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This album brings together key tracks from Doug Carn recorded for Black Jazz Records in the 1970s.

Doug Carn is one of the most-important (and least-recognised) forces in the creation of the canon of 'deep and spiritual jazz music' - full of powerfully emotive intensity, consciously-uplifting lyricism and addictively beautiful melodies.

All of his LPs during this period have since achieved cult classic status including 'Infant Eyes', 'Adam's Apple', 'Spirit of the New Land' and 'Revelation'.

Aside from his songwriting and keyboard skills, many of the tracks here feature the stunning and powerful 5-octave range vocals of Jean Carn (later Carne), his wife at the time.

Musicians featured on this album include Alphonse Mouzon, Charles Tolliver, Henry Franklin, Michael Carvin, Walter Booker, Ronnie Laws and others. Aside from Carn’s compositions there are also striking interpretations of music by Lee Morgan, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Bobby Hutcherson and Wayne Shorter.

Black Jazz became one of the defining labels of independent and conscious jazz music in the 1970s alongside other important labels such as Strata-East and Tribe Records. As well as this Best of Doug Carn release, Soul Jazz Records are also releasing a Best of Black Jazz Records collection at the same time.

VA – Parallel Sequences continues MixCult Records’ tradition of curating forward-thinking soundscapes for refined dancefloors. This four-track compilation brings together the finely tuned craftsmanship of Kirill Matveev, Genning, Overt, and Dawn Gab — producers with surgical precision and a deep understanding of space, groove, and sonic narrative. Together, they present a multi-faceted EP rooted in dub techno and tech house, designed with intention and built to navigate a wide emotional range throughout the night.

A1. Kirill Matveev – Never Losing That Track (Overt Remix) is a masterclass in momentum. It rises patiently yet confidently — perfect for steering the atmosphere toward something uplifting, with each element unfolding with deliberate purpose.

A2. Genning – Parallel shifts the energy into shadowy territory. Deep, dubby, and melancholic, it acts as a reset moment — cooling the air while preserving depth, tension, and forward motion.

On the flip, B1. Dawn Gab – Call Of The Wind moves between melodic phrases and swinging percussive patterns, offering a graceful push-and-pull that feels fluid, textured, and inviting.

Finally, B2. Genning & Kirill Matveev – Blueberry brings the release to its emotional peak with bright, expressive energy. Melodic and high-spirited, it is engineered precisely for a euphoric moment on the floor.

This EP is a toolkit for thoughtful selectors — designed to glide through introspection, propulsion, and release with clarity and finesse. Whether opening a night, shaping the arc, or closing with warmth, Parallel Sequences delivers depth, agility, and emotional charge in perfect balance.

There is a strong sense of place running through 'North West Tonight', as God Colony aka Crack Copies label heads and Liverpool-raised duo James Rand and Thomas Gorton sketch out a hazy, after-hours portrait of their hometown. Drawing on 80s new wave melodies and rough-edged club rhythms, the EP balances sounds of yore with present-day energy. There is crunchy, disrupted bass on 'The Column', backlit broken beat on 'Middle Eye' and more sun-kissed depths on 'Rhyll Sun Centre'. 'The Paradox' stands out as a darker, more edgy and club-ready sound while the rework by Sasha stretches the track into something built for wide-eyed dancefloors.

In September 2024, Nacho Piek, Rapha Mundi, Odd Signals and Ibai Machín gathered for four days in a beautiful house in Etxeberri, a small village in Navarre with barely 50 inhabitants. Isolated from everyday rhythm and surrounded by nature, the goal was clear: to create a production camp dedicated exclusively to club music.

The result is Etxeberri EP, the debut of Buenobueno Soundsystem — a work that captures that coexistence in the form of direct and timeless music, designed for the dancefloor. An organic crossing of influences ranging from House, Techno and late-90s Minimal Trance to contemporary UK Bass.

