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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.’

Keith Freund’s music occupies a space where careful musicianship and homebrewed experimentation meet and shake hands. On “Window Left Open,” spacious melodies drift through dense fields of electronic activity: saxophone lines rise above buzzing circuitry, percussion flickers at the edges of the frame, and clustered glitch textures dart through the music like insects in tall summer grass. Every sound feels vividly animated, a charged part of the same mercurial ecosystem.

Freund’s talent lies in balancing warmth and unpredictability with remarkable ease. Patient motifs recall the exploratory spirit of early folktronica, while bit-reduced textures, degraded loops, and idiosyncratic synthesis techniques continually reshape the terrain beneath them. Rather than treating acoustic and electronic elements as opposing forces, Freund allows them to intermingle until distinctions dissolve, creating compositions that reward close listening while retaining immediate warmth. This record finds Freund working with a fully formed vocabulary that is truly his own, transforming glitch, melody, improvisation, and atmosphere into songs that are both fundamentally curious and disarmingly engaging.

Yassokiiba returns with two tracks of heavyweight modular dub pressure recorded in his Tokyo apartment! Fresh from last year's sell out drop, here we are treated to a progression in the unique blend of electronix + classic dub flavours. DUB 11 kicks off with upbeat chubby chords rubbing up against heavyweight bassline + FX! On the flip, DUB 15 goes a little deeper - beatless shards of metallic echoes float above rolling baselines and subtle glitch FX - the sound of MODULAR DUB NOW!

2026 Repress

Portuguese techno mainstay Dextro drops cultured EP 'Covil Dos Abutres' for his label debut on Mutual Rytm.

Dextro has been immersed in electronic music and DJing since the early 90s. In the decades since, he has become synonymous with a sound deeply rooted in simplicity and authenticity. Fuelled by a passion for his craft, his production process is guided by intuition and spans a diverse range of styles, from tunnelling grooves to more potent techno with deep and hypnotic layers. He has held several key residencies and released on top labels like CLR and Missile Records, and he adds to those with a first outing on SHDW's Mutual Rytm with 'Covil Dos Abutres'.

The five-track 12" and eight-track digital EP has a sleek, stripped-back style, with wide-spanning corners of the techno realm explored. 'Covil Dos Abutres' is a deep space transmission with journeying, frictionless beats and deft sci-fi motifs that recall classic touches synonymous with the genre's pioneers. 'Correct Incorrect' keeps the pressure on with more rubbery, dubbed-out groves beautifully decorated with delicate melodies. 'Vida E Morte' is another sublime and hypotonic minimal techno sound with funk in the kicks and a freaky late-night spirit. 'Element One' again combines perfectly reduced drum groves with atmospheric pads and curious samples that keep you intrigued, and 'Beautiful Day' closes out with sonar-like synth pulses over the most skeletal but captivating rhythms. Digital cuts 'Time Line', 'Savana Urbana', and 'Diferencas' further explore the intersection of minimalism with cosmic synth designs that take you off into distant astral worlds.

LOWERCASE sits in the darker progressive lane — trance-informed, disciplined and hard-edged. Militant pacing with low-end intent, built on pressure and control: long blends, transitions, and that slow-burn momentum that holds the floor without raising its voice.

Progressive motion with a trance backbone — patient, driving, and engineered for fully dialled-in rooms. Three tracks. No excess. Straight function: cycle.
A1 return – A ripping progressive scorcher, primed for larger-floor impact and long-form hypnosis.
B1 cause – An emotional progger: two-tone movement harmonised into break that blooms just to drop back to stride.
B2 way – Rooted in dub culture, a deep trance exploration — spacious, weighty, and quietly consuming.
All tracks written and produced by Boris Salimkhan

For some time now, followers of Field Medic have been piecing together clues about Floral Prince. The name has been mentioned in late night Twitter hints, secret YouTube leaks, teaser riddles, Instagram live sets, and standalone single drops. This unconventional approach paints a bigger picture for the 11-track project as a whole, set for release October 2nd from Run For Cover Records. Part mixtape, part album, part collection, part musical patchwork quilt, Floral Prince is the latest offering from Field Medic, aka the preeminent Bay Area freak folk artist Kevin Patrick Sullivan. It’s a reflection of his unique approach to songwriting and a creative drive that can’t be contained to the traditional album format. Field Medic’s songwriting rarely slows down; even after the release of his 2019 full-length fade into the dawn and the busy touring schedule that followed, Sullivan still found himself flush with new songs and ideas. As he attempted to earmark certain songs for his next release Sullivan began to chafe at the pressures of a follow-up album. Longing for the spontaneity of Field Medic’s earlier work, Sullivan found inspiration in what he calls the “full-time freestyle” mindset where he writes and records songs on the fly with a four-track, usually with a self-imposed limit of three takes. “This style lends itself to more off-the-cuff lyrics and recordings that communicate their point much clearer to my ears,” he explains. “It’s also fun.”

The process proved surprisingly satisfying, often capturing the diary-like nature of Sullivan’s songwriting more accurately than some of the music he’d been poring over. “The songs born from this method aren’t always ‘hits,’ he says. “But they feel much more important to me…closer to how I really feel.” Some of these charming homespun missives made their way onto the internet, spurring fans to follow the breadcrumbs towards these first glimpses into Floral Prince and the ever-expanding Field Medic mythology. “I realized the songs I was saving for another album were much less focused and effective than some of the freestyles I had been creating and subsequently leaking,” Sullivan says. “I think that’s because I really enjoyed the process of writing and recording the freestyles, whereas the ‘hits’ I was attempting to make were being approached as more of a chore.” Floral Prince officially began to see the light of day through a series of stand-alone singles released throughout early 2020 in tandem with episodes of Sullivan’s homemade webseries, the field medic show. To invite fans further into Field Medic’s unique world of achingly beautiful melodies and conversational lyricism, songs like the atmospheric ballad “better way” and the Alex Menne (pickleboy/Great Grandpa) collaboration “talkin johnny & june (your arms around me)” were shared alongside the YouTube show’s accompanying live versions. Other tracks—like rousing opener “-h-o-u-s-e-k-e-y-z-” and the longing “i want you so bad it hurts”—were repurposed from the fade into the dawn sessions to finally find a home on Floral Prince. Elsewhere “it’s so lonely being sober” exemplifies the unvarnished appeal of the full-time freestyle attitude. The song’s direct lyrics and single-take phone recording preserve the deeply personal storytelling, relatable details, and palpable emotions that make Field Medic’s work so intimate and enthralling.

