Fuse co-founder Enzo Siragusa steps up for productions duties once more with his Hard Steppers EP.
Flexin kicks things off with a pared down groover of a track simplicity is the key here, all the elements combining beautifully for a deadly hypnotic head nodder.
Jump Up once again harnesses Enzo's Jungalist past with a typical rave-inflected, monstrous b-line underpinning the brisk percussive nature of the track, a real treat for lovers of the black wax as the track is strictly VINYL ONLY.
Zed Bias (aka Maddslinky) is a pioneering producer and DJ whose influence has helped shape UK Garage, 2-Step, Broken Beat and UK Funky.
This release marks the first in a new archival series, opening the Biasonic vaults to showcase rare and essential recordings spanning multiple genres and decades of groundbreaking music.
With a strictly limited pressing, this is a must-have for collectors and fans alike, best to secure your copy fast!
Dal Platinum returns to the Toxic Funk series with another double-sided serving of funky breakbeat gold, once again proving why he remains one of the most creative beat craftsmen in the global Nu Funk scene. Following up on his previous Toxic Funk outing, the Danish groove specialist delivers two fresh cuts packed with soulful samples, neck-snapping drums and irresistible dancefloor flavor.
Leading the charge on the A-side, Shave the Lords blends tight funk breaks, slick edits and classic party-rocking energy into a heavyweight groove designed for DJs and crate diggers alike. Flip the vinyl over and Good Shines takes things deeper with infectious basslines, uplifting vibes and a raw funky swagger that perfectly captures the spirit of the Toxic Funk series. Both tracks carry Dal Platinum’s unmistakable signature style — playful, soulful and built to move crowds.
This 7” release marks yet another essential chapter in the Toxic Funk legacy, delivering timeless grooves for funk lovers, breakbeat heads and vinyl collectors around the world. Toxic Funk Vol. 22 is ready to bring the heat straight to your turntable — so don’t sleep on this limited 45 before it disappears into the crates of DJs worldwide!
Hectic urban grooves with subtle hints of city pop, Japanese psychedelic techno, & dream house all infuse this EP with an exciting phosphorescence across its varied moods. The title track is a majestic, lumbering synth odyssey - think M83 or Prins Thomas on their way home. By contrast, Hagstrom Funk maintains the colorful atmosphere but dials up the frenetic energy into a bubbling boogie. On the flip, legend of the Balearic sound Eddie C unwinds the beat into an almost drunken lope - massaging the majesty of the original into a twisted and cheeky trip. Memorable work, all round
Around 1970, musician, music producer, and entrepreneur Fernando Arias founded the record label Discos Fernando Arias (Difa) in Lima, the capital of Peru. This label was crucial for the musical production, promotion, dissemination, and development of Peruvian tropical music; more specifically, the so-called “carretero style”, so named because it was rooted in the famous Central Highway (Carretera Central) of Peru, which crosses the country from west to east, from the coast to the jungle, through the Andes mountain range. This style is defined by sudden changes from ballad to fast and aggressive tropical music, with electric guitar lines drenched in fuzztone, reverb, and wah-wah. To this must be added the plaintive, melancholic vocal style characteristic of Andean Peruvian music.
20:20 Vision has been defining the house underground for decades now, and much of its earlier material remains as revealing as its newer output. A case in point is this reissue of the rare Echo Beach release. Founder Ralph Lawson and his old pal Carl Finlow's recordings from The Farm in the Rhubarb Triangle retain a warmth and analogue weight that contemporary production struggles to replicate - all hands-on-deck live passes through drum machines, synths and outboard desks, the process audible in every groove. The discovery of unreleased cut 'Blues Dimensions', which was rescued from corrupted DATs, is the real find here: rasping Moog bass, P-Funk refrain and heavy Rhodes that sounds anything but archival. Top drawer excavation.
Big heart US deep house figurehead Chez Damier has opened his studio up to new school collaborators once again, with Italy's Nico Lahs and Adeen chief Camille getting back to work on a new series of tunes inspired by jazz-fusion and the sounds broadcast on legendary radio station WJZZ. 'Dragon Breath' opens with tense rhythmic interplay and expressive horns and vibraphones, while 'Tunita' offers shimmering rhythms. 'Third World Wave' is a busy broken beat with weighty kicks and brilliantly loose percussion all run through with off-kilter horns. The 12" expands the palette, from the lighter touch of 'Haiku' to the driving force of 'Bullet Train'. Another majestic collaboration.