Etxeberri EP will be released on March 13 exclusively on vinyl, in a limited edition of 200 copies. Each record includes an inlay with photographs of the creative process and private access to an audiovisual piece shot by Jesús Iriarte documenting the experience and the spirit behind the project

First released back in 1998, Random Factor's Too Fast Into The Future returns to wax and serves as a reminder of just how far UK mainstay Carl Finlow was already thinking ahead. The album was also a standout moment in the Leeds-based 20/20 Vision label catalogue that threads house, techno and electro into something more unsettled and brilliant. 'Lead Me Blind' and the title track fold processed vocals into stark machine rhythms, while 'First Principles' and 'When Daylight Fades' remain DJ touchstones. There is tension in every bar and introspection rubbing against dancefloor drive. Decades on, it still bangs.

Timm Sure & Richard Hampson should need no introduction.

Their output is prolific - with their own releases under the COYOTE moniker, as well as their work with other artists on their record label IS IT BALEARIC?

As huge fans of their work and label, we were flattered when they rang and expressed an interest in working with us. The product of this glorious new friendship is a truly exciting and unique sonic experience — one that is comprised of 7 proper tracks laced seamlessly together with African spoken word.

The word Nyabinghi (or Nyabingi) refers to a legendary woman of the Bahororo tribe of Uganda, whose name means "mother of abundance" or "the one who possesses many things" in the Mpororo language.

The 12 tracks of NYABINGHI ebb and flow between prose and melody, putting you into an almost trance like state - the sum of the parts at once meditative yet funky, evocative and spiritual, yet perfect to get people's feet moving at sunset.

,Shade Zero" ist das Debütalbum der Flötistin und Komponistin Taiga Ultan, das sich mit dem Verhältnis zwischen Freiheit und Regeln beim Musizieren auseinandersetzt. Anstatt Strukturen abzulehnen, schuf Ultan strenge, selbst auferlegte Systeme und missbrauchte und zerlegte diese dann bewusst. Das Werk basiert auf der Idee, dass Regeln niemals vollständig verschwinden; selbst in freien Spielformen entstehen sie oft stillschweigend und werden durch Gewohnheit gefestigt. Indem er Regeln explizit machte und gegen sie arbeitete, versuchte Ultan, über vertraute Klangwelten und überlieferte Annahmen über Freiheit hinauszugehen. Das Album entfaltet sich in drei miteinander verbundenen Sätzen, beginnend mit virtuosem, tonalem Flötenspiel, das in der klassischen Disziplin verwurzelt ist, sich zu erweiterten Flötentechniken ausdehnt und mit Poesie und persönlicher Reflexion endet. Aufgenommen, abgemischt und produziert von Randall Dunn, präsentiert ,Shade Zero" ein voll ausgearbeitetes künstlerisches Statement einer aufstrebenden Künstlerin mit umfassender klassischer Ausbildung, die heute im ländlichen Maine lebt und arbeitet und damit eine entscheidende Wende hin zu einer selbstdefinierten, prozessorientierten musikalischen Praxis markiert.

State of Minds compilation features Finnish artists working across house, electro, and techno. Industry veterans Freestyle Man (Sasse), Ender, and Phonogenic, along with label co-founder RV820, highlight a range of sounds from hypnotic house to Detroit techno, reflecting the diversity and depth of Finland’s electronic scene. Four tracks of the highest quality, this album sampler from Meltdown Deejays is not to be missed!

The latest in Field Records' run of essential vinyl pressings revisits Stephen Hitchell's 2009 masterpiece under his Variant alias, The Setting Sun. As part of Echospace and also celebrated for his productions as Intrusion and Soultek, Hitchell is considered a leading light in dub techno, with the versatility in his sound to range from rhythmic, physical pulses to purely tonal, abyssal drone. His work as Variant, which debuted with The Setting Sun, capitalises on this scope to deliver a compelling ambient-with-teeth set richly deserving of a proper vinyl pressing.

