around long, consistent tones, so soft that it seems breath is being gently pulled from the saxophone's bell by an invisible hand. Blumberg himself adds haunting bass harmonica, and recordings of Wright’s launeddas - a traditional and ancient triple pipe polyphonic reed instrument from Sardinia, Italy. Blumberg then travelled to the volcanic region of Baia, next to Pompeii. Once a flourishing classical Roman city loved by Nero, Baia slowly sank under hydrothermal pressure, leaving the city in a kind of geological purgatory. Using specialised geophones and hydrophones, Blumberg took those initial recordings and amplified them underwater, sending them calling out across the ruins of Baia’s mosaics, Nymphaeum statues and villas.

“It was important to me that the music was whispered in the same landscape that Gianfranco has worked for the past three years, so that you can hear the volcanic air gulping, the lapping of the waves, the steam and bubbles popping against John and Seymour’s saxophone breaths – an echo from a suspended time.”
What emerges is deeply melancholic, tender, subtle and right at the edges of audio technology. Submerged in an aquarian mausoleum, the mysterious vibrations of the saxophone and its bell become an echo of an echo, wading from the future into the past. ‘Sotto le Nuvole’ is less a soundtrack than a process of aeration - a sonic puncture in the material of the film which allows its central message to breathe, and a remarkable experiment at the limits of the saxophone’s possibility.

2026 Repress

December 2012 I showed up totally exhausted in Vancouver BC after touring stupidly and relentlessly for however many straight months and got a job at a call centre raising money for the Red Cross. It was a scent free office but one time this woman cooked a piece of fish in the microwave for 10 minutes on low and hot boxed the whole office - we got sent home early no pay. There was the other woman I named the Call Centre Coltrane because her pitch and routine usually involved improvised flights of fancy that went off in both directions at once somehow landing back down with a credit card number and a donation. I used to sleep under the desk. I was there a few months and at the time I reconnected with John Brennan who I had played with briefly in Montreal at the Mutek Festival. In Montreal John was running an experimental music night at a burrito shop downtown called Garbage Night. While in Vancouver I began connecting with the music scene there and would go hang out with the Shearing Pinx lads who I think lived with Sydney the bass player at the time. I knew Nic and Jer from an AIDS Wolf Tour and was so stoked to get to know them both better. I really fell in love with that era of Vancouver's music scene.
Fast Forward to today. 2024
Actually it was the dying days of 2023 but you get it and John asks if I'll sit in with Earth Ball and I keep thinking about Earth Balance, the vegan butter everyone eats here. I brought my aching bones and my ipads on the beautiful ferry named the Queen of Oak Bay and out to Nanaimo BC, home of the nanaimo bar (a dessert treat - special to this region - that seems to be more popularly found under the weird glass sneeze guards in office building deli's out east in Ontario.... anyhoops ). No one in Nanaimo wants to talk to me about the famous treat. I asked a couple of people. Silence. Nanaimo is like London, Ontario but more fried and by the sea. The town is filled with blown out old sea dawgs with tin coffee pots and loose leaf tobacco, then there's the usual streetfolk you find in this part of the Canadian Pacific Northwest and a bunch of bohemians who I guess have left Vancouver behind - that fine city having become uninhabitable for those not making over 100k a year. And then up the way are all the retirees.
Yup Nanaimo is a strange one. They mined the shit out of this region and Nanaimo is surely haunted by those buried in mining shafts or maimed by the heavy machinery or blown up by accident in the explosives store house. And when Earth Ball fire up the amps in Izzy and Jer's basement you can hear the voices of the ghosts hum through electrical lines and out the speakers, Kellen's hued feedback, Izy's sturdy basslines, Jer's paperbag guitar tone and rumble pack zaps, Liam's (aka the Kid) sheets of sound and Brennen's multidirectional drums.
You wouldn't guess Earth Ball was auto-composing and from what my rat brain can tell - the lyrics are improvised too...Improvising lyrics and singing them is the hardest thing to do in all of music.. Izzy and Jer are pros. And their attitudes are pro too.
The live show is scorched and without naming names they've been known to make headliners nervous. Lucky ones will get to see them live as they tour this beast of a record entitled ‘It’s Yours’ (out May 17th on Upset The Rhythm) and I hope I'm one of them.
But now you, fan of fun but totally fucked up music, have the opportunity to Ball with them thanks to Upset The Rhythm. Enjoy
-Alex Moskos, Montreal QC, Feb 2024

Wraz. is a man on a mission.

Not only has the Montreal native cemented his place as one of the most talented producers in the dubstep scene, but his incredible work ethic, energy, and passion—matched by his undeniable talent—mean his ascension is quite simply inevitable.

DDD has been proud to play our part in his career journey, and things are taking another step forward with the phenomenal album Rites.

A tour de force of audio sorcery, savagery, and sacrilege, Rites subjects the listener to Wraz.’ trademark mix of filthy 140 dubstep, thumping trap flavours, and industrial grittiness.

This is expertly melded with stunning, captivating, suspense-filled interludes that provide counterpoints to the bass punishment in ways that are both tension-inducing, yet beautiful.

Featuring collaborations with label bossmen Truth and DDD favourite Hypho, Wraz.’ sonic understanding of his craft feels unparalleled throughout. Each track brings its own unique flavour, while sitting together as a body of work with remarkable cohesion.

Keep a lookout for this as the first DDD vinyl drop of 2026—alongside its full digital release—Rites marks a seismic moment for both Wraz. and the 140 scene.

Wraz. is putting the world to Rites, while we’re living in his universe.

They say 3 is the magic number so here we are with Part 3 of our 'Back To The Old School' 12" series. Four cuts of the finest Disco-Rap remixes by Dave 'Love' Lee, we start things right off with some uptempo disco in the shape of Eddie Cheeba's " Lookin' Good" with it's clav stabbing & synth jabbing funk, ready to rock any dance floor with it's brilliant part-rapped, part-sung vocal play. Two versions are included of the B-Boys early 80's breakers anthem 'Rock The House'. First up is the breakbeat underpinned 'Magic Funk' mix that utilises one of the funkiest basslines of all time. On the flip the 'Roller Rink' mix is a mid tempo floor filler reprising a much loved 90s r&b jam to great effect. Finishing affairs is the 'Maximus Boogie Mix' of Maximus Three, leaning heavily into the classic disco-rap sound of fat Good Times bass, squelching synths under the bragging raps of TJ Swann and Pee Wee Mel.

The songs of Jules de Corte are condensed, folky gems with an almost effortless charm. Poised between the intimate and the universal, between lightness and darkness, they touch on religion, love, loss, and the small dramas of everyday life. Yet they resist easy translation. Packed with wordplay, de Corte’s signature alliterations, humor, and local cultural references, the songs inevitably lose something in another language. Still, when a Belgian quartet of improvisers takes them on, joined by American songwriter Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, the songs are reborn rather than merely transposed: literal fidelity gives way to interpretation, and what is lost in words is often gained in spirit.

Even without tracing every change, their overall effect is fascinating. Songs are slowed down, often doubled in length, and filled with unexpected musical intrusions. They gain fuller arrangements and are placed in an entirely new context. Replacing de Corte’s piano with guitar can create a radically different vibe, as in “Mariska.” An added solo can heighten the contrast between childlike perspective and the almost matter- of-fact brutality of “Little Anita.” In “The Stranger,” another use of contrast unsettles the everyday harmony, transforming it with a subtle, disorienting twist.

Ultimately, these performances show that interpretation is not successful simply because it is literal. With the groundwork laid by Linus, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy further liberated the songs from their original versions. Lyrics and melodies become malleable, shaped by his recognizable cadences, timbre, and personal quirks. Like his collaborators, he allows himself the freedom to bend the material to his own approach. There is no radical break between this performance and his other records. Listeners familiar with the originals may be puzzled at first; for those new to de Corte, it is a wholly different experience.

Does it really matter that the original “Little Jesus, Mighty God” is a 100-second nugget combining playful naivete with biblical fervor? In the hands of these five explorers, the song becomes an intriguing contemplation, with subtle musical shades and a recitation in which every syllable carries a maturity that offers a new perspective. Then there is “The Outsider,” which feels as genuine as any original American folk song. The musicians’ process is more than reinterpretation—it is reimagination, bringing new musical compatibility and emotional depth. Whether that depth was there from the start, waiting to be uncovered, or created in the process is beside the point. What matters is that Linus and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy have made the essence of these songs their own, paying homage yet dancing to their own tune.

Linus is the Belgian duo of guitarist and banjo player Ruben Machtelinckx and reedist and synthesiser player Thomas Jillings. Across five previous albums — Onland (2014), Linus + Skarbø / Leroux (2015), Felt Like Old language at the crossroads of folk, jazz, minimalism, chamber music and free improvisation. Their music is adventurous, shaped by a particular sensitivity to texture, timbre and the subtle interaction between musicians.

What began as a duo gradually grew into a flexible musical world, bringing Linus together with musicians such as Nils Økland, Ingar Zach, Niels Van Heertum, Øyvind Skarbø and Frederik Leroux. Yet each new constellation has remained recognisably Linus: music in which carefully considered forms leave space for intuition, interaction and the unexpected.