Secrets Of Sound slip into electronic erotica with this new and steamy compilation of after-hours disco and sexually charged sounds. Both originals and tasteful reinterpretations of classic tunes from Kylie Minogue, Amanda Lear, La Tour and Enigma feature on this most intimate collection. There is blissed out depth from Ed Temple, Italo melodic flair from Lipelis and sultry vocal allure on System Olympia's 'Signal Your Love.' Elsewhere, Jorja Chalmers casts you adrift on a new age Balearic life raft and Gareth Anton Averill & Sobrenadar closes with the shimmering 80s nostalgia of 'Paris.' Steamy indeed.
Damage Code is the result of the convergence of two long-standing figures from the underground industrial and EBM scene: Carlos Grabstein (89s✝) and Ben Bunzen (Hammershøi). Released in partnership with Miseria records, their first collaboration unfolds through proto-industrial sequences, oppressive atmospheres, repetitive structures, and distorted transmissions, all wrapped in body-driven percussion that pulls the listener into a controlled state of sensory overload. Harsh yet precise, ritualistic yet futuristic, the record advances with relentless intensity while maintaining a raw, physical energy throughout. Somewhere between the diseased electronics of Front Line Assembly and the primitive industrial tension of Esplendor Geométrico, Digital Slave channels a sound that is both confrontational and hypnotic. With “Digital Slave”, Damage Code opens a new portal into industrial body music: dense, punishing, and engineered to trap the mind inside its circuitry. Presented in ONE-OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid BLACK vinyl. All tracks have been specially remastered and mastered for vinyl by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studios (Germany).
Brighter Discs opens with its first release from label founders Kamma & Masalo. Born out of Brighter Days, the duo’s long running party series since 2014. A colourful get together where generations mix freely, DJ legends share space with new voices, and the dancefloor is treated as common ground. Brighter Discs carries this same spirit into recorded form, a natural continuation following the Brighter Days compilation previously released on Rush Hour.
Brighter Discs starts things off with ‘Can’t Fake The Feeling’, built around the original vocal by Renee Mohannon, taken from the 1989 release produced by house music pioneer Joe Smooth. The vocal is fully cleared and officially licensed, with everything surrounding it newly written and produced, resulting in a club track that honours the emotional core of the original vocal while giving it new space to shine.
The ‘Club Mix’ unfolds with immediate lift, a classic yet upfront house energy carried by Kamma & Masalo’s elevating instrumentation moving in lockstep with Renee Mohannon’s vocal. A pure club track celebrating dance music to the fullest.
On the flip you will find K&M’s ‘Unity Dub’, a darker, percussion driven workout that strips things back and presents the track in a different light. A twilight version that highlights the duo’s versatility and deep dancefloor understanding.
Kamma & Masalo have tested both cuts extensively while touring, from sun soaked festival stages to esoteric club spaces. Each version has been shaped in real rooms and refined on the road, ensuring the tracks are heard in their best possible form.
All produced with care and free-spirited party energy, Brighter Discs 001 marks the beginning!
Back to the golden nights of zouk clubs, where hip-hop, kompa, zouk and Caribbean grooves ruled the dance- floor. This selection documents a pivotal moment : a time when zouk was still not a fixed genre, but more a place, an atmosphere, somewhere people went to dance. It captures the spirit of an era: its creative effervescence, musical freedom, and the diversity of artists who shaped it. The very concept of “Kaz A Zouk” perfectly encapsulates this idea: a space where all styles could meet.
Music From Memory presents 'Mood Programs – Extended Play', a two-track release by LA MARR, a new project conceived by Ron Trent. Representing the first in an ongoing series of releases on Music From Memory, ‘Mood Programs - Extended Play’ opens a new chapter within Trent’s deep and continually evolving body of work, rooted in mood-driven composition, spatial depth and the emotional resonance of sound within physical space.
Influenced by ambient and environmental music, New Age, dub traditions, New Wave, Krautrock and HiFi sound system culture, LA MARR reflects many of the formative ideas that informed Trent’s evolving approach to sound and sonic architecture from the early 1980s onward. Rather than revisiting these influences nostalgically, the project recontextualises them through a contemporary production language, balancing analog warmth with precision and spatial depth.
Developed through years of sonic experimentation and research into the physical and psychological qualities of sound, LA MARR extends Ron Trent’s long-standing interest in the relationship between rhythm, acoustics and human connection. Built through a combination of analog processes and contemporary computer-assisted production, the project explores warmth, resonance, depth and sonic clarity through carefully sculpted environments of tone and texture.
Gently unfolding within a spacious, ambient-leaning framework, 'Mood Programs – Extended Play' moves beyond passive background listening toward something more intentional and immersive. Across both tracks, ‘Good Magic’ and ‘Clear’, layers of hypnotic synthesizer arpeggios and gently floating pads gradually unfold alongside organic percussion and subtle low-end movement, creating compositions that feel simultaneously meditative, physical and emotionally responsive. Sound is treated not simply as musical information, but as an environmental force capable of shaping perception, mood and awareness within a room.