Although Floral Prince is culled from several years of Field Medic songs, its 11 tracks have a sense of cohesion that can be attributed to Sullivan’s singular vision and willingness to allow the listener into his life. “These songs were written through different seasons of my life but they all share a common theme of quiet, nagging, yet somehow defiant insecurity,” he explains. “To hear them all grouped together reminds me that I’ve always felt more or less the same way, and have had the same obsessive tendencies my whole life that have often led to self-destructive behavior. Maybe this is catharsis.” In the end Floral Prince is actually many things at once: a snapshot of an artist shaking off the perceived boundaries of his medium; a document of years of Sullivan’s life preserved in musical form; the closing of one songwriting chapter and the start of another. Or perhaps as Sullivan puts it, “All songs have their day…”

The shape-shifting sound of Low End Activist continues to pivot around an axis of bassweight pressure with the launch of their self-titled label – the appropriate vessel to take them deeper into sci-fi scented sonics with an ‘ardcore swagger. Previous drops on Sneaker Social Club and Seagrave have seen the shadowy technician mangling grime, jungle and dubstep tropes with all the grit and flair of the most visionary sample sorcerers. At times, they’ve built their beatscapes up around fierce MC spots from such legends as Flowdan and Trim, but while there’s more to come on the vocal tip for the LEA series, this first installment works in a strictly instrumental fashion.

Hi-tech breakbeat de/re-construction is the focus across all three tracks on LEA001, with atmospheres so densely rendered you can feel them sticking to your skin like the sweat of a well-slicked basement session. ‘Engineers Origins’ emits pure darkcore energy and icy stabs of future-shock industrialism, while ‘Look Up’ shivers with off-key orchestrations. ‘Probability 1’ gets deep in the break edit and throws in an iconic low end rumble that should spark intense reveries amongst anyone with even a passing appreciation for bass. Like the most potent foundational jungle, all three tracks swerve regimented structure in favour of moody exploration around a suite of themes and sounds, slipping time in style and setting up the LEA series for further intense sonic treatments to come.

Siren Selector launches its mixtape series with a companion release to Remy Solar’s - ‘Heavy Terrain’ cassette.

“Jamaican music grows in rings like an old tree. From a core of early riddims, the genius of Studio One, versions of original basslines and melodies evolve over time New releases of the same tune follow each other through the 70s, 80s, 90s, into this millennium. Generations of the same family. And then there’s the unreleased versions, the frontier dubs built strictly for sound systems, held close by those who got them and only gradually circulated into the wider audience of selectors and collectors. These are the ones where the bass is heavier, the echoes more mind- bending, the effects wilder and the drums harder. Older sound followers tell stories of how these dubs defined dances, flattened opponents in clashes, inspired a dozen rewinds. Younger followers remember these tales and pass them down. These dubs are folklore.

Who knows how many such versions there are in the vast worldwide archives of Jamaican music? Not me. But as a little taster of a lifetime’s musical journey you can open your ears right now to a few moments: Lacksley’s Castell’s “Unkind”, transported from the sprightly riddim which underpinned it on his Princess Lady album and reengineered into a thunderous version of Ras Michael’s None A Jah Jah Children; “Deceivers” by the Heptones, stripped back into something simultaneously ethereal and bathyspheric; Keith Hudson’s “I’m No Fool” emerging from a pressure cooker of bass and drum; Jah Lloyd’s “Black Moses”, busting down walls with its epic echo and siren opening.

I started collecting these dubs in the late 90s. We were going to Shaka at the Rocket, Aba Shanti in the Arches, then Imperial Gardens. Entebbe somewhere off Mare Street. Iration Steppas in Kingsland Road, Jah Tubby’s in the Rec. We were doing our own parties at the time in east London, Bohemia Place, then Trenz, Dungeons, the old social services office by London Fields. Building up a sound, taking it on the road, crew sitting on the speaker boxes in the back of a Mercedes 508. Under the stars or in warehouses with sweat dripping from the ceiling, lugging crates and amps across fields or up flights of stairs, stringing up boxes under bridges, in car parks or on roundabouts. Waiting for the moment to drop the dubs.

This tape is dedicated to my crew and all the music providers and anyone who also knew or wants to know these moments.“

Fifty Physical Copies - 60 mins - No digital

Grammy award-winning titan of dance music Purple Disco Machine joins the illustrious list of Defected House Masters with a celebratory compilation. The German producer, DJ and global household name Tino Pointek, AKA Purple Disco Machine, is the blueprint for what makes a successful dance music artist in the modern age; respected on the underground scene while achieving major crossover success with remixes for the likes of Sir Elton John, Dua Lipa and Mark Ronson. The crate digging kingpin of house and disco first landed on Defected over a decade ago, and has since delivered remixes of iconic tracks like Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ and the London label’s top tracks including Shakedown’s ‘At Night’ and ‘Coma Cat’ by Tensnake – as well as striking originals like ‘Beat Fantasy’. From edits of the classics to remixes of the modern, as well as uplifting originals, Purple Disco Machine has birthed a distinct sound that is instantly recognisable, one that is not afraid to reference or not reference and is always bursting with joy. Across Defected presents House Masters: Purple Disco Machine, the full breadth of the iconic German selector’s sound is felt from the 2019 smash hit ‘Dished (Male Stripper)’ to deep cuts like his re-work of Fallout’s ‘The Morning After’ as well as remixes of legendary tracks like ‘Lola’s Theme’ by The Shapeshifters and Spiller’s ‘Groovejet’ featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Defected presents House Masters: Purple Disco Machine is here to showcase the sound of a bona fide electronic maverick in full.

Are You Alien's first vinyl missive, a compilation style affair showcasing the work of four label affiliated artists, is genuinely packed to the rafters with cuts designed to be played loud on "deep dancefloors and late-night transmissions". HearThuG kicks things off with 'Relax', a post-punk/dark disco inspired slab of early morning hedonism inspired by DFX's 'Relax Your Body' (which itself borrowed heavily from the KLF's 'What Time Is Love'), before Light Blue File charges towards darkened warehouses on the tactile tech-house/stab-happy rave fusion of 'Guante El En Mic'. Over on side B, Briki opts for squelchy acid bass, trippy vocal snippets and spacey sounds on 'Droppin The Pressure', before Ahmet Mecnun adds spoken word vocals and French Touch flourishes to a deep tech-house groove.

For its milestone 10th release, Mr. Banger drops a massive four-track EP from Boychi. These are pure late-night vinyl weapons, engineered to sustain peak-time pressure before melting the dancefloor into a haz

Let's see now – you just love that hugely fertile foundation period of Jamaican pop music from the birth of ska, through the spectacularly brief two year heyday of rocksteady up to and including the arrival of the first incarnation of reggae a.k.a. early or 'boss' reggae. But you're also aware that the pioneers of these sounds (including The Pioneers!) won't be creating music in these styles or touring forever – so what do you do?

