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The debut LP from Italy's own Alex Fernet, just another taste of the italo renaissance.

Music and lyrics by Alex Fernet. All vocals, bass lines, synths and guitar parts performed by Alex Fernet

Recorded and mixed by Edoado "Dodi" Pellizzari at Overdrive Recording Studio, Castello di Godego

Drums and percussions by Diego Dal Bon

© 2023 Costello's (Milan) & People's Potential Unlimited (Washington DC)

For our ninth journey on ´Future Romance´ the aspiring and promising german duo Add-us are delivering 3 top notch productions called "Change of direction", "Faces of the moon" and "Play of shades" packed with strong synth lines and emotional moments for the deeper dancefloors.

The DJ and producer duo which consists of the two friends Robert and Patrick teamed up in 2018 for the project Add-us. Since then they´ve released their music on labels like Parquet Recordings, Renaissance or 3000 Grad, just to name a few.
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Early DJ support by Tale of us, Camel Phat, Fideles, Einmusik, Anii, Hunter/Game, Raphael Mader, Markus Kavka, Ron Flatter and more.

"I am sitting in a garden, I haven't left the property in weeks, someone is dropping off food once a week. I haven't seen a human being in ages, I feel like a reverse Schroedinger cat - do I exist when nobody sees me? I must be somewhere in France but I don't remember. I have lost my consciousness again. When I wake up I hear a broken record looping somewhere in the mansion. A washed-out opera. Behind the trees I see the dilapidated hermaphrodite sculpture in a field of verdant nettles and fern. I hear gunshots far afield, aeroplanes in the sky, sirens on the main road.
When unconscious I dreamt of sitting on the Concorde observing the scarab blue ocean and iridescent clouds from above, an erstwhile receding memory. Sometimes I hear the organ of the nearby Renaissance Cathedral merging with the Russian Church bells.
I am hallucinating again. Someone's humming in the kitchen? Singing? A Radio? I overhear two young women talking about art galleries in the neighbour's garden. Bees attack, again…..again and again. The hairspray finally intoxicates them. An amphoric japanese voice is whispering in my head saying I will die soon. Someone (something?) bangs on the vases. The fountain's water turns dark red.
Fleur calls and says mum died. The funeral will be televised on tuesday. We opt for the synthetic choir for the service. The call is suddenly interrupted. Mold is slowly taking over the house.
I go back inside."

Une Fille Pétrifiée is the debut album of new Black To Comm related entity Mouchoir Ètanche (after one recent 12" on Richter's own Dekorder label). Combining real and fake acoustic instrumentation, sampling, field recordings and excessive yet inaudible post production this is another sublime and ethereal statement. Influences are ranging from (French) Classical & Opera to the anecdotical compositions of Luc Ferrari, Chinese Opera, Chanson, Sacred Music / Church Music, JG Ballard and Surrealism.

Marc Richter records as Black To Comm for Thrill Jockey, Type and Dekorder and as Jemh Circs for his own Cellule 75 imprint. He also produces soundtracks and acousmatic multichannel installations for institutions such as INA GRM Paris, ZKM Karlsruhe and Kunstverein Hamburg.

Knowledge The Pirate returns with a powerful new statement with his new album, The Round Table, which is now available. The Round Table is produced in its entirety by longtime collaborator and legend Roc Marciano through his Pimpire International imprint.

With roots in New York’s revered ‘90s hip-hop scene, Knowledge The Pirate has steadily built a reputation as one of the genre’s most consistent and authentic voices. A frequent Roc Marci collaborator and key figure in the modern underground renaissance, Knowledge fuses golden-age grit with new wave innovation—bridging generations while staying firmly rooted in New York’s timeless sound.

Since his 2018 debut Flintlock, Knowledge has carved a lane entirely his own through his label Treasure Chest Entertainment, Inc. With five acclaimed projects under his belt, including the recent 5lbs of Pressure, he continues to deliver unfiltered street wisdom and personal reflection in every bar.

The Round Table stands as a testament to his evolution—an uncompromising body of work laced with Roc Marciano’s signature production and Knowledge’s lived-in lyricism. It’s not just a record—it’s a meeting of the minds, an audio council of kings.

“The Round Table is cinematic storytelling, teaching street knowledge, eating etiquette that will save your life” Knowledge professes. “This album is like an Honorable Elijah Muhammad book; How To Eat To Live. Produced fully by the true creator of the new wave sound, Roc Marciano, you are all invited to a seat at The Round Table; and break bread with the true Godfathers of this new wave rap renaissance.”

Nach einem turbulenten Jahrzehnt, in dem er häufiger im Gefängnis als auf der Bühne oder in einem
Aufnahmestudio anzutreffen war, begann Tenorsaxofonist Dexter Gordon mit einem neuen Vertrag bei
Blue Note Records eine erstaunliche Karriere-Renaissance. Mit den im Mai 1961 im Abstand von nur drei
Tagen in Rudy Van Gelders Tonstudio in Englewood Cliffs aufgenommenen Alben “Doin’ Allright” und
“Dexter Calling” untermauerte er seine Rückkehr zu alter Form mit Bravour. Hervorragend unterstützt von
einem fein besetzten Quartett, wechselte der spielfreudige Saxofonist auf “Dexter Calling” mühelos von
energiegeladenem Swing zu atemberaubenden Balladen.

2026 Repress, LIMITED PEARL-DEEP-OCEAN COLORED VINYL

Dilby and Pornbugs team up on ‘Between Us’. Pornbugs celebrate 20 years of Bondage in 2026 and 21 years as a DJ/production team. Moving in fresh circles has always been an important part of their longevity, so signings so Selador and Sudbeat have exposed them to new ears showcasing their crossover sound.
Equally, on-form Dilby is having something of a renaissance with his chunky deep house sound now, finding increasing favour with the progressive house elite. Signed to a bewildering selection of labels from Glasgow Underground to Sudbeat, the world is his oyster.

Opening with ‘Hear Me Out’ their combined bumpy deep sound marries incredibly well. Uptempo and lively, this is the future sound of retro, and we are here for all of it. Next up, ‘Hold The Line’ joins the dots between deep and progressive house, keeping the funk and soul intact. Bass-led and groovy as hell, this is your new secret weapon. Play it loud!
‘Fade Into You’ is the first of the vinyl only tracks and marks a stark change of pace. Deeper, more soulful and markedly more thoughtful, this is modern deep house in its glittery new rave clothes. Pairing nicely is the flipside track ‘Beyond Fear’ which rumbles along with techy bass and a chunky groove.

As a torchbearer of gritty lyricism and unapologetic authenticity, Conway The Machine takes the helm to introduce the world to the burgeoning talents that make up the Drumwork roster, a powerhouse assembly of artists ready to reshape the landscape of rap music.

At the forefront of the album stands Conway The Machine, delivering blistering verses and commanding attention with his trademark grit and authenticity. But "Drumwork Collective" is more than just a solo endeavor; it's a collaborative effort featuring guest appearances by Rome Streetz, Benny The Butcher, 38 Spesh, and others. Each artist brings their unique perspective to the table, adding layers of depth and complexity to the project.

Behind the boards, producers like Beat Butcha, Graymatter, Trizzy Williams, and more craft a sonic landscape that's as gritty as it is innovative. From soulful samples to hard-hitting drums, the production on this compilation sets the stage for the lyrical onslaught that follows, blending traditional boom-bap aesthetics with a modern edge. Together, these elements form a cohesive tapestry that captures the essence of hip-hop's underground renaissance, proving that the beat truly does strike back.

As collaborative projects often do, 33 has in time found a more fixed form, a kind of structure that turned it from a loose collection of collaborators gravitating around founders Bill John Bultheel and Alexander Iezzi into something resembling more of a traditional band. Not that there is anything conventional in their creative process tho, nor in the music itself… Nontheless Tripolar - their second album and first for Haunter - seems to take them closer to song territory than ever before.

The (progressive) graduation of multi-instrumentalist Cem Dukkha and vocalist/clarinet player Ivan Cheng from collaborators to full-time members has brought 33 to a more refined awareness of their possibilities as a creative unit, although their compositional process has retained a high level of spontaneity and musical madness. Tripolar was in fact assembled by editing hours of improvisation that Bultheel, Iezzi and Dukkah recorded with no specific endgame in mind. The sessions saw them exchange a variety of acoustic, electronic and electric musical instruments: percussions, guitars, strings, piano, hurdy gurdy, synthesizers and even CDJs as a tool of live sampling manipulation.