The Setting Sun first emerged on Echospace as a download-only release. Hitchell was at pains to map out the tools that went into the sound on the album — field recordings of storms in Berlin, Germany and train rides in Narita, Japan, outboard synths and samplers. Crucially, he declared no computers were used, and it shows. When The Setting Sun was recorded, in-the-box production was largely dominating electronic music and the technology had yet to replicate the warmth and character of analogue equipment. Hitchell's looming chords come baked with harmonic overtones, surface noise becomes another essential layer and fragments of distortion add to the narrative of these glacial, monumental pieces.

Hitchell threads his dub techno tendencies in subtle ways, from the kick pattering underneath 'As Time Stood Still' to the quintessential metallic delay ripples that define 'A Silent Storm'. 'Someplace Else' has a defined, albeit delicate, rhythm section guiding its lighter shades of pads and chords. However, drums are never a dominant aspect of the music, simply another layer in an intentionally coagulated whole. At times, flickering tones hint at space where percussion once stood, since muted to leave the wet signal setting a new course for the sound, somewhere far beyond drum duties. The hushed ceremony of tracks like 'Adrift' are the perfect scenario in which to absorb these microfibres of detail, where the genius of Hitchell can truly be savoured.

In line with the limitations of record pressing and Hitchell's proclivity for long-form tracks, 'The Setting Sun' is reserved for the digital edition of this reissue. It's a logical move, as the sound palette widens to encompass tangible, organic instrumentation evolving over the best part of half an hour. The presence of piano keys feels stark in the Variant sound world, but Hitchell ably folds these coded elements into his process bathed in the same curious luminosity that lingers around all his work. Evolving at a painstaking pace, the plaintive humanity in the cascading keys and plucked guitar strings renders one of the most personal expressions in Hitchell's considerable canon — a unique piece that holds its own space comfortably, while also adding to the overall weight of The Setting Sun as a profound benchmark in a stellar discography.

‘Cécile McLorin Salvant ... sings standards, show tunes and old novelties in a taut, flinty, elusively beautiful voice, erring toward material with difficult lyrics and tough places in history. Salvant wins over her audiences by tweaking them slightly: daring them to go there with her—not just into the archive, but toward the darkness of the past.’ – New York Times

‘Although Salvant is known as a jazz musician, her approach to music is defined by her instinct for experimentation ... Her music is beloved for ... embracing theatre and subverting classics with playful renditions.’ – Guardian

Salvant, who has performed with orchestras regularly over the last decade-and-a-half and intended to make an album with one sooner in her career, but logistics and her abundant creative ideas led to other new projects intervening. Having finally found time to make this album, With Every Breath I Take is a different sort of record than it might have been even ten years ago.

“It is a rare opportunity to be able to make an album at this scale, which has been a dream of mine for many years,” Salvant says. “Darcy James Argue wrote stunning arrangements and the Metropole Orkest, conducted by the extraordinary Jules Buckley, gave these stories a cinematic dimension. We overcame quite a few obstacles to even get into the recording studio for this project; it took almost four years for us to do so, and I am so incredibly proud to share it.

“I did not choose these songs because they are beautiful, but because they are crucial to me,” she adds.

Cécile McLorin Salvant, a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and three-time Grammy Award winner, is a singer and composer bringing historical perspective, a renewed sense of drama, and an enlightened musical understanding to both jazz standards and her own original compositions. Classically trained, steeped in jazz, blues, and folk, and drawing from musical theater and vaudeville, Salvant embraces a wide-ranging repertoire that broadens the possibilities for live performance.

Salvant’s performances range from spare duets for voice and piano to instrumental trios to orchestral ensembles. Her unreleased work Ogresse is an ambitious long-form musical fairy tale that is being made into a feature length animated film. She has performed at national and international venues and festivals such as the Newport Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Village Vanguard, and the North Sea Jazz Festival. Her previous Nonesuch albums, Ghost Song (2022) Mélusine (2023), and Oh Snap (2025) received critical accolades; the former two were both nominated for Grammy Awards. Salvant is also a visual artist, and Oh Snap was named a best album of 2025 by the Guardian, Jazzwise, JazzTimes, and the Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll.

