It's 1995 and techno has hit max speed while house is going deep. UK soon-to-be-legend Baby Ford has different ideas as he kicks off his now cult Trelik label with this EP from Ian David Loveday aka Tan-Ru that strips everything back, layers in dubby low ends and masters the art of loop building. It's still driving and mind-melting but with a restrained and futuristic sound that is utterly fresh. As well as the original is a more textured dub and the flip-side classic ' Assembly'. This one is in a hurry, with claps and feathery snares riding the swinging drums. Freaky stabs bring some fun and decades on the EP, which started it all, still sounds unmatched.
Back after its first release, Life Enigma returns for a second chapter: a dark and warped dispatch from the void.
This time, the London-based artist of many aliases Zuul takes the reins, exploring moodier territory at the low end of the frequency. The result is three slow-burning, horror-flecked cuts that sit somewhere between electro and new wave, each driven by a sinister vocal. The release is rounded off by a more dancefloor-oriented remix from C.ru.z on the B2.
On the A-side, My Mind Is Mean is a driving, sub-heavy opener with menacing synths that do the title justice. It's Hell In There, It's Horror shifts into something more melodic and upbeat, with eerie textures and an ominous undercurrent.
And when we thought things couldn’t get any meaner, Ask Me sinks into haunted, mid-tempo bass hypnosis on the flipside, while C.ru.z’s remix leans further into its darker side with an even nastier groove.
Our beloved C.ru.z is next on Griffé with his Mechanical Wizards EP.
Argentinian producer & DJ, Barcelona based C.ru.z is the co-founder of the 22Recordings imprint. This EP reflects C.ru.z's love for 80's synth/electro music and cinematic experiences. These four tracks dive deeply into spooky moods and emotional melodies with a dark & melancholic touch.
Our dear friend C.ru.z is back on Griffé with his new EP "La pasión paga" ! This five tracker is strongly influenced by his love for the 80's sound, blending electro, EBM and synth-pop to offer a true musical journey through emotions.
Dedalo District kicks off its first 12" with a split EP from two producers who don't play it safe.
On the A-side, Cruz - Barcelona-based and founder of 22 Records - delivers two cuts blending techno, electro, EBM, and new beat. Raw grooves, heavy pressure, no fluff.
On the B-side, Nativo, a Rome-based producer and part of the Incoherent Debts collective, fires back with two tracks built on breaks, electro, and synthwave textures. Twisted melodies, broken rhythms, forward-thinking attitude.
A debut that hits straight and leaves a mark.
No compromises - just tension and drive.
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dljife – The Essence Of Experimental House.
On the A-side of our first 7“ single we see the production team of Hamburg-based baze.djunkiii and Uelsen's finest Sascha Müller who have also ventured into the world of Bass Music with their acclaimed Combat Dubs project as well as their most recent Footwork x Juke x Global Bass fusion remix for Colombian artist Iam JDP on the Freebreakz.FWD label harking back to the Minimal House vibe of the mid-90s, presenting a stripped down, yet groovy and seductive take on late night club music with a tongue-in-cheek twist, Jazz-referencing percussions, wonky, ever meandering midrange synths and a simple, highly effective main motif expertly crafted for those in the know.
On the flip we've got „Acid Jackson“, a vinyl debut for the mysterious project that is RU DEAD 42 which enters a hyperdense realm of muscular, hard-stomping and heavily Acidinfused House Music backed by soft Piano chords and a trippy dreamstate attitude of sorts with this musical outing, providing quite a deliberate contrast to the deep and restrained vibe of the A-side.
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Since dropping his first single in 2021, Michael Adebayo Olayinka, the artist known as Ruger, has made a habit of standing out amongst worldwide audiences, not least thanks to bright pink hair, an eyepatch, and an unequivocally true-to-himself attitude. Spending the bulk of 2023 on a sold-out international tour, Ruger has steadily granted fans a stream of top-tier projects in two short years, from the debut EP ‘Pandemic’ to follow-up ‘The Second Wave’. Breakout single ‘Asiwaj’” would catapult him to wider fame, the track going #1 in Nigeria and #3 on the OCC Afrobeats Chart in the UK, whilst “Girlfriend” and “Bounce” would catch further attention from fans worldwide.
Anthea invites the up and coming Argentinian producer C.ru.z whos live jam arrangements and direct rave energy being felt from begining to end with the “Secuencias Del Tiempo Perdido” EP being constructed upon twisted beeps and bleeps, and distinct energetic atmosphere's for the peak hours of the night.
For our 24th release C.ru.z has delievered four huge robunctious and original after party anthems, bringing some new flava for your ears and your mind.
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Das neue Monkeytown-Signing, das NYC-via-Berlin-Duo Sha Ru, schöpft aus der in Protest und Befreiung verwurzelten Punk- und Dancemusik, gefiltert durch die Erweiterung und Fluidität der queeren Identität. Erste aufrührerische EPs und mitreißende Auftritte haben die Band zu einer ausgesprochenen Kraft der in elektronischen Musik gemacht, die dunkle Schattierungen und basslastige, zukunftsweisende Klänge erforscht, die ebenso an Post-Punk-/Industrial-Pioniere wie an alles im Club-Kanon erinnern. Die neue EP, ihre bisher gewagteste, ehrlichste und verletzlichste Arbeit, ruft eine Palette überwältigender Emotionen hervor, von platonischer und romantischer Liebe bis zu Herzschmerz und psychischem Leid, wiedergegeben in cleveren rhythmischen Architekturen und grollendem Bass, ausbalanciert mit sinnlichen Melodien und sanfteren Texturen.
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"After breakthrough releases in labels like Kindergarten, Shubzin and Pressure Dome, New York duo Sha Ru lands on Jupiter4 for a Bass infused, Half Time impressive release. Early support from Darwin, Simo Cell & Laksa"
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EMA’s Woozy label returns with Sha Ru’s Match My Sway EP; a powerful club record that sits proudly in the canon of modern protest music. Dubstep-influenced electronics meet spoken word on the continued struggle of oppressed nations’ fight for liberation. Comes with a slamming Walton remix, with all artist profits going towards the Kyiv Angels and Repair Together charities in Ukraine.
Sha Ru are a New York-via-Berlin based duo renowned for their deft mix of spoken word and club electronics, gaining notoriety thanks to their exhilarating productions and renowned live, hybrid and DJ sets. Having spent most of their time based between two different countries, the covid pandemic unexpectedly united the band in Belarus and subsequently Ukraine for an extended period of time. They quickly found themselves immersed in each country’s respective electronic music scene, building strong relationships within each community. It quickly became apparent that both countries were actively fighting for their future freedom, and the duo felt compelled by the unity they experienced in this to respond with music. This resulted in Match My Sway, a record chronicling resistance both lyrically and sonically that found a suitable home on EMA’s impressively futurist-leaning Woozy imprint.
The EP opens with Temporary Iteration, a fierce steppers track with plummeting subs that chronicles a moment of transition into clarity by focusing on the ‘now’; staying true to your belief by moving directly towards your goal together. Not Fluctuating ups the sonic ante with hefty kicks, drill snares and potent throbbing bass, while the vocals describe the feeling of ultimate resistance in the name of seeking the truth.
Side B enters with Synced Energies, acting as the EP’s thrilling climax. Percolating synths pogo around a 2-step beat providing chest-gripping catharsis. Lyrics repeat a mantra of unity, refuting divisions. Tectonic and Ilian Tape affiliate Walton sees us out with the intense stuttering rave mechanics of his Not Fluctuating remix, a modern techno monster that deserves to be enjoyed on a 10ft tall rig; a complimentary take on a powerful original.
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Ma Sha Ru announce the launch of Kindergarten Records with their second EP, Zer0: a chaotic blend of club-ready electro, broken UK bass and gnarled techno. Respectively based in New York and Berlin, their music is born of the intense bursts of time this transatlantic couple spend together.
Recorded in summer 2019, Zer0 finds producers Ma Sha and Rù delving deeper into the dark and trippy impulses hinted at with their debut.
Opener Slew is a bubbling cauldron of UK bass rhythms and agitational tension, while the title track Zer0 builds it’s ominous electro around a vocal sample of robot struggling with a mathematical quandary, ghosts rattling in the machine. Things get eerier still on the flip, It’s a Forest Rave paying
homage to a journey deep into the woodland near Vilnius in Lithuania, menace dripping from branches as pounding, gabber-indebted kicks propel dubby keys and a distorted video game lead. Showers rounds off the record with their most experimental effort to date, a broken 140bpm stepper that stumbles and stomps around its delicate, icy core.
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DJ and producer David Holmes is welcomed to the Late Night Tales fraternity with an evocative collection of personal songs and music, peppered with exclusive new material and rare gems. By now, I think we all know David Holmes, right There's acid house Holmes, with bone-rattling Chicago jams and Detroit destroyers, break-digger Holmes responsible for the grittily shaking 'Let's Get Killed' and seminal Essential Mix compilation (which brought Sixto Rodriguez to people's attention, and then there's soundtrack Holmes. His most enduring and vital source of musical inspiration - cinema - plugged into David's rst solo record 'This Film's Crap, Let's Slash the Seats' and inspired 2000's 'Bow Down to the Exit Sign', created as the soundtrack to a not-yet-made movie. Ofcial soundtracks have been bountiful, including scores for Soderbergh's Out Of Sight and Ocean's trilogy, '71, Hunger and Good Vibrations. In a series of personal songs sung by himself, David's last solo album 'The Holy Pictures' explored inuences of La Düsseldorf, The Jesus and Mary Chain and early Brian Eno. His Unloved collaboration with Keefus Ciancia and Jade Vincent then took us on a musical journey full of raw 60s pop-noir, psychedelia and French Ye Ye with a contemporary twist. Somehow he's also found time to produce records by Primal Scream and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Unsurprisingly, for someone au fait with matters cinematic, this Late Night Tales conjures up its own mindmovies. It's not only packed with the judiciously selected nuggets for which his mixes are noted but also stuffed with original material, including collaborations with BP Fallon and Jon Hopkins and an amazing new reading of 10cc's 'I'm Not In Love' by Holmes-produced Song Sung. In fact, there's a Celtic thread running through the whole journey with Stephen Rea's reading of an extract from Seamus Heaney's AENEID BOOK VI - Elsewhere Anchises. Among the other gems included here are David Crosby's lush 'Orleans', Buddy Holly's celestial 'Love Is Strange' and the Children Of Sunshine's 'It's A Long Way To Heaven'. David Holmes loves music. It's a way of expressing the sometimes inexpressible or the inconsolable, a questing desire to nd out just what is over the next hill. It's no surprise to learn he's a keen walker. Always on the move, headphones on, lost in some reverie or piece of music, the soundtrack to his life, the stuff that feeds his imagination. I walk a lot. It's amazing for listening to music: your phone or your emails aren't going and you're just in the forest listening to music. It's so intimate. Anyway, I was listening to the KLF's Chill Out album, which still sounds amazing, but it triggered an idea with concrete sounds through travelling and movement. And one of the things I was trying to do was to use this idea not just break up the moods but also as a metaphor for moving through life and arriving in different destinations or arriving at different stages in different parts of your life. Memory, Love, Living, Family, Friendship, Healing, Death and The Afterworld are some of the themes I wanted to explore within this record. Although these strong themes and tracks are personal to me, I also wanted it to be a great listen that was unpredictable yet had a seamless ow - a journey that was personal to me yet to the listener a great compilation of music that they may or may not have heard before. I hope I've succeeded in the later.' David Holmes 2016
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A fantastic voyage, from earth to space, through time or simply as the most beautiful and peaceful dive into the ocean. Old music transformed into something new, unique. That's special.
Lloyd Miller, Jahrgang 1938, ist ein US-amerikanischer Musikethnologe, Arrangeur, Komponist und Multiinstrumentalist. Millers Karriere begann in den 1950ern mit Dixieland. Aufenthalte im Nahen und Mittleren Osten weckten sein Interesse an orientalischer und speziell persischer Musik. Das machte aus Miller einen Pionier des Oriental-Jazz. Während der Siebziger hatte er als Kurosh Ali Khan sogar eine eigene Fernsehshow im Iran. Die Sendung lief sieben Jahre und brachte dem Musiker eine große Popularität ein Neben diversen erkussionsinstrumenten spielt Miller Bass, Flöten, Kamantsche, Klarinette, Oud, Piano, Santur, Sehtar, Tabla und Zarb. 2010 veröffentlichte Miller mit der britischen, vom Afrofuturismus angehauchten Spiritual-Jazz-Band The Heliocentrics ein gemeinsames Album, das Strut nun in einer limitierten Auflage von 1000 Exemplaren als Doppel-LP neu auflegt. Hier beweist das Londoner Musikerkollektiv, das im Jahr zuvor (2009) mit Mulatu Astatke, dem großen Ethio-Jazz-Veteran aus Äthiopien, ein viel beachtetes Werk in Umlauf gebracht hatte, einmal mehr seine musikalische und instrumentale Vielseitigkeit
Of course everyone knows Kurt Hauenstein aka Supermax. He was one of the few Austrians to shape the sound of late-1970s disco, performing and selling records around the world. Not many know his daughters Judy and Nicola, however, and the fact that they in 1987 wrote a song that they recorded together with their father. Well, here it is: Cracy Coconuts, “Rubberdub Dance” – a true Hauenstein family affair. We are proud to re-release this super rare 7” that proves, once and for all, that Austrians can excel at digi-dub. Timelessly tropical and beautifully bouncy, its vibe is quite different from the iconic Supermax productions. Here, Judy and Nicola’s sweet yet confident vocals replace the moustache-driven sotto voce singing that we love Supermax for. The result is oh-so-catchy and bound to be a hit.
Concrete Noir, the project of composer, sound designer, and educator Piero Fragola, returns with Blades of Grass, a new EP released on Italian label Deset, following the acclaimed Romance Ruins.
The record develops Concrete Noir’s atmospheric and cinematic approach to electronic music, combining dense textures, sustained rhythmic tension, and immersive sound design. Side A features “Density,” “Pure,” and “Sleepless Eyes,” while Side B presents two reinterpretations: Legowelt’s electro-driven remix of “Rain On Me,” which emphasizes its synthetic and nocturnal qualities, and Caruan’s dance-floor reworking of “Sleepless Eyes,” preserving its atmospheric character.
Conceptually, Blades of Grass shifts from the themes of transformation and decay explored on Romance Ruins toward resilience—the ability to bend under pressure without losing identity or coherence. The EP reflects Fragola’s broader artistic language, shaped by more than two decades of experience in electronic music, audiovisual arts, sound research, and modular synthesis, including his work as a designer for Tiptop Audio and previous releases on international labels.
In December 2015 VICTOR RUIZ and I released our first collaboration - APOLLO EP. It was the beginning of a wondrous, passionate and inspiring journey. A journey of growth, friendship and artistic exchange. Victor and I are proud to present you APOLLO II - a testament to our love and dedication to TECHNO MUSIC.
Mukatsuku's endless thirst for archival gold and knack for killer reissues burns strong with this latest third in the series hand-numbered 12" , which digs deep into classic ambient techno from Japan. The man behind the music is Virgo, a solo project by Yasutaka Sato that was active from 1996 to 2004 and then reappeared in 2024. This EP revisit some of his best moments from more than two decades ago, starting with the soothing, pulse-slowing beauty of 'Mellow In My Mind' before cosmic charm defines 'Genetic Force' and 'Ruined Tower' has a more melancholic, sombre feel. 'Cloud Sea' lifts the mood with a gently hopeful closer with soft new age chords and oh-so gentle rhythms that break like waves on a distant island paradise.
Two absolute dancefloor bombs from the mid 90s, anthems on Hot 97 and clubs like The Tunnel in NYC. Cut & paste party breaks from the legendary DJ Mister Cee. First time on 45
Injury Reserve was originally a trio, consisting of rappers Ritchie With a T and Stepa J. Groggs and producer Parker Corey. Their mixtapes Live From The Dentist (released in 2015) and Floss (2016) earned them underground buzz, and they capitalized on the attention with their debut album in 2019, the eponymous Injury Reserve.
The group's momentum was put on hold when in June of 2020 Groggs tragically passed away. By the Time I Get to Phoenix was largely completed ahead of Groggs' passing with his contributions, and will be the first Injury Reserve music to be released since their eponymous debut album. Ritchie and Corey took the past year to complete the record, and the title has meaning past simply referencing Injury Reserve's hometown. It's an homage to a song that has been covered countless times, which is in line with Injury Reserve's ethos and approach when it comes to creating music. The group pulls from several styles and eras of hip hop, but runs each one through the Injury Reserve lens, putting their own distinct and cohesive sound across their references. Nowhere is that dynamic more present than on By the Time I Get to Phoenix.
The title of the fourth full‑length by A SECRET REVEALED already serves as a dark omen: "The Ruin I Summoned Forth" sounds powerful, oppressive, and inescapable. And that very weight permeates all eight songs of the album. The band from Würzburg crafts a sonic landscape defined by immense emotional force, urgent intensity, and a density that feels almost impossible to contain. Their wall of sound is never an end in itself, but the foundation of an existential expression that hits immediately and resonates long after. Stylistically, the quintet moves within the tension field of post‑metal - a sound that doesn’t deny its core roots, yet highlights more clearly than ever their affinity for black metal, melodic death metal, and modern, forward‑driving heaviness. Time and again, fragile, searching passages open up, giving the massive sound room to breathe, occasionally interwoven with subtle, almost folkloric accents. Fittingly, the opener 'Disheartened' sets an early exclamation mark: with Nikita Kamprad of Der Weg einer Freiheit as guest vocalist, the track gains additional depth and sharpness. "The Ruin I Summoned Forth" marks the band’s third release on LIFEFORCE RECORDS, following "Sacrifices" (2019) and "When The Day Yearns For Light" (2021). Their debut "The Bleakness" was released in 2015 via Bastardized Records. Across all four records, a clear narrative thread emerges: A SECRET REVEALED consistently strive to craft strong thematic arcs and a massive, uncompromising sound that grips listeners from the very beginning and leaves a lasting impact. Once again, the band presents a cohesive work in which individual elements rise into an overwhelming whole, until, in the end, the inevitable unfolds: "The Ruin I Summoned Forth".
There's a moment during every great dance floor experience when the music takes over and everyone becomes part of something bigger. "SHOUT!", the latest release from 2SoulFusion Presents Ascension, captures that feeling in its purest form. Featuring the powerhouse voices and ad-libs of Dames Brown and Dawn Tallman, along with an all-star ensemble of master vocalists including Josh Milan, Rahsaan Patterson, Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Audrey Wheeler, Ramona Dunlap, and Lea Lorien, this joyful anthem is an invitation to let go, lift your spirit, and celebrate through music.
Produced, written, arranged, and mixed by 2SoulFusion—Louie Vega and Josh Milan—"SHOUT!" draws inspiration from the communal spirit of gospel while embracing the energy and freedom of house music. Driven by simple yet powerful affirmations—"Shout," "Sing," "Move," "Love," "Get Up On Your Feet," "Listen Up," and "Let This Music Take You Higher"—the song transforms into an experience where every voice becomes part of the celebration. It's a journey of anthemic hooks, soaring harmonies, infectious grooves, and unforgettable melodies designed to ignite dance floors, uplift hearts, and remind us that music has the power to unite people through rhythm, joy, and love.
The inspiration for "SHOUT!" was born from a creative exchange between Louie Vega and Charaf Tajer, founder and creative director of the internationally acclaimed fashion house Casablanca. Introduced by longtime friend Joseph Capriati, Charaf shared a bold vision—to bring together the worlds of fashion, gospel, and house music for one unforgettable Casablanca runway presentation in Paris.
Louie Vega recalls: “Charaf was introduced to me by my friend Joseph Capriati, who said Charaf was looking to meet me about an idea he had. His vision was to marry fashion, gospel, and house music within Casablanca's collection. At first, he wanted me to DJ and play gospel house music. I said, 'Instead of playing existing music, why don't I create an original song with a gospel house flavor?' I immediately got together with my 2SoulFusion partner Josh Milan, and together we came up with 'SHOUT!'”