'Mood Programs – Extended Play' will be released digitally and on vinyl through Music From Memory on July 15th. Sleeve art and design by Michael Willis.
Key To World Peace is the third release by Prophetic Justice Ministry - aka Australian musician Sam Perry. An atmospheric, cinematic album that belies a striking pop songwriting nous at its core, its conductor Prophetic Justice Ministry is at the centre of a new wave of creative, rule-bending Melbourne artists. Romantic, smudged and hazy, Perry emerges from behind a wall of
half-light with a clutch of earworms and affecting emotions.
Recorded in home studios in Belgrade (Serbia), Christchurch (New Zealand) and Melbourne (Australia) over the course of three years, Key To World Peace offers a dichotomy in approach. Shifting on a dime between ambient, filmic washes of sound and more traditional song structures, the approach feels natural, casually acid-tipped and emotionally revealing. While Perry’s
distinctive keys and production melding with melody is evidenced in Melbourne group Who Cares?, as Prophetic Justice Ministry there’s a heightened sense of mystery and space being used.
Swirling in a psychedelic fog with dry iced chords falling down like melting stars, the album pulses with an ominous, distorted intro that sculpts air into blocks of sound before Psyop offers a glimpse through the gloom at the artist navigating through crushed, shoe-gazing chords, singing a consolation into an abandoned building. Side A’s more abstract tone veers from industrial tracks (T-A) to pastoral, impressionistic pieces (Trance) before album highlight Life’s A Party showcases the effortless, classic songwriting lurking in Prophetic Justice Ministry. Built on the tension between the upbeat lyrics and suppressed, rich delivery, the song lopes on an alluring loop with acoustic guitars and Perry’s voice walking a tightrope between irony and sincerity. The song blooms into a bright burst of light, almost inducing synesthesia in the listener and reminding a little of The Beta Band’s most outre and catchy moments.
Opening Side B, Naked Shine’s scintillating guitar is punctuated by a sub bass swell that offsets the yearning vocal performance. With palpable sensitivity the song is shepherded into short, atmospheric passages before Love Drum’s direct delivery: Perry’s vocal and guitar, dancing over a hint of distortion feels like Syd Barrett at his most casually brilliant. Carrying on the tradition of a single cover on every Prophetic Justice Ministry release, here Lana Del Rey’s Mariner’s Apartment Complex is given a stripped back but faithful treatment. With a sound that feels like a hushed, Chris Isaak classic it’s testament to Perry’s own compositions that the cover doesn’t outshine the rest of the album. Album closer and single Spirit House Party combines a classic chord progression with Perry’s double-tracked vocal into a murky but brilliantly catchy chorus. While nowhere near as lush in its production, there’s something in the atmosphere of Prophetic Justice Ministry’s vocal sitting in the mix just so that reminds us of The Electric Prunes’ Holy Are You-era work with David Axelrod.
Key To World Peace flits between displaying a spectrum of blurred emotional resonance in its instrumental passages and vulnerability in the shape of raw, melodic songwriting. With his first release outside of Australia and vinyl debut, Sam Perry’s Prophetic Justice Ministry is a beguiling dance in and out shadows.
Two years after Return of the Boom Bap, KRS-One returned with his self-titled second solo album and again enlisted the beat-making excellence of DJ Premier as well as Showbiz, Diamond D and others behind the boards. Lead single 'MC's Act Like They Don't Know' is a stone cold classic that still gets heavy rotation and exemplifies One's lyrical heft. It is backed up by gems like 'Represent The Real Hip-Hop' featuring Das EFX, while Premier strikes again on the state-of-hip-hop anthem 'Rappers R. N. Dainja,' and 'De Automatic' delivers straight boom bap alongside Fat Joe. Political and social commentary runs deep on 'R.E.A.L.I.TY.' and 'Free Mumia' with Channel Live, while 'Wannabemceez' with Mad Lion keeps the sucker-MC disses coming.
Synaptic Cliffs proudly welcomes Annie Hall for her label debut. With the Future Sports EP, she once again expands the boundaries between machine funk, speculative sound design, and forward-thinking club music. Delivering her signature fusion of IDM, electro, fractured breakbeats and experimental electronics, she sculpts a metallic, high-definition vision that feels as though it has been transmitted directly from centuries ahead.
Future Sports imagines the sonic landscape of sport in the year 3024. In a future where society has paradoxically stripped itself back to the essentials, aesthetics have returned to the elegance and restraint of the 18th and 19th centuries. Amid this cultural shift, fencing has emerged as the defining global sport, elevated from historical discipline to mass obsession.