By molding the pieces into what they are now, the band managed to concoct some beautiful vignettes of contradictory mental and emotional states, as sonically playful as a renaissance fair happening within a broken timestream. Cheng’s lyrical and vocal contributions helped them coalesce even further into proper songs, adding a melodic presence that’s at once seductive and uncanny. But vocal duties are often ceded to guests, namely Danish pop-neoclassicist Astrid Sonne, Kenyan metal guru Lord Spikeheart, Irish goth raconteur Olan Monk and Japanese body-poet Golin.The amount of different sounds arranged into each of the tracks produces a unique sense of awe and bewilderment, a testament to the incredible talent and craft the musicians have employed into putting together such a broad range of influences and approaches into a coherent and extremely effective musical journey.

An equally erratic thematic thread seems to run through all the tracks, one ultimately preoccupied with mental health and its ramifications. Without turning the project into a concept album, 33 and their collaborators have sprinkled it with references to personality disorders and mental conditions that are all too relevant to the contemporary age, reflecting on the lineage of human inner life. A wide display of lyrical and musical tools is employed to explore these themes, ranging from Sonne’s expressionist depiction of ADHD in the opener, to Cheng’s queer-themed reinvention of an Irish murder ballad in closing track ‘Babymusicc’. Tracing lateral trajectories for introspection, Tripolar is not only highly captivating, but it ultimately sounds esoteric in the best possible way: progressively revealing layer after layer of incredible aural magic, its true meaning living in the form and in its manic scope of energies.

Joep Beving, einer der bekanntesten und meistgestreamten Pianisten weltweit, veröffentlicht Liminal. Inspiriert von Guillaume Logés Buch Renaissance sauvage lädt das Album ein, das Verhältnis von Mensch
und Natur neu zu denken. Liminal erscheint am 20. März 2026.
Die von Logé entworfene Vision einer Welt, in der der Mensch die Natur als kreative Partnerin begreift,
faszinierte Beving so sehr, dass er 15 neue Stücke schrieb, die durchaus Teil einer Renaissance-Bewegung
des 21. Jahrhunderts werden könnten. »Mit dieser Musik wollte ich unseren kleinen, aber bedeutsamen
Platz im großen Ganzen erkunden«, erklärt er, »weg vom menschenzentrierten Denken, hin zu einer Weise
des Schaffens ›mit‹ der Natur, statt getrennt von ihr.«
Es entfaltet sich ein oszillierender Klangraum: »Wie ein fortdauernder Dialog zwischen Kontrolle und Intuition. Er erkundet jenen Zwischenzustand – die liminale Zone, in der Bedeutung erst entsteht.«

The analog LP reissue of the original soundtrack album from the anime Mr. Ajikko, which aired in 1987. The original LP catalog number is K28G-7379, and the original
CD catalog number is K32X-7125, released on June 21, 1988 (the tracklist differs from the CD released in 2004, which included eight newly added tracks).
The original manga, created by Daisuke Terasawa, was serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine from autumn 1986 to the end of 1989, and was adapted into an anime
series that aired on TV Tokyo from October 1987 to September 1989.

This is the only soundtrack album for the anime series. It features the opening theme “Renaissance Jounetsu” and the ending theme “Kokoro no Photograph”, both
composed and sung by singer songwriter Wataru Kuniyasu, who is also known for composing Akina Nakamori’s “Gypsy Queen”. Lyrics were written by Ikki Matsumoto,
and arrangements were done by Tatsumi Yano.

The album includes image songs, eyecatch music, and preview tracks, with contributions from renowned comedy song artists Masayuki Yamamoto (Side A tracks 4 and 6)
and Tatsuo Kamon (Side B tracks 1 and 7). The album was structured, scripted, and directed by the anime’s director Yasuhiro Imagawa, making it a variety style album.
The main background music (BGM) was composed and arranged by Daito Fujita (Side A tracks 1, 3, 5, 7; Side B tracks 3, 5). The original manga author Daisuke
Terasawa also contributed lyrics for two songs (Side B tracks 3 and 5). Voice actor Tomohiro Nishimura participated both as a singer (Side A track 8; Side B track 7)
and as an arranger (Side B track 7).

Voice actors Minami Takayama, Yoko Kawanami, Miki Narahashi, Hirotaka Suzuoki, and Kenyu Horiuchi also participated in min dramas and chorus segments.
This album, which comically and dramatically portrays cooking battles, is a “Bravo!” anime soundtrack that closes out the Showa era in style. After 37 years, it is finally
being reissued as an analog LP a long-awaited release for anime connoisseurs!

Seit etwas mehr als einem Jahrzehnt hat sich EXEK ganz leise zu einer der faszinierendsten Bands der Welt entwickelt, die sich von Album zu Album verändert und weiterentwickelt und sich nach und nach geöffnet hat, ohne jemals diese seltsame, unergründliche und insgesamt essentielle Eigenschaft zu verlieren, die sie so großartig gemacht hat - so EXEK-mäßig. Nun bringt die Post-Punk-Band aus Melbourne - Sänger und Chefarchitekt Albert Wolski, Gitarrist Jai Morris-Smith, Schlagzeuger Chris Stephenson, Synthesizer-Spezialist Andrew Brocchi, Trompeterin und Sängerin Valya YL Hooi und Bassist Ben Hepworth - ihr siebtes Album und erstes für DFA raus: ,Prove The Mountains Move". Es ist, wie Wolski sagt, ,ein bisschen epischer" als alles, was er bisher aufgenommen hat, ein üppiges und unverhohlen melodisches Set surrealistischer Popmusik, das sich in Widersprüchen suhlt. ,Dieses Album ist in seiner Machart experimentell", sagt Wolski, ,aber es klingt nicht unbedingt experimentell." Dafür gibt es einen guten Grund. Die Arbeit begann an einem kalten Nachmittag im Juni 2023, als Wolski und Stephenson sich in den Pelican Refill Studios in Melbourne trafen, um die Drums aufzunehmen - das erste, was sie immer machen. Danach ging Wolski alleine nach Hause und fing an, die aufgenommenen Beats und Breaks durchzugehen, wobei er sich von den Drum-Sounds zu Melodien und Basslines leiten ließ, Loops und Layers erstellte und so die Grundlage für ,Prove The Mountains Move" schuf. ,Ich fühle mich wohl dabei, alleine wie ein verrückter Wissenschaftler herumzutüfteln", sagt er. ,Ich habe es auch genossen, ohne klare Absicht auf Aufnahme zu drücken. Meistens führte mich das in eine interessante Richtung, die mein Bewusstsein wahrscheinlich nicht gesucht hätte." Und doch gelangte Wolski irgendwie zu seinem direktesten Werk seit Beginn des Projekts, neu inspiriert von der Klarheit und Prägnanz des Mainstream-Pop, der starken und unbestreitbaren Anziehungskraft einer einfachen Gesangsmelodie. Nachdem die berühmt-berüchtigten strengen COVID-Lockdowns in Melbourne beendet waren, wollte er einfach draußen bleiben. ,Die Arbeit an neuer Musik trat gegenüber dem Feiern mit Freunden in den Hintergrund", sagt er. ,Und diese Partys waren voller großer Hits als Soundtrack - Sachen, die ich selbst nicht wirklich hörte, Sachen, denen ich seit meiner Jugend nicht mehr begegnet war. Aber in den frühen Morgenstunden des Sonntags klingt ,Alive" von Pearl Jam, als würde man mit Gott sprechen. Genauso wie ,All I Wanna Do" von Sheryl Crow und ,Feel" von Robbie Williams. Krautrock und Dub waren immer noch in meiner DNA, aber die Musik, die ich zu machen begann, war vielleicht etwas unbeschwerter und vielleicht auch etwas emotionaler." Das heißt nicht, dass man hier Spuren von Eddie Vedder in Wolskis Gesang erwarten sollte, aber die Einsätze fühlen sich auf ihre eigene Weise ähnlich an - so klingt es, wenn EXEK wirklich alles geben. Nimm zum Beispiel die schwebenden Synthesizer des Openers ,Sidestepping" oder die gewaltigen Gitarren von ,Arriverderci Back Pain", die pyrotechnischen Klavierklänge von ,Don't Answer (When They Call)" oder die Bowie-artige Melancholie von ,You Have Been Blessed". Die Arrangements wirken offener, der Sound fokussierter. Es fällt nicht schwer, Wolski zu glauben, wenn er sagt, dass er viel Zeit damit verbracht hat, seine Mixe von ,Prove The Mountains Move" mit einigen der wichtigsten Alben, die je aufgenommen wurden, darunter ,Abbey Road", zu vergleichen. Aber alles ist relativ. Und textlich bleibt Wolski weiterhin verschlüsselt. ,Jeder Song ist eine Vignette in einem abstrakten Milieu, sei es ein experimentelles Chiropraktik-Geschäft am Flughafen oder spärlich bekleidete Kreaturen aus Staub in einem Food Court. Egal wie verrückt das auch sein mag, es gibt Themen und Motive auf dem gesamten Album, sowohl textlich als auch musikalisch, die sich in verschiedenen Songs widerspiegeln und aufeinander Bezug nehmen." Diese Dissonanz zwischen direkt und indirekt, glatt und strukturiert, schattig und glühend, verrückt und ausdruckslos ist die treibende Kraft im Herzen dieser Songs, seiner bisher besten.