That vision came to life during Casablanca's spectacular Paris presentation inside a breathtaking cathedral, where Louie Vega premiered the original twelve-minute and nine-second composition live. As the music echoed through the cathedral, Dames Brown joined the London House Gospel Choir in a soul-stirring performance while the models walked the aisle on Casablanca's carpet made of their signature green color and a dashing vibrating giant mirror echoing the runway visually. Renowned DJs Luciano and Chloé Caillet were among those who walked the runway, while friends of Charaf Tajer and special guests—including Jaden Thompson, Folamour, Dimitri From Paris, Kapela, and many others—were in attendance, making it an unforgettable gathering where music, spirituality, fashion, and culture merged into one extraordinary experience.
Inspired by that magical evening in Paris, Louie Vega and Josh Milan returned to the studio to expand the original composition into the powerful recording heard today. Built around rich live musicianship, Josh Milan's keyboards, organ, piano and synth bass provide the foundation alongside Axel Tosca's expressive grand piano recorded live, Sherrod Barnes' soulful guitar, and Gene Perez's unmistakable bass groove. Together they create an infectious, organic driving sound that allows the vocals to soar while delivering the unmistakable musical depth and musicianship that define 2SoulFusion.
Leading the celebration are Dames Brown and Dawn Tallman, whose commanding performances are elevated by an extraordinary choir of world-class vocalists. Dames Brown's spirited sermon and ad-libs, and Dawn Tallman’s powerful ad-lib vamping out together with the soaring harmonies of Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Audrey Wheeler, Rahsaan Patterson, Ramona Dunlap, Lea Lorien, and Josh Milan, recreate the feeling of a joyful gospel congregation—not confined to four walls, but alive on dance floors around the world. Every chorus encourages listeners to get up, listen up, feel it, sing, move, love, and become part of the experience. Recorded between Honeycomb Studios in Pennsylvania, The Hub Ibiza and Manhattan Center Studios, New York City, and mixed at The Hub Ibiza, "SHOUT!" reflects the continuing vision of the Ascension project, where spirituality, musicianship, community, fashion, and dance music become one.
Stoked to announce the debut record by Faulsk on Ruff Kutz!
Sometimes life can feel cyclical and having the first solo release on the label by someone other than myself had to be the right choice, it just so happened to be the producer from Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland, which is where I started my lifelong obsession with Electronic music.
Shortly after playing a gig together at Whakamana in late 2024, we started exchanging tunes and I immediately wanted to put a release together with the first track he sent.. The release also features 2 collaborative tracks with myself and consists of 4 deep psychedelic grooves across the tempo ranges, built with the sound system in mind. This is an outrageous debut EP, and I am stoked to have it on Ruff Kutz!
Whilst having a low social media profile and only a few tracks released into the wild, Faulsk seems to have carved out a honed in sonic identity. Mixing Techno and Dub production techniques whilst still having swagger and depth that appeals to the bass heads. Expect expertly crafted soundscapes, interesting loopy grooves, lush evolving pads/stabs and low end wizardry. Genre - Faulsk, just how we like it.
Galvanize was the first track to build the EP with a relentless 4x4 groove, perfectly balanced low end and washy atmospherics, the track gradually evolves to show that less is more sometimes - with it's use of stripped back restraint and negative space to create energetic mood shifts.
On the A2, the first collaboration track Exhalation slows the tempo to 100 BPM for some kind of bass mutation straight from the underworld. This one taps into the tense atmospherics of Galvanize whilst cranking up the intensity with evolving drones and razor sharp percussion to sit amongst the dense soundscape.
The title track on the flip, is a 9 min roll out, reminiscent of early Forest Drive West. The subtle modulation and dubbing on musical parts draws you in and is a nice juxtaposition to the crunching percussion, militant groove and precise low end. Chugging away at 115 BPM, this is a versatile track to inject some kinetic energy into your local underwater dancehall.
Closing out on the B2 we have another collaboration. Upping the tempo to the mid 120s, Retrospect sinks deeper into hypnotism with polyrhythmic grooves and an unresolving feel which creates steady momentum, coupled with lush and evolving synth work which take the track into serenity. Regulate your sound system.
On their third album, FANGS, London collective HMLTD have created an entirely new genre: Götherdammerüng (or ÜberGöth). Predictably unpredictable, it could not be further away from their last outing, 2023 rock opera The Worm. The sixteen-piece orchestra has been traded in for Ableton, the timpani and violins replaced with side-chained four-to-the-floor and rave synths, and the gospel choir swapped for guttural gothic howling and black metal screams. The result is both unique and terrifying: a total reinvention and rehabilitation of the goth genre, through the looking glass of modern electronic and doomscroll-era dance music.
This new beginning was accompanied by a change in personnel, with Theo Spark and Andrei Martynchyk joining the fray alongside original members Henry Spychalski and Duc Peterman. Decamping to a ruined château in the Loire Valley, the quartet became obsessed with vampire lore, and the EBM and goth sound that inspired their early work: Fad Gadget, DAF, Nitzer Ebb, Suicide and Bauhaus. FANGS also points to more contemporary influences like Crystal Castles, German hardcore, 2000s blog-house a la Justice, and 2020s sleazepop.
The world crafted in FANGS is full of cosmic pessimism, glowing horror, imperceptible evil and digital dismemberment, ancient curses and ruined castles, Vampires. But it is also a thoroughly fun, and funny, record, as danceable as it is deep. Born of the club, some tracks would not sound out of place on Brat. Like a Smiths song which sounds happy and carefree until your brain tunes in to the misery of the lyrics, it can be listened to - and enjoyed - on two levels. One can get lost in the throb of bass and ludic synths, or tune into the horror of the lyrics which overlay them.
FANGS attempts to offer up a reflection to a culture that - like a Vampire - has lost its own. The result is something not only thoroughly modern, original, and inventive - but that feels genuinely dangerous and potent. FANGS delights in this ambiguity: simultaneously indicting decadence, decay, and moral rot, while luxuriating in its intoxication by it. Cacophonous sub-bass becomes a chthonic call of the void; seraphic rave synths become the screech of Valkyries; four-to-the-floor becomes a deathly funeral march. Vampire apocalypse.
For more than two decades, Vidmantas ?epkauskas has occupied a singular position within European underground culture. As the driving force behind Opium Club and gallery 1986 in Vilnius, founder of Ant Bangos, Alfavilnius and OLE festivals, curator, label owner, promoter, DJ and artist, he has spent much of his life creating the conditions for other people's music to be heard.
It makes sense then that he has no shortage of friends and collaborators in play. Across ten tracks, V presents shades of Italo, krautrock, post-punk, minimal synth, industrial pop and neon-noir romanticism, arriving somewhere between the dancefloor and a dream-state. The cast of collaborators both contextualize and help sharpen the vision.
First and foremost, much of the album was crafted alongside Frankfurt's Philipp Lauer, whose friendship with V grew through marathon studio sessions. Curses lends his unmistakable blend of dark romance and theatrical energy to "Is This What You Want?", Australian cosmic journeyman Dreems joins for the kaleidoscopic "Blitz Disc," Domenique Dumont brings their unmistakable emotive touch to "Avventura," while Lithuanian artists Noyus and Ruta MUR, both distinctive voices from the country's queer scene, whose vocals add another dimension to the record's emotional palette. As V puts it, "These are the people I've been vibing with."
That he finally delivers a full-length LP with such elusive qualities is more than a clue to his character. The title itself, a nod to Magritte's famous paradox and his years living in Brussels, suggests that any attempt to define V through a single image is destined to fail. At once playful and philosophical, 12:55 (Ceci n'est pas une V) questions ideas of identity and artistic value while marking the closing chapter of the musical persona that followed ?epkauskas' earlier success as Vidis. Neither retrospective nor statement of intent, it feels like a connected set of reflections spanning a lifetime of influences.
On their third album, FANGS, London collective HMLTD have created an entirely new genre: Götherdammerüng (or ÜberGöth). Predictably unpredictable, it could not be further away from their last outing, 2023 rock opera The Worm. The sixteen-piece orchestra has been traded in for Ableton, the timpani and violins replaced with side-chained four-to-the-floor and rave synths, and the gospel choir swapped for guttural gothic howling and black metal screams. The result is both unique and terrifying: a total reinvention and rehabilitation of the goth genre, through the looking glass of modern electronic and doomscroll-era dance music.
This new beginning was accompanied by a change in personnel, with Theo Spark and Andrei Martynchyk joining the fray alongside original members Henry Spychalski and Duc Peterman. Decamping to a ruined château in the Loire Valley, the quartet became obsessed with vampire lore, and the EBM and goth sound that inspired their early work: Fad Gadget, DAF, Nitzer Ebb, Suicide and Bauhaus. FANGS also points to more contemporary influences like Crystal Castles, German hardcore, 2000s blog-house a la Justice, and 2020s sleazepop.
The world crafted in FANGS is full of cosmic pessimism, glowing horror, imperceptible evil and digital dismemberment, ancient curses and ruined castles, Vampires. But it is also a thoroughly fun, and funny, record, as danceable as it is deep. Born of the club, some tracks would not sound out of place on Brat. Like a Smiths song which sounds happy and carefree until your brain tunes in to the misery of the lyrics, it can be listened to - and enjoyed - on two levels. One can get lost in the throb of bass and ludic synths, or tune into the horror of the lyrics which overlay them.
FANGS attempts to offer up a reflection to a culture that - like a Vampire - has lost its own. The result is something not only thoroughly modern, original, and inventive - but that feels genuinely dangerous and potent. FANGS delights in this ambiguity: simultaneously indicting decadence, decay, and moral rot, while luxuriating in its intoxication by it. Cacophonous sub-bass becomes a chthonic call of the void; seraphic rave synths become the screech of Valkyries; four-to-the-floor becomes a deathly funeral march. Vampire apocalypse.
Hector Gannet have always known that place and music are inseparable. For songwriter and guitarist Aaron Duff, North Shields high on England’s north east coast, shaped by fishing, shipbuilding, and the sea, is not just a backdrop but a source. Everything flows from it: the imagery, the politics, the particular stoicism of people who absorb more than their share and keep moving anyway.
‘The Great Shakedown’, their third album, is where that source runs deepest. Featuring bold brass arrangements alongside choir and church bells recorded live at the 17th-century Christ Church in North Shields, the album is Hector Gannet’s most ambitious and most searching work. The brass is a constant throughout: driving the Dexys-style urgency of the title track, lounging through the jazz-tinged Big White Telephone, surging euphorically through singles The Mother Tongue and Seven Signs.
The singles capture something essential about the album, euphoric on the surface, quietly devastating underneath. Beneath its propulsive brass lies an examination of stoicism as both armour and wound, of shared language used to avoid saying the very things that need to be said. It’s a quality that runs through the whole record, which looks at human history and art, the ordinary and the extraordinary, the actions of those in power and the communities who live with the consequences. It is both communal and euphoric - a powerful rallying cry for people at a time when we need it most.
“Slide in the party like three monkeys wearing a trench,” GDP says in the opening seconds of Cross Off Matthew, his first solo album in over a decade. The line is indicative of the New Jersey emcee/ producer’s relationship with music, one that’s ebbed and flowed throughout his career and eclectic discography. Entirely self-produced, Cross Off Matthew feels like a reintroduction as well as an expansion of what makes the cult rapper so beloved. GDP came up in the respective punk, hardcore, and skateboarding scenes of New Jersey, roots that inspired his DIY approach to making hip-hop. He applied a decidedly punk ethos to his brand of neo- boom bap on early releases like 2009’s Realistic Expectations and 2011’s Useless Eaters, albums that celebrated his youthful indiscretions but also signaled an old soul lying beneath the surface.
He opted to release them on punk/indie labels (including Run For Cover and Ride The Fury Records) instead of more traditional hip-hop outlets, and along with an ambitious touring schedule, he carved out a dedicated fanbase throughout the early 2010’s. Cross Off Matthew is a slow-cooked labor of love, born out of taking enough time away from something to understand the journey with greater perspective and appreciation.“I’m older, arguably wiser, but that creative fire stayed with me,” he says. “I wanted to make something that felt nuanced, something that I could feel proud of.” Throughout the album, the production toggles between foreboding and facetious just as deftly as his bars. Tracks like “Island In The Sky” and “Location Therapy” make rap confetti out of caustic guitars and glaring distortion, while “Seroquel” and “Rock For Light,” (the latter a nod to NJ rap royalty, The Outsidaz) embrace GDP’s signature blend of East Coast hip-hop and punk sensibilities, with lyrics that highlight the sharp wit and heady philosophizing that he made his name on. GDP examines vices, interpersonal relationships, the collective dread of late-stage capitalism as well as the pitfalls and rewards of trying to lead a creative life throughout it all. The wiseman that peaked out from beneath the shield of debauchery on his early releases has now come to the forefront, as GDP’s trademark humor and commentary feel refined by years of life lived experience
Third time’s a charm, or possibly an anomaly. Johannes Volk returns to Running Back for another five exercises in perception, memory and dance-floor physics.
Following Extra Dimensions and Lightweave, this third instalment finds Volk continuing his particular way of making machine music feel strangely human and vice versa.
Shining Force starts somewhere above ground. Gliding across an unfamiliar planetary surface, optical illusions and physical anomalies slowly interfere with the senses. Unknown landscapes,
peculiar vegetation, nature behaving unnaturally: techno as field research. Switching From Bicycle to Spaceship does exactly what it says on the tin, more or less: trading pedal power for propulsion as a deceptively simple groove gathers speed, sheds gravity and quietly leaves the atmosphere behind.
Hidden In Dark belongs to a more immediate kind of archaeology: fog, strobes, bodies and those inexplicably intense emotions that only seem to exist on a dance floor at the right (or wrong) hour.
Back Alley Dancers turns the telescope around and looks backwards. Vocal fragments, pitched, delayed, reversed and removed from their original meaning trigger half-memories of youth, and of
encountering music and culture before you quite understood what any of it meant. Familiar feelings in unfamiliar shapes.
Finally, Drumatury dispenses with introspection and gets down to elementary forces. Morphing bass drums meet a Chicago jacking snare-roll massacre. Drama becomes drumaturgy. Or the other way around.
Five tracks, several states of consciousness, one Johannes Volk. No protective equipment supplied.
The Disco Express presents Best of 2026 - a deluxe, special edition 12" pink vinyl celebrating six of our favourite records from another landmark year on the label.
Showcasing the breadth of The Disco Express sound, the compilation journeys through funk-fuelled disco, jackin’ house, soulful grooves and peak-time dancefloor energy, bringing together some of the standout moments from our 2026 catalogue.
Featuring music from Make It Disco, Bustin’ Loose, MGR Mike, Ayce & Spirit of House, LEFTI, La Felix and more, Best of 2026 captures a label continuing to push forward while staying firmly rooted in the spirit of disco.
From the feel-good vocal energy of “What You Gonna Say” and the funk-driven swagger of “Less Struggle, More Hustle”, through to the 70's inspired “The Movers”, the soulful lift of “Stronger” and the irresistible drum rhythms of “Muchacho” and “Run It Up”, this is music made first and foremost for the dancefloor.
The music featured on Best of 2026 has already picked up support from some of the world’s most respected selectors, including Roger Sanchez, Danny Rampling, Marco Carola, Jamie Jones, Joseph Capriati, Paco Osuna, Claptone, Danny Krivit, Sam Divine and Arthur Baker, alongside many more.
Pressed on limited edition pink vinyl, Best of 2026 is a snapshot of The Disco Express in full motion.
Tomu DJ’s debut on CST Imprint shares ten atmospheric wistful ruminations on being, living, and the spiritual undercurrents that alchemize these experiences into song. Hazy memories recalled through glitchy lush lullabies, moving through whispered skittery percussive states into warm melodic vocal confessions. Playful yet exacting productions ebb and flow between pensive indietronica pop interspersed with blissful club tracks that swing from ambient, drum and bass, breaks and house for the dancers. A sanguine daydream, to be free.
Her fourth album since 2021 but first on vinyl, Tomu’s deceptively simple compositions bely complex emotions. Minimal, every element just so, nothing unnecessary. Her ability to create ideal environments for collaboration on full display.
Manchester-based producer Lily Mumby, the creative force behind Lapalace, has chosen Lavender as her botanical muse for this sixth instalment. Like the aromatic herb that grows from tiny seeds to fragrant purple stalks, her compositions unfold with a similar patience and elegance. Her synthesisers breathe with a natural rhythm, creating textures that emerge and recede like morning dew on lavender buds waiting to bloom.
The standout track ‘new age night’ – a stunning love child of William Basinski's decaying tape loops and Aphex Twin's intricate programming—carries subtle lavender-inspired tones, balancing the plant's calming essence with hypnotic rhythms. Just as lavender requires thoughtful tending before rewarding the gardener with its distinctive aroma, Lapalace's landscapes reveal deeper complexities with each listen.
Much like gardening itself, Mumby demonstrates an innate understanding of when to intervene and when to allow natural development. This approach echoes throughout her career, from her debut EP "Ephemera" which caught the attention of Insult to Injury Records' Timothy Clerkin, through to her contributions to Chez De Milo's "So It Goes" Remix EP and Manchester label Skiptrace's various artists compilation.
Her work across BBC Introducing and fossil.radio reflects this same philosophy – creating environments where sound, space, and organic movement find their natural harmony. But this composition really feels that Mumby has come of age. "Music To Watch Seeds Grow By Vol. 6" represents the continued cultivation of Lapalace's distinctive sound and demonstrates the maturity of an artist way beyond her years. This music stands as a lighthouse through a thick fog of nostalgia, much like lavender standing tall amidst an English cottage garden.
Early DJ support including - Auntie Flo, Ruf Dug, Courtesy, Vladimir Ivkovic.
Apex militant late '70s style here, if you think you are into steppers you should have this one firmly in your sights. One of Mr. Smart's hardest records, this originally appeared only as an album track, but also had some fame as a dubplate played at the time by Jah Shaka and others. We've long had that cut in our sights, and while some nice new re-mixes of this tune appeared in the last few years, here is the real thing from '79 steel. The A-side features the raw dubplate cut vocal, no horns or other adornment, HARD to the point stepping drum and bass style. The B-side features the original Gussie Clarke dub mix aptly titled "Hot Steppers", also previously released only on album. This cut as well was run on dubplate back at the time, a killer mix with full horns but no vocal. Leroy Smart is one of our all time favorite artists and we take pride in having re-released a handful of his all time best records, this one now added to that list.
You wake up abruptly on cold floorboards, your body aching as if from a great fall. White light floods your vision. Where are you? Last thing you can remember you were hurtling through the Genesis Domain at breakneck speed, but this is definitely somewhere different. As your eyes come into focus you see the hall is grand, intimidatingly opulent. A full house of seated onlookers peers at you expectantly. You’re on a stage, you realize. Flames creep up the walls, engulfing the room and lighting the faces in the audience; the heat is oppressive, but nobody seems to notice. A voice booms out.
“And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Presenting: a performer of great renown all across the land, yours for one night only… introducing—”
Tiny bells jangle around your head as you shift your weight, obscuring whatever name the announcer just called out. You try to sit up. The jester’s hat tumbles off with a clatter. Not this again, you groan. Your head spins with vertigo. You grimace, trying to remember something. You had just gleaned an urgent and existential truth in the Genesis Domain, but it’s slipping away now… what was it?
Off to your left, a whip cracks. The impresario glares at you from the wings, fist clenched around a diamond-encrusted whip, mouthing at you to get up.
You try to run, but the weight of an incorporeal authority bears down upon you. The impresario cracks his whip again, an impish smirk forming on his lips.
With resignation, you begin to work the room. What else can you do? Tendrils of giggling and gossip creep through your periphery. The heat is suffocating and the smoke stings your eyes, but the show goes on. Remembering your bag of tricks as if from a dream, you raise your hands in the air, invoking the universal call to audience participation. The crowd goes wild. You feel the rush of a familiar thrill. Being the Fool comes naturally to you, you realize, as the palace burns around you.
For South Central’s premier singer, songwriter, and producer, success was never an overnight accident; it was a blueprint executed with meticulous precision. With his highly anticipated project, Labor of Love, Blxst delivers a masterclass in modern West Coast R&B and Hip-Hop, proving that true artistry requires both sweat and soul. The album serves as a sonic manifesto on the price of ambition, the weight of loyalty, and the delicate balance of maintaining romance while building an empire. It stands as a definitive evolution of the distinct sound Blxst pioneered, blending crisp, trunk-thumping 808s with soulful, nostalgic chords and his signature, effortlessly smooth vocal runs.