Throughout the EP, the sounds of these future arenas become musical raw material: the sharp clash of advanced foils, the resonant impact of engineered protective gear, the tension of ritualized competition, and fragments of other, unnamed sports from a distant age. Annie Hall transforms these imagined athletic acoustics into intricate rhythmic structures and futuristic melodies, allowing the machinery and choreography of competition to shape the record's sonic identity.
The result is a vivid soundtrack to a world yet to come - precise, kinetic, and unmistakably futuristic, where sport, technology and sound merge into a singular vision. Future Sports is both a speculative narrative and a club-ready statement from one of electronic music's most distinctive voices.
As a special bonus, the EP features an animated picture label. When played at 45 RPM and viewed under a stroboscopic light operating at 9 Hz, the artwork comes alive, revealing a hidden motion sequence. Blurring the boundaries between sound, design and optical illusion, this kinetic visual layer extends the EP's futuristic narrative into the physical realm, transforming the record itself into an artifact from the year 3024.
Younger Than Me announces his debut full length "The Golden Age Of Love", to be released on 90's Wax this coming March 2024. The record is the perfect example of the breadth of his irrepressible and unique sound. Featuring collaborations with Massimiliano Pagliara, Brame & Hamo and Pablo Bozzi. The artist is an Italian native known for a modern interpretation of '90s club music' - a dynamic blend of Progressive House, Trance, EBM, Breakbeat, and Techno ideas. This first album is a love letter to a deep-rooted passion for the idiosyncrasies of rave culture and the crossover points with contemporary electronic music.
Younger Than Me, an artistic project by Francesco Mingrino that is steeped in the nostalgia of ‘90s rave, yet not at all trapped in that past. A project that has cemented a special place in the electronic music scene with a string of records on labels like Bordello A Parigi, Amsterdam-Utrecht based platform XXX, Rotterdam’s Bar and Jennifer Cardini’s Dischi Autunno. To this point Francesco has pushed his fun yet forceful sound, with many releases on his own 90's Wax, and collaborations with people like Skatebård, Francesco Farfa, Timothy Clerkin and Curses (as Y2C).
"The Golden Age Of Love" as a package is curated in Younger Than Me's characteristic style. Opening with "Long Life Death", a track that sets the stage with a cinematic soundscape in a classic Carpenter vibe. Picking up the tempo "Zarathustra Dance" takes you right into the golden age itself, its low slung beat and carefully sequenced lead line pushes an ever building tension designed to crack any dancefloor. The track with Massimiliano Pagliara, "Eternal Sunshine Of Solitary Mind", is one of the highlights, perfectly building around a catchy lead with tight arpeggio and sequenced acid. Leading us into the 2nd half of the record "Sadness Is The Only Way To Happiness" is a proto-trance beast, inspired by that period in the early 90s when Trance was less bright lights and big stages and more dark rooms and smoke filled spaces, an ever building progressive run of haunting vocals, rave stabs and rolling bass.
Whilst YTM is at home presenting dancefloor focussed material, we see him explore the other side too, with "Memory Is A Clock" like the earlier "Vortix", he ditches the 4x4 for breakbeat territory. Whilst the bass keeps the solid metronome you would expect, "Memory Is A Clock" is a track that takes a few moments, contemplative melody and trademark arpeggios take the lead. When it comes to the other collaborations on the record, the appearance of Brame And Hamo on "Raver's Heart Is A Mess" sees them lean into the Progressive nature both artists love so much. Then Pablo Bozzi lends his own unique outlook to "We Don't Know The Way, We Just Stay" in one of the standout tracks, epitomising Younger Than Me’s ability to create profound experiences.
The album concludes with "Music Will Never Stop, Heartbeat Will Never Fade, Party Will Never End", less of a title and more of a personal philosophy – the perpetual essence of rave culture and its timeless impact on music. A rhythmic belter, juxtaposed with incendiary synth-lines and staple catchy sequence work, finishing the record with one of the true highpoints. In addition the release also features four digital bonus tracks, including "The Other Face Of Loneliness" and a Prog Dance Reshape of one of the records more eclectic cuts "Zarathustra Dance" all offering an extended exploration into the creative landscape YTM inhabits.
"The Golden Age Of Love" is a debut album that ticks all the boxes; it's a celebration of a bygone era through the lens of the contemporary. Younger Than Me stands as a testament to the enduring spirit and evolving nature of the music that began in the ‘90s rave scene, with an LP that pushes Love, Progression and Fun to the forefront.