Die genreübergreifende Instrumentalband Polyphia besteht aus den Gitarristen Tim Henson und Scott
LePage, Bassist Clay Gober und Schlagzeuger Clay Aeschliman. Seit ihrer Gründung 2010 in Plano,
Texas, hat sich Polyphia einen Namen gemacht, indem sie komplexe Gitarrenriffs mit Hip-Hop-Rhythmen,
basslastigem Trap und Einflüssen aus Progressive Metal und Rock verbindet. Die Band hat bisher drei
Studioalben veröffentlicht – „Muse“ (2014), „Renaissance“ (2016) und „New Levels New Devils“ (2018)
– sowie zwei EPs und einige Singles. Ihr beeindruckender Katalog hat ihnen über 400 Millionen Streams
weltweit, über 140 Millionen YouTube-Aufrufe und internationale Anerkennung eingebracht.

„O Brother, Where Art Thou?“ löste zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts eine kulturelle Renaissance aus.
Der Soundtrack, von der RIAA mit achtfach Platin ausgezeichnet, brachte traditionelle American-RootsMusik einem breiten Publikum näher und holte Genres wie Bluegrass, Gospel, Blues, Country und Folk
zurück in den Mainstream. Der unerwartete Erfolg des Albums eroberte die Welt im Sturm und prägte eine
neue Welle der Popmusik, deren Klang tief in den musikalischen Traditionen des amerikanischen Südens
verwurzelt ist.

Powerfull nice grooves from a series that might be beer named: "Acid folk renaissance " – as most of the work here come from the 70s, and a lot from those great years of the UK and US scene where it also seemed like there was plenty of folk in the music as well! A few of these cuts are downright acid , and all are filled with great instrumenta&on – in an approach that's a nice change from some of the more familiar Brit and US manners of the same genera&on. The &tles include, among the others: Nirvana’s Nova Sketch , Fi.y Foot Hose’s Rose, Pyranha ‘s Clepsydre , Kaleidoscope’s Keep your mind open, and more .

Fantastisches Album mit 12 Liedern der Begena-Musiker Tafese Tesfaye, Admassu Fikre, Seyoum Mengistu und Alemu Aga. ""Die Begena ist eines jener seltenen Musikinstrumente, das seit über 5800 Jahren existiert. Faszinierend an ihr ist nicht nur ihr Alter, sondern auch die Tatsache, dass sich ihre Herstellung und ihr Verwendungszweck über all die Jahre hinweg nicht verändert haben. ... Während des Derg-Regimes, nach dem Sturz von Kaiser Haile Selassie, wurde sie nicht mehr als wichtig erachtet. ... Aber besonders in den letzten 15-16 Jahren hat es eine Renaissance erlebt. Es gibt viele, meist junge Begena-Spieler, von denen ich über 500 Schüler unterrichtet habe. Es gibt auch Begena-Bauer, die das Instrument für neue Schüler bauen. Das Interessante an diesem Instrument ist, dass die Musik, der Klang, der aus diesem Instrument kommt, die besondere Kraft hat, Menschen zur Konzentration, zur Ruhe und zum Nachdenken zu bewegen. Das ist eine besondere Qualität. Man muss kein Äthiopier sein, jeder kann es hören, es wird ihn automatisch zur Ruhe und Konzentration anregen."" – Alemu Aga (aus einem Interview mit Pit Budde für den WDR, Köln, 2008)

Fantastisches Album mit 12 Liedern der Begena-Musiker Tafese Tesfaye, Admassu Fikre, Seyoum Mengistu und Alemu Aga. ""Die Begena ist eines jener seltenen Musikinstrumente, das seit über 5800 Jahren existiert. Faszinierend an ihr ist nicht nur ihr Alter, sondern auch die Tatsache, dass sich ihre Herstellung und ihr Verwendungszweck über all die Jahre hinweg nicht verändert haben. ... Während des Derg-Regimes, nach dem Sturz von Kaiser Haile Selassie, wurde sie nicht mehr als wichtig erachtet. ... Aber besonders in den letzten 15-16 Jahren hat es eine Renaissance erlebt. Es gibt viele, meist junge Begena-Spieler, von denen ich über 500 Schüler unterrichtet habe. Es gibt auch Begena-Bauer, die das Instrument für neue Schüler bauen. Das Interessante an diesem Instrument ist, dass die Musik, der Klang, der aus diesem Instrument kommt, die besondere Kraft hat, Menschen zur Konzentration, zur Ruhe und zum Nachdenken zu bewegen. Das ist eine besondere Qualität. Man muss kein Äthiopier sein, jeder kann es hören, es wird ihn automatisch zur Ruhe und Konzentration anregen."" – Alemu Aga (aus einem Interview mit Pit Budde für den WDR, Köln, 2008)

2026 Repress

Supported by Cio D'Or, Deepbass, Etapp Kyle, Mattias Fridell, Ness, Samuli Kemppi, Svreca, Takaaki Itoh, Unam Zetineb, Exium, Alessio Pili, Antonio de Angelis, Artefakt, Edit/Select, Jonas Kopp, Kwartz, Mod21, Reggy van Oers, Juho Kahilainen, Eric Cloutier, Johanna Knutsson, Tom Bonaty, Arnaud le Texier, Brando Lupi, I/Y, Iori, MTD, Nima Khak, Par Grindvik, SNTS, The Noisemaker, VSK, Attemporal, Casual Violence, Rasmus Hedlund, Sleeparchive, Terence Fixmer, Eastern Renaissance, Victor Martinez and many, many more.
Luigi Tozzi / Deepbass / Claudio Prc - Deep Blue

2026 Repress

Flickering in ultraviolet, there is an elusive place where blue pill meets red, ups become downs, and day merges with night. Those liminal spaces where anything is possible is where you’ll find Nightbus and their hypnotic debut album Passenger. Doom, uncertainty, and opportunity lurk in the shadowy corners of their murky existence with stops at disassociation, co-dependency, and addiction before reaching its final destination - a glimmer of hope.

The in-between of Nightbus’ own Gotham lies where Manchester’s city pulse meets Stockport’s outer realm. An audio-visual entity formed among a musical family of friends, freaks, and foes in messy mills and after hours on dancefloors alike, their sound bleeds from tension where collective creative forces are bound together and collide with the fallout of being torn apart. Before even playing a show, their So Young released single ‘Mirrors’ – a knowing nod of respect to some well-known gloomy Northerners - may have made old school indie heads shimmy at shows in Salford’s The White Hotel but also signalled the duo’s knack for offering listeners a Bandersnatch approach to hitchhiking their own personal Nightbus in whatever direction they choose to take. “Everyone can have their moment with our songs; the music is our response to who we are as young people, living in the city full of this energy right now,” they say.

Whilst reverb hefty melodies and dread-filled loops embody isolation from writing at each of their home studio set-ups, magic happens in the ether across 90s trip-hop, indie sleaze and electronica; Jake’s production layers Olive’s pop sentimentality with drums and samples whilst tales of a cast of faceless characters place Olive as puppet master; her severed self’s perspective manipulating their stringed limbs at arm’s length to see how their stories play out when scenes reflecting her own lie close to the bone. “It’s a bit fucked; like having this out of body experience with a made-up movie running through my head,” she says. “As I write I can see they’re all from a similar world, but they allow me to explore different feelings without giving away part of myself.”