Entirely self-produced and co-written, Labor of Love bridges the gap between the sun-drenched grit of Los Angeles street culture and the vulnerability of late-night bedroom playlists. From the bounce of celebratory anthems to introspective, late-night drive confessionals, Blxst curates a tracklist that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant. It explores the sacrifices made in the pursuit of greatness, paying homage to the sonic pioneers of LA while firmly cementing his own place as the vanguard of the city's modern sound. It is a celebration of independence and the self-made mentality, reminding listeners that he remains the chief architect of his own destiny.
Ultimately, Labor of Love is a testament to the grind, capturing the sleepless nights and tested relationships that pave the road to success. Blxst puts his heart on the line to show that the work itself is where the true passion lives, creating an album for the city, for his family, and for everyone who stays dedicated to their craft. More than just a collection of radio-ready hits, this project is a cohesive, cinematic experience from one of music's most reliable hitmakers. It is a definitive reminder that Blxst isn't just riding the wave—he is directing the current.
Shyam Anand is a long-term friend of Smallville and an MPC wizard with a wide-open heart. We are super happy to finally present a 12“ that is fully his own.
After an amazing contribution to Smallville 49 (check out Exerpts!), Snad aka Spandrel aka Shyam Anand presents a full 3-tracker on Smallville, packed with his irrisistible grooves, the usual unexpected twists and an overall magical atmosphere. Growing up near Philadelphia, then moving to Chicago and later exploring the global underground scenes of Berlin and Mexico City, among others, Snad is a busy man. He runs his own imprint Spandrel, co-runs We R The Aliens and has an impressive back-catalogue of contributions for several favourites like Running Back, Courtesy of Balance, Kimochi, Long Vehicle, 20:20 Vision, Phonica and many more.
On this 12" the A side belongs solely to Bubblescope - 14 and a half minutes of mesmerizing Ensoniq DP/4 Vocoder driven modular spheres, an endlessly deep bubbling piece of art that builds an intense feeling that could last for hours.
The B side sees Snad staying deep – Lukewarm Lava explores the broken beat world before taking you on a ride. The beloved B2-spot goes to Tanni - an integral part of Julius' warmup-sets since forever and thus a special one to finally put on wax.
Bubblescope comes with a Full Cover Artwork by Stefan Marx.
American DJ, producer, and Ovum label boss Josh Wink remixes Chris Liebing's 'Eye C' via CLR on 25th September 2026, one of the standout tracks from Liebing's first fully solo-produced LP, 'Evolver', which landed in March. The album featured collaborations with the likes of Luke Slater, Charlotte de Witte, and Daniel Miller, with Josh Wink the latest to rework material from the project. The Philadelphian is an electronic music veteran who has shaped countless releases on his own Ovum, while also remixing the likes of Depeche Mode, Moby, and Radiohead.
Josh Wink showcases his production skills once again with a blistering take on Chris Liebing's 'Eye C', rewriting it with fizzing synth modulations and prickly acid lines. The track grows in intensity as rumbling drums march on, and the synths become ever wilder before pulling back into a deep, atmospheric groove, rebuilding beneath the menacing vocals and icy, incendiary hi-hats.
The original version of Chris Liebing's 'Eye C' is a deep, rolling techno masterclass with pulsing synths and deft percussion peeling away from the groove. It's linear and heady, perfect for the small hours, with unsettling vocal fragments refracted around the mix and subtle hypnotism floating overhead as the drums grow ever harder.
Strut proudly presents the first release in almost a decade from the legendary Senegalese group Orchestra Baobab with Made In Senegal. Few groups embody the spirit of African music like Orchestra Baobab. Formed over 50 years ago as the resident band of the Baobab Club in Dakar, their timeless fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms, Wolof griot traditions, mbalax, Congolese rumba and jazz continues to resonate across generations and continents. Now, the celebrated big band marks a new chapter in their illustrious history with Made in Senegal, their first new studio album since Tribute To Ndiouga Dieng in 2017 for World Circuit. Released on respected imprint Strut Records in conjunction with Madoky Music, the new album celebrates home, heritage, love and resilience and was recorded entirely in Dakar. On Made In Senegal new songs sit effortlessly beside re-imagined classics. Lead single "Togne Bakhoul", composed by late Baobab vocalist Rudy Gomis is a poignant ode to his wife and "Tioro Bye Samba" reprises a classic Thione Seck song while "Casamance" celebrates the culturally rich Southern Senegalese region, homeland of several Baobab members. "Baobab 50 Ans" marks the 50-year anniversary of this indomitable group. Made In Senegal is another modern Baobab classic combining a fresh approach with roots fixed firmly in Senegal"s rich traditions. It is the perfect time for a new generation to discover the elegant, hypnotic sound of one of Africa"s greatest ever big bands.
Larry June has built a career on making hard work look effortless, and his album Who Coppin’ stands as a masterclass in smooth, lifestyle-driven West Coast hip-hop. The album delivers a high-grade mix of Bay Area luxury, entrepreneurial motivation, and unbothered charismatic flows. Spanning a laid-back audio palette designed for early-morning juice runs and late-night freeway cruises alike, Uncle Larry balances the discipline of a hustle-first mindset with warm, sun-drenched production anchored by crisp organic instrumentation and heavy-knocking bass.
The album features a tightly curated roster of collaborators who align seamlessly with Larry's signature aesthetic. Spoken-word encouragement from Wallo267 sets an intentional tone on the opener "Go Outside Intro," framing the record around execution and focus. Soulful contributions from Jhené Aiko on "California Dream" and Musiq Soulchild on "Pretty Green Eyes" provide lush R&B textures, while NorCal legend B-Legit and longtime partner DJ.Fresh reinforce June’s deep West Coast roots. Meanwhile, Swizz Beatz injects high-energy bounce into "Flex," offering a vibrant contrast to Larry’s understated, cool-headed cadence.
Behind the boards, top-tier producers like Cardo, Teeko, Beat Butcha, Jay Versace, and June Santana craft a nostalgic yet modern backdrop filled with warm sample flips, smooth G-funk synthesizers, and relaxed soul grooves. The project builds to an emotionally grounded conclusion on "God Got Us (Ain't Too Many)," where June strips away the flexes to offer direct encouragement to his audience, proving once again that consistency, self-belief, and steady progress remain the ultimate luxuries.
Muss sich alles ständig so schwer anfühlen? Claud Mintz ringt ständig mit dieser Frage. Und zwar nicht in Form von höflichen kleinen Wortgefechten, sondern in Form von großen, langwierigen, existenziellen Kämpfen - von der Art, die einen letztendlich dazu bringen könnte, den Kurs des gesamten Lebens zu ändern. Die 10 Songs auf seinem facettenreichen und glanzvollen dritten Album ,Me and the Music" zeigen den 27-jährigen Singer-Songwriter und Produzenten aus Brooklyn, wie er sich mit dieser Frage auseinandersetzt und schließlich triumphierend zu etwas gelangt, das einer Antwort nahekommt: Die Dinge können schwer sein, aber das bedeutet nicht, dass man keinen Spaß haben kann. Das Leben kann schwer sein, aber das Bier in Ihrer Hand ist es nicht - warum sollten Sie es nicht für einen Moment in die Höhe recken, mit den Freunden um Sie herum mitsingen und Ihre Sorgen für die Dauer eines perfekten Indie-Pop- Songs vergessen? ,Me and the Music" ist Clauds erstes Album seit drei Jahren, seit dem 2023 erschienenen, hochgelobten ,Supermodels". Sowohl ,Supermodels" als auch ,Super Monster" aus dem Jahr 2021 waren weitgehend inspiriert von ,dieser einen unklaren Beziehung", von der er irgendwann während des Schreibens von ,Me and the Music" erkannte, dass sie ,eigentlich nie wirklich etwas war". ,Supermodels" war ein so ernstes Album, und ,ich habe einfach so lange in meinen Gefühlen geschwelgt", sagt Claud. ,Es gibt einen Unterschied zwischen Aufrichtigkeit gegenüber dem Leben und dem Leben zu ernst zu nehmen." Diese Erkenntnis veränderte alles: Im Titelsong von ,Me and the Music" singen sie: ,Das ist der letzte Song, den ich von dir ruinieren lasse", und das meinten sie auch so. Nachdem Claud diesen Song geschrieben hatte - in den berühmten Electric Lady Studios zusammen mit ihren Freunden Hank Heaven und Annie DiRusso -, begannen sie, sich völlig befreit zu fühlen. ,Dadurch wurde viel Bedauern losgelassen, das ich mit mir herumgetragen hatte, und es ermöglichte mir, zu denken _ das macht so viel Spaß", sagen sie. ,Musik zu machen macht so viel Spaß." Das Markenzeichen von Me and the Music sind also Songs, die die Komplexität des Erwachsenwerdens und des Lebens in der Welt einfangen, ohne dabei den Sinn für Verspieltheit oder Spaß zu verlieren. Es ist ein typisches ,Slice-of-Life"-Album , das neue Romanzen, Insider-Witze, Gap-Werbespots, die Band ,America" und das Land Amerika thematisiert und all diese Dinge mit Sorgfalt und Rücksicht behandelt. Die Lead-Single ,She Doesn't Love Me" von ,Me and the Music" ist in vielerlei Hinsicht der Kern des Albums - ein leichtfühliges Lied darüber, wie es ist, in den 2020er Jahren in Amerika queer und trans zu sein. (Es ist eine kraftvolle, mitreißende Hymne, die vor Schmerz nicht zurückschreckt - und trotzdem Lust macht, wie Claud in dem Titel singt, die ,Biere in die Luft zu recken".) Als Claud den Song gemeinsam mit Heaven und DiRusso schrieb, waren sie fest davon überzeugt, dass es ein Yacht-Rock-Song werden sollte; das Demo klang letztendlich dennoch ,Lo-Fi und Indie". ,Me and the Music" wurde von Claud und John Congleton (Alvvays, St. Vincent) produziert und bedeutet für Claud, dass sich der Kreis schließt: Mit diesem Album hatte Claud endlich das Gefühl, als Produzent selbstbewusst genug zu sein, um die Rolle des Co-Produzenten zu übernehmen (und hat seitdem eine Reihe viraler Singles von Romy Mars produziert). Die Zusammenarbeit ist natürlich ein wesentlicher Bestandteil von Clauds Arbeit - wer wären wir ohne unsere Freunde? Neben Claud gehört er zu einem Viertel zu Shelly, einer Band, die er gemeinsam mit Clairo, Noa Getzug und Josh Mehling gegründet hat. Auf ,Me and the Music" arbeitet Claud bei dem Titel ,The Legend" erneut mit ihrem langjährigen Kollaborateur Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan) zusammen. Der Song thematisiert das Gefühl, tief in jemanden verliebt zu sein, der nicht mit einem gesehen werden möchte, sagt Claud: ,Es geht gewissermaßen um eine beschissene Beziehung und den Wunsch, die Liebe zur Schau zu stellen, ohne jedoch dazu in der Lage zu sein ", erklären sie. Doch wenn es auf ,Me and the Music" ein echtes Liebeslied gibt, dann ist es ,I Owe You", ein Dream-Pop-Road-Song, der hingebungsvoll und facettenreich ist. Er fängt den Geist von ,Me and the Music" als Ganzes ein: die Dinge Tag für Tag zu nehmen, Bilanz über das zu ziehen, was einen umgibt, und die schönen Dinge anzunehmen, wenn sie sich bieten. Das fühlt sich gar nicht so schwer an.
No Home is the new album by Lane Hartley, releasing October 23rd 2026 on Royal Oakie Records. Produced in collaboration with David Hartley of The War On Drugs & Adam McDaniel (Animal Collective, Angel Olsen, Geologist), the album was recorded at Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville and features contributions from North Carolina’s tight knit music community–including Mary Lattimore, Seth Kaufman of Floating Action & Dream Sitch, David Hartley, Jack Victor Johnson, and more.
After recording his debut album Naming Horses, Lane left Los Angeles and returned home to the Carolinas, eventually landing in Asheville. It wasn’t too long until the songs started flowing and Lane found himself reaching out to Adam McDaniel at Drop of Sun Studios–a vaunted space that’s been at the heart of indie-rock the past few years, bringing to life recent albums from MJ Lenderman, Wednesday, Fust, and more. McDaniel introduced Lane to David Hartley, and what originally started with discussions to record one song quickly turned into a plan to track a whole album live with a six piece band. Once in the studio, co-producer McDaniel encouraged the group to lean on intuition–“All of the players on this record really brought it to life in such a cosmic way. They instilled so much childlike wonder and fun into the making of the album. It inspired me to keep going” says Lane.
Lyrically the album is a collection of vignettes about people who’ve become alienated from their deepest desires of connection, belonging, intimacy, and autonomy–inspired both by Lane’s own life and the lives of people he’s loved. The unique character of the album emerged when Lane made the decision to pair the dark lyrical content with bright & lush arrangements, inspired by Gene Clark’s No Other, Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush, and Amen Dunes’ Love. In Lane’s words, “The content of the songs got way darker, and my reaction was to make the songs catchier, and to lean harder into the music that influenced me. I wanted each song to feel like a room in a haunted house, with a beautiful garden growing outside”.
Album opener “I Am Not Ashamed” was inspired by the anti-memoir of actress Barbara Peyton, a 1950’s Hollywood starlet who met an untimely end; “It’s about knowing that whatever you’ve done to survive, you still deserve love” says Lane. “Mother” pairs lyrics about ancestral trauma with the sunshine-pop influence of Colin Blunstone, featuring backing vocals from Lane’s sister Barrett Hartley. “It's about coming to terms with the fact that the people meant to protect us are dealing with their own trauma…”
Meanwhile, “All Of This Is Yours” and “Tone Poem” form the spiritual center of the album, an attempt to transmute anger & pain to bittersweet acceptance in the wake of a breakup. “I feel like on the surface this is essentially a breakup album, a lot of these songs are about mourning the end of a relationship and reflecting on what went down. I was falling in love and getting my heart broken, then waking up and driving across the country and doing it all over again.” “Love Is Not A Song” was inspired by Margo Guryan’s Love Songs, pairing bright piano with playful lyrics about an old man who’s been beaten down by life but still believes his greatest love is yet to come. Last but not least, title track “No Home” sums up the album’s key theme of alienation, “It all goes back to this feeling of wanting to belong to someone or somewhere, wanting to belong in your own body.”
Crash landing onto the scene in 2017 with his now legendary NTS broadcast of 2 hours of unheard music, the ultra-mysterious and enigmatic Michael J. Blood has gone on to release a series of sought after, lush and rugged future classics on his own imprints Blood Inc. and BodyTronixxx. Allegedly hailing from Manchester in the North of England, Blood’s sound is hard to pin down but instantly recognisable. Rooted in the twin foundations of modern dance music—Detroit and Chicago—while schooled in the sweaty basements of Manchester’s fêted club scene, his music feels both original and familiar, timeless yet unplaceable.
Weaving together a hypnotic narrative that feels both archival and futuristic, Cause & Effect Vol. 1 brings together some of Blood's rare and hard to find bangers from a variety of his early sold out projects. The collection mixes the pulse of Chicago with the grit and cosmic dreams of Detroit, while never losing sight of the North of England’s sophisticated late-night sleaze. Blood’s dance-floor eclecticism and raw, infectious mutant beats drive a soulful, jazz-louche energy into every track. The result is a collection of atmospheric grooves that weave together hypnotic rhythm and smoky texture, blurring house, techno, broken beat, and jazz-soaked electronics into a heady trip. Cause & Effect Vol. 1 maps out the restless evolution of Blood’s sound, a testament to his instinct for rhythm, atmosphere and dance-floor alchemy. House for the heart, techno for the mind, both built for the body. It’s in the Blood.
Surprise Chef’s album Frogs In A Pond is an examination into, and an expression of, a shared human experience. Based in Australia, the quintet found inspiration from European film composers working in the late 60s and early 70s. The music expresses musical themes with a cinematic landscape of moods and feelings that evoke emotion without the listener having watched the film for which the music was composed, pushing boundaries that dictate a unique perspective to their music.
Surprise Chef’s album Frogs In A Pond is an examination into, and an expression of, a shared human experience. Based in Australia, the quintet found inspiration from European film composers working in the late 60s and early 70s. The music expresses musical themes with a cinematic landscape of moods and feelings that evoke emotion without the listener having watched the film for which the music was composed, pushing boundaries that dictate a unique perspective to their music.
Kvrk makes a debut on Distant Gaze with Synthetic Memories, a four-track EP exploring shadowy electronics where organic textures and synthetic forms constantly blur into one another.
Opening with Pulsewidth, the EP begins as a slow burn – a restrained piece of synthwave shaped by drifting ambience, hypnotic sequences and a steady sense of tension.
The pace gradually lifts with Void Caller and title track Synthetic Memory, pushing deeper into prog sound. Straight, driving rhythms form the backbone, occasionally dissolving into broken-beat passages, while warped synths and psychedelic details keep everything in constant motion.
Beneath the electronic framework runs something more primal: forest-like soundscapes, mystic undertones and subtly shamanic motifs give the music an earthy, ritualistic dimension.
Closing the release, Blu:sh reworks Void Caller through his signature deep and trippy approach, stretching the original into a spacious late-night interpretation with a submerged, dreamlike pull.
Erasmo Carlos’ Carlos, Erasmo is a landmark of early-’70s Brazilian rock, where Tropicalia, fuzzed-out psych, soul, funk and Brazilian pop meet in brilliantly adventurous form. Produced by Manoel Barenbein with arrangements by Rogério Duprat, it also features Os Mutantes players Sérgio Dias, Dinho Leme and Liminha, plus guitarist Lanny Gordin.
Opening with De Noite na Cama, written for Erasmo by Caetano Veloso, the album moves with real freedom between sensual pop, hard-edged psych and off-kilter grooves. Erasmo’s partnership with Roberto Carlos sits alongside songs by Jorge Ben and Marcos Valle, making this a genuine meeting point for some of Brazil’s most inventive voices.
Tracks like Maria Joana, Agora Ninguém Chora Mais, 26 Anos de Vida Normal, Ciça Cecília, Mundo Deserto, Sodoma e Gomorra and Masculino Feminino show just how wide Erasmo’s vision was: raw, playful, soulful and beautifully unruly.