"Some of my earliest musical memories were listening to my local pirate stations in the early 90's. The signal was quite weak in my area, and the sound was doused in FM static, creating this interesting amalgam of rhythm and noise. I found a strange sort of comfort in this, often falling asleep while listening to the radio, in bed, with my headphones on. The stations were run by young people, no older than kids really, relayed from non-descript flats, scattered around Bradford, Leeds, and the surrounding towns of West Yorkshire. The setups were primitive, and the production quality (and often the mixing) were dubious at best. But there was an endless supply of passion, and listeners tuned in because they were thirsty for something the legal stations could never supply. These voices on the other side of the transmission were, for many of us, a bridge into the future. One, which sadly, never really came to be. Hardcore, Static: Pirate Transmissions From The North of England 1990-1994 is a celebration of this unique period in UK history. The North of England feels overlooked during this time, with history's focus firmly gazed on London. But the signal was everywhere. These pirate stations were crucial for many young people, who were trying to find their place and identity in the UK. Many of these transmissions, even the ones which were recorded onto tape, have since become lost media, effectively erased from history. Radio, at least in the analogue domain, isn't something most young people have any experience with. Pirate radio was this unique flashpoint in time, and for me at least, it was important enough for me to want pay my respects to it" Dennis/36
DJ Support: Nick Warren, Andy Wilson, Bill Brewster, Max Essa, Simon Lee, Pete Herbert, Mark Broadbent, Be Lanuit, Coyote, Andy Pye, Andy Taylor, Steve KIW, Mike Bradbury, Pathaan, Steve Optix
NuNorthern Soul welcomes Lonely Deckchair, a deeply personal and nostalgic long-player shaped by memory, place and the passing of time. Rooted in a return to Aguadulce on Spain’s southern coast, the album reflects on childhood summers, family connections and the quiet beauty of life coming full circle.
Written as a dedication to the artist’s children, the record moves between reflective ambient passages, Balearic rhythms and gently propulsive grooves. Across the album, reversed guitar sequences, soft synthetic textures and field recordings create a dreamlike sense of revisiting the past—like flicking through faded photographs or Super 8 footage.
From the misty-eyed opener Rayman’s Kingdom through to the closing drift of Alhambra Space Station, the album captures moments of wonder, movement and stillness—sunlit coastlines, long drives, first experiences, and the emotional pull between leaving and returning.
Full sleeve notes from Robert Harris aka Dr Rob from BanBanTonTon
Rafa Santos continues the Mate label's fine tradition of quality deep house excursions with a well-formed new 12". Just one original features and it's the A-side beauty 'Our Journey', an unhurried groove that is happy to wallow in soft piano chords, with icy hi-hats strewn through the mix and the main focus left on a sax line that rises and falls, sings and cries, all while a nagging vocal loop adds extra pain. Atlanta house hero Kai Alce drops an NDATL remix that brings more bump to the drums but keeps the emotional edge of the original. Class.
LAURA GREENE, from Cleveland, Ohio, has enjoyed a long and successful career in the entertainment industry. She started out as stage actress before becoming a singer in the lucrative TV and radio jingle business. She has also modelled for many press campaigns and regularly appeared on TV chat shows. In 1968 she had a role in the film For Love Of Ivy with Sidney Poitier and a year later co-starred in the satire Putney Swope directed by Robert Downey Sr. It seems fitting that her 1967 non-hit 'Moonlight Music And You' finally found commercial success in 2003 when featured on a KFC TV advert. PEGGY MARCH was born Margaret Annemarie Battavio in 1948 and, although having a prolific recording career, is rememberred mainly for her million-selling 'I Will Follow Him'. Here we feature her Northern Soul waxing for RCA in 1968 that packed the dance floor at Wigan Casino a decade later!
Mit The Techno Session setzt die renommierte Electronic Music Anthology-Reihe aus dem Hause Wagram ihre Reise durch die wichtigsten Strömungen elektronischer Musik fort. Nach House- und Deep-House-Ausgaben widmet sich diese neue Edition nun konsequent dem Techno - in all seinen hypnotischen, treibenden und zeitlosen Facetten. Die Auswahl stammt von FG Radio, einer der angesehensten Institutionen für elektronische Musik in Frankreich und seit Jahrzehnten eng mit der internationalen Club-Kultur verbunden. Die Compilation versammelt prägende Künstler und Produzenten, die Techno von seinen frühen, funktionalen Wurzeln bis zu modernen, melodischen und atmosphärischen Ausprägungen definieren. Pulsierende Grooves, repetitive Strukturen, reduzierte Eleganz und eine klare Fokussierung auf den Dancefloor stehen im Mittelpunkt dieser sorgfältig kuratierten Zusammenstellung. The Techno Session richtet sich gleichermaßen an DJs, Sammler und Liebhaber elektronischer Musik, die Techno nicht als kurzlebigen Trend, sondern als eigenständige, langlebige Musiksprache verstehen. Eine hochwertige Anthologie, die die Essenz des Genres einfängt - kompromisslos, fokussiert und cluberprobt.