Recorded at The Nave in Leeds with producer-engineer Alex Greaves (Heavy Lungs, Working Men’s Club), surprise and danger lies in every crevice. Brooding whispers turn to chants on 6-minute opus ‘Host.’ Improvised when performed live, its immersive shift in tempo leads to hefty dub courtesy of Jake’s pedals. Even then, you won’t know shit’s hit the fan until its mid-point reveal when ominous bass blasts a thunderous soundtrack as its protagonist defiantly walks away after committing the perfect crime. “It makes you wait, and more songs should have sirens,” Olive grins.

Leaning deeper into alter-egos via the video game-psychological horror of a Silent Hill dystopia, the band’s Fight Club moment ‘Angles Mortz’ turns its literal translation of death angles on its head as it reflects upon kink and internalised shame reincarnated as pride. Elsewhere the ice cool ‘Landslide’ is a Requiem for a Dream about the addiction of being in a band; ‘The Void’ explores co-dependency and estranged relationships; and carefully selected samples revive house track ‘Just A Kid’ from the band’s early incarnation. Passenger’s every direction is to face challenges head on. “That is what’s so great about horror; you can see through predictable patterns so when the unexpected occurs it's more realistic and uncomfortable… I want to own the dark stuff!”

As for Passenger’s first single, the pulsating ‘Ascension’ is a spiralling deep dive into death, suicide, and legacy around who or what we leave behind. A noughties club banger by way of NYC beats - ergonomically designed for those who like to stay out a little too often and too late - it throbs like a house party’s partition wall as the literal levelling up undergoes a neon transformation; blue glitching to pink, diffusing the white construct of the Nightbus Matrix. “It really does feel like the end of something and was purposely written that way,” they say, “the ascension is like a firework going off!”

With wheels in motion, Nightbus has become a movement surpassing sonic realms. Between shows from Porto to Brighton taking in The Great Escape, Rotterdam’s Left Of The Dial and Paris’ Supersonic; DJing; remixing; guesting (BDRMM’s Microtonic album); and even enlisting talented like-minds to craft a 3-part queer coming-of-age music video series which ties in with a new ‘hyperpop’ phase in the evolution of their popular Nightbus Soundsystem club night, heads are now being turned from sports brands to high-end fashion designers. “There are things we can’t reveal just yet,” tells Olive, “but we’re excited about the direction this beast we’ve created is heading.” As the album philosophises and asks one ultimate question; what does it truly mean to be ‘Passenger’? Nightbus may not claim to offer a definitive answer, but it might make you feel a bit better about those demons.

Juga-Naut, cultural Renaissance man, master of crafts, has done it again. Out of the deepest recesses of Nottingham’s underground caves, in brain-melting stereo and mesmerising technicolor, comes… Bem II.

Following on from 2020’s Bem, while defying the outdated belief that a sequel never outshines its predecessor, this is a lyrically ascendant, sonically euphoric, genre-defying, fever-inducing, hellcat of an album. Built upon the backbone of Juga-Naut’s inimitable production, wry, streetwise and knowing poetics, with hooks so catchy they cause problems when swallowed, Bem II gives listeners more funk, more soul, more grooves, more breaks, and more grit than ever before. The album’s co-stars include incredible artists and collaborators from both sides of the Atlantic, such as Crimeapple, Vandal Savage & Yumah.

Inspired by legendary cinema, each track is filmic in and of itself, a collection of twelve potent and timeless songs that together mean more than a million vapid viral videos. If played in the presence of the planet’s most infamous haters in a darkened theatre on a moonless night, Bem II has the power to unite even the most acrimonious of enemies.

This album is best listened to just before your decide to ask Jugz in 2024 after a decade plus of releases if he is 'still doing his little music thing?'.

Doomcannon Announces Powerful New Album 'Somewhere In Between' Capturing The Quiet Turbulence Of Transformation. New Single 'the Truth' Out Now Is A Soulful Prelude To A Record About Healing, Growth & Self-Belief.

DoomCannon is the alter ego of South London native Dominic Canning, a musical force who cut his teeth as part of genre-pushing groups TriForce and Project Karnak. A proud graduate of Kinetika Bloco and Tomorrow's Warriors, he has shared stages with Celeste (as her musical director), and has graced platforms from the BRIT Awards to 'Later… with Jools Holland'.

His 2022 debut album 'Renaissance'on Brownswood Recordings earned critical acclaim for its expansive sound and political urgency. Now, with 'Somewhere In Between', DoomCannon turns the lens inward—exploring personal growth, emotional honesty, and the hard-earned lessons found in transition.

»La Traversée« (»The Crossing«) is Matthias Puech’s second album for Hallow Ground and follows up on 2023’s »Mt. Hadamard National Park.« Profoundly inspired by re-reading »The Odyssey,« the French composer, instrument designer, and scholar used a Eurorack modular synthesizer to create four pieces that are by far the most intuitive and emotionally charged in his ever-expanding catalogue. Puech’s masterful command of sound comes to the forefront with even more urgency on this record. A wandering meditation on the human condition, »La Traversée« is an album that is constantly in motion—complex electronic music at its most gripping and evocative.

The foundation for »La Traversée« was laid when Puech prepared a live set for a tour organised in collaboration with Hallow Ground in support of »Mt. Hadamard National Park.« Before writing the first three pieces—»Ennosigaios,« »Polyphármakos,« »Nekuia«—the 18½-minute-long »Ithâké« was composed in near-total isolation in the South of France at the end of 2023. Puech performed the material live several times before taking a step black from it for a while. He revisited the pieces when preparingthem for a release. »I was struck by how the technical process and the intention behind the music had completely vanished from my memory,« he says.

What remained intact, however, was Puech’s association of the material with one of the most influential texts of Western literature. Reading a graphic novel adaptation of »The Odyssey« with his two four-year-olds, he noticed the effect that it had on them and himself. »Its themes of longing, fear of and attraction to the unknown, unresolved quests, and the struggle for control felt topical,« he says. »I was completely taken. Every story ever told seemed contained in this ancient tale; every story I have ever tried to tell as a composer seemed inscribed in this framework.« This also extended to formal motifs such as the repetition of incidents, narrative developments, or dramatic effects that also mark »La Traversée.«

Puech says that he perceived Homer’s writing as musical, »like an old Delta blues or a Renaissance counterpoint,« which inspired his writing process. »With a couple of knobs on my Eurorack system, I could control the unfolding of a story,« he notes. »This made me pass through different emotional statesand led to moments in which everything made sudden sense—when you as an artist get a glimpse atsomething essential, can touch upon something universal.« This shines through »La Traversée,« a wildly imaginative album that is deeply personal while also telling a story far more wide-reaching than that of its creator.

Die erste Single von einem der vielversprechendsten neuen Stars der aktuellen Soul-Szene. Tauche ein in die Welt von Taylor Williams, einem talentierten jungen Soulsänger aus Greensboro, North Carolina. Er wurde der Colemine-Familie durch Blake Rhein, dem Gitarristen der Indications, vorgestellt und fand sofort eine kreative Verbindung zu Label-Besitzer Terry Cole. Seine erste Single für Colemine wurde in der Portage Lounge in Loveland, Ohio, mit Charles Alley am Schlagzeug aufgenommen. Taylor strahlt einfach Talent, Charisma und Freundlichkeit aus. Kurz nachdem die Rhythmus-Tracks für ,Dreaming" aufgenommen waren, schrieb er schnell den Refrain und die Strophen und nahm seinen Gesang im ersten Anlauf auf. Auf der B-Seite dieser 45er-Single ist Taylor Williams mit seiner Interpretation eines Juwels der Numero Group von The Exceptional Three zu hören. Produziert von Leroi Conroy in roher und minimalistischer Weise, bringt Taylor diesen staubigen Song ins Jahr 2025, ohne dabei die eindringliche Authentizität des Originals zu verlieren. Mr. Williams verleiht dem Track nicht nur seine hochfliegende und gefühlvolle Stimme, sondern spielt auch Gitarre, Orgel und Vibraphon. Ein wahrer Renaissance-Soul-Mann!