For their sixth album, Linus takes a new step by moving into the world of song and text. Inspired by a shared love for the late Dutch songwriter Jules De Corte, the album is a reimagining of De Corte’s unique repertoire. More than simply interpreting De Corte’s songs, they absorb and reshape them, bringing them into dialogue with their own musical language. In keeping with this open approach, they are joined by celebrated vocalist Bonnie “Prince” Billy. With albums such as 1999’s I See a Darkness appearing on several greatest album lists, Bonnie “Prince” Billy is a cult figure in the alternative folk scene, and his highly intuitive way of singing seamlessly matches the subtle interplay Linus has developed over more than a decade.

It Takes Two is at it again. The 45 duo consisting of Deejay Irie and Friss, founded in 2020, is here with a brand-new release.

Played by DJ Koco aka Shimokita, DJ Robert Smith, Marc Hype of Dusty Donuts, and many more. Edits by DJs for DJs, filled with scratch samples and perfect intros/outros. After 001, 002, 003, 004, and 005 sold out, they're back with 90 BPM of big fun with small records!

The A-side is a rework of a '90s hip-hop classic, flipped with the original sample.
The B-side contains an instrumental version of the A-side and an acapella to go wild with.

Buy 2 and have more fun!

It Takes Two is at it again. The 45 duo consisting of Deejay Irie and Friss, founded in 2020, is here with a brand-new release.

Played by DJ Koco aka Shimokita, DJ Robert Smith, Marc Hype of Dusty Donuts, and many more. Edits by DJs for DJs, filled with scratch samples and perfect intros/outros. After 001, 002, 003, 004, and 005 sold out, they're back with 90 BPM of big fun with small records!

The A-side is an ode to one of hip-hop's first beef tracks, flipped with a reggae twist, a clean intro, and a scratch sample to get funky with.
The B-side contains an instrumental version of the A-side.

Buy 2 and have more fun!

New York-based Japanese jazz and electronic music polymath Takuya Nakamura presents his debut album Shape The Future - almost 35 years into his storied musical journey.

An expansive double album, the album’s first LP documents a spellbinding live performance by Nakamura recorded at fabric. A hybrid set combining DJing, live electronics, vocals, and trumpet, the set also features studio versions of special collaborations with Shigeto, Currency Audio and Tim Reaper. The second LP complements the first by assembling studio recordings of select album tracks. Altogether the two volumes make for a definitive display of Nakamura’s exceptional musicianship across jazz, DnB, jungle, broken beat, deep techno and more.

Across his career, Nakamura has played Brazilian music, merengue, salsa and straight-ahead jazz. He’s opened for Sun Ra Arkestra, performed with David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Wu-Tang Clan, and Arto Lindsay, appeared on sessions with Terry Riley, ASAP Rocky, Goldie, and TV On The Radio, and remixed the likes of Quincy Jones, Sun Ra, Billie Holiday, and The Streets. He’s also played under director and playwright Robert Wilson.

Although the musical past and present of the Tokyo-born, New York-based DJ and trumpet player is undoubtedly eclectic, Nakamura is abidingly steeped in the sounds of jazz and jungle. This’ll be obvious to casual observers who may have seen any viral videos of him. But there’s more to this. The depth of Nakamura’s engagement with these kinds of music, the way they’ve made him into the person he is, the decades-long path they’ve taken him on; to now arrive at the summit of a solo album is all truly remarkable. Shape The Future resonates with every chapter in this story.

In high school, Nakamura’s friends started listening to jazz and jazz fusion, which piqued his interest, especially when they started going to clubs to see it live, where they managed to see US legends like Sonny Rollins play. Eventually he began to play jazz every day and his musical skill emerged early. He soon became obsessed with getting closer to the source of this music, which led to his studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with George Russell, an influential figure who had taught Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Nakamura drank it in: not only the technical aspects but the sense of a direct connection to “a music culture where Russell and his friends changed harmony forever. I wanted to know how that was possible!”.

This was a radical experience in itself, but then another revolution happened for Nakamura. He was playing in a venue called The Western Front, near Boston and discovered that the elderly owner had his own soundsystem and was playing what was then - in 1992 - only just becoming known as jungle. This was as freeing a musical revelation as his proximity to the giants of jazz was, and in that instant the two things fused. He understood that using technology to fill a dancehall with sound and a jazz musician’s reflexes are all working to the same ends: “You’re always making decisions,” he says, “but it doesn’t have to be really difficult. It’s the truth of the frequencies, and how they’re affecting people’s minds.”

From that moment on, his life path was set. Moving to New York City, he sought out jungle and its offshoot sounds wherever he could find them, gigging and collaborating relentlessly, and gradually developing his own live and hybrid live/DJ shows. Through regular appearances at New York fixtures Zebulon and CBGBs, and continual shows elsewhere in the city, Nakamura developed his live performance and DJing and it was in these environments that he gradually weaved together his twin loves without compromising either, building an international reputation in the process.

It’s only fitting then that his first album, almost 35 years after he first found his musical direction, should be a live one: a window into this never-ending process. Even here, he had to be persuaded that he should make a record. A member of the fabric team got turned on to his music after their daughter saw him play. Of course, as a jungle lover, Nakamura knew fabric – which has a special place in the history of jungle and drum’n’bass – and “had wanted to play there since I was very young.” You can hear the club in the record: this isn’t just a live show, in keeping with his jungle roots, it’s Nakamura duetting with the soundsystem, and you can feel how the emotions in the room would have ebbed and flowed.

This dynamic translates to a transfixing record. Setting the tone with lushly textured ambient and reverberant jazz, Nakamura segues into cinematic breakbeat and stellar fusion, infusing it all with intoxicating low end and hypnotic rhythms. The LP’s midway point locks into mesmeric percussion heightened by resonant echoes of piano and trumpet. There’s an endless pull to this music. Nakamura adjusts the levels for maximum impact throughout, and the overall effect begins to evoke some harmonious hybrid between a jazz ensemble, a classic Metalheadz 12” and a Theo Parrish DJ set. His electric form continues through surreal jazz, intricate electronics and rolling sub-bass velocity, right up to the subtly devastating final cover of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush’s ‘Don’t Give Up’, with Nakamura’s fragile vocal sitting in the heart of a huge sound.

From Tokyo jazz nights to formative studies and encounters in Boston to his artistic development in New York, Nakamura reaches another milestone with his monumental debut album. It’s a release that happened just the way a Takuya Nakamura record should. In the same way his instincts led him to musical revelations, taking his own sweet time has led him to make one of the most extraordinary debut albums imaginable, all executed in his own singular style. In Nakamura’s world, the universe finds a way.

Abacus back in full effect — “The Earthly Pleasures” EP, a deep house gem celebrating 30 years since its original 1996 drop on 83 West.
Jazz-infused grooves, soulful rhythms, timeless vibes — this one still hits heavy.
A true classic from the Abacus catalog, reissued for the heads who know.
Pure deepness, no filler — essential wax.

Feedbacks:

Harri (Sub Club) : nice, will play and support
Hector Romero (Def Mix) : Proper deepness on Sunray - still sounds fresh! and the Bassline on Phonogrammeis a killer. Love it. H
Geir Aspenes (G-Ha (Sunkissed)) : Thank u
Pacific Coliseum (Dublab, Teen Daze, Noire & Blanche) : Moonbeamz is the jam for me; still sounds fresh all these years later!
Fred P : Nice..
Mr. V (Sole Channel Music / Strictly Rhythm / Salter Music / Defected) : Pure dopeness Thanks
Mark Farina : classic! nice.
Jimpster (Freerange) : Abacus doing what he does best and bringing the deep heaters! Loving all three tracks here.
Laurent Garnier : very elegant EP
Lea Lisa (Phonica Records / Folklor Club) : Play them since day one, good to repress for the new generation. Essential
Anthony Collins (Frank & Tony / Scissor & Thread) : great record
Franck Roger (Real Tone Records) : What a greta news to repress this old classic
Prosumer : 30 years later still hot AF
Red Eye (Crash Planet Rec, R.E.A.D., Red/Shift, Lavish Habits, Multipass) : Moonbeamz still out here holding its own!!!!
Felix Dickinson (Futureboogie, Rush Hour, Cynic) : Used to play Moonbeamz a lot when it first came out, nice to have the digis.
DJ Bone (FURTHER) : Crazy Hazy Days is really nice
Terry Farley : sunrays a legend
Antal (Rush Hour) : nice!!
Carista : love this thanks

Josh Ludlow - one half of MAKE A DANCE - one of London’s most beloved duos - steps out on his own for a rare solo outing on legendary London imprint Rhythm Section International.

A late contender for EP of the year - the record meanders menacingly across four tracks of mind-altering, dissociative Brain Music, precision engineered to transport a listener and hypnotise a crowd without losing any dancefloor impact.

Interestingly, Bradley Zero (RS label boss) and Mr. Ludlow have a connection dating back to the late 2000s, when they were both drummers in rock and roll bands...almost 20 years later - a shared love of experimental electronic music has brought them back together, resulting in this spellbinding EP.

Channelling a much darker, heads down, aggressive sound than the uplifting house M.A.D have become known for, the record begins with 'Brain Music’, which serves as a Detroit techno-inspired wormhole of a track, guiding us into a parallel, inner dimension.