,Prophetic Perfect Tense" ist das neue Album von Oren Ambarchi bei Kou Records. Der australische Gitarrist und Komponist gilt als eine der unermüdlichsten und einfallsreichsten Persönlichkeiten der experimentellen Musik der letzten drei Jahrzehnte. Als Gründer von Black Truffle Records und versierter Kollaborateur, der bereits mit Keiji Haino, Jim O'Rourke, Johan Berthling und Andreas Werliin - präsentiert sich Ambarchi hier in seiner reduziertesten Besetzung: Solo-Gitarre, zwei Seiten, zwei Takes, minimale Effekte. Während seine Studioalben typischerweise konzeptionelle, vielschichtige Werke mit Gastmusikern waren, bricht ,Prophetic Perfect Tense" dieses Muster vollständig - nach seinen eigenen Angaben ist es das konventionellste Soloalbum mit Gitarrenklang, das er je aufgenommen hat, und das, was im Studio der Live-Energie seines ,Ghosted"-Trios am nächsten kommt. Aufgenommen im Studio Dede in Tokio im Januar 2026 und produziert von Randall Dunn, begann das Album als Akt hartnäckiger Zurückhaltung - irgendwo zwischen Joao Gilberts leisem, selbstbetiteltem Album von 1973 und Alemu Agas ,Bägänna"-Sessions. Doch sobald das Band durch eine Leslie-Box, einen Fender Twin und einen Ampeg B-15 in einen Telefunken-24-Spur-Recorder lief, entstand etwas ganz anderes: ein lockerer, abstrakter Shuffle, warm und dreidimensional, bei dem Verstärkerbrummen, Saitenquietschen und Raumgeräusche unverändert blieben. Beide Seiten in einzigen Takes. Ein Gitarren-Overdub wurde auf Randalls Drängen hin hinzugefügt. Eine Platte, die wie ein Raum klingt, nicht wie ein Studio. Aufgenommen, abgemischt und produziert von Randall Dunn. Gemastert von Ben Greenberg. Dolby-Atmos-Mischungen von Ben Greenberg. Lackschnitt von Paul Gold bei Salt Mastering. Cover-Artwork ,Untitled, 1977" von Kazuko Miyamoto, Foto mit freundlicher Genehmigung des Nachlasses von Kazuko Miyamoto / Zürcher Gallery, NY. Porträt auf der Rückseite von Ken Langraf
,Altarpiece H. af K." ist das neue Album von Eric Wubbels bei Kou Records - Komponist, Pianist, Co-Direktor des New Yorker Wet Ink Ensembles und Preisträger des Ernst von Siemens-Komponistenpreises 2023, einer der renommiertesten Auszeichnungen in der zeitgenössischen Musik. ,Altarpiece H. af K." hat seinen Namen und seinen inspirierenden Geist den Gemälden ,For the Temple" von Hilma af Klint entlehnt - monumentale Werke, die für einen Raum konzipiert wurden, der noch gar nicht existierte, gerichtet an einen zukünftigen Zuhörer. Wubbels begegnete ihnen 2018 im Guggenheim und ließ diese Begegnung in ein Stück einfließen, dessen vollständige Umsetzung sieben Jahre in Anspruch nehmen sollte: von einer E-Mail aus der Pandemiezeit an die Fagottistin Dana Jessen, in der er etwas Einfaches vorschlug - Multiphonik, Überlagerungen, vielleicht einen Kanon -, über Live-Auftritte in der Fairchild Chapel, bei Elastic Arts und in einer existentialistischen Kirche in Atlanta bis hin zu einer Aufnahmesession im Dezember 2025 im Power Station Studios in Midtown Manhattan, dem Raum, in dem ,Like a Virgin" und ,Let's Dance" entstanden sind. Die Besetzung - drei Fagotte, gespielt von Dana Jessen, Ben Roidl-Ward und Katherine Young - ist rein akustisch: keine Live-Bearbeitung, keine Elektronik. Was du hörst , ist das Instrument selbst, bis an seine Grenzen getrieben. Wubbels' Komposition nutzt die Fähigkeit des Fagotts zu Multiphonik und mikrotonaler Modulation, um sich überlappende Spektren aufzubauen, die voll und ganz aus den grundlegenden akustischen Eigenschaften der Instrumente entstehen - Obertöne, Differenztöne und Schwebungsfrequenzen, die den drei Musikern im selben Raum entlockt werden und einen seltenen Raum zwischen den spektralen Welten von Scelsi und Dumitrescu und dem anhaltenden physischen Gewicht von Sunn O))) einnehmen. Über zwei lange Sätze (Reh. A und Reh. C) hinweg häufen sich diese dichten, vibrierenden Spektren zu etwas an, das sich zwischen Stillstand und Vorwärtsdrang bewegt und an der Schwelle zwischen Tonhöhe und Rauschen schwebt. Das Stück gipfelt nicht in einer Auflösung, sondern in einer Transformation durch anhaltende Aufmerksamkeit. Aufgenommen, abgemischt und produziert von Randall Dunn. Gemastert von Ben Greenberg. Dolby Atmos-Mischungen von Ben Greenberg. Lackpressung von Paul Gold bei Salt Mastering. Cover-Artwork von Thomas Hooper; Porträt auf der Rückseite von Julie Bell.
If the name The Midnight Hour isn't immediately familiar, the music almost certainly is. Ali Shaheed Muhammad is a founding member of A Tribe Called Quest, one of the most beloved groups in hip hop history. Adrian Younge is the Los Angeles-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer who has shaped the sound of some of the most critically admired records of the past two decades. Together, they have been architects of the sound that serious listeners point to when they try to describe what great music feels like.
The music they had been making together had a life of its own. By 2018, it had become The Midnight Hour: their self-titled debut album, recorded to tape with a live rhythm section and a full orchestra, and released to widespread acclaim. In 2020, the duo were deep into sessions for a second album. But then the world shut down, the recordings were shelved. The album never came and remained unfinished and unheard. But now, via their Jazz Is Dead label, The Lost Tapes have been unearthed
If the name The Midnight Hour isn't immediately familiar, the music almost certainly is. Ali Shaheed Muhammad is a founding member of A Tribe Called Quest, one of the most beloved groups in hip hop history. Adrian Younge is the Los Angeles-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer who has shaped the sound of some of the most critically admired records of the past two decades. Together, they have been architects of the sound that serious listeners point to when they try to describe what great music feels like.
The music they had been making together had a life of its own. By 2018, it had become The Midnight Hour: their self-titled debut album, recorded to tape with a live rhythm section and a full orchestra, and released to widespread acclaim. In 2020, the duo were deep into sessions for a second album. But then the world shut down, the recordings were shelved. The album never came and remained unfinished and unheard. But now, via their Jazz Is Dead label, The Lost Tapes have been unearthed
,Reona" ist das Debütalbum von REONA bei Kou Records - Stepptänzerin, Metal- Percussionistin, Improvisatorin und eine der originellsten Klangkünstlerinnen der heutigen Zeit, weltweit. Das Album wurde im Januar 2026 an zwei Tagen im Studio Dede aufgenommen und von Randall Dunn produziert. Es fängt REONAs ganzkörperliche Performance in Echtzeit ein: Stepptanzschuhe und ein Holzbrett als rhythmische Grundlage, überlagert von Metallblechen, Ketten, Edelstahlschalen, Plastiktüten, Lautsprechern und einem ganzen Arsenal an gefundenen und handgefertigten Objekten, die im Laufe jahrelanger Auftritte gesammelt wurden. Die Instrumente tragen ihre eigene Geschichte in sich - ein Schild aus Okinawa, auf dem die Warnung vor nicht detonierten Bomben steht, ein Schild einer Transportfirma aus dem Jingisukan-Topf-Museum in Iwamizawa, eine Festglocke, die zu Beginn der COVID-Ära erworben wurde, südindische Essgeschirr, ein Ölkännchen aus Taiwan. Stampfen, kratzen, berühren, schlagen, blasen, stöhnen - REONA nutzt alles voll aus, von ihren Beinen bis zu ihrem Mund, und lässt dabei die Grenze zwischen Tanz und Percussion, Körper und Instrument verschwinden. Ihre Praxis befindet sich an einer selten besetzten Schnittstelle: die japanische Noise-Tradition von Merzbow und Otomo Yoshihide auf der einen Seite, die perkussive Körperlichkeit von Milford Graves und Han Bennink auf der anderen - ohne Präzedenzfall dafür, was passiert, wenn diese beiden Welten in einem einzigen Körper aufeinandertreffen. Track 7, M108, enthält einen Gastauftritt von Atsuo - dem Schlagzeuger der legendären japanischen Rockband Boris - in einer Kollision zweier unterschiedlicher, aber verwandter Ansätze zu Rhythmus und Noise.? Aufgenommen, gemischt und produziert von Randall Dunn. Gemastert von Ben Greenberg. Dolby-Atmos-Mischungen von Ben Greenberg. Lackschnitt von Paul Gold bei Salt Mastering. Cover-Artwork ,Legend of the Snow Spirit" von Kazuki Tomokawa; Porträt auf der Rückseite von Allison Brant.
Max Cooper delivers the latest instalment in the acclaimed fabric presents series, marking a landmark release as the first tracks to be presented in Spatial Audio. Fusing his signature blend of emotive electronica, immersive sound design and club-focused energy, the project captures Max’s ability to bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and deeply human storytelling. Featuring exclusive material alongside carefully curated selections, the mix places him alongside previous fabric presents contributors including Daniel Avery, Overmono, Helena Hauff and Mount Kimbie, while pushing the series into new sonic territory.
Leading the accompanying EP is Flecks, a collaboration with LSB that pairs fast drum & bass breaks with Max Cooper’s unmistakable immersive production. Referencing the iconic Hurt You So break, the track fuses old-school jungle influences with a modern, spatial mix, hypnotic synth lines and subtle vocal fragments draw the listener deeper into its expansive soundscape. Also featured is Bredren’s Hash (Max Cooper Remix), a tension-filled drum & bass track built around distorting basslines and constantly evolving movement.
The EP's focus track, AO, sees Max Cooper reunite with Rival Consoles for a more introspective moment. Swapping high-tempo breaks for a slower electronica and house framework, the track unfolds through beautifully detailed percussion, organic rhythmic textures and sweeping synth melodies, culminating in a soaring central passage that showcases the pair's shared gift for emotionally resonant electronic composition.
Released via fabric Records, fabric presents: Max Cooper represents another evolution of the long-running series, a release that is equally at home on immersive listening systems and the dancefloor.
Skarra Mucci, the globally acclaimed Jamaican MC known as the "Dancehall President", partners with Manudigital, one of Europe's top producers, to bring us the full-length album Ragga Blasta.
Following the success of their self-titled EP, the duo doubles down by expanding the concept into a complete 10-track album, delivering a varied, multi-inspired showcase where hybrid beats meet core sound system culture. This project retains the essence of their initial release: the energy of title track Ragga Blasta blending reggae and boom-bap hip-hop, Angel’s ragga beat and intoxicating Likkle Devon sample, alongside the heavy basslines of Freedom Fighter. It also features the more introspective rub-a-dub vibe of Inna Mi Brain, the explosive ska collaboration with Queen Omega on Feel It, and the atmospheric dub of Natty, where Skarra delivers razor-sharp rap flows.
This long-form edition packs an even bigger punch with four brand-new tracks built to shake sound systems and dancefloors alike. Skarra Mucci showcases his technical mastery on Lyrics Machine, a hard-hitting, hip-hop-infused track, while delivering a powerful, anthemic dancehall tune with Nah Fraid No Police. The tracklist further elevates with a legendary feature from Johnny Osbourne on What A La La, before broadening its musical horizons through the festive, hybrid sounds of Rock This Cumbia.
Trixie Whitley returns with 'Folded Time', her first full-length album in seven years and one of her most adventurous and rhythmically driven records to date. Written largely at the kitchen table of her Brooklyn apartment and recorded between Brussels, New York and Montréal, the nine-track album finds Whitley moving freely between rock, soul, R&B and more experimental territory.
Rhythm sits at the heart of 'Folded Time'. Whitley plays drums, bass, guitar and piano herself, with her love of polyrhythms running throughout the record. Heavy, slow-moving drums turn opener 'Carry' into a mantra, 'Fascinating and Fun' grew out of studio improvisation, while on 'Carnaval' Whitley and Cem Misirlioglu face each other behind two drum kits for what she calls a "drum rave". Her unmistakable voice remains at the centre, moving just as easily between restraint and raw power.
Across the album, Whitley looks at motherhood, womanhood, heartbreak, desire and forgiveness, and at how the past continues to shape who we become. It is a record about taking stock without standing still: instinctive and physical, but full of detail.
Morcheeba return with the second EP in their Remix The Chaos project - a year long series of releases reworking all the tracks from their 2025 studio album Escape The Chaos. Volume 2 is headlined by London art-rockers Django Django who inject a fresh garage pulse into Hold Me Down and prolific producer Rex The Dog who transforms the Latin subtleties of Dead To Me into an extended electro powerhouse.
Elsewhere, experimental producer Daedelus takes Cooler Heads into leftfield IDM territory, and regular Morcheeba remixer Merther Hum turns the album title track Escape The Chaos into deep, refined dub.
Ready in equal parts for the dancefloor or your sofa late at night, these bold reinterpretations push Morcheeba’s seminal sound further towards electronic music’s outer edges. Presented on rubber duck yellow vinyl in classic disco bag packaging, Remix The Chaos (Volume 2) is just the latest in a series of unmissable releases from the trip-hop titans.
With his last three records all landing within a calendar year (2024-25), enigmatic Swedish producer Civilistjävel! (aka Tomas Bodén) is on a hot streak of releases, his singular vision increasingly ambitious and expansive. There are few artists working at this level so consistently right now, reinventing, revising and continually developing their language. Following on from 2025’s radically re-worked ‘Versions’ (of Mayssa Jallad’s ‘Marjaa…’), Bodén returns to break further fresh ground with his new album, ‘Älvgång’. Featuring contributions from Soccer Committee, Carrier and guest (aka Jabu’s Jasmine Butt), ‘Älvgång’ foregrounds a more brittle and insistent rhythm-based sound, whilst comprising his most broad-ranging collection of material to date.
‘Älvgång’ grew out of a series of sketches made from late ‘24 and throughout the whole of ‘25 at Stockholm’s renowned EMS Studios, which gave Boden free rein to its extensive collection of vintage analogue equipment and rare modular synthesizers such as the Serge and Buchla systems. As a loose framework of tracks began to take shape, so did a reflection of sorts, on family and foundations, underpinned or influenced by sounds that drifted into Tomas consciousness around this time - ancient Swedish pastoral music, Georgian lithurgical chants, gongs, chimes. An idea settled into place, a dedication to his Grandfather, as the earlier release Fyra Platser (tr. ‘Four Places’) was to his Grandmother. Älvgång is grounded with the sense of time and place of an old family photograph, with the tracks over each side bearing one of two names that are more or less the same location - Strinne was the old name for a this loose collection of villages. These days it is more commonly known as Bjärtrå. Metaphorically speaking, the river runs through both.
Civilistjävel! conjures so many adjectives and descriptors, ‘glacial’ and ‘ambient’ frequently among them - but while not altogether untrue, such terms belie the tension and drama so often present in Tomas’ music. Listening to ‘Älvgång’ is not a passive experience. The eight tracks here feel like a patchwork of memories that bathe in the same ethereal, otherworldly glow of Tarkovsky’s polaroids’.
The machine pulses that dominate this landscape are reigned in and tempered by a human hand; lithe, untethered coils, breathing in and out. ‘Strinne Ett’ sets out with purpose, sensing awe and wonder through the murk, but as the final tone unfurls like a question mark, another chapter begins, unfolding/building like a Tarjei Vesaas novel. These lyrical, abstract miniatures combine to reveal a wider context, fragile humanity standing alone against nature.
Guest appearances on Civilistjävel! records have become a regular occurrence (including recent collaborations with Mayssa Jallad, Laila Sakini, Cucina Povera, Thomas Bush, Eldon + Withdrawn), but are used sparingly and with increasing precision. On ‘Strinne Tre’ Mariska Baars’ (Soccer Committee) voice feels like a balm, a clearing. But as her simple, three-word incantation drifts further into fog, the meaning changes, and her words seem to curdle. Carrier’s beats widen the parameters on ‘Strinne Fyra’, a skittering promise that builds tension then refuses to release it; all false starts, Photek gongs, and trinkling modulars. Jabu’s Jasmine Butt pulls all the threads together for the final track, Thomas Tallis’ ghost walking over offset machine impulses, that work against their own symmetry.
Side two begins inquisitively, scanning bleached, alien surroundings, its sparse pads recalling Aphex Twin’s ‘Selected Ambient works Vol 2’. 'Bjärtrå Två’ picks up the baton from ' Strinne Fyra’ with a ruptured Simmons SDS200 analogue drum synth set free from its shackles, the rhythm eventually slotting into the spaces that were hiding in plain sight. What follows seems like an epiphany; ‘Bjärtrå Tre’ is achingly beautiful, a euphoric, winding ascent that leads to devotional plainsong. ‘Bjärtrå Fyra‘s final unheralded shift feels both tragic and haunting.
The Future Bubblers compilation brings together artists from across the Academy cohort and wider applicant community, with sounds spanning jazz, soul, electronic, hip hop, folk, experimental and everything in between. It’s a snapshot of the boundary-pushing talent emerging through the Future Bubblers community. This rollout is designed to put the people who make independent music possible at the heart of the release: listeners who choose to support artists directly, record shops that nurture culture locally, and the community that has grown around Future Bubblers over the last decade.
British producer Ed Davenport lands on Studio Barnhus with four fresh ones built for long nights and well-tuned sound systems.
“Carry On” gets things rolling in suitably hazy fashion, a dopey tech-house shuffle circling around a soft, mysterious piano figure and trancetastic vocals by Tee Amara. “Green Wave” keeps the bounce going with warm chords and an easy spring in its step, before “Mezzh” puts the bass right up front and heads straight for the big room.
“Lift (Dub)” closes the record by nudging things into more acidic territory, never losing the loose, playable feel running through the EP. The digital edition includes the original “Main Pass” version of “Lift”, easing off the acid while letting the melodic side shine through a little more.
"Cloud Collision" is the first transmission of Open Water and also the debut from it's founder - Berlin DJ and producer OTEE. Born and raised in the city, he has spent a long stretch in and around its club environments and in the studio, absorbing the way techno functions on Berlins dancefloors before committing to a record of his own. In his productions, he likes to build from rhythm first. His techno is hypnotic in the truest sense — drum-driven and loop-led, powered by groove and atmospherics, chasing movement over spectacle but always with an eye on the occasional melodic line. The 5-track EP runs on rhythm and space — hypnotic, loop-led techno built on power, movement and emotion. Five tracks that push from dream to pressure to flight and back to earth, restrained and physical throughout, made for the deep end of the floor.
The “Kisses at Midnight” remix is an explosion of pure energy, designed for those who experience music directly on their skin. The track stands out for its rich sound design of open, sharp, and percussive sounds, capable of filling the room and creating a magnetic atmosphere from the very first seconds—thanks in no small part to the high-quality original sounds that define its sonic texture.
The real driving force of the track is its driving, arpeggiated rhythm: a continuous, hypnotic flow that doesn’t let you go for a single second, sweeping the listener into a non-stop journey from start to finish.
A physical and overwhelming track that hits you straight in the chest, giving no respite to anyone who wants to feel like an active part of the dancefloor.
– INCOGNITO
There are sounds that transcend time, capable of evoking entire worlds without needing any introduction. “Incognito” is exactly that: a visceral and modern tribute to the golden years of Italian progressive techno—an era that rewrote the rules of global clubbing.
The beating heart of the track lies in its hypnotic power. From the very first beats, you are captured by a perfect interplay of tight percussive rhythms and magnetic arpeggios, elements engineered to lock the listener to the groove and never let go. It is a continuous evolution, a sonic flow that destabilizes and fascinates, carrying us on a unique, mental journey.
Angelo Bass is an Italian DJ and producer known for his seamless blend of sophisticated electronica, house, and techno. After rising as a resident for the Push collective, he has graced the decks of top-tier clubs like Cocoricò, Sankeys Ibiza, and Veniceberg Verona. His production footprint is equally strong, featuring the highly supported “Drawn to the Floor EP” (Trend Records), his latest “Raw Luv EP” (Sengiley Wax), and key releases on Less Is More and Blackboard. Currently based in Ibiza, Angelo balances international club gigs with his role as an instructor at Accademia Italiana DJ.
There’s this feeling that House Music is sometimes diluted into a pleasant, non-offensive and conformist formula. Well, Jackie Gritness - you may have heard of her big bro Gary - is bringin’ all the sweat, the attitude and the filth down - take it or leave it.
Jackie introduces herself from both sides on this well-strapped debut 12” - the slick swingin’ & sangin’
on the bass-heavy A side, and the raw clave trax and cunty snarls of the acid-laced B side.
No trace of over-production or tired sampling here: this is just Jackie, her mic and her lil’ groovebox -
gettin’ raw in the studio just like she does onstage. Only thing added is some wall-shaking mastering by New York OG Dietrich Schoenemann.
This is the kinda House that’s supposed to make regular folks wanna turn it off. This ain’t rated E for Everyone, it’s rated F for Freaks.
It’s music from the underground, for the underground - as it was first revealed on the runway of Glastonbury’s infamous NYC Downlow last summer.
And if that’s more than you can take - it’s alright. It’s not like Jackie will hold it against you.
Jackie Gritness
“Gary’s little sister.” His studio session resume reads like a House music who’s who - from David Morales to Fred P. He’s also been rockin’ clubs with the Playin’ 4 The City and MLIU crews - but she’s also been seen on Gideon’s fierce Homo-Centric Records. See, this bitch’s true feelings about House are stripped-down, bare-bones, and unapologetically sexual. With a radical ‘live’ attitude, she’s serving the realness with an irresistibly acidic zing.
Tears|Ov are Terces Wale (aka D. Wale), L.E. Allen and Lottie Lou Poulet. For real money and in no particular order, they also work odd jobs as digital caterers, shrinking heads, doing laundry and looking up stuff online.