Zuerst das Wichtigste: Ja, Your Day Will Come an, das zweite Album von Chanel Beads trägt denselben Namen wie sein Debüt aus dem Jahr 2024. Aber es handelt sich um ein völlig neues Werk, nicht um einen zweiten Teil oder eine Neuauflage. Der Titel des neuen Albums ist derselbe wie der des Vorgängers - eine perfekte Zusammenfassung der Zweideutigkeit von Chanel Beads: zu gleichen Teilen ein augenzwinkernder Scherz und eine zutiefst ernste Aussage. Während sich die Songs entwickelten, entdeckte Lavers, dass der Satz eine tiefere Nuance hatte und eine Spannung zwischen Gewissheit und Zweifel hervorrief, die seine Psyche beschäftigte. Wird dein Tag kommen? Wie wird er sein? Wie kannst du dir sicher sein? Während er das Album schrieb, hatten Lavers' Gedanken mehr Raum, um in seinem Kopf herumzuschwirren und sich zu verdrehen, und er fühlte sich oft abgestumpft von einer Welt, die sich absurd grausam anfühlen kann. Die zweite Inkarnation von Your Day Will Come dokumentiert eine klangliche Verschiebung und Weiterentwicklung des Chanel-Beads-Sounds. Dieses Mal ist alles stärker geschichtet, mit mehr eigenständigen Parts und Mitwirkenden. Es entstand in seinem kleinen, spärlich eingerichteten Studio in Brooklyn, wo die Lautsprecher so nah an seinem Gesicht standen, dass er bei jedem Schlag der Bassdrum die Luftwelle spüren konnte. Geiger Zachary Paul tritt präsenter in Erscheinung, während Lavers weiterhin mit der semiotischen Bedeutung von Plug-ins spielt. Auch die ätherische Stimme von Maya McGrory ist erneut auf dem Album zu hören; sie schrieb zudem am majestätischen ,Silver Cup" mit. Die 14 Songs sind ausgearbeiteter und strukturierter - Ergebnis eines kollaborativeren Ansatzes, der Spontaneität und Unvollkommenheit bewusst zulässt. Er folgt der Devise "Wenn es funktioniert, lass es so", nimmt einfach mit dem Mikrofon auf, das gerade zur Hand ist, und baut den Song auf dieser Aufnahme auf. Aus lockeren Treffen ergaben sich Beiträge von Freund*innen wie Tchad Cousins (Urika's Bedroom), Mari Maurice (More Eaze), Anastasia Coope und Bella Litsa. "Dust in the Wind" entstand gemeinsam mit Isaac Eiger von Strange Ranger und Threshold und markiert die erste Co-Autorenschaft außerhalb des Kerntrios aus Lavers, McGrory und Paul. Lavers' fragmentierte Texte sind voller offener Fragen. Er war besonders von der Koexistenz von Nihilismus und Liebe eingenommen und sagte: "Es fühlt sich an, als müsste das eine das andere auslöschen, aber das tut es nicht." Emotionale Sublimierung steht im Mittelpunkt von Chanel Beads, als könne man etwas so fest umklammern, dass es transzendent wird. Your Day Will Come nutzt Traumlogik, um sich mit Liminalität und prekären Erinnerungen auseinanderzusetzen. Es ist geprägt von den Schatten bestimmter Verluste, aber auch davon, wie man sich selbst heimsuchen kann, indem man in alte Gewohnheiten zurückfällt.