Time Upside Down is next up and it becomes apparent we have entered another realm entirely. The introductory bars of the song feel like a long journey down a dark tunnel. The sound design and acoustic backdrop are so evocative you can almost see it. Obnoxious bass notes reverberate through the space created by the track, slowly giving way to flurries of high-pitched, resonant acid lines - the sum of which escape easy classification. It would be lazy to call it house music, misleading to call it techno - but it’s definitely not tech house. Elements of disco, electro, post-punk, balearic and Weatherall-esque chug are all in the mix but essentially, this is its own thing - this is Brain Music.

The record continues to the penultimate track “The Kettle”, which starts off in more familiar upbeat, bongo-house territory before the calm is betrayed by a hovering intensity which grows out of nowhere before making space for a humungous bass synth melody - so big in fact that it has never once failed to elicit club-wide bass-face; which for a mid-tempo track is no mean feat. We round things off with ‘Mean Mother’, the most playful of the bunch: a Chicago house-indebted workout reminiscent of Paranoid London at their most visceral. The track feels familiar and almost safe until the synth-work is cranked up to 11, creating a cacophonous SH-101 build-up into a disco-esque drop that would get even the most reluctant raver jumping up and down for more.

Besides all the theatrics and acoustic world building, the evocative sound design and the insatiable, no-nonsense grooves - the thing that makes these tracks stand out is the attention to detail. No two fills are alike, every embellishment is EQ’d and polished to perfection - yet no immediacy is lost. The tracks feel alive, intentional and constantly evolving. Hyperbole aside - we have a serious, generational talent on our hands whose mastery of the equipment, understanding of the dynamics of the dance and unabashed
playfulness is being harnessed into something that stands out head and shoulders above the crowd.

We are honoured and excited to share the fourth Dream Space EP with the world: Domenic Cappello - Celestial Wave.

For more than three decades, Domenic Cappello has been at the helm of Subculture - the innovative and vastly influential Saturday night at Glasgow’s Sub Club. A true master DJ with deep rooted influences from Detroit & Chicago, Dom has consistently pushed things forward over the years and remains at the cutting edge of modern dance music.

Throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s, he put out high-quality records under various monikers on labels such as Soma, 20:20 Vision & Seventh Sign. Fast forward to recent years and Domenic has been on nothing short of a hot streak - releasing music under his own name on Craigie Knowes, Clone Royal Oak and his outstanding ‘Basement Philosophy’ LP on Alien Communications.

He brings the heat once more for this record; blurring the lines of house, techno and electro to deliver four awe-inspiring cuts of electronic music.

‘The Secret Moon Party’ sets things off, nodding to a certain Highland gathering by some of Scotland’s finest purveyors of quality tunes. A warm, gritty bassline carries the track, evolving into a symphony of precise sound design that is in equal parts playful and euphoric.

Dom’s knowledge of the dancefloor shines through on ‘Acid & Love’. This early night floor filler is the alchemy of just about everything you want to hear when things are getting going. Pure warmth and bliss throughout, also holding its place played deep into the late hours.

‘We Loved Your Ears (in memory of Keith)’ is a heartfelt tribute to the one and only Keith McIvor aka JD Twitch of Optimo. Dom wrote this track as something he thought Keith would have loved, and for this one, we’ll let the music do the talking.

Keith was, and continues to be, an enormous inspiration for us and so many others. In his memory, all proceeds from the digital sales of ‘We Loved Your Ears’ and 25% of all vinyl sales will be donated to Beatson Cancer Charity and The Scottish Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence.

Closing the EP is title track ‘Celestial Wave’, which does exactly what it says on the tin. A beautiful piece of music and fitting soundtrack for star gazing, moon dancing and dreaming.

YARN welcomes René Audiard for its tenth release with "Makes Me Feel", a four-track EP from one of underground electronic music’s most singular voices.

Across years of dub techno, minimal and leftfield electronic experimentation, René has developed an approach to stripped-down music that feels anything but limited. Where minimalism can often become an exercise in taking things away, his work finds possibility in what remains. "Makes Me Feel" is a particularly fitting example: immersive, at times strange, but always full of feeling.

‘Lovin’ opens the EP in familiar Audiard territory: murky low-end, locomotive groove, reduced rhythmic compositions and an understated framework swimming in a pool of detail. 'Possession' lets in more light. Vocal echoes, persistent rhythms and occasional string phrases give it a cinematic quality, while a groove that seems to circle endlessly takes on an almost shamanistic pull. The EP’s 11-minute behemoth, 'Flesh', fills most of the release’s B-side while making a convincing case for patience and sophistication. There are echoes of minimal’s golden age here, but Audiard never mistakes repetition for standing still. Tiny rhythmic fragments sit alongside expansive orchestral gestures, with samples working at every scale of the arrangement. Warmth and cinematic drama run through the track, but it's the playful programming underneath that keeps it moving. 'Night' closes the record on a different note, recalling Audiard’s work with Ali Çakır in Düve. Percussive samples, accordion and Middle Eastern guitar phrases bring a more acoustic character to his reduced 808-infused broken beats, making for a playful, occasionally melancholic ending with a distinctly microtonal feel.

What makes René Audiard’s music so rewarding is how readily you recognize his hand in it. There is a particular grain to the sounds, a way of placing details within a groove, and a willingness to follow an idea wherever it leads. Across “Makes Me Feel”, those instincts give four quite different tracks a shared identity. Even when working within familiar forms, Audiard makes them sound entirely his own. It’s the holy grail of music production: a personal sound signature. And a thoughtful addition to YARN’s growing repertoire of reduced, sophisticated dancefloor music.

Nu Vision is a modern salon for visionary leaders, fighting for their art, standing by truths, defending voices, honoring progenitors, whilst pushing forwards towards a new paradigm. The band all have their own stories and extensive discographies, records released on labels you might know, gigs played in places you might have attended but none of that matters. This is a new beginning. A group. A collective.A movement. Nu Vision is a band in the classic do-you-believe-in-alchemy sense. Equal parts rhythm, damage, and deep feeling. Their friends at DFA noted that the album “sounds like Depeche Mode scoring a Michael Mann montage: brooding,motorik, and shot through with black-and-blue beauty.” this idea is taken further in the first video from the album for track one / side one “Time” that launches the project publically along with the albums announcement. The palette of ‘The Seed’ is defined and refined in the best way. It’s an album that opens up many pathways. Brisker, freakier tracks like “Shadow In The Dark,” “R U Serious?” and “Humanity” run towards a softer finish with “Somedays” and the seven-minute, eyeliner-smearing closing ballad, “Lullaby Garden.” These are proper songs made with vintage machines, with a sound that carries obvious influences. ’ The Seed’ pulses forward as the body of the beast is turned inside out, wearing a beating heart on its sleeve, honoring those who left us too soon - DAF’s Gabi Delgado, Nitzer Ebb’s Douglas McCarthy, Depeche Mode’s Andrew Fletcher, and Sandwell District’s Juan Mendez. It’s important to note the emotional core of ‘The Seed’ album is the song ‘Synchronicity’ that is filled with both love and regret, the story of losing a friend without properly making amends. It is unquestionably heartbreaking, but is also delivered with a pang of hope, the feeling that with so many sunrises caught, so many additions and subtractions in life, a perspective has been gained. This is no freshman effort; but rather, a masterclass in continuing sonic education, delivering a unified experience from beginning to end. A New Vision

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

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

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

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

"Synth revival from the mid-aughts gave us fractured sub-genre upon fractured sub-genre, outlets for noise-leaning basement dwellers to finally dance like dad said they couldn’t, and commercially-viable nostalgia drivel that eventually poisoned the well. Luckily, for all of us, Ryan Martin and his sincerity cut through all of it.

Secret Boyfriend, the monumental and ongoing undertaking of Martin, has spanned labels, media, and DIY line-ups for more than a decade. Whenever Ryan comes up in conversation I am sure to bring up his home in North Carolina and how it is a testament to his commitment to media and artistic ethos having a place in the world. The walls and rooms are thoroughly covered in drawings, flyer ideas, cassette collections, VHS in heaps and piles, instruments that seem like they are still warm as if they were just played then sat down. Martin and his home act as a means to unbridled expression without the need to fill a gap in a mostly saturated world.

Trip! White label, hand stamped. Four tracks of house, techno and dub techno from Bistong on a single 180g 12 inch, no filler. A record made to be played through, not skipped around.

After a brief hiatus and creative refresh, Radiant Records returns with a bang, courtesy of Belfast house aficionado Cromby. A producer who needs little introduction, Cromby delivers the label’s ninth release, showcasing exactly what he does best: colourful, groove-heavy house music built for the dancefloor.
Ignition kicks things off with winks and nods to post-Y2K UK breaks and electro house. The title track’s boshy bassline and driving drums provide the backbone for an irresistibly stomping peak-time cut with summer written all over it.