Tears|Ov write: ‘A life on hold! The corporate apology embedded in bad quality, insincere, trashy, patronising hold music it can have no meaning in this stage of Capitalism. There isn’t time - and humility is a waste of money. Still they joke and try to keep us calm, patient and satisfied. This was the starting point for “A Life on Hold” by Tears|Ov - Which quickly drifted into further musings on a collective life that feels forever two steps forward and x-steps back. We wait on hold and reach the top of the queue only for the line to go dead.
Tears|Ov are interested in the ready-made of mainstream media, particularly, the lies, the rub, the promises and the taken for granted. We are the blood plasma of the I in the screens embrace. We seek to find ourselves in that reflection, our real selves – if they even exist – just because it’s kinda fun. You may have seen us on TV, in the bargain basement music section, or some venue in your local area. We take the opportunities the Universe provides.” – Tears|Ov, London, 20 June 2026
With Dogma, Hamburg-based metalcore innovators Half Me take their sound to an even darker and more uncompromising level. Building on the success of their acclaimed debut Soma, the band delivers a relentless blend of crushing riffs, hardcore aggression, industrial textures and raw emotional intensity. Featuring the previously released singles "Weather Eye", "Built On Your Blood" and "Fear Is The New Belief", Dogma is a concise yet devastating statement that cements Half Me as one of the most exciting new forces in modern heavy music.
With Dogma, Hamburg-based metalcore innovators Half Me take their sound to an even darker and more uncompromising level. Building on the success of their acclaimed debut Soma, the band delivers a relentless blend of crushing riffs, hardcore aggression, industrial textures and raw emotional intensity. Featuring the previously released singles "Weather Eye", "Built On Your Blood" and "Fear Is The New Belief", Dogma is a concise yet devastating statement that cements Half Me as one of the most exciting new forces in modern heavy music.
After almost twenty years of releasing music, Sven Tasnadi finds himself circling back to some of the sounds that first drew him into house music. Explorer was written at home following a longer break from producing and after moving out of his studio, a change of setting that coincided with a shift in priorities. "The tracks on this EP came together at home after a longer break from music and after I moved out of my studio," he explains. "Musically they are very deep and minimal, at times almost meditative. They were inspired by a new chapter in my life as well as my never-ending love and connection to artists like Lawrence from Smallville and Frank & Tony from Scissor and Thread."
That sense of returning to something runs through the whole record. For much of Tasnadi's career, producing and DJing were closely connected, with many releases naturally shaped by the club. Things have changed. "DJing is no longer my main focus, so I can dedicate myself to these deep and minimal sounds again, free from pressure or expectations," he says. "In a way, after almost twenty years of releasing music, things have come full circle for me."
"Atlas (Chapter 1)" and "Atlas (Chapter 2)" grew from the same initial idea but followed separate paths during production. Chapter 2 came first, while Chapter 1 emerged later from a variation Tasnadi discovered while the track was still essentially a loop. "I was still looking for the right theme for the original idea when another version suddenly opened up," he recalls. He saved that variation for later so he could stay focused on the first version. When he returned to it, the two had developed distinct enough identities to stand independently. Their shared DNA is still audible in the restrained rhythms, slowly shifting details and the way small changes carry much of the movement.
The title track moves further into dub techno, another longstanding passion for Tasnadi. "Explorer is almost a classic dub techno track," he says. "Subtle movements within a constantly repeating pattern create a particular atmosphere. It feels like the track could just keep going forever." It is a patient approach to repetition that he connects to artists such as Moritz von Oswald and his friend Daniel Stefanik.
"Megasektor", one of the first tracks Tasnadi made at home with a new equipment setup, brings the EP into deep house territory. "To me it's almost classic deep house, or at least how I define deep house for myself." Warm, compact and gently propulsive, it provides a natural closing point for a record that is ultimately less about changing direction than reconnecting with an instinct that has always been there.
Explorer captures Tasnadi at a point where making music has become more personal again. The four tracks come from following ideas for their own sake and from rediscovering the deeper, more minimal sounds that have stayed with him throughout his career.
To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of their 7th album from 23 October, 2001 (their last with Brant Bjork), Fu Manchu is releasing California Crossing 25th Anniversary Edition. Recorded at the legendary Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, California by the band and Matt Hyde (DEFTONES, SLAYER, MONSTER MAGNET), California Crossing is the band’s most commercially successful release. The 11 song collection includes “Mongoose” (as seen in a Toyota Super Bowl commercial, Sons of Anarchy, The Hot Chick, Boondock Saints II and more), “Squash That Fly” (their most successful radio single), “Bultaco” (featuring vocals by The Circle Jerks’ Keith Morris) and fan favorites “Separate Kingdom,” “Hang On” and the title track. This limited edition 2,000 unit run is pressed on Custom Red, White and Blue 3 layer color vinyl in a gatefold package. The LP features newly remastered audio for maximum fidelity. "a strangely nihilistic celebration of all things Cali." - The Guardian “Fu Manchu are the stoned Ramones, a matey Motorhead: a band who can rewrite that album into the infinite future and rule perpetually.” – NME
Melissa Weikart and her piano have proceeded through life in step, from her early classical
training to the experimental practice that defines her work today, a blending of sounds and forms that has never been so clear—and so fully realized—as on her new album, Contact. Across twelve shifting and evocative tracks that examine the connective tissue binding us to ourselves and others, the Franco-American musician’s voice and piano navigate personal and emotional terrain with clarity and nuance, forging a rich dialogue between artist and instrument, artist and self, and artist and listener.
Winner of the 2022 Nancy Jazz Pulsations emerging artist award and the instrumentalist prize at the 2023 La Défense National Jazz Competition, Weikart has released two EPs and an album as a solo artist, and one EP and an album—Surprise and Secret—with her electronic duo Beatrice Melissa. A student of jazz and ’70s folk-pop, and a keen lover of improvisation since her time at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Weikart has always conjured the confessional candor of the singer- songwriter in her music, even as she dispenses her lyrics across rich, shifting, dreamlike tableaux.
On Contact, written and arranged entirely by Weikart (aside from “New angles”), she pushes her sound further than ever before. The album is animated by a pressing need for connection, observing what brings us together and what drives us apart, and the life-saving revelations that emerge along the way. The album’s opener, “Crash,” is a dreamy telephone-hour ode, a message in a bottle, to connections new and old. On the wistful “Mesurer le vent,” Weikart conjures Debussy or Ravel, layering contrasting sounds like an Impressionist painting. The title track begins as a showcase of Weikart’s frank lyricism, a splice-reel of missed connections and wasted time, then glides into a hazy, euphoric galaxy of pleas, circling around her thesis—“I wanted to make contact”—that ushers us into “The Intersection,” a song that recalls her the beginning of her career, when it was just Weikart and her keys. “Appétit.e” is built around a sample of her down-the-hall neighbor’s drumming—another subtle, affecting gesture toward proximity and connection—while pulsating synths reminiscent of Air lend the track an unsteady atmosphere. On the Carpenters-inspired “Expectations,” Weikart muses on the relationship patterns, universal and specific, that have always been a hallmark of her songwriting.
The psychedelic “L’amour de construit” is a slow-motion fall down the rabbit hole, as Weikart
considers the way her own emotions are captured and commodified by the confining ways we think about love. The interlude—“L’amour pt. 2”—finds her near the end of that trip, shouting into the void as a last-ditch effort to rescue herself from the fall. The drums near the end of the interlude warn us that there may be no cushion for, until she is saved, again, by the power of revelation, on the confident, resilient “Not Right”—on which a show-stopping, frenetic conversation between singer and piano is gracefully interrupted by a rush of transcendent strings, lifting her back up.
On solid ground anew, “New angles,” featuring Manu Delta, creates a percussion-less groove that relies on experimental synth sounds. The 11-o’clock stunner “Catching up”—composed in a church—meets the singer in a state of ecstatic confession, bringing her to the formative memory that propels “Bicycle,” the album’s closer. Younger, more wide-eyed, she reflects on her move from Boston to Strasbourg, those early days, when Weikart had no other companion than that loyal hunk of scrap metal that took her to the shores of her own soul. She seems to suggest, on “Bicycle,” that a backward-glance is not always troublesome, not always anxiety-producing, but can be grounding: a reminder of where we come from, so that we can keep moving forward.
After decades contributing to records where a single riff could transform a dancefloor, Charlie May turns that instinct inward on Trusted Farms.
For over thirty years, Charlie has occupied a position that seems increasingly rare in electronic music: the musician’s musician, the person behind the machines, the extra pair of hands in the studio, and quite often, the person responsible for the melody you end up carrying around in your head for weeks on end.
Alongside Duncan Forbes as Spooky, Charlie helped shape some of the most important electronic music to emerge from the UK in the early ’90s. That partnership would also sow the seeds for one of Sasha’s defining records: the central riff behind Xpander began life in Spooky’s live material, before Charlie brought the idea into the studio with Sasha and helped transform it into one of electronic music’s most enduring anthems.
Listen closely to Charlie’s work and there’s a particular instinct that keeps returning: knowing when a simple synth line is enough. Knowing which note needs to change. Knowing when repetition stops being repetition and starts becoming the entire reason a track works. More recently, as one-third of Quiet Places on ASIP, he’s taken those same instincts somewhere looser — beatless, gridless and led by improvisation.
Trusted Farms puts those instincts front and centre.
Tiny melodic phrases appear and refuse to leave. Synth lines repeat just long enough to become lodged in your head. Parts rub against each other without being tidied into submission. There’s a sharpness and directness to it all amongst the purposeful analogue warmth.
Some of these tracks feel almost ridiculously simple at first. But simplicity is difficult when you’ve spent decades learning every possible way to complicate something. Many of the parts on Trusted Farms were performed live with minimal editing. A synth line might be doubled, distorted, re-recorded and pushed back through another piece of equipment, but it remains the same idea. Instead of filling the gaps, Charlie works on the weight and character of what is already there. The melodies become physical; slightly worn around the edges.
For someone whose fingerprints can be found across some genuinely monumental moments in electronic music, Charlie has spent decades knowing what to add.
Trusted Farms is about knowing exactly what to leave alone.
Available on black 12”, mastered by Andreas Lupo LOOP-O Lubich and featuring artwork by Peter Skwiot Smith,
Versteckt in der ruhigen, malerischen Stadt Ipswich an der Ostküste Großbritanniens schwanken die Jungs von Basement zwischen dem Trost des Schönen und Vertrauten und dem Reiz der Flucht. Diese Dualität durchzieht das gesamte Dasein der Band. Während sich der raue Gesang von Frontmann Andrew Fisher über treibende Rhythmen und ergreifende Gitarrenmelodien schlängelt und ausdehnt, wird deutlich, dass Basement gekonnt den Spagat zwischen den Gegensätzen von herzzerreißendem Pop und rauem Post-Hardcore meistern. Ob sie nun einen langsam aufbaubaren Midtempo-Song spielen oder treibenden Punk hämmern - bei Basement webt sich unter der glatten, melodischen Oberfläche eine stille Schicht zerklüfteter Verzweiflung durch die Songs. Ähnlich wie beim Erwachsenwerden sind die Songs mühsam, zerrissen und platzen aus allen Nähten.
Die südafrikanische House-Variante Amapiano geht bei ATFA mit "Teenage Dreams" in die dritte Runde. Nach TENO AFRIKA und DJ BLACK LOW schnappte sich das in New York beheimatete Label das 2019 gegründete Produzenten-Duo NATIVE SOUL, die mit "Teenage Dreams" ihr Debüt geben. Der Titel ist passend gewählt, schließlich sind Kgothatso Tshabalala und Zakhele Mhlanga (DJ Zakes) mit 19 bzw. 18 Jahren sozusagen selbst gerade erst den Kinderschuhen entwachsen. Obwohl die beiden in Pretoria aufgewachsenen Jungproduzenten zur Generation 'Ma2000' gehören, also nach Beginn der Demokratie geboren wurden und die Apartheid nie erlebt haben, überzeugt "Teenage Dreams" mit einer künstlerische Reife, die das jeweilige Alter der beiden Soundtüftler weit übersteigt. Die zwölf Tracks auf dem Debüt sind überwiegend moody, instrumental und mit Drums "made from basslines which stick out like a pocket turned outside of pants" versehen. Für Fans von BURIAL und MR. FINGERS!
Strawberry Guy’s new album ‘Give Me A Dream’ unfolds as a tender, fragile and intimate record. The 14 track album arrives as the ultimate hopecore long player, in a time when we need it most. It's a guiding light, healing for the mind, exploring the tight-rope balance that is making it through life intact. Strawberry Guy evolves from the dreamy indie-pop home recordings to a perfectly formed crystalline vision, utilizing an immersive studio approach. Shifting from sparse & fluid piano parts to rich, engulfing layered strings, infectious melodies and an exquisite rumination on manhood from fraught emotional states. Give Me A Dream is a big step up, brimming with ideas, glistening production, and a tender heart.
Fishtailing across a trimmed sod lawn, the parking lot of a box-store strip mall, a fast food drive-thru––it’s a hyperreal Americana fantasy that calls Caroline Rose (she/they) home on 'Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall'. The release doubles as the debut of SUCK records, the LA based artist’s own imprint—a fitting next form for an enigmatic musician whose work resists settling into one shape.
'Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall' stretches the ordinary into the uncanny. The record pairs sharply observed, memoiristic songwriting with expansive guitar textures that render the everyday with violent clarity and mythic scale. Beneath its melodic sweep and signature hooks runs a current of violence and American dream leakage.
It’s Ennio Morricone with an AR15: surf guitars, spaghetti westerns, and suburban dread colliding until they become their own sharp vernacular. Reality is unstable, so we’ll keep telling stories—and for Rose, the sinister slickness of the everyday grows a new head.
Working with producer John Congleton, Rose built the record through humor, layering, and instinct rather than polish. Songs like “Conversations with Shiv,” “Goddamn Train,” and “Everything in its Right Place” were recorded in studio for the first time, with sessions that prized first impulses over perfection. The result is panoramic but never precious—songs that feel meticulously constructed while always threatening to mutate.
Over the last six years, Rose’s music has evolved alongside their work organizing around stronger labor protections and collective bargaining rights for musicians and crews. Creative and political practice have increasingly become the same project as Rose’s career has taken on its hyper-independent form. Those concerns echo throughout 'Gentling the Horse'. Its landscapes are populated by inherited systems that feel absurd yet inescapable, where humor becomes a survival tactic and satire reveals the quiet violence embedded in everyday Am
Zur Feier des 25-jährigen Jubiläums ihres siebten Albums aus dem Jahr 2001 (ihres letzten mit Brant Bjork) veröffentlichen Fu Manchu die California Crossing 25th Anniversary Edition. Das Album, das von der Band gemeinsam mit Matt Hyde (Deftones, Slayer, Monster Magnet) in den legendären Sound City Studios in Los Angeles aufgenommen wurde, ist die kommerziell erfolgreichste Veröffentlichung der Band. Die aus 11 Songs bestehende Sammlung enthält "Mongoose" (bekannt aus einem Toyota-Super-Bowl-Werbespot sowie aus Sons of Anarchy, The Hot Chick, Boondock Saints II u.a.), "Squash That Fly" (ihre erfolgreichste Radio-Single), "Bultaco" (mit Gesang von Keith Morris von den Circle Jerks) sowie die Fan-Favoriten "Separate Kingdom", "Hang On" und den Titelsong. Diese auf 1.000 Exemplare limitierte Ausgabe erscheint als El Camino Sand Splatter-farbiges Vinyl im Gatefold-Jacket. Für die optimalste Klangqualität wurde das Audiomaterial des Albums nun neu gemastert. "a strangely nihilistic celebration of all things Cali." - The Guardian "Fu Manchu are the stoned Ramones, a matey Motorhead: a band who can rewrite that album into the infinite future and rule perpetually." - NME
For their eagerly awaited third album, the Parisian trio Howlin' Jaws have teamed up with Swedish producer Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm (bassist with The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and producer for Foals, The Hives, Jose Gonzalez and Junip) and have taken a major step forward, affirmingthe universal appeal of their explosive yet elegant psych-rock. This new album, Living The Dream, crystallises just about everything we'd ever dreamt of hearing from Howlin' Jaws. Here, more than ever, their dreams take the form of unifying choruses, transforming grief ("Troubled Mind") or separation ("Do What You Gonna Do", "So Sorry") into genuine bursts of hope. Rich in texture (with the Omnichord and Mellotron featuring on the spellbinding "Miss You" and the twilight-tinged "Up On The Roof" respectively) and in wit (led by the biting "Living The Dream"), the eleven-track album is equally diverse in its range of influences. Disco looms large on "Terminal Buzz", country creeps in on "Sunset Laundromat", whilst the fiery "Maximum Speed" is a joyful reminder of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's trippy flights of fancy. The trio are stunning when they're in full swing, but just as impressive when they slow the tempo down. Behind its layers of cosmic keyboards, "Time Has Come" immediately sets the scene and subtly invites introspection. Like an echo at the end of the journey, "That Kind of Pain" rubs shoulders with the stars of the French Touch (the Air school), letting the strings of the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra burst forth amidst its melancholic swells. All in all, whether he simmers his albums like an omelette or a beef bourguignon, Howlin' Jaws proves he's never short of imagination.
With NIGHTS AFTER VAMP, Magnolia Park have spun an electrifying mix of hard rock, punk, nu-metal, hip-hop and metalcore into a dizzying, multisensory experience. Throughout its 17 songs, the record soundtracks an ominous journey through the fictional world of Nocturne Nexus; where rulers and rebels battle with the future hanging in the balance. Heavily inspired by the band's love of anime, horror and fantasy, the album's narrative was spurred by the long-running Vampire Hunter D, iconic works like Star Wars, Dracula and Joseph Campbell's legendary monomyth. Produced by the band's in-house producers alongside Andrew Wade (A Day To Remember, Wage War), Hiram Hernandez (blessthefall) and Andy Karpovck (408, Taylor Acorn) and mixed by Zakk Cervini (Bad Omens, Bring Me The Horizon) - Magnolia Park soundtrack this dramatic tale of crimson blood and chrome-plated courage through their own mix of man and machine, stacking whirring electronics and industrial undertones alongside sledgehammer breakdowns, walls of detuned guitars and Roberts' seam-splitting vocals.
GERMit Everything in Readiness legt Shovel Dance Collective sein drittes Album vor und bestatigt damit die Ausnahmestellung des neunkopfigen Ensembles innerhalb der aktuellen Folk-Renaissance Großbritanniens. Aufbauend auf der Resonanz der Vorganger The Water is the Shovel of the Shore und The Shovel Dance entwickelt die Gruppe ihren Ansatz konsequent weiter: Traditionelle Lieder werden aus unterschiedlichsten Quellen zusammengetragen, neu arrangiert und zu vielschichtigen Klangcollagen verwoben. Dabei verbindet das Kollektiv akustische Instrumentierung, Improvisation, experimentelle Aufnahmetechniken, Field Recordings und gemeinsame Gesangsarrangements zu einem unverwechselbaren Gesamtbild. Inhaltlich rucken soziale, politische und historische Perspektiven in den Vordergrund, ohne den Charakter der uberlieferten Songs zu verlieren. Erscheint auf dem tak:til-Imprint von Glitterbeat Records und positioniert sich gleichermaßen fur Folk-, Experimental-, Avantgarde- und World-Music-Kundschaft.[ENG]The nine-piece ensemble Shovel Dance Collective have been at the forefront of the resurgence of interest in traditional music since they came together in late 2019 and their two albums thus far - "The Water is the Shovel of the Shore" and "The Shovel Dance" - have been celebrated within, and far beyond, the confines of the folk scene in the UK and internationally.After recent acclaimed releases from artists such as Brighde Chaimbeul, Sirom, Alison Cotton and Cerys Hafana, Glitterbeat's tak:til imprint feels like a natural home for their exhilarating third album "Everything in Readiness".