A mix of post-Tropicalia Brazilian rock and some of the more soulful elements filtering through the country's music in the early 70s and one of the most enigmatic albums by this unique singer! Sergio's got a sound that's incredibly hard to describe at once sweet and melodic, but also kind of twisted, in an intimate singer/songwriter mode. The production of the album is compressed with a number of post-Beatles touches that make it sparkle like work by Caetano Veloso in the mid 70s, or some of the Peruvian rock by groups like We All Together and hearing the record gives us the same sort of excitement of new discovery as when we heard their best work. Titles include "Rulzito Seixas", Viajei De Trem, "Pobre Meu Pai", "Labirintos Negros", "Filme De Terror", and Lero E Leros E Boleros
Things To Do E.p is the fourth release of Boiling Pot.
Four Traxx Between House and Acid.
Chopped Samples on A1 and B1.
303 swirlings and Raw Drums on A2 and B2.
Recorded Arranged Mixed
Somewhere On Ligurian West Coast
There’s no direct English translation for the word “hiraeth”. In the Welsh language, it describes a form of longing for an intangible something, somewhere or someone that no longer exists. Sofie Birch and Antonina Nowacka draw on the concept to guide their second collaborative album, a suite of vulnerable, open-hearted improvisations and reflections that attempt to grasp an image of the past that’s chimeric, dissolving almost as soon as it materializes. The duo’s process follows the same distant beacon; unlike Languoria, their critically acclaimed debut, Hiraeth is, at heart, an acoustic record, informed by in-person improvisations with voices and string instruments that gesture to an era before computers, AI and DAWs. It’s just as lush, but Hiraeth is warmer and more muted than its predecessor.
Nowacka and Birch conceived the album in the wake of a slew of collaborative live concerts, spurred on by serendipitous improvisations and an interest in paring down their setup. Unsound arranged a retreat in Sokołowsko, an idyllic village nestled in the verdant hills of Southern Poland, close to the Czech border. Sokołowsko surrounds a large ruined sanatorium that’s rumored to have inspired Thomas Mann’s 1924 novel The Magic Mountain, and has long been a magnet for artists. The two took the opportunity to rethink their approach completely, arriving with just a guitar, a zither and a portable Nagra reel-to-reel machine. Recording directly to tape, they sketched out ideas with just their voices and instruments, reflecting their surroundings without being distracted or mediated by modern technology.
“We wanted to get away from screens as much as possible,” says Birch, “to bring to the world something vulnerable and honest. Without advance preparation, every day we went out into the open air, finding places to sit, during sunset or the midday sun. We discovered new tunings on our instruments, picked up a melody, and started the machine, playing over
and over till we got a take.” In the autumn, they met again in a Copenhagen studio, sparingly and carefully layering old synths and organs to add more depth without muddying the mix.
Both Nowacka and Birch sing throughout, their voices threading the acoustic instruments and tangling with each other, almost becoming one. But it’s the environment of Sokołowsko, “the birds and the light, even the wind playing against the harps,” that’s woven into the music’s lining. Affected by time spent meditating and in nature, as well as the fact that Birch was pregnant whilst recording, the album feels alive and remarkably present. Even the sound quality of the tape machine gives Hiraeth a tactile, organic quality, as Nowacka puts it, “like being in a warm bath.”
They still have the raw recordings from Sokołowsko on old reels, physical souvenirs of their time spent making music in a “habitat for intuitive songs, a little ecosystem, alive and spirited.” The outmoded gear and remote setting helped the duo disengage from the modern world for a few moments and imagine an existence that’s been lost to time and nominal progress. With digital technology receding into the background, Nowacka and Birch had space to make “intuitive connections with frequencies and people,” as Birch explains. Hiraeth is a testament not to nostalgia, but to the power of kinship.
Julian Sanza clearly knows the difference between an edit and a rewrite, and both cuts here lean toward respectful expansion rather than reinvention. The A-side takes that unmistakable 80s pop groove and stretches it into genuine nu disco and house territory while allowing subtle dub and London-inflected touches from the original to still bubble up, and in the process also gives DJs a nice extended tool to work with. The flip does similar work on an 80s Argentine classic, deepening the rhythm and adding modern electronic polish without losing the emotional heat. Two well-judged edits.
Those with long memories may remember the hush-hush Needlewreckordz imprint, an outlet that delivered B-more club, Miami bass and house style versions of r&b and hip-hop jams. Here the same crew returns with two killer cuts that once again make use of uncredited soul vocals. A-side 'FloYes' is a genuine triumph, with sensual (sampled) vocals, synth-sax, heavy sub-bass and deep, languid piano motifs rising above an infectious bossa-house beat. Over on side B, 'Motto Talk (Degrassi Mix)' sounds like South African deep house with a twist - all DJ Mojave beats, warped sub-bass, heady soul vocal samples and raw synth-strings. Excellent stuff all told.