Pumping the tempo up, A2 Psy Op is a rapturous floor-filler that draws from dance music’s most playful corners without ever sounding pastiche or revisionist. Undulating basslines, infectious vocals and flirtatious synth hooks combine to create something that feels both nostalgic and strikingly fresh.
Taking things in a slightly toolier direction, B1 Money is classic Cromby. A nifty little dinger packed with razor-sharp percussion, “house” vocals, tightly wound subs, timeless stabs and an impeccable arrangement, it’s a hot tip for DJs and dancers alike.

On remix duties, Adonis resident and legendary legend Hannah Holland zeroes in on Ignition’s electro parts and dials the mood up to 11. The result is a Detroit-leaning electro banger that highlights her versatility as a producer and rounds off a highly playable return to the fore from Radiant Records.

The legendary Charlemagne Palestine returns to Black Truffle with KKKAAARRREEENNNIIINNNAAA, capturing a 2025 performance in London alongside two close collaborators of recent years, multi-instrumentalist Daniel O’Sullivan and guitarist Oren Ambarchi. While perhaps still best known for the ecstatic piano clouds of his ‘strumming music’ performances, Palestine’s life-long search for what he calls the ‘golden sound’ has taken in an enormous variety of methods of sound production. Now stretching back an incredible six decades, his exploration of continuous sound forms has led him to mega-instruments from the carillon bells of the Saint Thomas Episcopal Church to the synthesizer armada of the Moog Sound Lab, with stops along the way at many of Europe’s grandest church organs. Just as important, though, has been Palestine’s practice as a singer, beginning with his childhood experience of sacred Jewish music and growing through his studies of Indian and Javanese musical traditions in the 1970s.

KKKAAARRREEENNNIIINNNAAA reimagines a key work showcasing Palestine’s voice, the haunting ‘magic song’ Karenina for falsetto singing and harmonium, recorded in Paris in March 1997 to honour the spirit of Palestine’s recently departed black labrador. In this trio version, which Palestine describes as the ‘karaoke’ version, O’Sullivan controls three cassette machines playing the original recording, their slow drift out of phase creating complex patterns of delays and ricochets as the recorded voice chants the syllables of Karenina’s name and other trance words. Beginning with a held organ tone that gradually expands to fill out the frequency spectrum, the piece soon grows into a dense psychedelic mass, as Palestine’s electric organs and the echoing pre-recorded voices are joined by Ambarchi’s swirling Leslie guitar tones and O’Sullivan’s viola, synthesizer and additional vocals. Atop it all sits Palestine’s live voice, in an extraordinary performance of keening, shamanic intensity, sometimes delivered in melodic unison with his keyboard playing.

Though clearly a work of Palestine’s design that sits squarely within his oeuvre, Ambarchi and O’Sullivan are far from simple accompanists on KKKAAARRREEENNNIIINNNAAA. As the elements of the teeming, emotionally charged stew writhe and twist, different elements come momentarily to the surface, O’Sullivan’s spaced-out viola taking the lead in moments that recall Kosugi’s Catch Wave, Ambarchi’s gliding chords and signature stuttering tones enriching the details of many of the quieter episodes. Throughout all its transformations, the music is buoyed up by a sacred aura, as Palestine intones his hypnotic prayer for the soul of his departed pet. Arriving emblazoned with a striking labrador painting by O’Sullivan on the cover, KKKAAARRREEENNNIIINNNAAA is an essential slice of modern ritual music.

WRWTFWW Records is very excited to announce the first ever release for the Cyberpunk 2077: Future Sound of Night City soundtrack - atmospheric music from one of the most celebrated video games of the decade! The compilation, showcasing a who's who of Polish electronic underground, is available as a limited edition 45rpm-cut yellow vinyl 3LP in heavyweight 3-panel gatefold with a sticker sheet. The album is also available on CD with super jewel case, and in digital formats.

Dive deep into the pulsating world of Cyberpunk 2077 with an immersive soundscape perfectly capturing the gritty and neon-soaked streets of Night City. Curated by Rafa? Grobel and Wojtek Sokó? of Most Records, the epic 15-track compilation features a diverse offering of electrifying Polish beats, cohesively flowing between techno, ambient, synthwave, bass music, industrial, and IDM. Ominous, powerful, evocative, and filled with futuristic nostalgia, the music of Night City is a thrill ride in a dystopian urban landscape, heavy hearts riding through the night, menacing streets surrounded by infinite skyscrapers. The music transports you, soul-stirring, cinematic, and timeless, the most beautiful kind of escapism.

The award-winning Cyberpunk 2077 action role-playing game was developed by CD Projekt Red and published in 2020 and has since become one of the most recognized and best selling video games of all time. With a cast including Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba, unmistakable visuals, music, and atmosphere, CP77 has earned a spot in the pantheon of 2020s pop culture.


Points of interests

- For fans of video game soundtracks, ambient, techno, synthwave, vaporwave, industrial, dark electronic music, retro-futuristic moods, neon lights, Tech Noir, Keanu Reeves, bass music, All Foods, cities by night, skycrapers, urban adventures, dystopian universes.

- The soundtrack for Cyberpunk 2077: Future Sound of Night City available for the first time everrrr !

Duality Trax reaches its tenth release with a defining moment for the label, as label boss Holly Lester steps forward with her debut EP. A personal milestone as much as a catalogue marker, the record channels sounds that have shaped her sound to date - early tech house, the low-end swing of UK garage and breakbeat, the rolling pulse of mid- 2000s European dancefloors, and the emotional lift of ’90s progressive house - all refracted through a distinctly personal lens. Open Your Mind sets the tone with a sense of lift and release: a wide, expansive bassline carries skippy, garage-tinged percussion, while bright piano stabs cut through guided by playful, restless FX. Big Fill pivots into tougher territory, a driving cut built on a rolling sub that pulls you into the groove - equal parts pressure and introspection, with moments of dreamlike suspension between the weight.

On the flip, Tanit drifts into more atmospheric space —an ode to Ibiza that still carries a distinctly UK undercurrent. A squelching, elastic bassline and cheeky, garage-leaning wubs provide a foundational groove but everything around it drifts: gated synths shimmer, drums sparkle, half-heard vocals dissolve into the mix and the track unfolds with a blissed-out, cruising energy. It feels just as natural in a dark room as it does out on open water, coasting past Formentera. For the remix, Holly turns to one of her favourite producers of the moment, DJ Life, who draws Open Your Mind into deeper waters. The Berlin via Australia producer stretches the groove into something more hypnotic and submerged, a patient 5am burner that lingers in the air,equally at home in basements, afterhours, and those inbetween moments as night slips quietly into day

2026 Repress


DJ Koze's 2013 album opus Amygdala has continued to bewitch all who encounter it since its release. Tipped as his own personal Sgt. Pepper, the sublime long-player revealed a fully-realised and personal body of work, complete with a classic songwriting at its core, House in its heart, and veins coursing with psychedelic color. La Duquesa' was the album's dreamy single standout, a journey into deep, tropical ecstasy. XTC' begins in the same spirit, and captures the all the blissful allusions of its name, but its initial gentility belies the deep intensity to come. Floating pads glow with celestial ambience as a kick drum is gradually coaxed into solid form, and the introduction of spoken text begins the second act. Many people are experimenting with the drug Ecstasy,' it says, ...is the drug like the lie and meditation the truth Or am I missing something that could really help me". XTC' then transforms: sweetly imploring tones become demanding, gentle gradients between chords turn hard-edged, and sharp hi-hats cut through the haze. Complete with Koze's signature percussive quirks, it drives towards the track's final pay off: an undeniable, all-consuming, irresistible high. Knee On Belly' recalls Koze at his most tongue-in-cheek and overt, it is bright, bold and literally brassy, using cut-up horns of all shapes and sizes to patchwork together his own unique arrangement. With the highs and mid ranges accounted for, Koze adds in a swollen, thrumming bass line to mix to bring this floor-filler to life. Knee on Belly' recalls a raw, filtered and funky approach to groove, with a nod to disco house and the art of artful sampling, as it orbits between its own neon highs and simmering lows.

Anna Kost on Calder City Development Corp, catalogue CCDC011. Six cuts, techno chassis, electro swing, experimental dust on top. View and Shallows ease you in, Keep Turning is the one that holds a room. Jeanette and Mode 19 go harder, more machine, less song. Trace pulls back at the end, leaves some air. No filler, no obvious single, built to be played as a set. Solid.

There are two version of the LP - limited to 100 numbered copies with transparent wax and classic black wax edition. Both 180g with special OBI strip.

Maciej Envee Goliński is an artist who probably needs no introduction. He has been working with U Know Me practically since the label's inception. His last album ("Time & Light") made a huge impact worldwide, but we had to wait eight years for the next vinyl release. In the meantime, Maciej has certainly been busy – he has released numerous club singles under several aliases, and has helped record and mix numerous albums from the world of jazz, soul, and electronica. "Wyszymory" is a carefully crafted concept album, inspired by our roots. "Wyszymory" is an album on which every open-minded listener will find something that has been playing in their soul for a long time...


"Of all things visible and invisible, my life is most filled with music and a fascination with sound. It matters not whether they are natural or artificial, isolated or resonating through space. Sounds that evoke
memories, as well as those entirely new. Some of them have resonated unchanged for thousands of years. Certain resonances and rhythms have remained unaltered for generations so distant that they have left no other trace in human civilization.