SPIKE & THE GIMME GIMMES sind zweifellos die unterhaltsamste Coverband aller Zeiten. Die Band, die bis letztes Jahr noch unter dem Namen ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES umherreiste, hat sich den Titel Supergroup redlich verdient: Jedes der fünf Gründungsmitglieder konnte bereits auf eine ernstzunehmende Musikkarriere zurückblicken. Ursprünglich fanden Spike Slawson (Swingin' Utters), Fat Mike (NOFX), Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters), Joey Cape (Lagwagon) und Dave Raun (Lagwagon) durch ihre gemeinsame Liebe zum Punk zusammen. Mittlerweile tritt die Band in wechselnder Besetzung rund um Sänger Spike Slawson auf. "Shit the Bed", das Debüt von Spike and the Gimme Gimmes, bietet genau das, was man von einer Veröffentlichung der Gimmes erwartet: sofort eingängige Songs und herausragendes musikalisches Können - ihre Versionen deiner Lieblingslieder musst Du einfach lieben. PUNKt. Alle Einnahmen aus der hochkarätig besetzten Version von "We Are the World", die hier als Abschluss des Albums enthalten ist, gehen an den Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, du bist also moralisch dazu verpflichtet, mindestens ein Exemplar zu kaufen. Falls die Unterstützung notleidender Musiker als Grund nicht ausreicht: Die fantastische Gruppe von Sängern, die für dieses Projekt zusammengekommen ist, besteht aus den Gimmes mit Spike, CJ, Swami, Pinch and Jake as well as Milo, Nikki Corvette, Tony Reflex, Har Mar Superstar, Dani Miller, Dickey Barrett, Robert "El Vez" Lopez, Stacey Dee, Greg Antista, Johnny Bonnell, Joe Principe, Jolie Holland, Darius Koski, Jesse Wagner, Eva Walker, Chaki Funk Wizard, Jim Lindberg, Efram Schulz, Matt Caughthran, Jon Snodgrass, Blag Dahlia & Miss Guy! Auf Europatour im Oktober/November 2026. EU exklusive braune Vinyl-LP sowie CD mit Falt-Booklet erhältlich.
SPIKE & THE GIMME GIMMES sind zweifellos die unterhaltsamste Coverband aller Zeiten. Die Band, die bis letztes Jahr noch unter dem Namen ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES umherreiste, hat sich den Titel Supergroup redlich verdient: Jedes der fünf Gründungsmitglieder konnte bereits auf eine ernstzunehmende Musikkarriere zurückblicken. Ursprünglich fanden Spike Slawson (Swingin' Utters), Fat Mike (NOFX), Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters), Joey Cape (Lagwagon) und Dave Raun (Lagwagon) durch ihre gemeinsame Liebe zum Punk zusammen. Mittlerweile tritt die Band in wechselnder Besetzung rund um Sänger Spike Slawson auf. "Shit the Bed", das Debüt von Spike and the Gimme Gimmes, bietet genau das, was man von einer Veröffentlichung der Gimmes erwartet: sofort eingängige Songs und herausragendes musikalisches Können - ihre Versionen deiner Lieblingslieder musst Du einfach lieben. PUNKt. Alle Einnahmen aus der hochkarätig besetzten Version von "We Are the World", die hier als Abschluss des Albums enthalten ist, gehen an den Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, du bist also moralisch dazu verpflichtet, mindestens ein Exemplar zu kaufen. Falls die Unterstützung notleidender Musiker als Grund nicht ausreicht: Die fantastische Gruppe von Sängern, die für dieses Projekt zusammengekommen ist, besteht aus den Gimmes mit Spike, CJ, Swami, Pinch and Jake as well as Milo, Nikki Corvette, Tony Reflex, Har Mar Superstar, Dani Miller, Dickey Barrett, Robert "El Vez" Lopez, Stacey Dee, Greg Antista, Johnny Bonnell, Joe Principe, Jolie Holland, Darius Koski, Jesse Wagner, Eva Walker, Chaki Funk Wizard, Jim Lindberg, Efram Schulz, Matt Caughthran, Jon Snodgrass, Blag Dahlia & Miss Guy! Auf Europatour im Oktober/November 2026. Die goldige Vinylversion ist nur dem Indie-Handel vorbehalten!
For their eagerly awaited third album, the Parisian trio Howlin' Jaws have teamed up with Swedish producer Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm (bassist with The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and producer for Foals, The Hives, Jose Gonzalez and Junip) and have taken a major step forward, affirmingthe universal appeal of their explosive yet elegant psych-rock. This new album, Living The Dream, crystallises just about everything we'd ever dreamt of hearing from Howlin' Jaws. Here, more than ever, their dreams take the form of unifying choruses, transforming grief ("Troubled Mind") or separation ("Do What You Gonna Do", "So Sorry") into genuine bursts of hope. Rich in texture (with the Omnichord and Mellotron featuring on the spellbinding "Miss You" and the twilight-tinged "Up On The Roof" respectively) and in wit (led by the biting "Living The Dream"), the eleven-track album is equally diverse in its range of influences. Disco looms large on "Terminal Buzz", country creeps in on "Sunset Laundromat", whilst the fiery "Maximum Speed" is a joyful reminder of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's trippy flights of fancy. The trio are stunning when they're in full swing, but just as impressive when they slow the tempo down. Behind its layers of cosmic keyboards, "Time Has Come" immediately sets the scene and subtly invites introspection. Like an echo at the end of the journey, "That Kind of Pain" rubs shoulders with the stars of the French Touch (the Air school), letting the strings of the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra burst forth amidst its melancholic swells. All in all, whether he simmers his albums like an omelette or a beef bourguignon, Howlin' Jaws proves he's never short of imagination.
Originally released in 2014, Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles is now being reissued on limited-edition gold vinyl.
The album tells a story of the intersection of the material world and the world of the spirit. Includes fan favorites "I Never Wear White" and "Crack in the Wall,” plus "Song of the Stoic" and “Don't Uncork What You Can’t Contain,” and "Horizon", written for Vaclav Havel.
Produced and arranged by Gerry Leonard, the album features an illustrious group of musicians including longtime Vega bass player Mike Visceglia and drummer Doug Yowell, bass player Gail Ann Dorsey and drummer Zachary Alford (David Bowie), bass player Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel), drummer Jay Bellerose (T-Bone Burnett), and Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan) who plays banjo, mandolin, and cymbal throughout the album. Additional contributions feature drummer Sterling Campbell (David Bowie, B52s) and Alison Balsom, the virtuoso principal trumpet for the London Chamber Orchestra. Catherine Russell, known for her work with David Bowie and Paul Simon, adds background vocals.
The strings were recorded in the Czech Republic with the Smichov Chamber Orchestra. The album was mixed by Grammy Award-winning engineer Kevin Killen.
Fishtailing across a trimmed sod lawn, the parking lot of a box-store strip mall, a fast food drive-thru––it’s a hyperreal Americana fantasy that calls Caroline Rose (she/they) home on 'Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall'. The release doubles as the debut of SUCK records, the LA based artist’s own imprint—a fitting next form for an enigmatic musician whose work resists settling into one shape.
'Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall' stretches the ordinary into the uncanny. The record pairs sharply observed, memoiristic songwriting with expansive guitar textures that render the everyday with violent clarity and mythic scale. Beneath its melodic sweep and signature hooks runs a current of violence and American dream leakage.
It’s Ennio Morricone with an AR15: surf guitars, spaghetti westerns, and suburban dread colliding until they become their own sharp vernacular. Reality is unstable, so we’ll keep telling stories—and for Rose, the sinister slickness of the everyday grows a new head.
Working with producer John Congleton, Rose built the record through humor, layering, and instinct rather than polish. Songs like “Conversations with Shiv,” “Goddamn Train,” and “Everything in its Right Place” were recorded in studio for the first time, with sessions that prized first impulses over perfection. The result is panoramic but never precious—songs that feel meticulously constructed while always threatening to mutate.
Over the last six years, Rose’s music has evolved alongside their work organizing around stronger labor protections and collective bargaining rights for musicians and crews. Creative and political practice have increasingly become the same project as Rose’s career has taken on its hyper-independent form. Those concerns echo throughout 'Gentling the Horse'. Its landscapes are populated by inherited systems that feel absurd yet inescapable, where humor becomes a survival tactic and satire reveals the quiet violence embedded in everyday
Stockholm-based duo Dött ljus are back with *Sjunka*, the follow-up to their acclaimed debut *Bottna* (supported by the BBC, KEXP and Headphone Commute). Released via Fauxpas Musik, *Sjunka* delivers immersive, rhythm-driven tracks built on flickering soundscapes, reflecting themes of movement, chaos and hope. Recorded in the catacombs of Södermalm, this long-awaited release is about letting go of control and allowing yourself to sink.Available digitally and on physical vinyl, including a strictly limited run on coloured vinyl.
Vinyl Tastes Better…
Earlier this year, Blue Hour released his debut album Selva, a record steeped in the imagery of lost and forgotten worlds. Now, rather than let that world stand still, Blue Hour opens it up, inviting a handpicked crew of fresh talent to step inside and make it their own.
The result is a remix companion that reimagines Selva through fresh eyes and ears. Each remix artist brings their own sonic fingerprint to the source material, some peeling back the original's dense atmospherics to expose skeletal rhythms underneath, others pushing further into the album's dreamlike haze. What emerges isn't a simple tribute, but a genuine dialogue: new talents in conversation with an album that was already asking questions about memory, erosion, and what gets left behind when a world disappears.
It's a fitting extension of Selva's original premise: if the debut album conjured ruins and jungles swallowed by time, this remix project treats those same soundscapes as living, mutable spaces, ready to be excavated, reinterpreted, and given new life by a new generation of voices.
Despite the widespread popularity of reggae music in the UK, following its explosion onto the international music scene in the late 1960s, many of these in charge of Britain's mainstream media were reluctant to give the exciting new sound coverage, wither in print or over the airways.
In an attempt to counter this prejudice, Trojan Records took the bold step of embellishing recordings from Jamaica with sophisticated orchestration, with the resultant ‘commercial reggae’ sound immediately finding favour with the country’s reggae fans.
Consequently, the company not just maintained, but in fact extended the procedure, employing producers to record the country’s finest British-based reggae acts. The result was the release of an abundance of superbly crafted recordings, the production values of which rated with the best that British pop had to offer.
Für die Deluxe-Edition ihres zweiten Albums hat dodie neue Songs und Neuinterpretationen einiger ihrer
Songs aufgenommen. Die britische Singer-Songwriterin hat sich vom YouTube-Phänomen zur international
erfolgreichen Indie-Pop-Künstlerin entwickelt. Mit knapp zwei Millionen Abonnenten und rund 460 Millionen YouTube-Views verfügt sie über eine große, loyale Fangemeinde.
Ihr zweites Album „Not For Lack Of Trying“ erschien 2025 und wurde von ihr gemeinsam mit dem
Grammy-nominierten Produzenten Joe Rubel (Maisie Peters, Griff, Sigrid) produziert. Für die DeluxeEdition kommen mit „Fruit In The Sun“ und „As Far As We Know“ zwei neue Stücke hinzu, außerdem
erscheint „Maybe, Finally“ erstmals auf einem physischen Tonträger. Vier Songs aus „Not For Lack Of
Trying“ wurden zudem in den Middle Farm Studios mit Freunden und musikalischen Weggefährten komplett neu interpretiert.
Die Deluxe Edition mit sieben zusätzlichen Songs erscheint als transparente/graue 140g Eco-Doppel-LP
sowie als CD.
Mit gerade einmal 19 Jahren hat sich die irische Gitarristin und Sängerin Muireann Bradley als außergewöhnliche Blues-Interpretin einen Namen gemacht. TV-Auftritte bei Jools Holland u.a., sowie ausverkaufte
Konzerte dies- und jenseits des Atlantiks sowie Festivalshows in einem Umfeld, zu dem auch Neil Young,
Lana Del Rey und Beck gehörten, machten sie bekannt.
Wer Muireann Bradley spielen hört, dürfte kaum vermuten, dass die Musikerin aus dem irischen County
Donegal erst 19 Jahre alt ist. Zu selbstverständlich klingt ihr Fingerpicking, zu tief scheint sie in jene
musikalische Welt eingetaucht zu sein, die von Blind Blake und Mississippi John Hurt über frühen Bob
Dylan bis zur irischen Folk-Tradition reicht.
Jetzt geht sie einen entscheidenden Schritt weiter und rückt eigene, unter die Haut gehende Songs ins
Zentrum. Ihr Album „Rose Dogs & Blackwood Pew“ verbindet die fünf Stücke der 2025 nur digital
erschienenen EP „Rose Dogs“ mit den sechs Titeln der neuen EP „Blackwood Pew“.
Eric Whitacre verbindet William Blakes Poesie mit Stimmen, Synthesizern, Streichern und Klavier.
Mit *Eternity in an Hour* präsentiert der Grammy-prämierte Komponist ein neues, rund 60-minütiges
Werk. Inspiriert wurde es von William Blakes Gedicht *Auguries of Innocence* und dessen berühmter
Anfangszeile „To see a world in a grain of sand“. Das Album markiert zugleich den Beginn einer erneuerten
Zusammenarbeit mit Decca Classics.
Whitacre dirigiert seine Eric Whitacre Singers sowie Streicher und verbindet ihren Klang mit elektronischen Texturen, Synthesizern und Klavier. Das Werk wurde 2024 bei den BBC Proms uraufgeführt.
Ausgangspunkt der Komposition ist die Granularsynthese: Für jeden Satz werden kleinste Ausschnitte aus
Blakes Versen herausgelöst und musikalisch neu zusammengesetzt.
Zum Einsatz kommen unter anderem ein Lyra-8-Synthesizer, ein Tascam-424-Tonbandgerät und der 125
Jahre alte Flügel von Whitacres Großmutter, dessen Klang ihn seit seiner Kindheit begleitet.
Die digitale Ausgabe und die CD ergänzen das Werk um *Auguries of Innocence*, eine Sammlung atmosphärischer Neubearbeitungen mit IDRA, Jess Gillam und Elin Piel.
Ein facettenreiches Album, das Whitacres musikalische Entwicklung in konzentrierter Form hörbar macht.
"From the Toolkit of Lovers" is the latest from Brian Leeds, known publicly under several monikers: Huerco S., Pendant, and Loidis - a play on his own surname. Recorded over the summer of 2025, Leeds expounds upon the sound of One Day in a 110-minute meditation on life, love and dub
Celebrating 50 years of dancing, Amnesia represents the heart and soul of electronic music in Ibiza. Telling a story that spans five decades, the 50th anniversary vinyl/CD compilation is a window into a legendary venue that has helped establish some of the world's biggest tracks.
From the iconic piano riff of Eric Prydz' 'Pjanoo' to the laid-back groove of 'Benediction' by Hot Natured. A club that spans eras and genres - the disco of Chic's 'Good Times', the synth-pop of New Order's 'Blue Monday', or the gritty electro of Alter Ego's 'Rocker'.
The soundtracks of 50 summers are represented across 50 tracks spanning 10 vinyl/5 CDs. A hand-picked selection that reflects the incredible breadth of Amnesia's cultural influence, featuring music from Calvin Harris, Donna Summer, Paul van Dyk, Candi Staton, Fred Again.., Robert Miles, Laurent Garnier, Binary Finary, and many more.
The release follows a run of major live moments, including supporting Frankie and The Witch Fingers at The Garage, standout festival appearances at Wild Paths and Down Stokes, and three packed-out sets at Left of the Dial, including highlight performances at De Doelen and V11 in Rotterdam. Sharing stages with Wine Lips and The Bug Club, Dreamwave have quickly become one of the most exciting and fast-rising live acts in the UK psych scene. Two EPs, one essential 12"-Drifter on one side, Moon Dogs on the flip.
The songs of Jules de Corte are condensed, folky gems with an almost effortless charm. Poised between the intimate and the universal, between lightness and darkness, they touch on religion, love, loss, and the small dramas of everyday life. Yet they resist easy translation. Packed with wordplay, de Corte’s signature alliterations, humor, and local cultural references, the songs inevitably lose something in another language. Still, when a Belgian quartet of improvisers takes them on, joined by American songwriter Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, the songs are reborn rather than merely transposed: literal fidelity gives way to interpretation, and what is lost in words is often gained in spirit.
Even without tracing every change, their overall effect is fascinating. Songs are slowed down, often doubled in length, and filled with unexpected musical intrusions. They gain fuller arrangements and are placed in an entirely new context. Replacing de Corte’s piano with guitar can create a radically different vibe, as in “Mariska.” An added solo can heighten the contrast between childlike perspective and the almost matter- of-fact brutality of “Little Anita.” In “The Stranger,” another use of contrast unsettles the everyday harmony, transforming it with a subtle, disorienting twist.
Ultimately, these performances show that interpretation is not successful simply because it is literal. With the groundwork laid by Linus, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy further liberated the songs from their original versions. Lyrics and melodies become malleable, shaped by his recognizable cadences, timbre, and personal quirks. Like his collaborators, he allows himself the freedom to bend the material to his own approach. There is no radical break between this performance and his other records. Listeners familiar with the originals may be puzzled at first; for those new to de Corte, it is a wholly different experience.
Does it really matter that the original “Little Jesus, Mighty God” is a 100-second nugget combining playful naivete with biblical fervor? In the hands of these five explorers, the song becomes an intriguing contemplation, with subtle musical shades and a recitation in which every syllable carries a maturity that offers a new perspective. Then there is “The Outsider,” which feels as genuine as any original American folk song. The musicians’ process is more than reinterpretation—it is reimagination, bringing new musical compatibility and emotional depth. Whether that depth was there from the start, waiting to be uncovered, or created in the process is beside the point. What matters is that Linus and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy have made the essence of these songs their own, paying homage yet dancing to their own tune.
Linus is the Belgian duo of guitarist and banjo player Ruben Machtelinckx and reedist and synthesiser player Thomas Jillings. Across five previous albums — Onland (2014), Linus + Skarbø / Leroux (2015), Felt Like Old language at the crossroads of folk, jazz, minimalism, chamber music and free improvisation. Their music is adventurous, shaped by a particular sensitivity to texture, timbre and the subtle interaction between musicians.
What began as a duo gradually grew into a flexible musical world, bringing Linus together with musicians such as Nils Økland, Ingar Zach, Niels Van Heertum, Øyvind Skarbø and Frederik Leroux. Yet each new constellation has remained recognisably Linus: music in which carefully considered forms leave space for intuition, interaction and the unexpected.
For their sixth album, Linus takes a new step by moving into the world of song and text. Inspired by a shared love for the late Dutch songwriter Jules De Corte, the album is a reimagining of De Corte’s unique repertoire. More than simply interpreting De Corte’s songs, they absorb and reshape them, bringing them into dialogue with their own musical language. In keeping with this open approach, they are joined by celebrated vocalist Bonnie “Prince” Billy. With albums such as 1999’s I See a Darkness appearing on several greatest album lists, Bonnie “Prince” Billy is a cult figure in the alternative folk scene, and his highly intuitive way of singing seamlessly matches the subtle interplay Linus has developed over more than a decade.
At the foot of the mountain. Our gaze is inclined toward the summit.
Toward the ascent. The destination that awaits us.
From the valley, we look up at the summit: our destination. But also the path: the true destination.
We can already trace our route, and we are already imagining ourselves walking up there. Along the small ridge, just above the tree line. There, we take a short break and look for the exact spot in the valley where we were standing earlier. It is strange to grasp that we have actually climbed this mountain. To look down from up here at the place where we were just moments ago – the same place we looked up from, toward the place where we are standing now.
And now, knowing what it is like to be up here, we remember what we imagined it would be like back then. What we believed it would mean to stand here.
Along the way, our gaze wanders back and forth. Up toward the mountain, down into the valley, sometimes only at our shoes. We keep walking, one step after another. Our thoughts detached. Our body functioning purely mechanically.
Step left. Step right. Step left. Step right.
Our mind has completely detached itself, and our thoughts race at an immense speed. They summon the most different moments. Moments from our lives. Moments that shaped us, that made us who we are. Or are we perhaps simply trying to understand who we are and how we got here?
It is strange that reaching the summit and looking down could make us believe that we have finally reached, or are striving toward, some superior, triumphant position. When in fact, it is really only about looking at the path we inevitably have to take. Processing impressions from a certain distance. Reconsidering what we have experienced, without losing sight of what lies ahead.
Our gaze turns back toward the summit.
Is there a destination?
An ascent? A summit? A descent? The return?
Or is it only about the insights we encounter along the way?
Am Fuß des Berges. Unser Blick ist zum Gipfel geneigt.
Auf den Aufstieg. Das Ziel, das uns erwartet.