The SuckaSide duo have tagged in label regular LROY once more for another irresistible blend of classics on this crucial new 7". 'Pacific Life' kicks off with a laid-back, deep and elastic fusion of a house classic and a rave staple, reimagining both as blissed-out warmth with instantly recognisable vocals and loon bird samples. On the flip, the beats become even slower and more swaggy, with sunny chords lighting them up and real Caribbean heat fusing with elephantine bass. These tunes are high-level blends that are playful and immediately effective but never cheap or obvious.
The "La Musica Habla EP Purple Splattered Vinyl Edition" by 5universos is released as a 12" and focuses on stripped-back club sounds that move between minimal house and tech house. Striking bass sequences, pinpoint percussion, and sparingly placed melodic fragments create room for subtle tension; Balearic-tinged textures and dub elements stand out as stylistic markers, giving the tracks an airy spaciousness and allowing DJs to craft clear transitions in the mix.
The project is headed by Cristian Cosignani, who releases his own productions under the name 5UNIVERSOS and also runs the label of the same name. 5 Universos simultaneously serves as a vinyl store and a platform for curated releases, enabling the label to maintain a close connection to the club and DJ scene while keeping its program firmly focused on physical editions.
Sonically, the release relies on clear arrangements and a DJ-friendly structure: long, hypnotic sections, subtle filter work, and a focused low-end range invite creative mixing. The Purple Splattered Vinyl Edition underscores its collectible nature without placing the musical intention to front and center; the result is a matter-of-fact, dance-oriented EP that puts the characteristic style of 5universos in the spotlight.
Chris Scott, Stuart Baker and Julian Bowron ran their own night in Bishop Auchland, a small town in County Durham, back in the mid-90s, then started producing under the same name. They dropped just three EPs, with this being the last one in 1994, but the one that proved the most enduring. The newly launched LA RIOT label reissues it, and it sounds as good as ever: 'Post Chaise' is a timbales-laced jam with driving tech house drums and plenty of crowd noise adding to the wild vibes. 'The Bishops Groove' is deep, steamy and tribal in its nature and 'This Groove' then gets more expressive with vocal yelps and surging synths that come on like a rush. The Sunday Fantasy mix is the EP highlight - a more cosmic and soft-edged but still propulsive deep house groove.
San Francisco-based Ross Hogg aka Duppy Ranks has been playing records since the late 90s. Rap, reggae and r&b are his bread and butter and he's also a fine remixer who brings those influences to this new 7" on his own label. Sultry, a smouldering soul queen gets worked into a nice mid tempo, deep, romantic groove on 'The Realest Taboo' while 'Cheeba Is Stronger Than Pride' brings two classics together into one sublime and seductive late night jam that will get anyone hot under the collar. Tastefully done as ever from the Hogg.
Frenchman Franck Roger is having the year of his life, quite frankly. Despite being a truly seasoned deep house head, he seems to be enjoying himself while finding endless different angles to explore. Seasons Limited is where he releases the vast majority of it and this latest offering opens with a nice full groove that's infused with a passionate vocal cry and a mix of watery melodies and floating pads. 'Guilty Pleasure' is more rooted to the groove but with an exploratory lead and 'Point Blank' gets heavier and raw in the beat department but there's a cosmic pull in the melodies that ensures you will take flight all the same.
Step back into 1998 with this studio rehearsal of Pleiadians Live. Recorded as a safety for our global tours. It captures a legendary time when we carried our entire studio across the world to bring you raw, live remixed versions of our tracks! Get ready for the ultimate travel experience!" Because Pleiadians is simply the best of the best, this Live set from 1998 deserved a proper full release! Now available on Limited 2-LP at the Suntrip Records label in collaboration with the Flatlife Records Labelgroup.
Crypt of the Wizard is proud to make available two legendary underground albums by Slutet on vinyl and digital formats.
Slutet originated in Uppsala well over a decade ago, first emerging as a loose idea around 2010. The original cluster of strangely like minded individuals - Dingir, Ryttersson, J.P., Sviatopolk, were equally set on starting a cult as they were a band, the former emerging as a loose collective known as The End Commune, while the latter eventually began rehearsing together as Slutet on September 1, 2013.
From this constellation three notorious demo tapes sprung which were self-released in very limited numbers, and only available by trading bodily fluids, blood, and/or hair for the cassettes. “A very loose guess but we made probably around 20-30 hand-drawn/custom demo tapes of the first three releases. We got blood and hair from many places, actually the very first offering was from INDONESIA. Slovakia, Germany, USA, Argentina, Norway, Canada, Finland followed.... if my memory serves..... hazy years indeed”
J.P. left early 2015. Later that year, after trying the band as a bass-drum-vocals outfit for a while, Fjalar joined on guitar. This is the classic constellation. Dingir, Ryttersson, Fjalar, Sviatopolk. The same troupe playing to this very day.