This bond with our ancestors truly fascinates me. Ever since I realized it, I have become more attuned to inspiration. Listening to traditional and classical music, I kept finding new anchor points. I was constantly surprised by new invitations to ponder what connects – or divides – the pulse of our region’s traditional music with the rhythms of Africa, the tribes of the vast East, or the frozen North. My great authority, Tomasz Stańko, in interviews conducted by Tomek Michałowski, used beautiful parables of love and creativity to bring me closer to the ­Cro-Magnon cave artists. The Icelandic literary magician Andri Snær ­Magnason, in his book On Time and Water, captivated me with the fascinating observation that through emotional contact, words, ideas, or memory, we reach back and forward two or even three generations – spanning a period of about 270 years. Then there is Sam Kowalski, who with his wonderful obereks played on the gitalele, took me on a hypnotic journey, from which one returns with a deep admiration for the art of musical storytelling, passed down from generation to generation. Finally, my own children surprise me with talents, behaviors, and increasingly distinct features of those generations that now dwell only in my hazy memory and on old photographs.

I wanted the protagonists of this album to be the very phenomena that modern humans share with their ancestors, ­regardless of the level of civilization. Most vital among them is the relationship between humans, nature, and their own emotions. Wyszymory has nothing to do with an academic study, though I did delve into Slavic mythology, archaeology, and history in search of inspiration. Nor is it an album of traditional music, even if such music is present thanks to wonderful instrumentalists. I managed to invite artists who cross boundaries daily, working not only with Polish music but also with Hindu and African traditions, and even jazz, with its long history of blending influences. Naturally, the album became a kind of sonic comic book, where individual scenes and stories – the sounds, pulsations, and ideas on how to use them – came to me over time, often under unique circumstances and in inspiring contexts."
Envee

The vibrant genre Eurodance originated in the late Eighties in Europe and combines many elements of rap and rich melodic vocals with strong bass rhythms and cutting-edge synthesizers. The 2LP Eurodance Collected compiles the best hits from Eurodance, including Snap! ""Rhythm Is A Dancer"", Technotronic's worldwide smash ""Pump Up The Jam"", catchy sing-a-long self-titled Captain Jack track, Dutch group Vengaboys' ""Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!, Belgium's hit-wonder 2 Unlimited's ""No Limit"" plus 22 other guaranteed dancefloor fillers. Eurodance Collected is available as a limited edition of 2000 copies on pink (LP1) and purple (LP2) coloured vinyl and includes an insert.

Eurodance Collected by Various Artists, released 19 April 2024, includes the following tracks: "Mc Sar & The Real McCoy - It's On You", "La Bouche - Be My Lover", "Vengaboys - Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!", "2 Brothers On The 4th Floor - Dreams (Will Come Alive)" and more.

This version of Eurodance Collected comes as a 2xLP. This release comes with (a) Insert(s).

The vinyl is pressed as a pink disc. Another vinyl is pressed as a purple disc.

Epicentre was an R&B/funk group formed in Seattle, Washington by keyboardist Ric Ulsky. The band developed a loyal following, playing the extensive NW club, concert and dance venues throughout the mid-to-late 1970s. Their sound was a blend of melodic R&B and powerhouse funk that dependably filled music venues throughout the Western US. Bernadette Bascom was the lead vocalist, who captivated audiences with her powerful yet velvet-smooth voice and commanding, magnetic stage presence.

In 1978, Epicentre worked with Seattle producer Don McKinney to record their music in Seattle's now legendary Kaye-Smith studios. The result was seven strong, fully -produced R&B songs, with occasional horn and string orchestrations tastefully added to the final versions.

Their music quite literally sat on a shelf for decades until McKinney decided that all the hard work and talent should no longer remain undiscovered and it needed to find its audience. He restored and digitized his copies of the master tapes and looked for an opportunity. A chance call to the former leader of the group, Kell Houston, led to a serendipitous introduction to UK boutique/funk/R&B label founder Russell Paine. The result was an agreement to release their music, starting with two songs, "When You Were In Love With Me", and "Magic Carpet."

And now the follow up single of "Searchin/Tongue Tied"

Footnotes: Lead singer Bernadette Bascom became a protegé of Stevie Wonder, and was the first artist to be signed to his label Black Bull , starting a period of collaboration between the two. Bermadette is the daughter of Reverend Dr. Marion C. Bascomb (1925-2012), one of Baltimore's major civil rights voices and pastor emeritus of Baltimore's Douglas Memorial Community Church. Ric Ulsky eventually left the group to play keyboards and tour extensively with The Association. You can also find Epicentre's music on the compilation album "Seattle Funk, Modern Soul & Boogie: Volume II 1972-1987." In addition to Bernadette, the musicians on the 1978 sessions are Kell Houston, keyboards, Michael Cox, bass, John Carmondy, guitar, and Ricky Lynn Johnson, drums and vocals. While their recorded material is primarily original, Stacy Christensen from Seattle's Gabriel contributed two of his compositions.

A legend returns as the alias of scene stalwart DJ Levi and Curvature co-creator Ghosts of MIDI unleashes an EP of seismic tracks backed with remixes from ASC and Aural Imbalance. A1 - Iron Dinosaurs Opening a fine Curvature debut for the label’s very own Dan Azimuth, Iron Dinosaurs is an epic piece of atmospheric goodness introduced with a long, elegant intro of synths and luscious female vocals. Before long, classy, energetic metallic breaks kick in, set to an immensely memorable key melody and a room-filling bassline, creating a breathtakingly fluid and captivating piece. A2 - Iron Dinosaurs (ASC remix) Taking an incredibly evocative track and lacing it with sprinkles of ASC goodness to create a true gem is the order of the day here, as the heart of the original courses through an ominous intro, quickly beset by fine analogue amens that hit hard for the dancefloor, while allowing the soul of the piece to breathe, syncing in harmony with the distinctive vocal samples and swirling synthwork that colour the atmosphere so perfectly. B1 - Deadly Dimensions A DJ-friendly intro of hi hats gradually ushers in epic, bassy melodies gliding through serene vocals and airy pads, before the drop reveals exquisite breaks with just the slightest hint of an apache in there. Very danceable, the breaks are chopped and diced at will, driving a determined pace for another superbly epic, ethereal piece of atmospheric drum & bass from one of the OG’s of the scene. B2 - Deadly Dimensions (Aural Imbalance remix) The EP closes with a real treat - this is as close as an example you’ll hear to a match made in heaven as the eerily epic production of Ghosts of Midi collides with the inimitable ambient mastery of Aural Imbalance. Intersecting the thoughtful vibes of the original, this remix sees playful old school breaks jostle with swathes of fluid synthwork and delicate pads, creating a unified expression of atmospheric purity.

The wait is over! Superfett Supersound Selection is back and ready to unleash the next wave of club anthems with VOL. 6.
This explosive 4-track sampler is packed with massive bangers that are sure to ignite dance floors everywhere. Get ready for an unforgettable ride!


1. N-YOU-UP, John Bowtie (France) - DIS MTF
This dynamic duo brings their signature sound to the forefront, combining infectious beats with electrifying energy that sets the stage ablaze.
Known for his infectious grooves and captivating melodies, John Bowtie delivers a track that elevates the dance floor experience with every pulse of the beat.

3. Folkness (Poland)
The Polish superstar producer has crafted an undeniable anthem that showcases his mastery of house music. Expect driving rhythms and explosive drops that will keep you moving all night long.

4. Amedeo Picone (Italy)
A rising star in the scene with releases at Snatch, Jospeh Capriati´s Metamorfosi - Amedeo Picone brings a fresh perspective with his distinctive sound, expertly blending bass-heavy lines and infectious hooks that demand attention.

5. **KPD** (Spain)
KPD rounds out the lineup with a high-energy track that’s guaranteed to make an impact, blending elements of tech and house for an unforgettable dance floor experience.

Superfett Supersound Selection VOL. 6 is all about delivering no fillers, only bangers. Each track is carefully curated to ensure maximum dance floor damage, making this a must-have for DJs and partygoers alike.


Played and loved by Carl Cox, Adriatique, Jamie Jones, Riva Starr, Amine Edge, Steve Lawler, Nic Fanciulli, Chicks Luv Us and many more...

There was nothing in contemporary music like Chris Isaak’s Heart Shaped World when it hit shelves in June 1989. More than three decades later, the singer-songwriter’s third album still sounds unique — and claims a backstory nearly as fascinating as the retro-leaning material and standout performances that propelled it to sales of more than 2.5 million copies. Home to the Top 10 smash “Wicked Game,” the set remains a masterful mood piece that invites you to pour a late-night drink, sit in a dimmed room, and relish Isaak’s elegant albeit raw ruminations on love, relationships, and questionable decisions.

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, and featuring the bonus track “Diddley Daddy,” Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set of Heart Shaped World unearths the staggering inner details, saturated tones, and brilliant atmospherics of the crisp production. It brings you up close and personal with Isaak’s spectacular singing — impeccably controlled, tense, brooding, steamy, smoldering, haunted — situated amidst stripped-down backdrops that allow every note to fully bloom and decay.