Well, if you're Neil Anderson, owner of Original Gravity Records, the creation bit isn't a problem. You put forth period-authentic style material from a 'roster' of acts – such as Junior Dell & The D-Lites - that in reality consist mostly of yourself (you are a multi-instrumentalist and lyricist after all!) and whichever extra musicians and session singer you rope in for a given track. In the case of Junior Dell & The D-Lites that singer was Adrian Dell – soon to be dubbed (no pun intended) 'Junior' - first appearing on 2021's uptempo ska tribute to Salvadoran retro-dancing internet sensation Aranivah, entitled Miss Aranivah. And you keep putting out stuff so profusely and effectively that there are clamours for you to tour 'the band' which - er - doesn't really exist. What a botheration! Still, maybe your session singer could become – well - a permanent singer? Maybe you can rustle up assorted bredren to become the rest of the band and...you know what? That might just work!

And so, in the blink of an eye, Junior Dell & The D-Lites becomes a bona fide actual live band fronted by a young Jamaican singer playing fresh 60s/70s-style Jamaican music with an energy last seen and heard in, well, the 1960s and 70s. And it tours so effectively that there are clamours for 'the band' – or more accurately, now – the band - to release an album. Wait...what now? And, by the way, you've got a European tour coming up in April wouldn't it be great if the album was ready to tour by then? Pressure drop? Pressure rise more like!

Then again, Junior Dell & The D-Lites have done so many sure-shot singles to date that assembling them along with a new cut, an extended version of one of the singles and re-recordings of two of the label's previous singles that were originally by 'label mates' The Regulators should be a cinch. So expect all the hits: bluebeat banger 20 Flight Ska, the euphoric ska bounce of the aforementioned Miss Aranivah and the title track, a de rigueur smattering of covers (opener Jump Around, midway markers Praise You and Just Can't Get Enough, and one of the re-recordings, closer Don't Look Back In Anger), early reggae groovers Cool Right Down, Last Night Reggay, Can't Stop The Reggae (in a new extended form) and crowd-pleasing new one Mi Try along with the other Junior Dell re-recording - the gorgeous Why Why Why which nods to the period of reggae between the sound of '69 and the arrival of roots.

Don't you brag and don't you boast but that's a Whole Lotta Skankin' going on! Do the ska, do the rocksteady, do the reggay, why– it's another scorcher!

When we were thinking about making an EP for Rupture, the first few tracks happened to already be finished, and fit together really nicely - but getting that final track done ended up being a bit more of a challenge!

The vision was to convey our individual styles in collaboration as best as we could - with dance ready tracks that also carry emotion. Rum Runna, as the A1 of the EP, all started from a break we found that had one of the loudest subs cutting through. Instead of looking for something else, we decided to lean into this and maximise the energy, before finally breaking through with the 808s. Drifting Through The Mist is more of a rolling vibe, focussed on vocals and funk to lift spirits in the dance, all the while teasing an amen drop that leans into a ragga fusion.

Northwest Passage is one of the earliest tunes we got finished - being made quite soon into our first meeting I believe. The result is a darker tip that focusses on dissonance and sub pressure that really thrives in the bassbins. Our final tune on the EP, Original Secret, is the most emotionally charged on the EP, again utilising our love for unique percussion and bongo hits along with rolling breaks, carefully chopped snares, atmospheric pads and emotional vox samples.

We are more than proud to release this body of work on one of our all time favourite labels, and have had the utmost pleasure to work with the team every step of the way.

Following his debut appearance on HABITAT in 2024 with his standout ‘My Eyes Are Failing’ remix, Echonomist returns to serve up his ‘Dominator’ EP - a five-track release that captures the Greek artist’s unmistakable tension, groove, and analogue character, paired with high-caliber remixes from Fango and Toto Chiavetta. With previous releases on Innervisions, Exit Strategy, TAU, and Kompakt, Echonomist has steadily built a reputation for fusing raw emotion with forward-leaning sound design. His prolific output and effortless ability to experiment with various styles have long made him a respected figure within the global electronic landscape. Now, with his ‘Dominator’ EP, he brings that creative force back to Mind Against’s imprint in commanding form.

Opening with the title track, ‘Dominator’ immediately sets the tone: bustling energy, driving drums, and siren-like synths cut through a deep, Detroit-leaning atmosphere. ‘Modulator’ follows with a pulsing, oscillating bassline and rattling percussive breaks that coil around warped vocals. On ‘Use Your Illusions’, the pace becomes chuggier as he combines raw industrial drums with a thudding kick, dubby chords, and fizzing synths. The package is then elevated by two heavyweight reinterpretations, with Fango’s remix of ‘Dominator’ pushing the cut into a more intense, pressure-driven space, upping the ante with amplified rhythmic density. To close, Toto Chiavetta delivers an electro-laden rework, sculpting the track into a dense, atmospheric journey that prioritizes ever-evolving groove and textural depth.

Echonomist 'Dominator’ EP drops via HABITAT on 10th April 2025.

Andy Riley and Laurence Ritchie are Drop Music accomplices; the label is a natural outgrowth of yesterday's Smokescreen Soundsystem, one of the oldest and best-respected UK crews to endorse (sound-) systems thinking. In case you don't know, remember this: they were early 90s stanchions of pressure-dropping UK house heft. This rare new reissue hears their hugely in-demand classic 'Party Criminals' return to fully swung, gatecrashing mode. And boy, weren't they just. Their fourth ever Drop drop, it first surfaced in 1999 and turned instant heads for its crystalline blue inners and jacking, organic sound, not to mention a cameo from fellow duo Freaked on the A2's 'Rhythm By Nature'. But our favourite has to be 'Make Me Feel' with its soft-attack hi-hats, not tapping, more fizzing like metal leaf against the ears.

Rough Signal Records steps into 2026 with a fresh release, featuring Bristol’s young lion KaiDub, following their link-up on last year’s “Osaka to Bristol” release.

Built together in Kai Dub’s Bristol studio, this record is a straight-up expression of their shared love forUK Dub. Militant UK stepper drums and powered by Dub Kazman’s signature synth lines, forming a heavy, sound system–minded steppers tune.