Following on from the compilation Slutet began work on their next offering entitled Jihad. While the departure of J.P. left them temporarily without a guitarist, a chance meeting with Fjalar at a rave ushered in a new era for the band. “I met the drummer and the bass player at a psytrance rave in the forest. I didn’t have any band and I wanted to play music and I saw this fucking weirdo with long dreads and a Hellhammer shirt and I just went up to talk to him”.
After Fjalar joined the rather chaotic fray, songwriting duties were spread out more broadly and Jihad was rehearsed and recorded in a haze. First released as a cassette by Manifest Of Hate Creations, and later on vinyl in an edition of 100 by Goatowarex the release quickly sold out and became as legendary, and as incredibly difficult to obtain as the previous releases. “It has got some psychedelic improvs, some very unorthodox and quite genius vocal work, some electronic undertones, some noisy ambience, a message of existentialism; all this wrapped up in some sloppy but very authentic and intense black metal-ish music.”
“After the vinyl compilation was out (early 2015) we felt probably a bit directionless, and, having parted ways with a befriended and talented guitar player, we felt maybe a bit morally weakened to continue. First, for a year almost, we toiled on without the 6-strings and rehearsed quite lengthy material for a proposed upcoming LP. However, that material never surfaced. Then we got a new guitar player (Fjalar) and created and recorded this mess”.
It is with great pride that we make these albums available to a general audience and in a wider pressing without need for bloodshed.
Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway’s BACK TOGETHER AGAIN is truly a masterpiece.
The James Mtume and Reggie Lucas penned gem is timeless - as proved by this sumptuous remake by the unlikely pairing of Sarah Jane Morris (ex The Communards) and velvet voiced Italian growler Mario Biondo.
Unlikely yes, but the result is an instant Modern Soul classic snapped up for worldwide exclusive 7” vinyl release by
ANORAX. The duet, catchy and guaranteed to make you smile, brings back memories of Lisa Stansfield sparring with Barry White (Mario really does sound like the great man).
The sound of yesterday made for today with a touch of House prodding along a happy reincarnation of one of Soul Music’s most glorious moments.
Futuristica is 20!
This independent imprint has been producing and releasing music for friends and family for 20 years, so what better way to celebrate than by releasing a 2xLP limited edition 20 track compilation of rare and never before released on vinyl recordings exclusively selected by label manager Simon Skolfield.
This is a beautifully varied selection of deep soul, jazz and hip-hop music from a group of like-minded independent artists creating their own brand of soulful gems. From the early electro soul of Electric Conversation, the multi layered jazz samples of Kira Neris to the lush vocal harmonies of Deborah Jordan, production and remix class from Marc Rapson and the contemporary spiritual soundtracks of The Peter Franks Group.
Over the years there has been generous support from Gilles Peterson, Tony Minvielle, Marc Mac, Patrick Forge, Kev Beadle and so many more worldwide. Artists like As Valet, Emanative, LaNote and Georgie Sweet have gone on to produce fine work with several different independent labels with our artists garnering fine remixes and production work from the likes of DJ Spinna, Nostalgia 77, Kev Bown, Mr Beatnick, Nicolay, Kaidi Tatham, Atjazz, Simbad, K15, Domu, Mecca:83 and so many others. And all of this organically grown since the release of Low Budget Soul, the label’s debut project back in 2006.
UK born, Fremantle-based producer Jon E. makes his return to Natural Element, after his sell-out debut release ‘Smoke’ in 2025 captured the attention of DJs and dancefloors around the world.
Here sees the first of a two-part series of EPs that displays the fruits of a deeply creative phase following an injury that had him bed bound for months. The sonic progression from his debut is tangible across all four tracks, with an enhanced palette and clear versatility. The EP is a deeper expression of his production skills and unique, authentic sound. Natural sounds of the city make for an organic touch throughout, giving tracks an atmosphere that makes them feel alive. ‘One More Time’ sets the pace with an irresistible groove that is both bold and refined, steeped in jazzy tones and calling to mind summer day parties. ‘We Can Make It’ is a blissful and uplifting jam that goes on a journey of its own, leaving a lasting impression with the delicate, distinct vocals of Roxanne forming a perfect match. On the flip, ‘Raise Them Up’ takes things a little deeper with a moody roller inspired by Moodymann, and ‘Day n Night’ rounds off the record in style with a more lo-fi groover exhibiting loose drums, intricate percussion and floating brassy licks.