Vom Tal aus blicken wir auf den Gipfel: unser Ziel. Aber auch den Weg: das wahre Ziel. Unsere Route kann man jetzt schon abstecken, und wir stellen uns bereits vor, wie wir dort oben laufen. Über den kleinen Grat, leicht oberhalb der Baumgrenze. Dort machen wir eine kleine Pause und suchen genau die Stelle im Tal, an der wir vorhin noch standen. Es ist verrückt, zu begreifen, dass wir diesen Berg tatsächlich hinaufgestiegen sind. Von hier oben auf den Ort hinunterzusehen, an dem wir eben noch waren – an denselben Ort, zu dem wir hinaufgeblickt haben, als wir noch dort unten standen. Und jetzt, da wir wissen, wie es ist, hier oben zu sein, erinnern wir uns daran, was wir uns damals darunter vorgestellt haben. Was wir geglaubt haben, es würde bedeuten, hier zu stehen.
Unterwegs wandert unser Blick hin und her. Hinauf zum Berg, hinunter ins Tal, manchmal nur auf unsere Schuhe. Wir gehen weiter, einen Schritt nach dem anderen. Unsere Gedanken losgelöst. Unser Körper funktioniert rein mechanisch. Schritt links. Schritt rechts. Schritt links. Schritt rechts.
Unser Geist hat sich völlig losgelöst, und unsere Gedanken rasen mit einer ungeheuren Geschwindigkeit. Sie rufen die verschiedensten Momente herauf. Momente aus unserem Leben. Momente, die uns geprägt haben, aus denen wir geworden sind, wer wir sind. Oder versuchen wir vielleicht einfach nur zu verstehen, wer wir sind und wie wir hierhergekommen sind?
Es ist schon seltsam, dass das Erreichen des Gipfels und der Blick nach unten uns glauben lassen könnten, dass wir endlich eine überragende, triumphale Position erreicht haben oder anstreben würden. Dabei geht es doch eigentlich nur um den Blick auf den Weg, den wir zwangsläufig beschreiten müssen. Eindrücke mit etwas Abstand zu verarbeiten. Erlebtes noch einmal Revue passieren zu lassen, ohne den Blick nach vorne zu verlieren.
Unser Blick wendet sich wieder dem Gipfel zu. Gibt es ein Ziel? Einen Aufstieg? Einen Gipfel? Einen Abstieg? Die Rückkehr? Oder geht es nur um die Erkenntnisse, die uns unterwegs begegnen?
IRST ALBUM IN 10 YEARS.
TOURING WITH TROPICAL FUCK STORM IN NOVEMBER (DATES BELOW).
PRODUCED BY DAN LUSCOMBE (THE DRONES) WHO IS ALSO PART OF THE LIVE BAND.
PREVIOUS ALBUMS ON HARDLY ART/SUB POP AND REMOTE CONTROL.
VERY LIMITED BLACK VINYL AND INDIES ONLY PINK VINYL . NON-RETURNABLE.
‘Jarrod Quarrell, creator of Lost Animal, is one of the most underrated songwriters in Australia and one of our all-time favourites. He creates poetic expressions. His work is very interesting in a highly original way and richly emotional. The songs reveal themselves more over many listens and always feel fresh. His powerful, beautiful, transformative, and unforgettable songs possess the vast depth of the human spirit.’ - GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIE ZINE
‘Quarrell has developed a collaged techne that embodies a heart-on-sleeve attitude. Lush melodic delays wash with an influx of lyrics that pierce with uncanny imagery and diction.’ - VICE
It’s not every day you hear about a new Lost Animal album. In fact, it’s been ten years between drinks. The debut Ex Tropical (Hardly Art/Sub Pop) was released in 2011, and followed by You Yang (Remote Control) in 2016. So what happened, and where’s frontman/mastermind Jarrod Quarrell been for the last ten years?
From the horse's mouth, “I don't give a fuck about productivity”. A humbling reply. It confirms Quarrell's MO: here’s an artist as a non-conformist. And when he does see fit to bless us with his unique vision of what music can sound like, it has the ability to completely charm and disarm. Amongst a sea of rock bands, LA is essentially a solo act. Simply put; LA is JQ. But on the other hand, amongst an ocean of solo acts, LA possesses the grandiosity of a full band, punk in spirit, but without being fast, or heavy.
Armed with keys and synths, timbres align more with what a toucan might listen to, as opposed to what's heard commonly throughout Melbourne's gig economy. Strings are gently plucked and horns are tenderly blown. These are the colourful brush strokes that decorate the upper frequencies. They’re the ticket to a far away land;exotic, and potentially very dangerous. If the crew from Hear My Eyes are reading this, consider Lost Animal performing Give Some Get Some as the soundtrack to the next time you screen The Hangover Part 2. Yeah, the one where shit gets super fried in Thailand.
The album examines the underbelly of what a ten year journey might rub up against. As one may expect, a lot of that action is below the belt. Tracks like Do That Thing, and In
Rewinding, a few things have happened in the past ten years that are worth illuminating. Shags is no longer commandeering the bass full time. Though he does make an appearance on a couple tracks. The main difference from present day to yesteryear LA is Dan Luscombe (The Drones). Luscombe has jumped into the role of producer (and also part of the live band). One could say he’s a producer of the Spector-ilk: playing a hands-on approach and assisting Quarrell's song crafting. He may have suggested to add a chorus or two, but the chord progressions remain distinctly Lost Animal. You'll recognise them easily by their beauty, combined with either fragility or rigidity. Luscombe is arguably the defining force that made this album happen. Perhaps he had Quarrell at gunpoint. Yet to be confirmed. Regardless, thank fuck for Luscombe because it may have been another decade.
But the album's defining feature is arguably Quarrell's lyricism. He may not cross-examine where he's been, but his voice does unmask where he is: absolved and reincarnated. The decade-long journey has resulted in him looking inwards and unlocking himself. The album's many mantras suggest that he may be a bird (I'm a Bird Now), or that he is living on another planet (Never is Forever). Whatever and wherever he may be,
Give Some Get Some invites the listener to reflect on their own journey over the past decade. Because the game's got a price. So ask yourself what have you taken, and what have you given? Life ain't a box of chocolates. It's a bowl of berries. And when fruit symbolizes temptation, get some.
IRST ALBUM IN 10 YEARS.
TOURING WITH TROPICAL FUCK STORM IN NOVEMBER (DATES BELOW).
PRODUCED BY DAN LUSCOMBE (THE DRONES) WHO IS ALSO PART OF THE LIVE BAND.
PREVIOUS ALBUMS ON HARDLY ART/SUB POP AND REMOTE CONTROL.
VERY LIMITED BLACK VINYL AND INDIES ONLY PINK VINYL . NON-RETURNABLE.
‘Jarrod Quarrell, creator of Lost Animal, is one of the most underrated songwriters in Australia and one of our all-time favourites. He creates poetic expressions. His work is very interesting in a highly original way and richly emotional. The songs reveal themselves more over many listens and always feel fresh. His powerful, beautiful, transformative, and unforgettable songs possess the vast depth of the human spirit.’ - GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIE ZINE
‘Quarrell has developed a collaged techne that embodies a heart-on-sleeve attitude. Lush melodic delays wash with an influx of lyrics that pierce with uncanny imagery and diction.’ - VICE
It’s not every day you hear about a new Lost Animal album. In fact, it’s been ten years between drinks. The debut Ex Tropical (Hardly Art/Sub Pop) was released in 2011, and followed by You Yang (Remote Control) in 2016. So what happened, and where’s frontman/mastermind Jarrod Quarrell been for the last ten years?
From the horse's mouth, “I don't give a fuck about productivity”. A humbling reply. It confirms Quarrell's MO: here’s an artist as a non-conformist. And when he does see fit to bless us with his unique vision of what music can sound like, it has the ability to completely charm and disarm. Amongst a sea of rock bands, LA is essentially a solo act. Simply put; LA is JQ. But on the other hand, amongst an ocean of solo acts, LA possesses the grandiosity of a full band, punk in spirit, but without being fast, or heavy.
Armed with keys and synths, timbres align more with what a toucan might listen to, as opposed to what's heard commonly throughout Melbourne's gig economy. Strings are gently plucked and horns are tenderly blown. These are the colourful brush strokes that decorate the upper frequencies. They’re the ticket to a far away land;exotic, and potentially very dangerous. If the crew from Hear My Eyes are reading this, consider Lost Animal performing Give Some Get Some as the soundtrack to the next time you screen The Hangover Part 2. Yeah, the one where shit gets super fried in Thailand.
The album examines the underbelly of what a ten year journey might rub up against. As one may expect, a lot of that action is below the belt. Tracks like Do That Thing, and In
Rewinding, a few things have happened in the past ten years that are worth illuminating. Shags is no longer commandeering the bass full time. Though he does make an appearance on a couple tracks. The main difference from present day to yesteryear LA is Dan Luscombe (The Drones). Luscombe has jumped into the role of producer (and also part of the live band). One could say he’s a producer of the Spector-ilk: playing a hands-on approach and assisting Quarrell's song crafting. He may have suggested to add a chorus or two, but the chord progressions remain distinctly Lost Animal. You'll recognise them easily by their beauty, combined with either fragility or rigidity. Luscombe is arguably the defining force that made this album happen. Perhaps he had Quarrell at gunpoint. Yet to be confirmed. Regardless, thank fuck for Luscombe because it may have been another decade.
But the album's defining feature is arguably Quarrell's lyricism. He may not cross-examine where he's been, but his voice does unmask where he is: absolved and reincarnated. The decade-long journey has resulted in him looking inwards and unlocking himself. The album's many mantras suggest that he may be a bird (I'm a Bird Now), or that he is living on another planet (Never is Forever). Whatever and wherever he may be,
Give Some Get Some invites the listener to reflect on their own journey over the past decade. Because the game's got a price. So ask yourself what have you taken, and what have you given? Life ain't a box of chocolates. It's a bowl of berries. And when fruit symbolizes temptation, get some.
Underground heroes to worldwide pioneers. Deep cuts from the world's largest archive, pressed on heavyweight, collectible vinyl. Here is a list of names that defined techno, afrobeat, minimal, tech-house and alternative electronic music - all still top of their game.
The A-side features a typically robust Ricardo Villalobos remix of Beck, made accessible by the vocal lead and distinguished by an astonishing 14 minutes of playful drums and sound design that only Villalobos could create.
The AA-side opens with three pioneers co-creating a bass-heavy tech-house banger, with a tinge of guilty pleasure. Katy B on vocals, with Four Tet and Floating Points on production duties. Two further pioneers, Jeff Mills and Tony Allen, follow it up with a deep, brooding organ jam built on layers of intricate, varied percussion. To close, we hear a different side of Villalobos in collaboration with Max Loderbauer of the experimental jazz and electronic music scene. Built on original acoustic recordings, it is reframed with serene delicacy.
This is our deepest release yet.
Limited run. Follow the sound.
a A1: Beck - Cellphones Dead (Ricardo Villalobos Remix) 14:36
b B1. Four Tet, Katy B, Floating Points - Calm Down 4:04)
c B2. Jeff Mills, Tony Allen - Locked And Loaded [7:47
[d] B3. Ricardo Villalobos, Max Loderbauer - Recat [7:15]
[a] A1: Beck - Cellphones Dead (Ricardo Villalobos Remix) [14:36]
[b] B1. Four Tet, Katy B, Floating Points - Calm Down [4:04)
[c] B2. Jeff Mills, Tony Allen - Locked And Loaded [7:47]
[d] B3. Ricardo Villalobos, Max Loderbauer - Recat [7:15]
[a] A1: Beck - Cellphones Dead (Ricardo Villalobos Remix) [14:36]
[b] B1. Four Tet, Katy B, Floating Points - Calm Down [4:04)
[c] B2. Jeff Mills, Tony Allen - Locked And Loaded [7:47]
[d] B3. Ricardo Villalobos, Max Loderbauer - Recat [7:15]
[a] A1: Beck - Cellphones Dead (Ricardo Villalobos Remix) [14:36]
[b] B1. Four Tet, Katy B, Floating Points - Calm Down [4:04)
[c] B2. Jeff Mills, Tony Allen - Locked And Loaded [7:47]
[d] B3. Ricardo Villalobos, Max Loderbauer - Recat [7:15]
[a] A1: Beck - Cellphones Dead (Ricardo Villalobos Remix) [14:36]
[b] B1. Four Tet, Katy B, Floating Points - Calm Down [4:04)
[c] B2. Jeff Mills, Tony Allen - Locked And Loaded [7:47]
[d] B3. Ricardo Villalobos, Max Loderbauer - Recat [7:15]
[a] A1: Beck - Cellphones Dead (Ricardo Villalobos Remix) [14:36]
[b] B1. Four Tet, Katy B, Floating Points - Calm Down [4:04)
[c] B2. Jeff Mills, Tony Allen - Locked And Loaded [7:47]
[d] B3. Ricardo Villalobos, Max Loderbauer - Recat [7:15]
Blume presents The Days Pass Quickly Immersed in the Shadow of Eternity, a new work by Lea Bertucci commissioned by the ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe and premiered in Karlsruhe in November 2025. Written for, and created in collaboration with, the flutist Norbert Rodenkirchen, it draws on his collection of Renaissance, Medieval, and Neolithic instruments, harnessing sounds that have been largely absent from the modern world. What does it mean to employ one of humanity's oldest known technologies, the flute, appearing in human hands tens of thousands of years before the advent of the wheel, within an experimental, electroacoustic composition that is inherently forward-thinking?
Since her emergence within New York City's Noise scene during the early 2010s, Bertucci has balanced a fierce dedication to the DIY ethos and immediacy of the underground with a refined sense of creative rigor and ambition, moving from brittle, challenging compositions for saxophone, electronics, and tape toward investigations of acoustic phenomena, site-specific resonance, and complex harmonic interplay. Following her return to the rural environments of Upstate New York where she was born and raised, her work has entered a more introspective phase, with an expanded instrumental, technical, and vocal palette that has found her increasingly composing for others, as on 2023's Of Shadow and Substance and on Fata Morgana, a work for organ released earlier this year.
The piece grew from a meeting with Rodenkirchen after a performance by the early music ensemble Sequentia, to which he belongs. Struck by his ability to conjure "spirits from deep within human memory, as a clarion call into the present", Bertucci began a series of conversations that led the pair into the studio at ZKM in the summer of 2024. Conceived for ZKM's 42.4 speaker system, grouped into 8 discrete outputs before being mixed down to stereo, the work aligns with the collaborative process she has honed alongside her solo efforts, in duos with Ben Vida, Lawrence English, and Olivia Block: a dialog with personal and responsive agency offered to both musicians.
It carries forward her inquiry into the fundamentally human aspects of listening ("I am looking for sounds that call from somewhere deep within the listener and that tap into archetypal human knowledge and feeling") and her investigation of psychoacoustic phenomena and otoacoustic emissions through a meticulous alignment of pitches and timbres. Where many of her most celebrated efforts played, and played with, the room, this one is rooted in an implied space: the flutes recall and blur the boundaries between the eras and environments in which those instruments were originally played, from acoustically engineered Renaissance and Medieval halls to the naturally reverberant caves of the Neolithic, and those of the present.
Bertucci is not the first to bring ancient sound sources into experimental music: Harry Partch's instruments drew on Greek, Chinese, and Japanese precursors, Alvin Curran regularly plays a conch shell, and Walter Maioli has spent decades working at the borders of experimental music and archaeology. Her piece occupies a more rarefied position through its hybridity, combining advanced technology with archaic sound sources while sidestepping the exoticism and romantic primitivism that can hobble such efforts. Compared with its closest cousin, Phill Niblock's Four Full Flutes, where the instruments are manipulated beyond clear recognition, here the flutes remain recognizable and embrace the layers of history they carry. The result is an electroacoustic work that largely forgoes the auditory signifiers of the idiom: it could easily pass for a live ensemble, and only attentive listening reveals that it could only have been made through advanced technology.
As Rodenkirchen's playing interweaves with Bertucci's computer-facilitated arrangements of flute samples, ranging from pulsing clusters to dense combinations of sustained tones, timbres, and distances, the piece draws connections with folk and spiritual traditions across human history: Medieval polyphonic ecclesiastical music, Sardinian canto a tenore, Pygmy vocal music, Buddhist chant. By conjoining one of our earliest known technologies with our most advanced, Bertucci proposes that our tools are not the message, but rather the unending continuum of humanity itself. Issued by Blume in a highly limited vinyl edition of 300 copies on transparent light blue vinyl, with newly commissioned liner notes by Bradford Bailey.
Since starting Bytes in 2019 we’ve fielded a lot of messages along the lines of, “Is this ever going to be released on vinyl?” The bulk of these requests have concerned remixes of artists on Bytes done by Andy Bell (RIDE/Oasis) under his electronic alter-ego GLOK. And on realising that he has done four for us now (Franz Kirmann, Steve Queralt & Michael Smith, Herrmann Kristoffersen and Seagoth), it seemed silly not to compile them all together on a four-track 12” EP. The super limited edition 12” is on black wax and comes in the original Bytes house bag with a vinyl sticker containing all the release info signed by Andy. Edition of 250. No repress.
A1. SOLITARY (GLOK REMIX) - FRANZ KIRMANN
The first remix Andy ever did for Bytes was a radical reworking of ‘Solitary’, the towering ambient closer to Franz Kirmann’s ‘Madrapour’ album, which was released on Bytes in 2019. Andy’s remix is a heartbreaking, melancholic 3am banger. This is one for fans of Four Tet and Jon Hopkins, a slowburner with billowing plumes of distortion that builds towards an ecstatic rush of a finale.
A2. CHALDEAN ORACLE (GLOK REMIX) - STEVE QUERALT & MICHAEL SMITH
In 2023 Andy took ‘Chaldean Oracle’, a track from the collaboration between his RIDE bandmate Steve Queralt and the writer Michael Smith, down the K-Hole, eschewing Michael’s vocal almost entirely and turning in a Detroit dub-techno monster with echoes of Bandulu and Carl Craig in its shimmering melodies, eerie distortion and pounding drums.
‘Gone Gold’ was the title track of the excellent second album by ambient-techno group Herrmann Kristoffersen (2021). Andy taps deep into the dub at the heart of the original, with echoes of John Carpenter's soundtracks and his own extended electronic excursions under the GLOK moniker.
B2. ETERNITY (GLOK REMIX) - SEAGOTH
It was Andy who brought Seagoth to the attention of Bytes when he played ‘Eternity’ on his Soho Radio show in 2020. It all came full circle when Bytes released ‘Eternity’ as a single in 2021, with a stunning remix by Andy in his GLOK guise on the flip. Andy strips the track back to showcase the resonant vocal in all its glory before the blissed-out outro that makes full use of the track’s dancefloor-friendly drum break.
Layne & Chang might not be household names to everyone, but in the underground they’re long-established fixtures. Chang—who’s released music under a string of aliases over the years—was tipped by Urb magazine as one to watch back in the mid-’90s and has been embedded in dancefloor culture ever since. Alongside him, Layne Fox (formerly San Francisco, now back in Florida) brings deep disco credentials, having helmed the cult-loved Disco Dimensions label and recording as 40 Thieves—best known for the underground anthem Don’t Turn It Off. In short, the boogie lineage on this record runs deep.
And that’s before you even get to Dan Tyler. As one half of the Idjut Boys and co-founder of Noid Recordings, Tyler helped lay the groundwork for London’s edit culture long before it became a global phenomenon. His involvement here only strengthens the package.
“Shake Your Body” opens the release with a locked-in, funk-driven groove—swirling melodic lines, subtly acidic textures, warm vocoder touches, and tight, punchy drums all dialed for peak-time movement. On the A2, “In The Desert” shifts the mood into something more transportive: a hazy, late-night burner equally suited to open-air parties, after-hours sessions, or home listening with the lights low.
Flip to the B-side and Dan Tyler delivers two cosmic reworks that push things further out. Psychedelic, elastic, and built for serious systems, both cuts hit that sweet spot between heady and physical—already circulating among a handful of tastemaker DJs and primed for heavy rotation as festival season ramps up.
A strong, floor-ready release that sits comfortably in the Whiskey Disco catalogue—rooted in disco, but reaching well beyond it.