Every track comes, Dub Mixed by Dub Kazman, including the ruf and tuf cut he dropped as the final tune at NO LOGO FESTIVAL last year. No frills, just heavyweight, pressure, and sound system vibes

Original Gravity Records announces a deadly new 7" from Boss Foundation, the fresh alias of producer and multi-instrumentalist Neil Anderson. Previously known as Woodfield Rd Allstars for his vintage Jamaican (predominantly instrumental) output, Anderson now moves forward under the sharper, more genre-focused name Boss Foundation—a banner that reflects the heavy, stripped-down, late-’60s Boss Reggae style at the core of his sound.

Side A: The Henchman

A tough, propulsive Boss Reggae instrumental driven by a fierce groove, The Henchman comes armed with vintage-style pistol-shot effects and a pair of unmistakable Dennis Alcapone vocal drops, giving the cut the swagger and tension of a lost 1969 sound-system special. Heavy, atmospheric, and tailor-made for selectors who favour harder-edged instrumentals.

Side B: Pressure Version

An organ-led version built on the riddim Anderson created for The Pioneers’ 2025 recording of “I Feel So Bad” (the Jackie Edwards classic). Featuring Abramo Riti on Hammond organ, Pressure Version offers a warm, melodic excursion that highlights the depth and movement of the rhythm—spacious, soulful, and crafted with the sensibilities of a classic late-’60s version cut.

Pressed in a strictly limited edition, this double-sided killer marks the official debut of Boss Foundation, signalling a powerful new chapter in Original Gravity’s ongoing commitment to era-authentic Jamaican sounds.

Back when the first white labels started floating through the hands of German, British, American and Canadian DJs in late ’84, nobody was ready for what was coming. The official drop hit in early ’85 and the scene was never the same again. This was the moment Mike Mareen broke through the static. Yeah, he’d been working with Chris Evans-Ironside since the ’70s but nothing hinted that together they’d channel something this futuristic. “Dancing In The Dark” sounded like it had slipped through a wormhole: melancholic, hypnotic vocals wrapped in vocoder haze, riding an arrangement so razor-sharp it made most releases of the era feel prehistoric. It didn’t need the pop charts… It owned the clubs. And the clubs listened.

London. Berlin. Madrid. Rome. Paris. Lisbon. Amsterdam. Athens. Toronto. NYC. Tokyo. Mexico City.

One drop of that electro bassline and DJs were hooked. Crowds were hooked. The whole underground was hooked. Soon Europe’s radio charts caved under its pressure, and the track crossed borders on mixtapes, becoming a cult anthem behind the Iron Curtain. It was everywhere, even where it technically wasn’t allowed to be.

Fast-forward four decades and the spell hasn’t faded. “Dancing In The Dark” still shows up in indie dance, italo wave, house and deep house sets. Producers keep re-editing it like it’s sacred material. It’s one of those tracks that DJs treasure, a timeless weapon, one of the top three defining singles of Mareen’s entire career.

And now for the 40th anniversary of its official release, Vintage Pleasure Boutique and Night’n Day Records drop the vinyl every collector and selector has been waiting for: a special reissue loaded with four brand-new remixes spanning the full spectrum of today’s underground indie/disco/italo/house energy.

Tallac – the American Berlin dweller – dives deep into the hypnotic soul of the original, pulling out its buried deep-house DNA and carving out a spacious, emotional roller.

Luksek, Italian producer & DJ, goes raw and dirty: loop-driven, gritty, underground, hypnotic, the kind of edit that eats dancefloors alive.

Flemming Dalum, the Danish Italo grandmaster, finally gets to remix the track he’d always dreamed of touching and of course it’s pure Flemingish electro-italo magic.

And the Polish sparkle: A.P. Mono delivers a shimmering mix of italo disco, glitterbox groove, disco glamour and synthwave glow, all while keeping the spirit of Mareen’s original heartbeat intact.

The wax also features two historical heavy-hitters: the 1985 Jens Lissat’s team remix and Luis Rodriguez’s original arrangement, essential cuts in the Mareen universe.

This release isn’t nostalgia. It’s a resurrection. A celebration. A reminder. “Dancing In The Dark” didn’t survive 40 years by accident, it survived because it still moves bodies, breaks hearts and lights up floors in ways modern tracks can only wish for.

If you’re an indie, italo, wave, house or disco DJ… This record isn’t just worth owning… It’s mandatory.

With the 7th Grade of the Riddim Dub School series, Prince Istari enters Junior High School. Prince Istari returns with his Riddim Dub School series now on 12inch, pushing deeper into the intersection of dub, drum and bass, and sound system culture. This 6-track EP, titled "lessons into drum and bass wise", explores raw rhythms, analog feedbacks, and heavy low-end pressure.
The EP starts with a Drum and Bass cut with a One Drop of the DUB ME LOOPY tune from Riddim Dub School 5th Grade. INTIMACY COORDINATOR follows with a heavy Disco Dub. The last track on Side A is LABOUR’S DUB, with deep bass polished through spring reverb. The shakers come in late and push the whole thing forward. Side B begins with GONE TOO SOON from Riddim Dub School 4th Grade, in an alternative version. It’s followed by the most upfront track on the release CONQUERING DUB – brass fanfares and a deep disco rocker beat with minimalistic arrangement. NO DUB INNA DI WRONG ends the 7th Grade with a roots way style. It suggests
that dub music doesn't belong to or support negative, corrupt, or unjust actions or spaces. Dub music stays righteous, true, or positive, and doesn’t associate with bad vibes or wrongdoing.

Repress

R&S proudly presents brand new signing Felix Manuel AKA Djrum.
Djrum is a perennially acclaimed underground artist, since his first release in 2010 who's quietly built a list of fans that reads like a who's who of contemporary dance music.
As an artist, Djrum has formed a reputation for his unique fusion of a range of genres ranging from jazz, hip hop and dubstep to ambient and techno. His music swells with oceanic bass laded beats, cavernous atmospherics and deeply emotive melodies. An accomplished DJ his compositional approach feels like a natural collage of his influences which has seen him release for the likes of the Zenker Brothers Ilian Tape imprint as well as the influential 2nd Drop label, plus remixes for Ninja Tune and Domino.
Felix now steps up to the plate at R&S with one of his most visionary releases to date. Deeply meditative melodies twist and turn through stuttering rhythms and pulsing low bass, hypnotic pads and woozy atmospherics. Manuel's music somehow manages to retains the urgency and dynamic pressure of the dance floor with the intimacy and elegant detailing of the best headphone music.
A natural fit for R&S, there is a full length Djrum album in the pipeline in 2018 - looks like it's going to be an exciting year ahead.