Zuerst das Wichtigste: Ja, Your Day Will Come an, das zweite Album von Chanel Beads trägt denselben Namen wie sein Debüt aus dem Jahr 2024. Aber es handelt sich um ein völlig neues Werk, nicht um einen zweiten Teil oder eine Neuauflage. Der Titel des neuen Albums ist derselbe wie der des Vorgängers - eine perfekte Zusammenfassung der Zweideutigkeit von Chanel Beads: zu gleichen Teilen ein augenzwinkernder Scherz und eine zutiefst ernste Aussage. Während sich die Songs entwickelten, entdeckte Lavers, dass der Satz eine tiefere Nuance hatte und eine Spannung zwischen Gewissheit und Zweifel hervorrief, die seine Psyche beschäftigte. Wird dein Tag kommen? Wie wird er sein? Wie kannst du dir sicher sein? Während er das Album schrieb, hatten Lavers' Gedanken mehr Raum, um in seinem Kopf herumzuschwirren und sich zu verdrehen, und er fühlte sich oft abgestumpft von einer Welt, die sich absurd grausam anfühlen kann. Die zweite Inkarnation von Your Day Will Come dokumentiert eine klangliche Verschiebung und Weiterentwicklung des Chanel-Beads-Sounds. Dieses Mal ist alles stärker geschichtet, mit mehr eigenständigen Parts und Mitwirkenden. Es entstand in seinem kleinen, spärlich eingerichteten Studio in Brooklyn, wo die Lautsprecher so nah an seinem Gesicht standen, dass er bei jedem Schlag der Bassdrum die Luftwelle spüren konnte. Geiger Zachary Paul tritt präsenter in Erscheinung, während Lavers weiterhin mit der semiotischen Bedeutung von Plug-ins spielt. Auch die ätherische Stimme von Maya McGrory ist erneut auf dem Album zu hören; sie schrieb zudem am majestätischen ,Silver Cup" mit. Die 14 Songs sind ausgearbeiteter und strukturierter - Ergebnis eines kollaborativeren Ansatzes, der Spontaneität und Unvollkommenheit bewusst zulässt. Er folgt der Devise "Wenn es funktioniert, lass es so", nimmt einfach mit dem Mikrofon auf, das gerade zur Hand ist, und baut den Song auf dieser Aufnahme auf. Aus lockeren Treffen ergaben sich Beiträge von Freund*innen wie Tchad Cousins (Urika's Bedroom), Mari Maurice (More Eaze), Anastasia Coope und Bella Litsa. "Dust in the Wind" entstand gemeinsam mit Isaac Eiger von Strange Ranger und Threshold und markiert die erste Co-Autorenschaft außerhalb des Kerntrios aus Lavers, McGrory und Paul. Lavers' fragmentierte Texte sind voller offener Fragen. Er war besonders von der Koexistenz von Nihilismus und Liebe eingenommen und sagte: "Es fühlt sich an, als müsste das eine das andere auslöschen, aber das tut es nicht." Emotionale Sublimierung steht im Mittelpunkt von Chanel Beads, als könne man etwas so fest umklammern, dass es transzendent wird. Your Day Will Come nutzt Traumlogik, um sich mit Liminalität und prekären Erinnerungen auseinanderzusetzen. Es ist geprägt von den Schatten bestimmter Verluste, aber auch davon, wie man sich selbst heimsuchen kann, indem man in alte Gewohnheiten zurückfällt.