While Isaak’s ever-steady baritone remains the anchor, the contributions of his trusty backing band, the aptly named Silvertone, come across with just as much cool, command, and realism. The indispensable playing of guitarist James Calvin Wilsey particularly emerges with superb clarity and dimensionality. The character of his 1965 Fender Stratocaster, shivering twang of his spring-coiled fills, and his signature use of reverb, delay, and vibrato seamlessly match Isaak's patient deliveries and the band’s unhurried rhythms. Experienced on UD1S with ultra-black backgrounds and a nearly invisible noise floor, Heart Shaped World is in every regard a demonstration disc.

The premium packaging of this UD1S pressing befits its elevated status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, it features foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics. Aurally and visually, this reissue is for discerning listeners who desire to immerse themselves in everything involved with the album, not the least of which is the cover art depicting a lost-in-thought Isaak staring ahead and sitting in what appears to be an efficiency apartment. The image epitomizes the record’s lonesome temperaments and pensive themes.

Of course, if not for director David Lynch hand-picking two cuts from Heart Shaped World for his 1990 film Wild at Heart, the record would’ve probably suffered the same fate as Isaak’s prior efforts and gone unnoticed by the mainstream. Despite receiving raves from outlets such as NME, Chicago Tribune, and Rolling Stone upon its original release, the album stalled in the lower quadrants of the Billboard charts and, after a few weeks, dropped off.

Cue the ear of Lee Chesnut. Then the music director for a large Atlanta radio station, Chesnut heard the instrumental version of “Wicked Game” on Lynch’s soundtrack and started airing the album rendition at all hours of the day. Aided by a sensual video featuring Isaak and supermodel Helena Christensen, the song found its way into the public consciousness by early ‘91 and helped make Isaak a most unlikely mainstream star in an era where his techniques had little to nothing in common with popular tastes.

Despite its vintage vibes and shared DNA with legends such as Roy Orbison, Chet Baker, and Glen Campbell, Heart Shaped World transcends nostalgia, rockabilly, and throwback tropes. For all the melodrama and sadness at hand, Isaak’s gorgeously transparent singing dives deep underneath emotional surfaces. He mines subtleties that indicate his feelings go beyond heartbreak and anguish, and occasionally suggest frustration, menace, and anger. You can hear it in his quivering falsetto, and the slow and methodical ways he allows delicate whispers to break into shadowy phrasing that crosses over to the darker sides of romance and desire.

That approach bolsters the title track, which suggests calm yet moves on ominous currents — its simmering pace and snare-drum snappiness foreshadowing Isaak raising the volume and urgency during the coda. The southwestern-tinged “Wrong to Love You” plays with similar concepts of hesitation, unease, and discord, Isaak careful never to fully erupt and give anything away. His poised deliveries offer a master class in the art of insinuation and hurt on “Nothing’s Changed,” sent up with a wordless backing chorus and crackling guitar lines straight out of a Memphis blues joint.

Heart Shaped World further boosts its merit via its abundant stylistic variations, from the upbeat country-and-western trot of “I’m Not Waiting” and Spanish acoustic shimmer of the jazz-based ballad “Blue Spanish Sky” to the swinging horn-accompanied grooves of “Don’t Make Me Love You” and desert smokiness of the understated “Kings of the Highway.” On the latter, Isaak comes across as resigned and absolute. His singing and pain worm their way into your soul, and echo akin to the way the music prepares to strike when you least expect.

“Trouble going 'round,” Isaak croons right as the album begins. “Trouble going down.” Damn straight.

Dub techno runs on ghosts and twins. The ghost is the echo that outlives the hit – the reverb tail, the delay feeding back into empty space. The twin is the dub itself: every sound shadowed by its own double, the original and its darker reflection locked into the same groove. Ghosts & Twins gathers four cuts that work that space.

This is BLACKINSTOCK's Black Gold Dub Techno with both feet on the floor – measured but muscular, weighted, no filler and no drift. The groove stays locked, the low end does the talking, and every echo earns its keep. Music for a dark room and a loud system, not a candle and a beanbag.

Curated by Kirill Matveev, who called in friends and long-time collaborators from across the MixCult circle, the record plays as four takes on one idea. Spectral Model opens with "Distancial" – a new name here, making a first outing on the MixCult family, and a fitting one to raise the ghosts. Djalo follows with "Model Dub," dubbing minimal and techno the way he has across MixCult, Souplex and Apnea: economical, hypnotic, built for the low end. On the flip, Schime – Hungarian producer Sanyi Egyed, working dub techno, deep and minimal since 2013 across Phonoda, Welter and the MixCult ranks – turns in "Phased." Closing the record, The Don Of Dubhouse is the new alias of TM Shuffle, Finnish producer and head of Vuo Records, no stranger to MixCult.

BLACKINSTOCK is a division of MixCult Records

Move in Stereo: The Cars’ Eponymous Debut Album Functions as a Greatest-Hits Set with Classics Such as "You're All I've Got Tonight," "Good Times Roll," and "Just What I Needed"
Experience the Six-Times-Platinum Record in Definitive Sound on
Mobile Fidelity’s UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP Box Set:
Strictly Limited to 4,000 Numbered Copies,
It Plays with Reference Definition and Presence
1/4” / 15 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe.

Among the most critically and commercially successful debuts in history, the Cars' eponymous album doubles as a greatest-hits collection. Not one song on it is widely unrecognized or unknown. Consider the list: "You're All I've Got Tonight." "Good Times Roll." "Just What I Needed." "Moving in Stereo." "My Best Friend's Girl." "Don't Cha Stop." “Bye Bye Love.” Just call The Cars the best new-wave rock album ever made. And a natural candidate for preservation on a Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step pressing.

Sourced from the original analog tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, mastered by engineer Krieg Wunderlich, and strictly limited to 4,000 numbered copies, MoFi’s UD1S 180g 45RPM 2LP box set presents the six-time platinum record in the most vivid, wide-spanning, three-dimensional sound it has enjoyed on vinyl. Compared to the label’s outstanding and out-of-print 180g 33RPM version, this collectible edition features richer textures, broader openness, greater presence, and bigger dynamics.

Benefitting from the extra groove space on 45RPM by playing with enhanced definition, deep-black backgrounds, and ultra-quiet surfaces, this reissue portrays the band’s oscillating rhythms, futuristic keyboard passages, and panned images with stunning realism. Songs take on an absolutely surreal quality. The Cars and producer Roy Thomas Baker manipulate arrangements at will to mesmerize listeners' senses. The concept of "moving in stereo” has likely never been truer.

The industry-leading packaging of the UD1S set gives fans another reason to gravitate towards the 1978 album. A deluxe slipcase, two foil-stamped jackets, faithful-to-the-original graphics, and MoFi inner sleeves make for a premium tactile experience. It invites you to immerse yourself in everything about the record, including the now-familiar cover art depicting Nataliya Medvedeva behind the wheel. Enhanced by her glistening ruby-red lips, her face flashes an expression caught between surprise, ecstasy, and disbelief — an apropos way of responding to The Cars whether you’re hearing it for the first or 1,115th time.

Introduced in 2024 into the National Recording Registry for its significance, and ranked the 353rd Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone, The Cars explodes with emotion, energy, and hooks. Its songs unite then-disparate styles: bubblegum melodies, art-rock angularity, progressive structuralism, terse minimalism, and power-pop sheen. The stylish arrangements also benefit from a laidback cool and understated irony that remain uncommon in the world of contemporary mainstream music.

Equally rare is the deep chemistry the members shared before they entered London’s AIR Studios and knocked out the record in less than a month. Benjamin Orr and Ric Ocasek began their first band together in the early ‘70s. A subsequent group with future Cars keyboardist Greg Hawke preceded Orr and Ocasek bonding further by temporarily performing as a duo. One final pre-Cars ensemble, Cap’n Swing, brought guitarist Elliot Easton into the fold. A decision by Ocasek to take the band in a rock direction, a crucial lineup shuffle, and a name change begat the Cars so many listeners know and love.

Already a going concern in Boston, the quintet cut its teeth and woodshopped songs for nearly a year and a half before signing with Elektra and partnering with Baker. The Cars enjoyed success right out of the gate, hitting No. 18 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and netting a pair of Top 40 singles in the form of “Just What I Needed” and deceptively happy “My Best Friend’s Girl.” The sarcastic “Good Times Roll” climbed to No. 41, but soon enough, almost every track on The Cars became a radio staple — an honor far more meaningful than chart positions.

Obsessed with incorporating the latest technologies and sounds into its palette, the band spiced tunes with delightful and quirky accents — country-tinged guitar fills, echoing Syndrums, reggae splashes, hard-rock tones, robotic pulses. Orr's low, nuanced deliveries and Ocasek's cool, detached vocals lend shades of doubt and double meaning to the lyrics, which are further counterbalanced by synthesizer flourishes and electronic beats.

Accessible and eccentric, edgy and catchy: The results comprise a landmark whose characters come to vivid life with nuclear boots, dry-drip gloves, ribbon-festooned coiffures, suede-blue eyes, and rock ‘n’ roll hair. It's practically impossible to avoid humming along to every song, all enhanced by Baker's stellar production. Best known for his work with Queen, he ensured the record packed a punchy midrange, opened up with instrumental and vocal separation, and breathed with airy harmonies.