We Are The Robots Vol. 01 – Hypnotica Colectiva 25

Hypnotica Colectiva drops a fresh wax cut: We Are The Robots Vol. 01 — a heavyweight double vinyl release that channels the raw energy of the crew’s legendary club nights and distills 15 years of sonic exploration across electro, broken beats, and IDM textures.

Marking catalogue number HCR025, the Valencia-based imprint doubles down on its underground ethos, curating a ten-track lineup from artists deeply connected to the collective’s orbit. Each contributor brings a distinct flavor of robotic sound design.

Every track has been handpicked for its club impact, conceptual depth, and ability to resonate with the aesthetic of We Are The Robots — a party series that’s been pushing uncompromising electro since 2010. Expect a full-spectrum journey: from cerebral synth workouts to gritty analog pressure, industrial atmospheres, shadowy breaks, and raw minimalism.

Artwork come courtesy of Dani Requeni, keeping the HC Records design language sharp and functional. Steve Voidloss handles mastering duties, ensuring each groove hits with precision.

Mastered by Voidloss at Black Monolith Studio, London.
Artwork, Label art & Designs by Dani Requeni.
All rights reserved.
HC RECORDS
València, 2025.

2025 Repress


Canadian-born, London-based producer, songwriter and vocalist Chloé Raunet aka C.A.R. releases her third album, 'Crossing Prior Street', on Ransom Note Records. Full of bruised-but-ultimatelyhopeful electronic art pop, the album tells Chloe's story of escaping a broken childhood in Vancouver, and finding her way to the lonely streets of East London, at the tender age of 16.

Rick Wade drops Functional Anger EP — Detroit deep house pressure for the heads. Dusty grooves, raw swing, heavy basement heat. Strictly underground, strictly functional.

Aitcher Clark steps out from his work as one half of LOFN (Veyl, 2021) with a first solo long-player that draws a sharp line between the club and the cinema.
The 6-track LP moves with intent across ambient space, industrial techno frameworks, and restrained neoclassical harmony. It favors patience over peaks, detail over spectacle, and a narrative arc that rewards a
start-to-finish listen.
The campaign begins September 19th with the lead single “Improperly Planned Experience”, an industrialleaning cut driven by a relentless drum pattern and an eerie, immersive atmosphere. Stark and physical, it sets the tone for the album with its focus on tension, texture, and shadow rather than melody. On the same day, Clark will debut a new live and visual show at Lunchmeat Festival in Prague in collaboration with visual artist OXOO, translating the record into an immersive set where sound design and reactive visuals lock to the micro-gestures that run through the album. The performance is built around custom stems, live resampling, and dynamic lighting cues that mirror the music’s push and pull.
Across the LP, Clark threads field-recorded texture with precision drum programming and layered harmonies, avoiding predictable drops in favor of pressure that accumulates over time. The palette is cool and tactile: detuned pads, clipped low-end, and percussive details at the edge of audibility. Moments of clarity, strings, voice-like synths, negative space, arrive as structural markers rather than ornaments.
For Veyl, the album sits comfortably within a catalog that values forward motion and atmosphere, while opening a more composition-driven lane. For listeners who followed LOFN’s 2021 release, this solo debut widens the frame: less collaborative call-and-response, more solitary architecture, with the same focus on tension and timbre. The live show with OXOO extends that idea beyond the record, using visual rhythm and color to render the music’s internal logic in real time.

The Dead 60s seminal self-titled album gets a timely Deluxe edition reissue on Vinyl for its 20th Anniversary, on Deltasonic Records



“Back in the day, punk and dub weren’t just sharing space—they were smashing into each other headfirst. Late '70s Britain was a pressure cooker, and for kids like me, growing up between Brixton’s bass bins and the chaos of King’s Road, that collision was everything. Jamaican sound system culture met punk’s raw spirit in a haze of smoke, sweat, and feedback. It wasn’t about genre—it was about energy. Identity. Defiance. so when The Dead 60s came along, post-Britpop and post-bullshit, it felt like someone had dusted off the blueprint and run it through a battered old tape echo. These weren’t just lads with good taste—they understood the assignment. They took the DNA of two rebel cultures and mutated it into something that could stand tall in the 21st century. Dub-soaked, punk-fuelled, dripping with that Liverpool attitude. I remember first hearing them and thinking—yeah, here we go again. Not in a retro way, but in a real way. Guitars that cut like sirens in the night. Basslines fat and warm, straight out the Channel One playbook. Lyrics that painted the grey corners of Britain like CCTV poetry. It was the sound of youth under pressure. The sound of not fitting in—and not wanting to.

Their debut album dropped in 2005, and it hit like a flare in the dark. “Riot Radio” was a pirate broadcast from the concrete frontlines. “Control This” swaggered with menace and reverb. It was like someone opened a time capsule from the punky-reggae party and rewired it for a new generation.

Now, with this 20th anniversary vinyl reissue—complete with the full dub companion produced by Central Nervous System—we get to hear the bones and blood of it all. The dub versions pull the tracks apart and let the ghosts speak. Reverb, delay, space—it’s not just production, it’s meditation. Revolution slowed down to a heartbeat. It’s music that makes you move and think. What they’ve done here is more than remix a record—they’ve revealed its soul. That’s what dub does when it’s done right. And The Dead 60s, they got that. They weren’t tourists in the culture—they were students of it, shaped by it, and ultimately, contributors to the legacy. Liverpool’s long had a love affair with Jamaican music—you can hear it in the streets if you’re really listening. The Dead 60s tapped into that lineage, but they brought their own thing to the table. Punk's fire. Dub’s depth. Ska’s bounce. All filtered through a Northern lens and blasted out like protest graffiti. This 20th anniversary reissue ain’t about nostalgia. It’s a reminder. A celebration. A call to arms. Music like this doesn’t belong in a museum—it belongs on a system, shaking walls and waking minds. Crate diggers, completists, young punks, old heads—this one's for all of you.

So put it on and turn it up. Let the punk edge sharpen your thoughts, and the dub shake your bones ‘cos this isn’t just a reissue - it’s resistance on wax.....”

Badboy garage is the order of the night on this latest drop from the unstoppable Instinct label. It's a split EP between Isgwan and Trustee, and the offer kicks off with the low slung swagger and warped bass of 'Right Tehn' complete with gun-finger synths and nawty vocals. Trustee then steps up with some expertly crafted jungle breaks turned 2-stepping beats on 'Watch Dat' with mad low energy wobbles. His 'Shuffle N' Step' is another lip-curling and rude as you like bit of filthy garage, 'Feel Me' (feat Tanya George) is a more emotive sound thanks to the buttery r&b vocal hooks and 'Work Set' shuts down with bumping low-end pressure.