Detroit producer, Shawescape Renegade, comes to Tresor Records with Exoframe, a five-track EP of pure techno and electro, including a remix by Arpanet.
As with so many forerunners and peers in the Detroit techno world, Shawescape Renegade, is a deep thinking and a world-building story teller and Exoframe uses the traditional sci-fi narrative to explore recent thought Shaw has had on the potential hidden costs of technological
evolution: what happens when overspecialisation leads to a dead end; when inflexibility means a return to the old forms becomes difficult.
The EP opens with 78 Light Years From Earth, an effects-laden slab of electro that pulls the percussion into other dimensions. Mechanus 9 brings a techno edge before Terraformers Warning unleashes a bass-driven beast.
A fast-paced remodel of Terraformer’s Warning from Gerald Donald’s Arpanet project follows, before the EP is closed out with another bassline-forward track, Ignition One, an updated version of the Shawescape cut that soundtracked the section of the Black To Techno
documentary focussed on the Detroit’s Jit dance scene. The strong symbiosis between Jit and Techno is a foundational part of Detroit’s culture and a community tie and suggests that while technology may lead to stagnation, the cultural muscle memory offers a path back to
authenticity.
In a thoughtful nod to the praxis of the DJ, the vinyl versions of A1 & B1 are five BPM slower than the digital, moving the music to between 128BPM and 151BPM on a standard Technics turntable and opening it up for play in a greater range of club environs.
It’s this deep respect for the artistry and traditions of Detroit’s longstanding music and dance scenes that mark Shawescape Renegade out as one of the true inheritors of the city’s heritage.

Die einflussreiche experimentelle Indie-Rock-Band aus Olympia, Washington ist bekannt für ihre minimalistische "Love-Rock"-Ästhetik, die Lo-Fi, Noise-Pop und Punk miteinander verbindet. Critters Encore ist die erste Platte seit Jahren der DIY-Pioniere. Tiere in den Vororten: die Kaninchen, die Krähe, der Regenwurm und das Eichhörnchen. Die ,hämmernde Pop-Maschine mit unerbittlicher Unbefangenheit" ist zurück. Cool Media, Fuzzy Media, Marshall McLuhan fährt auf Roy Orbisons Motorrad mit. Hektische, ängstliche Katharsis Gitarren, die am Rande des Vergessens balancieren und eine Stimme, die dich auch nach dem Aufwachen noch verfolgt während sie die Erde berührt. Die ,Love-Rock"-Revolution trifft auf die Verbindung zwischen den Arten in unserer modernen Spielwelt.

Glasgow reggae collective Mungo’s HiFi celebrate 25 years of pulsating music with a follow-up to game-changing second studio album Soundsystem Champions. Released in 2008, the original Sound System Champions became an instant 21st century classic - thanks to its industrial strength basslines, blazing horns and lineup of scorching microphone talent. To commemorate a quarter century of rocking dances and building rhythms, Mungo’s have created Soundsystem Champions 2. They’ve lovingly assembled some of their biggest dubplates, previously only heard in a soundsystem situation, now available to the world. Fans of the first Sound System Champions will hear musical echoes in the new version. Irrepressible Junglist General Levy rides the Belly Ska riddim that kicked off the 2008 edition, with the militant Gideon Boot. Italy’s Marina P returns to the new record on the expansive Searching, as does Kenny Knots, closing the track list with heartfelt roots anthem Rise and Gravitate. For Soundsystem Champions 2, Mungo’s have invited many more voices from their epic journey. Bristol’s Eva Lazarus revisits Althea and Donna’s immortal Uptown Top Ranking. Reading’s Solo Banton turns his lyrical versatility to hip hop banger Bubble N Wine. The beautiful grainy tones of Ireland’s Cian Finn reimagine the Wailers’ Rainbow Country. With this historic sequel album, Mungo’s look back while going forward, the exclusive becomes the inclusive, and the Sound System comes to you!

Undisputed legend of the dubstep scene Commodo collaborates with Jazz aficionado Alfa Mist on Deep Harbour. “I’ve admired Alfa Mist’s work for some time and I had a couple of avenues I wanted to explore using keyboards. One being a darker, dissonant take on a jazz flavoured half-step. The release also features two mixes by Anz. "Anz is a real producer’s producer with a broad range and felt like the perfect remixer.” Commodo has seen support from DJ Mag, Crack, Clash, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6, NTS and played likes of Boiler Room Festival, Outlook Festival Boomtown Festival, Keep Hush and more.

Melody As Truth and Future Days Radio present ‘At the Emerald Pool’, an album by Tomo Katsurada and Jonny Nash.