Die erste Single von einem der vielversprechendsten neuen Stars der aktuellen Soul-Szene. Tauche ein in die Welt von Taylor Williams, einem talentierten jungen Soulsänger aus Greensboro, North Carolina. Er wurde der Colemine-Familie durch Blake Rhein, dem Gitarristen der Indications, vorgestellt und fand sofort eine kreative Verbindung zu Label-Besitzer Terry Cole. Seine erste Single für Colemine wurde in der Portage Lounge in Loveland, Ohio, mit Charles Alley am Schlagzeug aufgenommen. Taylor strahlt einfach Talent, Charisma und Freundlichkeit aus. Kurz nachdem die Rhythmus-Tracks für ,Dreaming" aufgenommen waren, schrieb er schnell den Refrain und die Strophen und nahm seinen Gesang im ersten Anlauf auf. Auf der B-Seite dieser 45er-Single ist Taylor Williams mit seiner Interpretation eines Juwels der Numero Group von The Exceptional Three zu hören. Produziert von Leroi Conroy in roher und minimalistischer Weise, bringt Taylor diesen staubigen Song ins Jahr 2025, ohne dabei die eindringliche Authentizität des Originals zu verlieren. Mr. Williams verleiht dem Track nicht nur seine hochfliegende und gefühlvolle Stimme, sondern spielt auch Gitarre, Orgel und Vibraphon. Ein wahrer Renaissance-Soul-Mann!

Die erfolgreiche englische Alternative Band Florence + The Machine veröffentlicht ihr mit Spannung erwartetes 6. Studioalbum ”Everybody Scream”.
Die Band rund um Frontfrau Florence Welsh ist aus der globalen Musikszene nicht mehr weg zu denken!
Mit 7 Grammy Nominierungen, mehrfachen Platin - und Gold Auszeichnungen, fünf Top 10 Platzierungen
in den Deutschen Album-Charts sowie mehr als 1,5 Millionen verkauften Tonträgern in Deutschland zählt
Florence + The Machine zu einer der einflussreichsten Bands der letzten Jahrzehnte. In der Vergangenheit
arbeitete die Band mit Musikgrößen wie Taylor Swift (”FLORIDA!!!”), Lady Gaga (” Hey Girl”) & Calvin
Harris (”Sweet Nothing”) zusammen. Bekannt wurde die Gruppe durch den kraftvollen Gesang von Florence Welsh und dem theatralischen und oft mystischen Sound, welcher Elemente von Art-Pop, Indie Rock
und Barock-Pop filigran vereint. In ihrer Musik erkundet Florence + The Machine Themen wie Liebe, Tod,
Schmerz und zieht Inspiration aus der Kunst und Literatur der Renaissance.

"Rags, Ballads & Harmonium Songs. Chanteys, Come-All-Ye's, Aborigine Song Sticks. Gospel, Improvisations, Renaissance Lyrics, Blake Hymns, Bluegrass, Hillbilly Riffs, Country & Western, 50's R&B, Dirty Dozens & New Wave"

Allen Ginsberg's recorded opus gets its first ever full vinyl reissue on a gatefold double vinyl LP replete with photography by Robert Frank. Containing studio-recorded performances that he wrote, performed and taped in sessions taking place between 1971 and 1981 - featuring Bob Dylan, Arthur Russell, Anne Waldman, David Mansfield, Perry Robinson, David Amram and many other friends and contemporaries.

A selection of what were arguably "demos" for this record were originally recorded by the legendary Harry Smith at his apartment in the Chelsea Hotel in the early 70s, and this would later appear on Folkways as First Blues: Rags, Ballads & Harmonium Songs.

Sit, you sit down
Breathe when you breathe
Lie down, you lie down
Walk where you walk

Talk when you talk
Cry when you cry
Lie down, you lie down
Die when you die credits

Issued under license from the Allen Ginsberg estate. With thanks for Peter Hale, Peter Wright & John Allen.



c 03: Jimmy Berman (Gay Lib Rag) feat. Bob Dylan, David Amram, Perry Robinson, Happy Traum, Jon Sholle, Surya, Moruga, Peter Orlovsky & Anne Waldman

First time on vinyl reissue of this indiepop classic, 15 years after its original release.

Living & Growing was the debut album from The Felt Tips, a Glasgow-based indiepop band that gloriously combined gritty lyrics with sublime jangly guitars. Set For October 17th Vinyl-Only Reissue On Unspun Heroes.

• A band synonymous with the 2010’s indiepop renaissance
• Ten melodious, infectious and utterly unforgettable songs
• Reissued for the first time on EcoVin™ Bio Vinyl

October might not appear to be the ideal time to release a bright and sunny set of songs, but autumnal days bring a mix of dark and light that perfectly matches the overall vibe of the debut album by the jangly indiepop band, The Felt Tips.
 
The Felt Tips debut album was originally released by Peruvian label Plastilina Records in 2010 to much acclaim in the international indiepop scene. The ten songs are crammed full of catchy melodies and chiming guitar riffs, with memorable lyrics covering everything from religious hypocrisy (Boyfriend Devoted) to what teenagers get up to in the park after dark (Lifeskills).
 
It’s clear that these four lads grew up listening to The Smiths – not only name-checking the 80’s indie darling’s frontman and his ever-expanding girth but also deftly leaning into similar unconventional lyrical themes. And while there’s an obvious Belle and Sebastian comparison being Scottish, musically the enigmatic and skillful guitar playing from Miguel Navarro owes more to Bernard Butler and Johnny Marr – and his talents learning flamenco guitar in his native Spain. The weaving of the guitar’s melodic musical backdrop, alongside the pulse of Kevin Carroll’s inventive drumming and Neil Masson’s intricate bass playing, is what truly elevates The Felt Tips.

 And it’s this juxtaposition of bright melodic tunes from the band and the exploration of the darker side of human nature conjured by Andrew Paterson’s lyrics makes The Felt Tips such a noteworthy addition to the indiepop scene.

Originally recorded at CaVa Sound in Glasgow, the album has been remastered and cut for vinyl by Guy Davie at Electric Mastering, and pressed on INEOS EcoVin™ Bio Vinyl at Press On Vinyl in Middlesbrough. New liner notes have been written by Roque Ruiz, the owner of legendary US-based indiepop label, Cloudberry Records. An extremely limited selection of the reissued albums will ship alongside a make-your-own cardboard rose sculpture created by London-based indie illustrator and maker, Hey Kids Rock ‘n Roll.

A Dark, Cinematic Soundtrack for Urban Life! UK duo Nightbus release their debut album Passenger, blending trip-hop, indie sleaze, and electronica into a hypnotic exploration of identity, addiction, and emotional tension. Produced by Alex Greaves (Working Men"s Club), the album features standout tracks like the pulsating "Ascension", the dub-heavy "Host", and the haunting "Angles Mortz". With roots in Manchester"s underground scene, Nightbus combine immersive soundscapes with introspective lyrics, crafting a sonic world that"s both unsettling and deeply relatable. Passengeris more than an album - it"s a multi-sensory experience, extending into club nights, fashion, and visual storytelling.

Sabrina Claudio's fifth studio album, Fall In Love With Her, marks a significant evolution in her musical journey. Known for her ethereal blend of R&B and pop, Sabrina Claudio delves deeper into personal narratives, offering listeners an intimate exploration of love, identity, and self-discovery.

This album follows her 2022 release, Based on a Feeling, where she emphasized authenticity and emotional resonance in her music. With Fall In Love With Her, Sabrina Claudio continues this trajectory, crafting songs that are both vulnerable and empowering. The lead single, "Need U to Need Me," exemplifies this, weaving themes of longing and self-worth into a sultry, atmospheric soundscape. Her introspective songwriting, combined with minimalist production, allows her vocals to shine, creating an immersive listening experience.

With a GRAMMY win to her name for her songwriting work on Beyonce’s Renaissance album & over 3B worldwide streams to date, Sabrina Claudio has firmly established herself as a standout in the R&B and Pop spaces.

1xLP, and includes a poster. Grab the vinyl today — and fall in love with her all over again.

Frantic (2002) ist ein von Kritikern gefeiertes Soloalbum von Bryan Ferry, das den legendären Künstler in
seiner kreativen Renaissance zeigt und seinen unverwechselbaren Gesangsstil mit einer reichen Mischung
aus Rock, Blues und atmosphärischen Balladen verbindet. Mit herausragenden Eigenkompositionen wie
„A Fool for Love“ und „San Simeon“ sowie eindrucksvollen Interpretationen von Bob Dylan- und Lead
Belly-Klassikern demonstriert das Album Ferrys meisterhafte Fähigkeit, Songs mit Eleganz und emotionaler
Tiefe neu zu interpretieren. Mit Gastauftritten von Brian Eno von Roxy Music und Johnny Marr von The
Smiths ist Frantic nicht nur ein Karrierehöhepunkt, sondern auch ein unverzichtbares Sammlerstück – ein
fesselndes Hörerlebnis von Anfang bis Ende, das Ferrys avantgardistische Wurzeln mit zeitlosem Songwriting
verbindet. Ein Muss für Fans anspruchsvoller, genreübergreifender Musik.
Das Album erscheint zum ersten Mal seit 2002 als limitierte blaue 1LP-Vinyl- und 1CD-Edition. Bryan
Ferry hat auch die aktualisierten Grafiken für beide Formate überwacht.