With the Scratch EP, Scottish techno powerhouse Gary Beck delivers four razor-sharp cuts that bring raw energy and dancefloor pressure to FJAAK's label CROWD. Known for his unmistakable grooves and stripped-down power, Beck presents a no-frills EP that bridges classic techno aesthetics with forward momentum. Opening with the single 'French System', the EP kicks off in full throttle. It's a propulsive roller built around tough drums, catchy synths, a female vocal leading the way and Beck's signature percussive tension. Title track 'Scratch' follows with a twitchy, angular rhythm that spirals around a fragmented vocal motif and bold machine-funk energy with tense breaks leading to ecstatic drops. On the record's flip side, 'How Do You Feel' keeps the level high, fusing jacking rhythms with a funky vocal and a Beck's heavy signature kicks. Finally, 'Eclipse' closes the EP pushing the energy into darker territories with relentless drive, its distorted pulse and industrial edge. This release marks a fierce debut on CROWD for Gary Beck - four no-nonsense weapons crafted for peak-time moments and the rawer corners of the club. A heavy-hitting addition to the label's catalog and a must-have for techno selectors with a taste for precision and punch.

Bodhi, the Cardiff-based production team, return to Hotflush Recordings with a follow-up to last year’s standout Laurus Ascending extended play.

Having emerged in 2012 with a slew of breathlessly-received edits and subsequent releases on labels including Future Classic and Rinse, the pair took a 4-year hiatus in 2017, returning with an invigorated sound in 2022. Recent releases on Hotflush and dh2 have brought the duo back to the forefront of the UK’s cutting edge music scene.

‘Corrupta’ is six tracks of bass-inflected, garage-influenced beat science. Opener ‘dwndwn’ sets the stage with a genuine wtf beat-drop moment. That vibe is continued on the shuffling ‘Silian Rail’.

Dancefloor smasher ‘Okinobi’ is a hat-tip to the recent Speed Garage revival, while T.O.P. is a classic slice of 2-step bassline pressure. Bodhi’s techno influences are also present with electro breaks hybrid of ‘Without You’ and the 8am Berghain vibes of ‘Bellcurve’.

This is another long-form statement of intent from some of the most inventive club producers in the game right now.

Support from Jamie xx, Lee Gamble, I.Jordan, dBridge, Machinedrum, DJ Haus +++

With the 7th Grade of the Riddim Dub School series, Prince Istari enters
Junior High School. Prince Istari returns with his Riddim Dub School
series now on 12inch, pushing deeper into the intersection of dub, drum
and bass, and sound system culture. This 6-track EP, titled "lessons
into drum and bass wise", explores raw rhythms, analog feedbacks, and
heavy low-end pressure.

The EP starts with a Drum and Bass cut with a One Drop of the DUB ME
LOOPY tune from Riddim Dub School 5th Grade. INTIMACY COORDINATOR
follows with a heavy Disco Dub. The last track on Side A is LABOUR’S
DUB, with deep bass polished through spring reverb. The shakers come in
late and push the whole thing forward. Side B begins with GONE TOO SOON
from Riddim Dub School 4th Grade, in an alternative version. It’s
followed by the most upfront track on the release CONQUERING DUB – brass
fanfares and a deep disco rocker beat with minimalistic arrangement. NO
DUB INNA DI WRONG ends the 7th Grade with a roots way style. It suggests
that dub music doesn't belong to or support negative, corrupt, or unjust
actions or spaces. Dub music stays righteous, true, or positive, and
doesn’t associate with bad vibes or wrongdoing.

The Jamaican musical group The Maytals can be considered as one of the best known and most important ska and rocksteady groups of all time. Frontman Toots Hibbert penned an impressive catalogue of songs during his time in jail, and after his release he reunited with his bandmates and entered the studio with the brilliant producer Leslie Kong. Some of the great tracks he recorded during that time are included on this record, like “Monkey Man” (covered by the legendary Amy Winehouse) and “Pressure Drop”. The quality and great energy of this band is very well represented on this release.

Rigby On The Run drops Rug Rally on Vienna's Studio Bahöö, blending UKG grooves, grainy breakbeat, and off-grid soundsystem experimentation. Built on instinct and late-night energy, the tracks lurch, glide, and hum with low-end pressure and emotional weight. No face, no origin story-just raw motion and mood.

Sneaker Social Club welcome a veritable supergroup of bass heavyweights in the form of Legion. Made up of Trends, Boylan, P Jam and D.O.K., this four strong collective first came to light with the We Are Many 12" on Artikal Music in 2021, and now they regroup for another four-strong payload of soundsystem pressure that embraces the darkness in devastating fashion.

The Sister Abigail EP leads with 'Rastaman', an ice-cold half-step drop that summons the spirit of early dubstep in its raw minimalism, eerie atmospherics and snarling low-end wobble. Without an ounce of fat, it's a lean workout of drums and bass that finds catharsis in simplicity without compromising on high definition detail. 'Souls' locks into a jerky groove to set the dance off at acute angles, nudging the textures up a notch without disturbing the spartan mood of the release. 'Sister Abigail' pushes the underlying malevolence of the Legion sound to the forefront with dissonant sheet-metal tones while packing the rhythm section into a tight, vicious formation of gnashing, chrome-plated teeth. 'Play That Vibe' seals the deal on the EP with a hard-thumping, propulsive groove that calls to mind the techy development of dubstep in the 2010s — a taut, tracky throwdown to keep the intensity on a rolling boil.

Drawing on the grounding principles of OG dubstep with a sharp line in crisp, modernist production and a ruthless economy of arrangement on display, Legion prove many cooks can still result in a potent, brutally focused broth.

Spectral Bounce’s fifth instalment comes courtesy of L.A.’s rave archivist and dancefloor operative Dreams, A.K.A. Jesse Pimenta. Throughout his decade-long career the California native has inspected, dissected and concocted all manner of dance musics, leaving his mark with drops on Apron Records, Pinkman, BANK NYC and his own imprint Dance Data. On SPEC05 — Dangerous When Wet — he hijacks the synapses with 4 accomplished productions, plotting a high BPM course through manifold styles using the raw aesthetic that characterises his output.

“Losing Control” is a frenetic dancefloor invitation, immediately locking into a pacing groove. Beneath wild hand drums, Dreams plays with an insistent 303 bassline alternating between rasping buzz and oily squelch, while stern vocals are layered on top of breaks that have been processed to a viscerally satisfying end.