Netherlands-based artists Tomo Katsurada (Ex-Kikagaku Moyo / Future Days Radio) and Jonny Nash (Melody As Truth) combine forces for an exploration into the sonic potential of the guitar duo, rooted in their experiences performing together over the last 12 months.

Friends and admirers of each other’s work for a decade, their musical collaboration began in 2024 with Katsurada asking Nash to contribute guitar to his debut EP ‘Dream Of The Egg’. Sensing the need to explore this further, they spent the following year performing together in different configurations, with Nash joining Katsurada’s trio and Katsurada in turn playing with Nash as a duo, across a wide spectrum of spaces, from churches and temples to concert halls, theatres and outdoor festivals. With new ideas developing organically out of these performances, recording new material became the next logical step. A short period of three days was set aside with a clear goal: to capture the essence of their fluid, intertwining melodies and guitar playing in a way that felt as direct and unfiltered as possible. Working from a handful of pre-existing sketches, they left ample room for experimentation to unfold within the process.


The results are presented on ‘At The Emerald Pool’, a collection of ten pieces that offer the listener a full immersion into the pair’s sound. With guitar as the primary instrument for both artists, it is no surprise that the core of the album lies here, specifically in the fluid interplay between the two players. Layers of gentle, delay-soaked fingerpicking often make it almost impossible to distinguish where one player ends and the other begins. As soloists, both Katsurada and Nash have a gift for crafting melodic lines that feel open and ascending, expressive and hopeful without becoming saccharine. Longer, more abstract pieces are counterbalanced by a series of shorter songs, with five vocal tracks appearing across the album. The decision to share vocal duties lends the record a unique quality and a strong sense of variation, bringing a wide expressive range out of a deliberately focused musical framework.


‘At The Emerald Pool’ represents the first chapter in an ongoing musical dialogue, an attempt to capture a moment of connection, openness and discovery, laying the foundation for what continues to unfold.

This record contains six tracks by Freephilipp and Robin — two Bremen-based musicians who meet where the void of digital subculture and experimental electronic music opens up. Freephilipp contributes four glitch-driven pieces that move between IDM-tinged ambient, electro, atmospheric broken beats and junglish fragments. Random Chords Memory is one of the reasons this release needed to be carried out into the nexus: it stands on its own, just like the rest of the EP, yet it may be the signature track of Freephilipp’s nocturnal enthusiasm — mixing between night shifts and sharing production skills with the people around him. Robin (zckr rec / ph17) completes the EP on the flipside. Tau-37 and Omega5, named after two star systems, invite you onto a dub-soaked, drifting flight. The Basic Channel- esque impact of Tau-37 rounds out the journey in combination with Omega5, whose drone-laden soundscape slowly opens and dissolves. This music was never meant to be produced for an audience. It is a document of what it sounds like when you say goodbye to the outer world and begin building landscapes in another.

DJ Support: Garnier, Opolopo, Worldwide FM, Marcia Carr, Bill Brewster, Timeout Moscow, Craig Smith, Delfonic, Tony Nwachukwu, Marcel Dettmann, DJ Rocca, Shuya Okino, Borrowed Identity, Titonton Duvante, Alex Attias, Rainer Truby, Sol Power All-Stars, Kyri R2, Robert Luis, Severino Panzetta, Lars Behrenroth, Kassian, Alkalino, Getdown Edits, Moodymanc, Gerd, Lea Lisa, Young Pulse, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Mark Grusane, Alex Barck….