Indeed, from the timeless music to the sleek production and sonic restoration, The Cars on UD1S is just what you needed.

A bad idea rarely arrives all at once, it drifts in slowly, playful at first and impossible to resist. With Bad Idea, Warsaw-based Ukrainian artist uiava delivers Groovebox’s first-ever vinyl release: a five-track journey through house and electro, balancing warmth, tension, groove, and emotion across a 12” and digital EP. Bad Idea Pt.1 opens the record with a playful and constantly evolving house cut full of unexpected turns, swinging grooves, and subtle details. Fellow Warsaw artist PayoYayo reshapes the original into a driving, tool-focused reinterpretation, hypnotic, functional, and built for the darker hours of the dancefloor. On A3, Bad Idea Pt.2 sharpens the rhythm with restless percussion, rolling movement, and stripped-back energy designed to lock bodies into motion without ever standing still. Berlin-based artist Nat Wendell opens the B-side with a timeless nine-minute reform remix of Bad Idea Pt.3. Slowly unfolding and rich in detail, his version expands on the original’s emotional message, transforming it into a patient and powerful club journey suspended somewhere between introspection and peak-time energy. Closing the release, Bad Idea Pt.3 dives into deeper emotional territory, an electro piece filled with fragile melodies, playful tension, and a strong emotional message that lingers long after the last notes have faded away.

Dam Swindle nail 2026 as the year of House music’s glorious return with their new “Call me” EP.
2026 is the year of House music. Festivals, clubs, bars and living rooms have been craving for more warmth and soul in electronic music and you know we’re here for it.

It’s only been a few months since we celebrated the 100th release on Heist with our ‘House of House’ compilation; a 19-track embodiment of everything we love about house music where label heads Dam Swindle teamed up with Detroit legend DJ Minx on their track ‘Back to the old school’. Now, landing just in time for summer, the Amsterdam duo deliver a new EP filled with dancefloor energy across 5 original cuts and vocals courtesy of British-Bengali rapper Surya Sen.

The title track ‘Call me’ is a stabby and string-heavy peak time jam, where chopped female vocals and offbeat cowbells deliver a simply irresistible groove. ‘5 to 9’ features the vocals of London rapper Surya Sen whose deep voice add an instant vibe to Dam Swindle’s deep and Detroit’esque production. This track sits somewhere between gritty dark rooms and sweaty dancefloors.
Definitely not the stuff for your 9 to 5, but with plenty of funk for your after-work pleasures. The track comes in 2 versions; the vocal mix and a longer club-dub with some cleverly chopped vocals that comes in handy for the DJ sets.

The B1 is saved for ‘I like it’. A track full of old school Swindle swing, Rhodes chords, a dash of electronics and soulful vocals chops for good measure. The EP closer is ‘A house track’; a song dedicated to the old school New York house sound and an affirmation that great house music doesn’t have to be complicated. It just needs to groove.

This one has been road-tested all year and is now ready for your listening and playing pleasure. As always, share the music and play it loud!
Yours,
Heist HQ.

Never Sleep charity tape series ends up in Thornton Heath, London for the grimiest of bedroom work outs.

Early Fruity Loops philosopher Plasticman aka Plastician teams up with fellow trailblazers DJ Suicide & N Double A crew for a prompt internet radio set of prototype Grime. Rugged, raw and filled with the occasional KAOS Pad trigger / gunfinger FX; the devilish miscreants bring the lyrical vehemence.

Broadcasting from his parents place and utilising early productions Plasticman keeps the fibre optical momentum burning with early production, laser precision polyphonic instrumentals and quantified eski.

N Double A crew have so many quotables but its a "pass the mic" affair as limited equipment fort his bedroom bedlam. L Man spits certified gold on demand whilst Narstie echoes his signature cadence, Typah goes in hard with the colder than waiting in a queue outside Plastic People flow and Uzi destroys the stream with typical flair.

A landmark moment in innovation, internet radio was a key player in the growth of Grime and Dubstep. Helping build profile, connections and galvanize the online community.

dgoHn (pronounced “John") is the moniker of John Cunnane, who hails from somewhere between London and Essex. ‘Tessares,’ his fourth album but his first for Planet Mu, is playful, unconventional drum & bass that contrasts sparse effects and melodic elements with complex drumfunk and breakcore. He often uses unusual time signatures and head-spinning polyrhythms inspired by jazz and math rock, sometimes within the same track. Somehow he makes it sound effortless, and occasionally pretty as well, keeping a fine balance that never feels punishing; exploratory without getting lost.

He's built a name for himself over the last two decades performing live at festivals and events around the world, while collaborating with fellow artists such as Macc, Nic TVG, Jodey Kendrick and Badun as well as solo releases.


The album opens with ‘Waiting For’ which combines complex breaks with melodic fills, spacey effects and dubbed out vocals that feel like snatches of lost conversations - a combination he uses throughout the album giving it an eerie touch of humanity. Lead single ‘I Couldn't Remember So I Made Something Up’ is in 15/8 time. It feels like a conventional melodic drum & bass track, but the time signature disrupts the listeners’ expectations, while the detuned melody eases its sense of dislocation. ’Whistling On A Tuesday’ opens with a light echoey piano countdown into bass stabs which introduce heavy whirling amen breakbeats that switch between 180 and 120 bpm. ’Holly Can Swim But She Doesn’t Really Like It’ is the most rhythmically challenging track here. It feels hard to hang on to as its knotty breaks play out over bell chimes, like something Autechre might make if jungle was in their DNA. The album ends on the dubbed-out drumfunk of ‘7 Years Or More,’ with an arrangement that builds a filmic, dusty atmosphere of chimes and electric guitar, layering in vocals, vinyl crackle and echoing synth giving way to tough drums, before all that is taken away so that just a voice remains.

Narthex means railed-off western portico or ante-nave in earty Christian churches for women, penitents and catechumens.

Narthex is also a trio featuring (at the beginning) Daniel Denis (Universe Zero, Art Zoyd), Alain Neffe (Pseudocode, Human Flesh, Bene Gesserit) and Nicolas de Villemarqué (Nuwage Music). They had a very different musical background, mostly electric-electronic rock, and decided to work in the field of acoustic music recorded live (two microphones + portable DAT) in churches of their area. After several recording sessions, Nicolas de Villemarqué decides to leave the group. ln order to complete the trio, Daniel Denis and Alain Neffe ask the participation of some of their friends. Anna Homler, Michel Berckmans and Daniel Malempré have accepted the challenge and succeed to fit into their musical universe.

The instruments Church organ, harmonium, sitar, saxophone, oboe, bassoon, zither, valiha, senzas, tarang, voice, percussions, metal clarinet, classical guitar, mew's harp, ongolok, violin, dulcimer, mouth organ, etc.

The music Often dark, sometimes repetitive or experimental, sometimes rhythmical and exotic, always based on emotion inducted by the sound. One could define it as dark age music (as opposite to new age music), a sort of minimal come back to the roots and purity of acoustic sound without the cultural background linked to the 'academic' use of some instruments (for example African senzas are transformed and tuned to sound like Indonesian instruments, sitar or harmonium are used as rhythmical instruments, vahilla is played with a bow).

The places Churches located in an area of 20 kms in the region where Daniel Denis and Alain Neffe live for years and where they feel at home (and feel the vibrations. Every church, place emotionally loaded, has its own specific resonance and sound structure. Every church gave to the musicians a particular inspiration and fill the sound of the instruments with a natural reverberation/echo. The place but also the moment is important. They had the privilege to be allowed to record in the Ecaussines church at night lightened only by candles. lt was one of their most productive recording sessions.

Growing up just across the water from Italy, Clint Spiteri and Madeleine Baldacchino absorbed the shimmer of Italo disco long before Deadisko took shape. Their analogue pop celebrates the past while embracing the future. “1987” melts an addictive piano house groove with clean rhythms, a sleek and smooth sound with just a hint of romance. Cat-like, “La Costa” stretches before finding its funk-filled footing. Synth stabs are ruffled, teasing rhythm patterns opening avenues for melodies to bend, curve and race. The flip is introduced with the pop opulence of “This World.” Blue undercurrents are bolstered by Sean Kamati’s emboldening vocals, his smouldering voice accompanied by daring keyboard play. Brassy tones are veiled in smoke for “Ssunrise Drive.” Mechanical reverb is offered a human touch, organic warmth breaking through to an incandescent shine. Echoes of Italy that pulsate with the rhythm of Malta.

“Beautiful. Feels like every corner has been lovingly created. Highly recommended" Jamie Cullum, BBC Radio 2

“Incredible. One of my albums of the year” Dom Servini, Jazz FM

“What a beautiful message” China Moses, Jazz FM

“Completely envelopes you” Soweto Kinch, BBC Radio 3

“An uplifting, articulate soundtrack which instils hope and uncontaminated warmth” Backseat Mafia

“Scrimshire delivers a superior example of the style thanks to his musicality and inventive imagination” Jazzwise

“He has stepped up: a stronger musician, and a braver one, with nothing here that plays as filler” UK Vibe


DJ Support: Cerys Matthews, Gilles Peterson, Gideon Coe, Zakia, Jamie Cullum, Patrick Forge, Maflada, Dom Servini, Tony Minvielle, China Moses, Yolanda Brown

Drawing on influences from Charles Stepney to David Axelrod, into expansive folk-soul and jazz from the 60s, Bring Our Light To Every Corner is a deep and enchanting masterpiece from Scrimshire.