LP-Box mit fünf Original-Studioalben von 1965.
(AAA) Remastered und direkt von den originalen analogen Mono-Bändern von Kevin Gray geschnitten.

Fünf Original-Studioalben, aufgenommen in einer Woche im August 1965 in New York City: Boppin', Smokin', Groovin', Comin' On, Cool Burnin' sind zum ersten Mal seit über 50 Jahren wieder auf Vinyl erhältlich. Für diese Aufnahmen, die einen Wendepunkt in seiner Karriere markieren, hat Chet Baker eine Band der Superlative um sich geschart: George Coleman, Kirk Lightsey, Herman Wright und Roy Brooks spielen alle auf diesen aufregenden Sets, die ursprünglich bei Prestige Recordings erschienen sind.

New Land hatte vollen Zugang zu den originalen analogen Monobändern, und Kevin Gray hat sie neu gemastert und geschnitten (AAA), um ihnen eine frische Klangfarbe zu verleihen. Das Herzstück dieser Box ist ein Buch mit einem unglaublich detaillierten Essay von GRAMMY® Nominee James Gavin, der die wahre Geschichte hinter diesen Aufnahmen mit Interviews der Beteiligten verbindet. Illustriert mit seltenen Fotos und Ephemera ist dies der bisher tiefste Einblick in diese Aufnahmen.

Chet Bakers Prestige-Aufnahmen aus dem Jahr 1965 markieren eine Übergangsphase - seine Rückkehr in die USA nach einer Zeit in Europa und einer Auseinandersetzung mit dem Rechtssystem. Diese Sessions zeigen ihn in einem raueren, expressiveren Ton, der aber immer noch von seiner charakteristischen lyrischen Schönheit durchdrungen ist. Die Aufnahmen entstanden auf dem Höhepunkt der Hard-Bop-Renaissance von Prestige Records und zeigen Baker zusammen mit dem Saxophon-Titanen George Coleman, der gerade mit Miles Davis auf Tournee war. Das Ergebnis ist ein rauer, swingender Quintett-Sound, direkt, gefühlvoll und ungeschminkt.

Nach Jahren des Umherziehens in Europa und scheinbar endlosen persönlichen Turbulenzen kehrte Chet in die USA zurück, um diese Sessions aufzunehmen. Ohne die jugendliche Unschuld seiner frühen Tage an der Westküste spielt Baker mit einer dunkleren, introspektiven Note - sein Horn singt immer noch, aber jetzt seufzt es auch.

Zusammen mit einer starken Rhythmusgruppe aus New York verbinden diese Aufnahmen die Eleganz des Cool Jazz mit der rauen Direktheit des Hard Bop der Ostküste. Baker zeigt sich hier von seiner menschlichsten Seite - zerbrechlich, lyrisch, ungefiltert.

Dies sind nicht einfach nur Aufnahmen aus Chets Spätzeit - sie sind ein Dokument seiner Neuerfindung. Für Sammler schließen sie eine wichtige Lücke zwischen seiner ikonischen Cool Jazz Ära der 1950er Jahre und seinen düsteren europäischen Sessions der 1970er Jahre.

The album introduced a lush, complex dream world that the singer, composer, and producer created and inhabited largely on her own. She produced all the songs, and wrote and performed everything on the self-released collection outside of a re-imagined cover of Pink Floyd’s “Green is the Colour” and 2 other tracks (“The Time,” “Give It Back To You”), which started as instrumentals written by Survive’s Kyle Dixon (who composed the Stranger Things soundtrack with his bandmate Michael Stein), to which Ainsworth wrote melodies and added lyrics. Ainsworth, who’s relocated to Los Angeles from Toronto since 2017’s Darling of the Afterglow, explains that the collection revealed itself to her “as a play taking place in Mother Nature’s vanishing home,” aka Phantom Forest, and that she’s singing from 3 perspectives: herself, Mother Nature, and Greek Chorus. For instance, of the album’s opener, “Diamonds Cutting Diamonds,” she explains: “The Greek Chorus sets the scene, narrating and offering direction on how to enter Phantom Forest. It’s my hope that the listener will imagine the narration to be directed to them as well, as they begin the journey of the album.” You’ll get a sense of this from the collection’s edenic cover art and the playful, pastoral video for the album’s first single, “Can You Find Her Place.” Its inspiration came from Ainsworth’s love for Italian Renaissance painter Botticelli’s 15-century masterpiece “Primavera,” an allegorical representation of the burgeoning fertility of the earth in spring. She notes: “The video features the Greek gods of the painting in a choreographed Baroque style dance.” Keeping with the personal feel of the collection, her sister Abby Ainsworth directed the clip. In line with the classical and historical depths of Phantom Forest, Ainsworth, who holds a Masters Degree in film scoring composition from NYU and studied composition as an undergrad at McGill, notes that although the album might be considered pop, she approached it as an orchestrator. “Even if I’m dealing purely with synths,” she says, “The songs are like a score, each one an evolving journey. I love to use strings so I’ve included my string arrangements on ‘Tell Me I Exist’ and ‘Can You Find Her Place.’ I recorded live musicians on drums, bass, and guitar on ‘Edge of the Throne,’ ‘The Time,’ and ‘Floating Dream,’ and wove those live elements into my programmed elements.” Phantom Forest is a beautiful, vast collection that mixes the historical and the hands on, with hooks about the apocalypse and people obsessively using face-recognition software to see what paintings their face match with, in search of some kind of connection. It’s a journey that holds up to close listening (and lyric reading) and to dance floors, but that can also exist on a purely emotional plane. In all cases, it asks that you listen, and take some kind of action.

A Study of Losses", das siebte Studioalbum von Beirut, ist eine Odyssee mit 18 Tracks. Das Projekt entstand im Frühjahr 2023, als Viktoria Dalborg, Direktorin des schwedischen Zirkus Kompani Giraff, Condon fragte, ob er Interesse hätte, die Musik für ihr nächstes Projekt zu liefern, eine Show, die auf einer Adaption eines Romans der deutschen Autorin Judith Schalansky basiert. Die Hauptthemen in Schalanskys Buch "Verzeichnis einiger Verluste" und in der Adaption für die Zirkusshow befassen sich mit dem Konzept des Verlusts und der Vergänglichkeit von allem, was uns bekannt ist: von ausgestorbenen Tierarten, verlorenen architektonischen und literarischen Schätzen bis hin zu abstrakteren Konzepten des Verlusts durch den Prozess des Alterns. "A Study of Losses" reist durch elf Songs und sieben erweiterte instrumentale Themen, die nach den Mondmeeren benannt und von der erschreckenden Geschichte eines Mannes inspiriert sind, der davon besessen ist, alle verlorenen Gedanken und Schöpfungen der Menschheit zu archivieren. Musikalisch jedoch taucht er wieder in Chorgesang, Renaissance und andere Stile ein, die seine frühe Arbeiten inspiriert haben, sowie in Variationen von Klängen und Ideen, die sich auf eine seiner Lieblingsplatten, "69 Love Songs" von The Magnetic Fields, beziehen. Mit einer Länge von fast einer Stunde ist es das bei weitem umfangreichste Album, das Beirut je gemacht hat, und es gehört fraglos zu Condons bisher schönsten Arbeiten. "A Study of Losses" ist das zweite neue Beirut-Album innerhalb von nur zwei Jahren und die Fortsetzung eines weiteren, charakteristisch produktiven Kapitels für Zach Condon. Nach einem halben Jahrzehnt, das er damit verbrachte, sich von hartnäckigen Halsproblemen und einem drohenden mentalen Zusammenbruch zu erholen - was ihn daran zweifeln ließ, ob er jemals wieder vor Publikum auftreten würde - folgt "A Study of Losses" auf "Hadsel", das "einen neuen Anfang für Beirut" markierte, lobte Pitchfork und nannte es "eine aus Verzweiflung und Einsamkeit geborene Platte, die sich dennoch voller Leben anfühlt". Während sich "Hadsel" um eine gewaltige, antike Kirchenorgel drehte, die Condon während eines dunklen arktischen Winters in Nordnorwegen entdeckte, wird "A Study of Losses" durch Streichquartette und Arrangements der Cellistin und "No No No"-Mitarbeiterin Clarice Jensen aufgehellt. Geschrieben und aufgenommen von Zach Condon in Berlin (DE) und Stokmarknes (NO), wobei die Wurzeln des Albums in Schweden und Deutschland liegen, erweitert "A Study of Losses" auch die weite Welt, die er durch die Musik von Beirut aufgebaut hat, seit er das Projekt als neugieriger und umherziehender 14-Jähriger begonnen hat. "Als ich zum ersten Mal angesprochen wurde, einen Soundtrack für einen Zirkus zu schreiben, kam zunächst ein gewisses Trauma der 'Elephant Gun'-Ära hoch", erklärt Condon, als er Ende 2024 ,Caspian Tiger' von "A Study of Losses" vorstellt. "Ich war jahrelang in eine Schublade gesteckt worden, in der ich ein skurriles Zirkuskind war, voller sepiafarbener Bilder von Groschenromanen und vielleicht Löwendompteuren mit Schnurrbärten. Es hätte nicht weiter davon entfernt sein können, wie ich mir die Musik vorstellte, die ich machte. Es ist also eine Ironie, dass ich das Projekt von Kompani Giraff so verlockend fand."