Taking things from delirious dance circle to underwater biosphere, the EP’s eponymous track explores a submerged 1980s Miami. Weighty & enveloping, “Dangerous When Wet” is pure aquatic pop-n-lock — hydraulic electro for a drowned world. Ocean floor caustics are transmuted into auditory form: arpeggios bubble up; drones shimmer mystically; hi-hats hiss like air from an open valve. Amongst the sonar bleeps, a barrage of pummeling low-end is sure to give subwoofers a workout.

“XTC Messenger” delivers an infectious paranoid dispatch, astutely balancing the sensual with the deranged. A slow-mo dial tone unfolds languidly, running counter to nervously twitching high frequencies. Its punchy percussion is tuned for maximum dopamine release; the track’s abrupt vocal chops and mechanical kick-snare pulsation evoke the leather jackets and jagged edges of 1980s industrial discotheque.

“Pressure Points” closes the EP on a heady and mesmerising polymetric trip. The parting track is a lithe yet spacious number, propelled by a rattling break. Here Dreams follows from track 2, creating an immersive environment in which sounds tightly twist and twirl. Shifting oscillators call out like tiny creatures as the bass throbs and wriggles further into your brain, long after the needle hits the runout groove.

Berlin-based French-Irish multimedia artist Zoe Mc Pherson levels up on their third full-length "Pitch Blender", mangling years of experience DJing and performing live into a tight set of cybernetic soundsystem experiments that flicker between the rave and the art space.

Cast your mind back to February 2020 for a moment, when Mc Pherson released their last album "States of Fugue". The world seemed less tangled somehow, and yet Mc Pherson's precision-engineered fusion of exploratory sound design and visceral club pressure seemed to hint at a cataclysmic event none of us were really expecting. Only a few weeks after its release the world changed forever, and the majority of us were grounded - forced to consider our lives and the movement (or lack thereof) surrounding us. The philosophy of this extended time period is welded into the bones of "Pitch Blender", Mc Pherson's supple third album. They have learned plenty in the last two years, and infuse all of that anxiety and spiky emotionality into a spread of tracks that sound as powerful in headphones as they do over a well-tweaked soundsystem, soldering vocals, environmental recordings and instrumental flourishes to unpredictably pneumatic, cybernetic beats.

Anyone that's caught one of Mc Pherson's energetic live performances over the last few months will have an idea of what "Pitch Blender" is made of. They're an artist who's somehow able to match the raw energy of post-punk and no-wave music with the brain-altering potential of the best experimental club tracks, vocalizing an incongruous post-lockdown reality over beats that sound as if they're in a permanent state of flux. 'On Fire' splutters to life in a frenetic patter of drums that blur into oddly soothing hoover sounds, snaking lysergically towards a drop that's teased constantly, and never comes. We're forced to wait until 'The Spark' for that, fighting through choppy, pitch-mangled guitar and rolling beats until a gruesome kick drum forces its way through the psilocybin mists and heaving Bristol-inspired bass clonks. Backed up with just the inverted traces of recognizable breaks, this vigorous pulse lies at the heart of "Pitch Blender", the driving force that powers Mc Pherson's sound even when it's only hinted at.

'Blender' is the moment where Mc Pherson show their full hand, using crackling sound effects, ghost vocals and uneven rhythms to build a textural landscape that's so evocative you can almost taste it. Squealing modular synth effects sound like gameshow buzzers being triggered in another dimension and propel the track forward - it's club music, just about, but Mc Pherson's motivation is world-building, and their world is colorful, abstract, and dizzyingly surreal. "Obsolete user," their voice echoes over driving airlock kicks. But they take a swift left turn with 'Lamella', reducing the kinetic club rhythms to a longing simmer and letting loose with powerful vocals, intoning with robotic, gender-fluxed intensity. On 'Wait', New York City's clacking crosswalk signal - already an effective club track on its own - is transformed into a reminder to slow down, juxtaposed with booming sub-heavy kicks, acidic synths and effervescent percussion that rattles in time with the vibrations. It's foley rave, built for pure psychedelic intensity to blur the line between real life and sonic fiction.

One of the album's most galvanic tracks, 'Power Dynamics' curves a double-time rhythm around breathless HQ sound design squiggles until it hits a polyrhythmic crescendo, striking a queasy balance between rave hedonism and ritualistic hand drum energy. It all builds towards eerie closing track 'Outside' that acts as an important wind down, spotlighting Mc Pherson's ability to operate outside of the rhythmic spectrum, using cinematic scrapes and flickering neon synths to create music that's tense but never terrifying. The track feels like the end credits of a particularly bewildering movie - something between the cyberpunk dystopia of "Ghost in the Shell" and the vivid, sky-scraping beauty of "Koyaanisqatsi". Mc Pherson has managed something special with "Pitch Blender": mashing together genres with rare focus, and sharpening their engineering skills to a fine point, they've concocted an antidote to contemporary malaise - a wakeup call that's begging us to loosen our limbs and move.

A next salvo of big people dubwise out of the ITAL COUNSELOR stable comes on this, the label’s first foray into the 7” format.

This relick of the legendary Black Brothers 1970s dub plate is perfectly crafted for dropping at the deepest of sound system sessions or right on your home hi-fi for some front room skanking. This is in no small part due to the pedigree of artists who contributed to its creation.

Hughie Izachaar first started in the reggae business as part of obscure UK band, Black Brothers, during the heady days of the late 70s and early 80s. Only known to have recorded two legendary dub plates, the band never committed their music to plastic. A multi-instrumentalist versed in the art of playing the melodica and guitar as well as singing, Izachaar went on to join the band, The Original Rockers, with whom he recorded the underground classic, “Mountain Rock.” Into the 90s and through the 2000s he has been heard across a number of 7”, 10”s, 12”s, and LPs on labels such as Reggae on Top, Jah Warrior, Inner Sanctuary, and King Earthquake.

On this release, he is reunited with the equally esteemed Jah Warrior who was responsible for Hughie’s high water mark showcase, “Can’t Take the Pressure” in 1998. Jah Warrior’s usual hard and strident steppers vibrations are in attendance here.

Uniquely, this 7” represents the first time Hughie and Jah Warrior have been combined with the third ingredient in this musical stew. Another long-time music industry journey man, Gil “Tuff Scout” Cang, augments the sound with additional production and remixing. A veteran of Studio One, Riz Records, and Tuff Scout, not to mention innumerable soul, acid jazz, and pop productions, Gil adds that “little way different” touch that has become a defining character of ITAL COUNSELOR productions.

As the saying goes: If you don’t know, get to know. Neither your ears, your skanking feet, or your soul will be disappointed!

RAWAX proudly welcomes Matthieu Faubourg to the Family!

We are very happy to present you his first record for us on HOUSEWAX.

This superb release will be out early September.