From the globally acclaimed spiritual jazz album RUSHIN' (Mono Jazz), "PHAROAH'S MESSAGE" channels the spiritual legacy of Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane into the present day. At its center is Joe Claussell's expansive alternate remix, where Afro-diasporic ritual, deep house, and jazz mysticism converge. Also featuring Didje Doo, with a Balearic sound and WATH with an Eastern Sound, this release reimagines the spirit of jazz for a new generation of listeners, dancers, and seekers.
Pre-Diabolus 1969 heavy, late psych into early progressive rock, rescued from the only known copy of a Shield Studios acetate. Side one features three furious guitar-driven psych killers, backed by “sea-sick” Hammond rumbling bass and thunderous drums. There were definitely some bombers in with their acid. Side two, a deranged garage progressive take on Jerusalem,
is followed by a blues-tinged guitar epic of mocking insouciance. Hi-fi it isn’t, hi quality and hi energy it is! We hear Open Mind, Harsh Reality, Pink Fairies, Human Beast.
Originally released in 1989, “Synthesis” is the debut full-length album by Artefacto, a pioneering Mexican techno-pop band formed in Tijuana by Bola Modelevsky, Roberto Mendoza and Melo Ruiz. With its distinctive blend of electronic rhythms, synthesizers and futuristic pop sensibilities, the album became an important and highly sought-after release within the Mexican electronic music scene. Despite the album’s innovative sound and the interest surrounding it at the time, “Synthesis” was mysteriously held back from a wider release.
“Synthesis” has since become regarded by collectors as one of the essential releases of Mexican techno-pop, with tracks such as “Complejo de Amor” and “Mundo sin Viento” remaining enduring classics. “Mundo sin Viento” was later featured on “Back Up: Mexican Tecno Pop 1980-1989”, the influential compilation released by Dark Entries, helping introduce Artefacto’s music to a new international audience.
The story of Artefacto and its creators did not end with this chapter. Its members continued to explore new musical territories through projects such as Artefakto, Panoptica, Nortec Collective, and Klansoff, continuing their creative journey within Mexico’s evolving electronic music scene.
For this new edition, “Synthesis” has been newly remastered from the original master tapes and is presented on transparent red vinyl, limited to 350 copies and including a reproduction of the original lyrics insert.
Back from ‘96 — Abacus’ legendary The Abacus EP returns, now reissued as Erotic Illusions. Deep, soulful and hypnotic house at its finest, straight from the Guidance era. Pure timeless heat — grab it before it vanishes again.
DJ Feedbacks :
Laurent Garnier : Classic <3 <3
Nick Hoppner : OOOOOH YES
Dan Beaumont (Chapter 10 / NTS) : Decadent dub for me! lovely
Louise Chen (NTS) : Huge fan, this is a wonderfully sexy reissue!
Joel Martin (Quiet Village) : Timeless Classic from one of the masters - Essential!
Kölsch (IPSO / Kompakt) : Still sounds so fresh
Sven von Thuelen (SVT / Work Them) : Sublime!
Josh Wink (Ovum) : Sounds just as great as when it first came out!
Satoshi Tomiie (Abstract Architecture) : Soooo good! Every details tuned precisely
Carista : sickkkk
Crackazat (Freerange / Local Talk) : yes. of course
Anthony Collins (Frank & Tony / Scissor & Thread) : fantastic record
Hunee (Rush Hour) : classic!
Call Super (Houndstooth) : lovely thxxx
Erol Alkan (Phantasy Sound) : Downloading Thanks!
Radio Slave (Rekids) : Such a big fan !!! Full support and congrats on the re-release. Peeps need to know about "Abacus".
Ben Sims : Now downloading... will check asap!
nd_baumecker (Ostgut Ton) : YAAAAAS! Finally I have this in a better quality than my vinyl rip from the original 12". Vinyl is preordered. Thanks!
Jonnie Wilkes (Optimo) : SEMINAL.
Lawrence (Dial) : OMG Fave Classic!
Fouk (House of Disco / Razor N Tape / Room With A View / Heist) : Ooooh yes! <3
Hector Romero (Def Mix) : Love it. H
Aleqs Notal : Lovely repress
Alinka (Twirl / Classic / Crosstown Rebels / Batty Bass) : Beautiful tracks
Terry Farley : fantastic reissue for those that missed the golden era
Ian Pooley (Pooledmusic) : Sooooooooo good !
Marcia Carr : The Dub without a lot less of the sleazy vocal is cool.
Nick Holder : FIRE
DJ Bone (FURTHER) : Poetic Illusions and Decadent Dub both work for me.
Nat Wendell (Depth of My Soul / Courtesy of Balance / Love & Loops) : classy!!
Luke Solomon (Classic / Freaks / Music For Freaks) : absolute classic Kenny Hawkes special xxx
ROD / Benny Rodrigues : !!!!
Domenic Cappello (Subclub) : still sounds fresh
Alexkid (Rawax / FUSE / NG Trax) : Total Dopeness
Jimpster (Freerange) : An absolute classic from the golden era! Got the vinyl but I'm sure these new masters will sound better than my well worn vinyl rip! Will keep on banging this beauty.
Bake (All Caps / Rinse FM) : the best! thank you for reissuing :)
Dj Deep (Deeply Rooted) : Nice to see this beautiful release available again
Kai Alce (Real Soon) : CLASSIK!!
Mr. V (Sole Channel / Strictly Rhythm / Salter / Defected) : Solid work on this classic Thanks
Baby Rollen (Holding Hands / Slump / Futureboogie) : timeless
DJ Gregory (Point G / Faya Combo) : Alwayes loved that classic
Tom Esselle (YAM / Rhythm Section / WOLF Music) : Killer reissue!
Harri (Sub Club) : nice, will play and support
Hifi Sean (Defected / Plastique) : Diggin' this dub big time
Jenifa Mayanja (Bumako Recordings) : This reissue sounds just as good second time around. Straight dance floor magic. Moody and dubby perfect to zone out to in a dark corner somewhere.
Demuja (MUJA / Let's Play House / Madhouse / Freerange) : nice!!
Marcel Dettmann : thx
Kosh (Syncrophone) : doesnt get any better than this
Dj Hutch (Ambers / Rinse FM) : Lovely deep business! Thank you!
Geir Aspenes (G-Ha / Sunkissed) : Kool, thanks
D'Julz (Bass Culture) : classic alert!
After the storm of their self-titled debut, Geneva duo Bound By Endogamy return to Pinkman with an album that trades brute force for precision. The rage remains, but it's sharpened, disciplined, and driven by melancholy rather than rupture. Their minimal synth and industrial instincts rise to the surface, carving out room for melody without softening their confrontational edge. Angular basslines coil beneath Kleio Thomaides' voice, at times detached and at times devastating, while Shlomo Balexert's drum programming and synth work build a taut metallic tension. The result is both intimate and mechanical: love songs for disenchanted souls, post-punk electronics stripped to the bare wire. Bound By Endogamy have always blurred the line between performance and survival, and here they do it with minimal gestures and maximum impact.
On Left At Sunset, Tornado Wallace taps into those fragile, glowing moments after a long night in the club, when the lights come up just enough, the bass softens, and the first hint of morning slips through the windows. Time feels suspended.
The lead track Asahi Ga Yondeiru (“the morning sun is calling”) captures that feeling perfectly. Built around Courtney Bailey’s gentle vocal, it drifts somewhere between late-night house and early morning reflection. It is not about the peak. It is about what comes after it. That quiet euphoria when you realize the night gave you something you will carry back into the real world. The rest of the EP stays in that same emotional zone: warm, slightly melancholic, but full of light. These are tracks for the very last dance, when the floor is half-empty, hearts are wide open, and every sound feels a little more meaningful. Not an ending, really. Just the beginning of whatever comes next.
What an unbelievable record. From the wild cover to the iconic breakbeats, Roots from Ian Carr’s Nucleus is one of the dopest albums we know. This is seriously thick, funky-prog jazz-rock heaven. Originally released on Vertigo in 1973, other than a couple of versions at the time for other territories, Roots was never re-pressed since so it’s gone on to become another one of those impossible to find records.
Maybe it was a little too out there for the time, but it’s aged very, very well indeed and this Be With re-issue, re-mastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press.
Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. He was a true pioneer and saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with rock, just as Miles Davis and The Tony Williams Lifetime did in the US. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Regarding music as a continuous process, Nucleus refused to “recognise rigid boundaries” and worked on delivering what they saw as a “total musical experience”. We can get behind that.
Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. This constant evolution and revolution was all part of the continuous musical exploration and discovery that took jazz to new levels.
Working together with producer Fritz Fryer and engineer Roger Wake, the seven compositions by Carr, Brian Smith and Dave MacRae that make up Roots flirt with perfection, and Nucleus at that time made up of the cream of 1970s UK jazz with Brian Smith on tenor saxophones and flutes, Dave MacRae on piano and electric piano, Jocelyn Pitchen on guitar, Roger Sutton on bass, both Clive Thacker and Aureo De Souza on drums and percussion, Joy Yates delivering the vocals and of course Carr on trumpet.
The spellbinding title track immediately renders the album indispensable. Riding the illest of loping breakbeats, “Roots” is low-slung, doped-out heist-funk. An absolute monster. If it sounds familiar then that’s likely down to it being sampled by Madlib for Lootpack and Quasimoto’s “Loop Digga”, as well as by a whole host of beat manipulators. “Roots” conjures prime instrumental hip-hop / beat music, only 20 years ahead of its time. Truly, these are the roots. Through sinuous bass, twinkling keys and a hypnotic guitar riff, a smoky brass motif weaves its way into a gloriously deep haze around Carr’s solos. “Roots” is over 9 minutes long, but there’s not a single wasted second, not surprising given that this is a condensed version of an originally 40 minute long commissioned composition.
The soothing vocal fusion delight of “Images” follows. Meticulously constructed, with gorgeous flute work from Brian Smith, with Joy Yates’ silky vocals and Dave MacRae’s Rhodes never sounding better. The cool, driving “Caliban” closes out the first side. Originally the third movement in a four part commission to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday it stands up on its own, all robust rhythms and blended brass. Keyboard colour and Carr’s trumpet are splashed across the funk drums and basslines (and there’s even some bamboo flute). This really is fusion: the elements of jazz and rock coming together in beautifully synthesis.
Side two opens in riotous fashion with the short, thrilling samba of “Wapatiti”. Next up, “Capricorn” forms a smoothed-out, jazzy constellation. Mellow and dreamy, its twinkling percussion and languid horns slowly build the vibe before head-nod drums and a killer bassline enter the fray. With a distinct heaviness that Black Sabbath would’ve envied, “Odokamona” is a venomous slice of riff-soaked jazz metal (yes, you read that right), elevated by Carr’s wah-wah horns.
The album closes with MacRae’s exceptionally cosmic “Southern Roots and Celebration”. Very much in conversation with Weather Report, it opens as a languorous, spiritual jazz of chiming keys and serene guitar that turns slowly, gorgeously into a mid-paced, brass-laced banger. It’s another sure-fire party starter and the sound of the band having a righteous blast, building an ecstatic chaos that ends with Yates screaming.
And of course we need to talk about Keith Davis’ cover for Roots. Perhaps the coolest record cover of all time? Certainly one of the most bonkers. Just your run-of-the-mill high-gloss, acid-tinged airbrush dystopian/utopian living-room party scene. Consider this your chemical flashback trigger warning.
Front-and-centre the hip-to-death green robot holds court with their giant ball of yellow barbwire wool, hooked up to… something(?) being teased out from under the stairs (probably best not to ask). A thoroughly zoned-out, long-legged Pop Art party-goer lounges half-plugged in to the painting behind her as a pair of legs flail into shot from the the top of the stairs opposite. We won’t even begin to guess what the chap’s up to in the middle, but the view out of the windows is rather nice, and someone’s already got the hoover out ready to tidy up. All of the Nucleus sleeves are something special, but this particular one? Crikey.
This Be With edition of Roots has been re-mastered from the original Vertigo master tapes, Simon Francis’ mastering working together with Pete Norman’s cut to weave their usual magic with these wonderful recordings. The crazy cover has been restored at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.
Ma Ze Music is just seven releases deep but is already overdelivering on expectations. This latest offering is a second from Yanuka, which is the solo project of acclaimed keyboardist, composer and producer Tomer Zuk. Here he hooks up with Elran Dekel on 'Where Is My Love' for a gently psyched-out and global soul and downtempo fusion that pairs textured guitar riffs with cartoon boings, conscious vocal musings and a blend of romantic and heart-aching moods. It's warm and intimate and then Ma Ze's regulars UV & Nenor take care of the flip with 'Where Is The Dub' which strips the original to a hazy, slow-motion dub.
Mysticisms completes its archival releases of the Dub Specialists with a 3rd EP of the outer reaches of the Digi Dub realm, this time mainly drawing from the project’s final album Loop To Loop.
Conscious Sounds head honcho Dougie Waldrop, working again with Chris Petter (Love Grocer) runs the desk, the heavy sample originals move from House to Breaks, Dub to Funk.
For the final reversions, label co-owner and editing specialist Piers Harrison returns, turning Love Song in a long form 4/4 romantic digi bounce. A sure-fire winner, the catchy groove and trippy beats, the template of what makes Dub Specialists come alive.
Following is Lotion Dub, edited by Vanity Project. A key part to the project, working with Millie Mckee, as well assisting Chuggy, his solid arrangements and engineering skills take the old school original, with digi horns, electro stabs and reggae “skanking” guitar, accentuating the drum and bass to effect.
The final side of edits come from Chuggy, taking the steppers of Dub Downtown, teasing the drop, looping and riding the riddim and also, finally, from rising producer and label head of Spiritual World Recordings, N1 Sound who sticks to the true essence of re-editing, creating a DJ friendly excursion, extending and live dubbing the sought after 808 Dub from Dub Specialists debut Break To Break, thus bringing the whole project full circle and complete.
You know the pattern: someone calls their album "Balearic," and you immediately expect chill-out terraces, pan-flute samples, and the umpteenth return of the Café del Mar sunset. Devi G. refuses this reflex almost maliciously. The title is a trick—an invitation to disappointment for those hoping for postcard exoticism. What is actually being negotiated here is erosion, but that of the body itself: the abrasion one inflicts upon oneself in the excess of the night, when partying turns into wear and tear, and a rush becomes a graze that only becomes visible in the morning. No backdrop, then, but a wound one has voluntarily acquired.
Instead of the usual Ibiza xylophones, Devi G. digs into the rift between idyll and wear. The result reads like a séance—less José Padilla, more as if Kevin Martin had re-recorded a Manuel Göttsching record on a dying four-track deck. The target area lies somewhere between the waterlogged ambient sketches of Huerco S. and the faded dub-afterglow of Actress, but Devi G. remains consistently on his own, grainier frequency.
Balearic Abrasions (title track) opens without haste, demanding almost without impatience: no motif, no rhythmic handhold, just a slowly tilting balance between warm texture and rough surface. The grain never feels forced—it is not a lo-fi costume, but an integral part of the statics themselves. Where other ambient producers strive for perfection, Devi G. consciously seeks the breaking point. Rhythm remains a tool, never an ambition. Those expecting quick resolution will be disappointed; those willing to listen will receive a depth effect that is rarely this vivid.
Exit Through Thee Gift Shop tips into harder territory: dub-techno reduction meets industrial edge, carried by a stoic kick drum that knows no mercy. Metallic textures slice through the sub-bass, while repetitive chords hypnotize like a defective loop. Central to this is a rare Terence McKenna recording, which functions less as spoken-word ornamentation and more as a disruptive spirit between memory and media archaeology. The title—Banksy reference included—turns this into a biting punchline: radical electronic abstraction positioned against the hyper-commercialized art world.
Morning Depth pushes the claustrophobia further, somewhere between post-industrial and deep-sea dub. The track refuses any peak-time logic, preferring to disintegrate into itself, subcutaneously, methodically. At the end, a casual, almost banal vocal sample (“i defiantly prefer chocolate”) breaks into the cool machinery—a small, profane fissure that makes the coldness of the rest of the piece all the more apparent.
Desiré Algorithmic is the album's most calculated moment: a stoic, repetitive bassline as a foundation, topped with fragile melody fragments that flash like glitches in faulty code. The title reads like a promise from nightlife—a figure that suggests much and delivers nothing, because behind the façade there is simply nothing, only simulation. The track carries exactly this principle: promise without substance, desire without body, just rendering. Only in the final third does a melancholic saxophone break into the sterile structure—organic, imperfect, and for that very reason more credible than everything before it. It is the moment in which the real briefly flashes through the surface of the dummy before it closes again.
All-inclusive Residue concludes the album as sedimentation rather than dramaturgy: dub-techno remnants, industrial patina, salty ambient surfaces that settle rather than compose. The refusal of consumption as a sonic principle—brittle, stubborn, with a gravity that lingers long after.
Verdict: Balearic Abrasions is not easy listening with a sea view, but an exercise in patience and friction. The restraint with which Devi G. avoids climaxes will frustrate some—for everyone else, that is exactly where the record's strength lies. No sunset. Rather, what remains on the rocks afterward.
Delsin is pleased to announce the second volume of their extensive compilation series combing through the catalogue of landmark Dutch techno label Djax-Up-Beats. The series, curated by Rush Hour co-founder Christiaan Macdonald, continues with a look at the label's legacy in the development of Dutch techno through the early 90s. This second volume in the Djax-Up-Beats 1990-2005 series comprises 25 tracks, presented again as a main triple-vinyl album plus three additional 12" EPs. The compilation also features again all-new illustration from Alan Oldham, design by Lost Communication and liner notes from music journalist Oli Warwick. Crucially, every track featured on the series has been carefully mastered by Johanz Westerman, bringing the best out of tracks that often had very little post-production treatment before they were originally pressed to wax. Volume 2 - The NL Connection takes a deep dive in the development of Dutch techno. Saskia Slegers didn't run her label with a specific focus on any one place, but she naturally connected with artists close to home. Emergent producers from across the Netherlands found a vital outlet in Djax-Up whether they were short-lived dabblers or dance music devotees on their way to lifelong careers. Volume 2 - The NL Connection looks at the first outings in Dutch techno by originators such as Stefan Robbers as Terrace, Dylan Hermelijn as Planet Gong and Edge Of Motion (with Gert-Jan Schonewille) and Sander Friedeman as Random XS. Whether it was sensitive, melodious machine dreaming, gnarly acid tweaking, jackhammer techno or oddball outliers, you could count on Slegers' label to point you to the best underground club music coming out of the Netherlands. With four more, equally extensive, volumes to come in this series, Djax-Up-Beats 1990-2005 is a thorough exploration of a true totem of techno culture -- a renegade label that operated on its own terms and carried surprises and slammers in equal measure.
Crossing their distinctive techno practices in the spirit of mutual appreciation and experimentation, DJ Nobu invites JakoJako to Bitta. Each delivering an original track and then remixing each other's work, both artists examine where their creativity converges, and what happens when their differing qualities collide. JakoJako has forged a reputation within techno and electronica circles centred on her accomplished exploration of modular synthesis. While she comfortably embraces ambient projects, she's also firmly entrenched in the club matching a tough rhythmic sensibility with adventurous textures and subliminal emotional content. As Nobu himself describes, "Beyond standard techno functionality, I deeply respect JakoJako's approach to music making, which stems from a pure, unyielding curiosity about sound itself. Her sound aligns perfectly with Bitta's core philosophy--the coexistence of experimentation and physicality." Nobu's own 'Wax and Wane' opens up the release in a melancholic mosaic of bleeping leads and natural-sounding drum tones, patiently laid out over a dense pad and developed with the elegant but driving style he's made his own over many years. JakoJako's 'Nodus' is a more cybernetic affair--lithe layers of frequency modulation moving over the rugged kick drum thump before opening up to celestial arps and jagged flurries of percussion. For the remixes, Nobu immediately reframes 'Nodus's melodic crescendo as the core theme while steering the track towards an immersive, linear arrangement that ebbs and flows with poise. In the process, he finds his own expressive sound design language to put a unique spin on JakoJako's original sound. Meanwhile, JakoJako steers 'Wax and Wane' into a mesmerising lattice of needlepoint percussion and swooning synth strokes, creating emotive swells out of the raw ingredients of Nobu's original melodies. The end result is a record made up of four distinct pieces, all logically compatible but bringing forth different aspects of two dedicated, ceaselessly curious practitioners of contemporary techno.