“The hand knows best,” the painter Margaux Williamson says. “A shape produces itself, where I go toward what is intuitive, rather than logical.” The shapely, intuitive songs that comprise Ada Lea's third album, when i paint my masterpiece, are surprising, imagistic, tactile. They stand before us and we feel their brushstrokes. Alexandra Levy holds her guitar against the backdrop of a sea of her paintings on the album cover and it’s tempting to ask: is painting a metaphor here, for music or life? No! As ever, she resists tidy metaphors. She’s a master of this kind of thorny lowercase title that germinates and grows with time. In a real, profound way, music and painting go hand-in-hand as she unveils a new style of subversion and surrealism inspired by her transdisciplinarity.

Levy is a Renaissance woman, and Ada Lea’s albums have been swelling in scope alongside the evolution of her artistic life. Her recent turn toward pedagogy—teaching a songwriting course at Concordia University and co-facilitating a community-based group called The Songwriting Method—weaves another vivid thread into her multifaceted practice. Her debut LP, what we say in private, blurred the lines between interior and performative worlds. Her sophomore record, one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden, featured vignettes centered on Montreal. On this sprawling and ambitious album, written over three years and whittled down from over 200 songs, she asks: what happens when you… pause? How can a life be held suspended in song? The album is a kaleidoscopic exploration of the transformations art can bring: the vision of an uncompromising artist dancing bravely and freely between registers and across mediums.

The album marks a reset—a quiet revolution. After years of relentless international touring, Levy felt an urgent need for community and renewal. Gruelling road schedules with very little support left her wondering: who am I really doing all this for? The system was uncaring and broken, and so it was that she came to envision a new healthy and healing mode of musical genesis. “For me, that looked like resting, extending my creative reach, going back to school, studying painting and poetry,” she explains. “Taking a step away from music as guided by industry expectations. Simplifying things. Getting a job, starting to teach. Engaging with the process rather than the product.” This need for a more deliberate creative renewal was rejected by her existing systems of support, so she began the search for an alternative.

A Study of Losses", das siebte Studioalbum von Beirut, ist eine Odyssee mit 18 Tracks. Das Projekt entstand im Frühjahr 2023, als Viktoria Dalborg, Direktorin des schwedischen Zirkus Kompani Giraff, Condon fragte, ob er Interesse hätte, die Musik für ihr nächstes Projekt zu liefern, eine Show, die auf einer Adaption eines Romans der deutschen Autorin Judith Schalansky basiert. Die Hauptthemen in Schalanskys Buch "Verzeichnis einiger Verluste" und in der Adaption für die Zirkusshow befassen sich mit dem Konzept des Verlusts und der Vergänglichkeit von allem, was uns bekannt ist: von ausgestorbenen Tierarten, verlorenen architektonischen und literarischen Schätzen bis hin zu abstrakteren Konzepten des Verlusts durch den Prozess des Alterns. "A Study of Losses" reist durch elf Songs und sieben erweiterte instrumentale Themen, die nach den Mondmeeren benannt und von der erschreckenden Geschichte eines Mannes inspiriert sind, der davon besessen ist, alle verlorenen Gedanken und Schöpfungen der Menschheit zu archivieren. Musikalisch jedoch taucht er wieder in Chorgesang, Renaissance und andere Stile ein, die seine frühe Arbeiten inspiriert haben, sowie in Variationen von Klängen und Ideen, die sich auf eine seiner Lieblingsplatten, "69 Love Songs" von The Magnetic Fields, beziehen. Mit einer Länge von fast einer Stunde ist es das bei weitem umfangreichste Album, das Beirut je gemacht hat, und es gehört fraglos zu Condons bisher schönsten Arbeiten. "A Study of Losses" ist das zweite neue Beirut-Album innerhalb von nur zwei Jahren und die Fortsetzung eines weiteren, charakteristisch produktiven Kapitels für Zach Condon. Nach einem halben Jahrzehnt, das er damit verbrachte, sich von hartnäckigen Halsproblemen und einem drohenden mentalen Zusammenbruch zu erholen - was ihn daran zweifeln ließ, ob er jemals wieder vor Publikum auftreten würde - folgt "A Study of Losses" auf "Hadsel", das "einen neuen Anfang für Beirut" markierte, lobte Pitchfork und nannte es "eine aus Verzweiflung und Einsamkeit geborene Platte, die sich dennoch voller Leben anfühlt". Während sich "Hadsel" um eine gewaltige, antike Kirchenorgel drehte, die Condon während eines dunklen arktischen Winters in Nordnorwegen entdeckte, wird "A Study of Losses" durch Streichquartette und Arrangements der Cellistin und "No No No"-Mitarbeiterin Clarice Jensen aufgehellt. Geschrieben und aufgenommen von Zach Condon in Berlin (DE) und Stokmarknes (NO), wobei die Wurzeln des Albums in Schweden und Deutschland liegen, erweitert "A Study of Losses" auch die weite Welt, die er durch die Musik von Beirut aufgebaut hat, seit er das Projekt als neugieriger und umherziehender 14-Jähriger begonnen hat. "Als ich zum ersten Mal angesprochen wurde, einen Soundtrack für einen Zirkus zu schreiben, kam zunächst ein gewisses Trauma der 'Elephant Gun'-Ära hoch", erklärt Condon, als er Ende 2024 ,Caspian Tiger' von "A Study of Losses" vorstellt. "Ich war jahrelang in eine Schublade gesteckt worden, in der ich ein skurriles Zirkuskind war, voller sepiafarbener Bilder von Groschenromanen und vielleicht Löwendompteuren mit Schnurrbärten. Es hätte nicht weiter davon entfernt sein können, wie ich mir die Musik vorstellte, die ich machte. Es ist also eine Ironie, dass ich das Projekt von Kompani Giraff so verlockend fand."

Air Texture proudly announces its latest artist-curated compilation, “Hardwired,” assembled by Berlin-based musician JakoJako. This expansive collection celebrates the implicit connection between hardware-focused electronic producers, featuring contributions from Rødhåd, Acid Pauli, The Field, Neon Chambers, and many more.

“Hardwired” draws its conceptual foundation from synthesizer terminology. As JakoJako explains: “A hardwired synth has connections already soldered into the machine—it comes with certain functions without needing to patch cables externally. As a hardware producer, I feel whenever I meet someone who creates music as I do, we have this immediate connection, like a hardwired synthesizer. There’s no need for small talk—we can speak about gear.”

This metaphor of pre-established connections forms the emotional core of the compilation, celebrating the community of hardware enthusiasts who share an intuitive understanding and appreciation for machine-based music creation.

JakoJako has established herself as one of electronic music’s most intriguing voices, exploring the territory between technical precision and emotional expression. Her artistic approach balances rigorous knowledge with unrestrained intuition, creating works that reach beyond genre boundaries.

A Berghain resident with performances at Dekmantel and Fusion, to the Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican, JakoJako has released music on prestigious labels including Tresor, Mute, and Leisure System, and crafted remixes for artists like New Order and Martin Gore. Her deep relationship with analog and modular synthesis, including her ongoing connection to Berlin’s SchneidersLaden, informs her distinctive sound.

Following her recent Mute album “Têt 41,” this curation for Air Texture provides further insight into the musical universe that has shaped JakoJako’s artistic vision.

“Hardwired” showcases 23 tracks for its digital release, with a select 9 tracks pressed to vinyl. The collection spans the spectrum of contemporary electronic music while maintaining cohesive focus on hardware-driven production approaches.