Maverick UK producer Kevin Richard Martin (Zonal / Techno Animal / King Midas Sound) joins Relapse for the release of his devastating new double album Machine, his first solo instrumental record as THE BUG.

Machine started life as a series of self-released "floor weapons" (to use Martin’s description), landing in installments between 2023 and 2024 on the Bandcamp page of Martin’s own PRESSURE label. And now - always his intention - Martin has collated a single, powerful, unified statement from those EPs. The album detonates apocalyptic dread-tech mutations of crushing intensity, fusing a unique new strain of futuristic dub with deadly deep electronics and killer bass riffs worthy of the heaviest metal. It is, writes Martin, “ice cold and dystopian.” It celebrates “atmospheric pressure, and the joy of full body assaults, via oversized sound systems in undersized club rooms.” Machine also represents the latest metamorphosis of the "Macro Dub Infection" philosophy Martin germinated with the groundbreaking series of compilations he began curating for Virgin Records as early as the mid 90’s.

Aesthetically, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat hates to tread water. At the same time, the Baltimore-based two-piece of vocalist Ed Schrader and bassist Devlin Rice won’t force their songs to fit a preconceived style. “The next album’s always gotta be different from the last one. We’re different people from record to record. So, writing authentically to ourselves will always bring our work to a place that we haven’t been to yet,” Rice said. Schrader added, “We’re terrified of turning into AC/DC. We never want to be married to one scene or time or sound. We want to be the Boba Fett of bands! Constantly altering the way in which we make records has been pretty key in that process.”
For Orchestra Hits, the band’s latest, that alteration was welcoming longtime musical comrade Dylan Going into the fold as a co-writer and co-producer. A songwriter in his own right, a guitar sideman for ESMB on their last two tours, and a collaborator with Rice in the noise riffage band Mandate, Going had both a unique vision and an intimate familiarity with the ESMB vibe.
“Dylan came to every show we’ve ever played in New York—no matter how weird it was,” Schrader said. “He’d be standing there ready to move an amp or feed us barbecued cactus after the gig and toss on some Golden Girls so we could decompress. It felt like family as soon as we began working, but I honestly had no idea how damn good he was at tossing out these hooks.”
According to Schrader, the songs “just poured out of us” over the course of a highly caffeinated three-day weekend in a tiny room in Devlin’s house while his cat, Sandy Goose, screamed continually. “It was like three kids hiding from the world to get into some lovely mischief,” they said. The lack of external pressure in the process gives Orchestra Hits an almost paradoxical vibe. For all of the album’s layers, that mix live and sequenced instruments, it never loses the raw energy of a small handful of friends in the same room plugging in, cranking up, and playing until they pass out.
Lyrically, the album finds Schrader, now 45, meditating on experiences in their youth to make sense of the present moment. “We are not into the garden,” Schrader wails on the relentless “Roman Candle,” a song about the sad debacle of Woodstock ’99, and a direct response to Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock,” a utopian ode to hippie idealism. A 19-year-old Schrader, having snuck into Woodstock ’99 through a hole in the fence, was there the night members of the crowd used candles intended for a vigil for victims of the Columbine High School massacre to set fires all over the grounds. Even before the fires, Schrader remembered feeling disconnected from the music, the nostalgic cash grab, and the meatheads in the crowd. After watching a press tower collapse, they boarded a random shuttle bus and were dropped off near a Denny’s. “It was a far cry from the Garden of Eden,” Schrader said. “That experience defined what I didn’t want to be a part of, and yet America is more like Woodstock ’99 than ever.”
With percolating synthesizer arpeggios, and climbing bass grooves, “IDKS” is the album’s dance-floor slapper. “’IDKS’ is a funny one,” Schrader said. “We already had a pretty satisfying suite of songs when Dylan was packing up to head back to New York, but he missed the train because of a freak snowstorm. Realizing he’d be stuck in town another day, he says to me, ‘Here’s this other weird thing I have.’ It was ‘IDKS.’ The hooks were so good I felt like Homer Simpson at a free donut convention. I just dove right in, and we cranked that baby out in like 20 minutes.”
Lyrically, “IDKS” is a letter from the true self to public-facing self. “It’s an angry song,” Schrader said. “Because the public-facing self is always looking for an easy escape, but it forces the true self into a cage. I honestly thought my lyrics were corny and was about to change them, but Dylan was digging it just the way it was. So that’s what you hear.”
With the soaring “Daylight Commander,” the band went against all of their musty-basement-bred instincts. “I went full High School Musical with the vocals,” Schrader said. “At first it felt almost embarrassing, but I remember reading somewhere that Bowie recommended always floating a little bit above your comfort zone, and that’s what we did here.” The song is part exercise in absurdity and part pop Trojan horse. “If ever we had a ‘Shiny Happy People’ moment, I guess this is it,” Schrader said.

The unstoppable production powerhouse that is Paul Woolford aka Special Request is back with another of his frankly ridiculous run of releases. Never one to just drop a single tune, this year he has several albums on the way off the back of his superb re-imagining of the KLF's cult 'What Time Is Love?' and this Portals Box Set Project is one of them. It is a multi-part collection that "uses today's modern technology to bring you the sound of tomorrow" and each limited edition 12" comes with its own custom artwork by Nic Hamilton. As you should expect, these are all utterly monstrous bangers and this first part has the high-pressure techno bounce of 'Hectic' and 'Pure Potential' to welcome you to the Portal.

Lock on for a legit excursion into 140 realness as Sneaker Social Club welcomes Silas into the fold. The breakthrough Oxford beatsmith has been on the bubble-up for a minute, facing off with the likes of Trends and Boylan on Mean Streets, remixing PRAGA and throwing down for repeat appearances on Rinse and elsewhere.

The sound Silas pushes on the ‘Wot’ EP - his debut solo 12” no less - is steeped in the original dank pressure of OG grime and dubstep, where moodiness and minimalism create the perfect storm for all-consuming soundsystem immersion. There’s a wavey swing to ‘Know Yourself’ which contrasts with the strict, claustrophobic drive of ‘Wot’. ‘Ubuntu’ on the flip teases an evocative sound world just past the edge of the mix, but manages to hold down the stripped back approach on a skippy 4/4 rhythm which nudges garage into a kind of tech-house-funky amalgamation. ‘Make It Happen’ offers yet another subtle slant on Silas’ style, crooked and gritty but still executed with
an unrelenting, austere focus.

Consider this an essential pin dropped on forward-leaning bassweight sounds which carry the torch for grime and dubstep’s ice-cold origins, maintaining maximum presence without even a whiff of derivative wobble.