With captivating features by Dwight Trible, Idris Rahman, Faye Houston and Indian classical legend Mahesh Kale, the album holds together a suitably diverse set of ideas in a seamless journey full of heart.

Originally released by Time Capsule in 2021 and long out of print, Stories From Another Time 1982-1988 returns in an upgraded edition following years of demand and rising collector prices on the secondhand market. Widely regarded as a modern cult classic, Mário Rui Silva’s visionary recordings blend acoustic folk, cinematic soul, spiritual jazz and saudade-filled Lusophone rhythm into a deeply timeless and universal work that transcends genre and geography.

This new edition features half-speed mastering cut at Metropolis alongside an expanded 4-page insert with a tribute essay and unseen photographs following Silva’s passing in 2024.

Double LP + 4-page insert

==========================================================

The roots of Angolan popular music explored in the meticulous guitar studies of Mário Rui Silva. For fans of Naná Vasconcelos, John Hassell’s Fourth World ambient, Eduardo Mateo’s psychedelic folk and Cameroonian electronic music visionary Francis Bebey.

Whether on mesmerising acoustic ballads or hypnotic groove-led tracks, the music of Angolan guitarist, researcher and intellectual Mário Rui Silva has a beguiling, melancholy quality, woven into the dynamics of his deft guitar playing.Rhythmically complex yet supremely effortless, the music collected here stems from three albums Mário released in Luanda in the 1980s that reflect his diverse range of influences, from traditional Angolan and West African rhythms to European jazz and classical instrumentation. It is united by a sense of low-key beauty, whether on the chugging opener ‘Kazum-zum-zum’, the jazz-funk keys of ‘Lembrança Dum Velho’, or the twinkling, late-night poly-rhythms of ‘Kizomba Kya Kisanji’.

Born in Luanda, Angola in 1953, Mário dedicated his life to Angolan popular music. His fifty-year career has seen him live between Angola and Europe, rub shoulders with Cameroonian musicians Francis Bebey and Ewanjé, record the seminal album Angola ’72 with fellow Angolan musician Bonga, and draw influence from Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell.

It was the teaching of Angolan legend and Ngola Ritmos co-founder Liceu Vieira Dias that Mário gained a technical, political and spiritual understanding of Angolan musical culture. In the hands of Liceu, the traditional Angolan semba and kazukuta rhythms of the 1940s and ‘50s helped create an emancipatory sense of national pride and collective agency that awakened its listeners to the racism and tyranny of colonial rule, underpinning the country’s push for independence in the process.

What might sound like the intonations of Brazilian influence are what Mário attributes to the “African rhythms taken by the slaves which gave rise to other musical cultures” around the globe. Instead, this music emerged from a collective instinct to assert a cosmopolitan Angolan identity free from the patronising falsehoods of Lusotropicalism.

“There was a need within me to contribute in doing new things,” Mário describes. “In the sense of solidifying the music of Angola that was the result of the meeting of two cultures, and wanting to value the Angolan part whenever possible.”A selection from Mário’s three 1980s albums, Sung’Ali (1982), Tunapenda Afrika (1985) and Koizas dum Outru Tempu (1988) have been compiled here as a 2xLP release by Time Capsule’s Sam Jacob and Kay Suzuki. Together, they provide a snapshot of one man’s journey to the core of his nation’s music, charged with the search for a culture uprooted by colonialism

The Austrian imprint Fortunea Records took a little break to fill up their batteries and comes back now this summer with a release by the Bavarian duo Decent Rides. They are around for a couple of years and are also the masterminds behind the label Interloot Records.

On the ‚Like We Do‘ EP they are your guides for a versatile house infiltrated tour. The title-track is an energetic floorfiller with modulated synth sequences and heart stomping drum patterns. Definitely the killer app on this wax.

The second track on the A-side features the tune ‚Mind Maze‘. A funky bouncing bassline, reverberant almost siren sounding tones, staccato vocal samples and high accentuated hats make you blister your feet from your high intensively dance moves.

On track B2, the duo adds further "Colours" to the record. This melancholic deep house tune exudes a beautiful, somber, and yet captivating atmosphere that is impossible to resist. This track could be very effective when played during sunrise or sundown.

And finally, they round off this release with cosmic dub sounds and shimmering chords. "Lembo" invigorates the senses. Every beat on this tech house track is an invitation to let go and feels you the pulse of the underground scene.

Go check this out!

Limited to 200 records. There will be no repress!
Mastering by Patrick Pulsinger.

LOS ANGELES—To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the celebrated Talking Heads and Jonathan Demme’s concert film Stop Making Sense, the set will be re-released as a 2LP and 2CD/Blu-ray set this summer.

Released last year, the sold-out Deluxe Edition of the soundtrack will return as a 2-LP black vinyl on Rhino and 2-LP crystal clear vinyl at retail. Both variants feature a 12-page booklet with liner notes from all four band members –Tina Weymouth, David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison—and band photos. The 2CD/Blu-ray version includes the entire 28-page booklet from last year’s Deluxe Edition and a Dolby Atmos mix of the complete concert, mixed by Jerry Harrison and E.T. Thorngren, who also mixed the original release. Both will be available on July 26. Pre-order now.

The band appeared together for a sold-out screening and Q&A last night at the Pantages Theater, the same theater at which Stop Making Sense was recorded. They were joined by Blondshell, who performed “Thank You For Sending Me an Angel.” Another special screening with the band will occur in Brooklyn at the King’s Theater on June 13, with the Q&A hosted by Questlove and The Linda Linda’s performing “Found a Job.” The two events cap off a banner year of celebrations for what many consider to be the best concert film of all time.

The inspiration for Stop Making Sense came when director Jonathan Demme saw Talking Heads perform during the band’s 1983 tour for Speaking in Tongues. Afterward, he approached them with the idea of making the show into a concert film. They agreed and worked together over the next few months to finalize the details. Ultimately, Demme filmed three shows at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater in December 1983 to create Stop Making Sense.

The concert film presents a retrospective of the band up to that point, with a performance that weaves together songs from all six of its studio albums. The show progresses methodically, opening with Byrne onstage performing “Psycho Killer” alone with a drum machine. After each song, he’s joined by a new band member until Weymouth, Frantz, and Harrison are all on stage with him. The group continues to grow throughout the concert as members of the stellar touring band are added: keyboardist Bernie Worrell, percussionist Steve Scales, guitarist Alex Weir, and backup singers Lynn Mabry and Ednah Holt.

The band performs 18 songs in Stop Making Sense, including its recent single at the time, “Burning Down The House.” That summer, the song was in heavy rotation on radio and MTV, helping the song become the band’s first top 10 hit in America. It was, however, a different song from Speaking in Tongues that was destined to deliver one of the film’s signature moments. Talking Heads would perform “Girlfriend Is Better” wearing the now iconic, oversized suit inspired by costumes worn in traditional Japanese theater. For good measure, a picture of David Byrne in the suit also graces the album cover.

Stop Making Sense focuses mainly on music by Talking Heads but does include a few songs recorded outside the band: “Genius Of Love” by Tom Tom Club, “What A Day That Was” and “Big Business” from Byrne’s 1981 album, The Catherine Wheel. Limited edition vinyl versions of both of these albums, along with Harrison’s The Red And The Black, were released for this year’s Record Store Day.

When it arrived in September 1984, Stop Making Sense was an artistic and commercial triumph. The film had people dancing in theatre aisles, and the soundtrack sold over two million copies. Just last year, the Library of Congress added Stop Making Sense to the National Film Registry in recognition of its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.

Weymouth praises Demme as a collaborator: “…Jonathan was a very enthusiastic, highly adaptive, and imaginative guy who was just as good a listener as he was a talker and collaborator. From the get-go you just got the impression he was as flexible as he was disciplined. Being team players, that boded well for a great relationship and a great film!”

Harrison says the film still holds up today: “To me, Stop Making Sense has remained relevant because the staging and lighting techniques could have been created in a much earlier time period. For example, Vari-Lights, lights with motors to re-aim them, had just come into vogue. Had we used them, there would have been a timestamp on the film, and it eventually would have felt dated...The absence of interviews, combined with the elegant and timeless lighting, created a film that can be watched over and over.”

Byrne says it’s interesting that this album was – for many people – an introduction to Talking Heads. “We had done a live album before this, but coupled with the film, and with the improved mixes and sound quality, this record reached a whole new audience. As often happens, the songs got an added energy when we performed them live and were inspired by having an audience. In many ways, these versions are more exciting than the studio recordings, so maybe that’s why a lot of folks discovered us via this record.”

Frantz recalls the sheer joy surrounding the entire Stop Making Sense experience. “I’m talking about real, conscious, transcendent joy… I’m talking about what the Southern gospel people call ‘getting happy,’ which means ‘to be filled with the Spirit.’ That is what happened to us onstage every night, and from my seat behind the drums, I recognized that this was happening to the audience too. Joy was visible in front of me and all around me every night.”