Highlights include collaborative works between JakoJako and fellow producers Mareena and Frank Wiedemann, alongside contributions from established artists like Rødhåd, Acid Pauli, and The Field, plus emerging talents representing the hardware renaissance in electronic music.

Founded by James Parker Healy, Air Texture emerged from New York City’s late ’90s rave scene, carrying forward the fundamental PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect) ethos with a collaborative and curatorial focus. Air Texture has evolved from its roots in Manhattan’s club era and Brooklyn’s warehouse scene to embrace a global perspective, working with producers across diverse styles and regions worldwide through the label and its PLace: nonprofit series.

Repress!

In the mid-1970s, a force of nature swept across the continental United States, cutting across all strata of race and class, rooting in our minds, our homes, our culture. It wasn’t The Exorcist, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, or even bell-bottoms, but instead a book called The Secret Life of Plants. The work of occultist/former OSS agent Peter Tompkins and former CIA agent/dowsing enthusiast Christopher Bird, the books shot up the bestseller charts and spread like kudzu across the landscape, becoming a phenomenon. Seemingly overnight, the indoor plant business was in full bloom and photosynthetic eukaryotes of every genus were hanging off walls, lording over bookshelves, and basking on sunny window ledges. The science behind Secret Life was specious: plants can hear our prayers, they’re lie detectors, they’re telepathic, able to predict natural disasters and receive signals from distant galaxies. But that didn’t stop millions from buying and nurturing their new plants.



Perhaps the craziest claim of the book was that plants also dug music. And whether you purchased a snake plant, asparagus fern, peace lily, or what have you from Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles (or bought a Simmons mattress from Sears), you also took home Plantasia, an album recorded especially for them. Subtitled “warm earth music for plants…and the people that love them,” it was full of bucolic, charming, stoner-friendly, decidedly unscientific tunes enacted on the new-fangled device called the Moog. Plants date back from the dawn of time, but apparently they loved the Moog, never mind that the synthesizer had been on the market for just a few years. Most of all, the plants loved the ditties made by composer Mort Garson.



Few characters in early electronic music can be both fearless pioneers and cheesy trend-chasers, but Garson embraced both extremes, and has been unheralded as a result. When one writer rhetorically asked: “How was Garson’s music so ubiquitous while the man remained so under the radar?” the answer was simple. Well before Brian Eno did it, Garson was making discreet music, both the man and his music as inconspicuous as a Chlorophytumcomosum. Julliard-educated and active as a session player in the post-war era, Garson wrote lounge hits, scored plush arrangements for Doris Day, and garlanded weeping countrypolitan strings around Glen Campbell’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” He could render the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel alike into easy listening and also dreamed up his own ditties. “An idear” as Garson himself would drawl it out. “I live with it, I walk it, I sing it.”



But as his daughter Day Darmet recalls: “When my dad found the synthesizer, he realized he didn’t want to do pop music anymore.” Garson encountered Robert Moog and his new device at the Audio Engineering Society’s West Coast convention in 1967 and immediately began tinkering with the device. With the Moog, those idears could be transformed. “He constantly had a song he was humming,” Darmet says. “At the table he was constantly tapping.” Which is to say that Mort pulled his melodies out of thin air, just like any household plant would.



The Plantae kingdom grew to its height by 1976, from DC Comics’ mossy superhero Swamp Thing to Stevie Wonder’s own herbal meditation, Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. Nefarious manifestations of human-plant interaction also abounded, be it the grotesque pods in Invasion of the Body Snatchers or the pothead paranoia of the US Government spraying Mexican marijuana fields with the herbicide paraquat (which led to the rise in homegrown pot by the 1980s). And then there’s the warm, leafy embrace of Plantasia itself.



“My mom had a lot of plants,” Darmet says. “She didn’t believe in organized religion, she believed the earth was the best thing in the whole world. Whatever created us was incredible.” And she also knew when her husband had a good song, shouting from another room when she heard him humming a good idear. Novel as it might seem, Plantasia is simply full of good tunes.



Garson may have given the album away to new plant and bed owners, but a decade later a new generation could hear his music in another surreptitious way. Millions of kids bought The Legend of Zelda for their Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1986 and one distinct 8-bit tune bears more than a passing resemblance to album highlight “Concerto for Philodendron and Pothos.” Garson was never properly credited for it, but he nevertheless subliminally slipped into a new generations’ head, helping kids and plants alike grow.



Hearing Plantasia in the 21st century, it seems less an ode to our photosynthesizing friends by Garson and more an homage to his wife, the one with the green thumb that made everything flower around him. “My dad would be totally pleased to know that people are really interested in this music that had no popularity at the time,” Darmet says of Plantasia’snew renaissance. “He would be fascinated by the fact that people are finally understanding and appreciating this part of his musical career that he got no admiration for back then.” Garson seems to be everywhere again, even if he’s not really noticed, just like a houseplant.

Knowledge The Pirate returns with a powerful new statement with his new album, The Round Table, which is now available. The Round Table is produced in its entirety by longtime collaborator and legend Roc Marciano through his Pimpire International imprint.

With roots in New York’s revered ‘90s hip-hop scene, Knowledge The Pirate has steadily built a reputation as one of the genre’s most consistent and authentic voices. A frequent Roc Marci collaborator and key figure in the modern un-derground renaissance, Knowledge fuses golden-age grit with new wave innovation—bridging generations while stay-ing firmly rooted in New York’s timeless sound.

Since his 2018 debut Flintlock, Knowledge has carved a lane entirely his own through his label Treasure Chest Enter-tainment, Inc. With five acclaimed projects under his belt, including the recent 5lbs of Pressure, he continues to deliver unfiltered street wisdom and personal reflection in every bar.

The Round Table stands as a testament to his evolution—an uncompromising body of work laced with Roc Marciano’s signature production and Knowledge’s lived-in lyricism. It’s not just a record—it’s a meeting of the minds, an audio council of kings.

“The Round Table is cinematic storytelling, teaching street knowledge, eating etiquette that will save your life” Knowledge professes. “This album is like an Honorable Elijah Muhammad book; How To Eat To Live. Produced fully by the true creator of the new wave sound, Roc Marciano, you are all invited to a seat at The Round Table; and break bread with the true Godfathers of this new wave rap renaissance.”

Acclaimed director and musician Jim Jarmusch and experimental lute player and composer Jozef van Wissem met nearly 20 years ago, forming a close bond after they ran into each other on the streets of New York City. In 2011, they began performing and producing records together. The follow up to “American Landscapes “ entitled “ The Day The Angels Cried” releases June 6 and coincides with a world tour. The duo weaves an intricate Lute and guitar string tapestry of droning, minimal free-folk compositions destined to captivate listeners with their dark hypnosis. This time vocals and electronics are added as well. Van Wissem’s work comes from a tradition of avant-garde minimalism and lends itself well to the director’s stark cinematic works. Jarmusch has played guitar in bands on and off since the late ‘70s. Van Wissem’s compositional style involves hypnotic circular musical phrases that allow for a lot of contemplative space between the notes. Their first live performance was in Issue Project Room in Brooklyn in October 2011, where they appeared together for a Van Wissem curated concert program called “New Music for Early Instruments.” The idea for their first album, Concerning the Entrance Into Eternity (Important Records) developed from their live performance. Jarmusch has said that he considers these songs as Van Wissem’s compositions, and sees himself as someone filling in the background to Jozef ’s foreground, like the “scenic” on a film shoot, the one who paints the backdrops. “The sound of the lute is as bright as the sun, a beautiful red color and my stuff sounds sort of like the moon, more like blue, like mercury.” .According to Van Wissem: We started with layers of instrumental parts.. Jim recorded a otherworldly Passerelle bridge guitar part to which we added vocals. This became the title track " The Day The Angels Cried" The lyrics for this song came to me during a vision I had in a dream. It was much like a vision Swedenborg writes about. In it he converses with angels. In my vision the angel looked down from the heavens upon the earth engulfed in flames. Recent events in Los Angeles and other parts of the world, have led me to believe that this dream was a premonition. “The Day The Angels Cried” ( Inc 040/41) releases June 6th on Incunabulum Records, right before the duo start their World tour. releases June 6, 2025 Jozef Van Wissem Voice, Baroque And Renaissance Lutes, 12 String Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar, Electronics, Found Recordings Jim Jarmusch Voice, Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Passerelle Bridge Guitar, Electronics, Found Recordings