International dance music heavyweight, producer and DJ Alexander Lay-Far returns with a powerful new chapter - Lay-Far Dance Orchestra (LFDO) - a fully-fledged live band project that reconnects him with his jazz-funk and fusion DNA while pushing dance music forward with unmistakable groove, musicianship and emotional weight. Formed in early 2024, LFDO is no nostalgia exercise. With Lay-Far at the helm as bassist, bandleader, composer, arranger and sound engineer, the orchestra has already been turning heads with explosive live performances, reinventing classic Lay-Far cuts, and now unveil their first album “Skybreak” with all new and original material written and produced by Lay-Far together with his bandmates and star guests, including Lipelis, Antoha MC and Seven Davis Jr. This work shows the departure from the predominantly electronic sound of Lay-Far's previous solo albums in favour of live instrumentation recorded to analogue tape and effortlessly bridging the gap between Jazz, Library Music, Disco-Funk, House, Broken Beat and Drum’n’Bass. “Skybreak” is dynamic, passionate, spiritual, cinematic, playful, heartfelt, life-affirming, dreamy and deeply romantic. Ultimately, there’s something profoundly romantic in recording and releasing such music in this day and age!


“Take Flight (Part 1)” is opening the album with style. It takes us on a beautifully orchestrated journey, blending the sensuality of Library Music with high-octane Jazz-Funk and raw b-boy breaks, propelled by breathtaking flute and Rhodes solos of Timur Nekrasov and Maxim Glonti. This aural symbiosis of “beauty and the beats” will become more and more prominent as the album unfolds.



It’s time for “Aquarius Love” created with the inimitable artist and vocalist Seven Davis Jr. (Secret Angels, Ninja Tune). In this composition cinematic soul and heavy jazz meet the restless energy of live drum & bass with deep and heartfelt vocals - timeless sound combined with a timeless message about love and life!



Next is “Head In The Clouds” - a theme for an imaginary rom-com, an ode to all the dreamers - sweet, light, naive and heartwarming. Space-Disco-Funk at its best!

“Where You From” is a fiery Soulful House number with heavy Afro-Latin influences recorded in collaboration with Lipelis. It’s full of Sun, joy and passion. Its irresistible rhythm is emphasised by funky octave bass, wah-wah guitar, catchy piano riffs, guitar solo by Lipelis and seemingly light conscious message delivered by Lay-Far and Maryag. Summer is here!

Now the album takes an unexpected twist in the form of “The Harp of Boom” which at first glance appears to be a classic-sounding Boom-Bap banger. Yes, It’s loud, raw, and gritty, yet it gradually evolves into something delicately-touching and deeply-soulful thanks to a memorable flute melody and lush string arrangement. Definitely recorded with tongue in cheek.


Next is “Feel The Moment” a remarkable collaboration with one of the most recognisable and distinctive Russian artists, singer, trumpeter and cultural icon Antoha MC. It’s a feel-good song, hopeful, life-affirming and bittersweet. A stylish excursion into Brit-Funk and Soviet Jazz-Fusion sound, drawing inspiration from the likes of Atmosfear, Light Of The World or Soviet Jazz bands like Allegro and Arsenal, but reimagining the influences through the modern West London broken beat lens.


The spectacular music journey continuous with “Take Flight (Part 2)” - it’s all about the deep infectious jazz-funk groove, heavy beats, rolling percussion and the glory of the soloing instruments - saxophone and flute by Timur Nekrasov, demonstrating the wide range of emotions from thoughtful and lyrical to restless and borderline vicious. One for freestyle dancing!

As the album draws to an end a vibrant musical triptych “Soul Constant” awaits, mixing together the deep and sensual mood of spiritual jazz with heavy syncopated drum’n’bass rhythms by Michail Fotchenkov, lush orchestration, expressive saxophone solos and the ending which can simply be described as “aural bliss”. It’s breath-taking!

A pleasant bonus is the exclusive version of “Where You From” by Lipelis himself, who is taking it into dub territories, further enhancing the rhythm section and enriching the song with his trademark playful synth flourishes and dreamy guitar solos for maximum effect (and appeal).

The album “Skybreak” by Lay-Far Dance Orchestra is the work of real artistry and craftsmanship with timeless sound that’s not only deeply-rooted but also forward-thinking.