Cosmic G maps the liminal terrain between waking consciousness and neural drift across four transmissions. Synaptic pathways fold into spiraling architectures. Each sequence a deeper descent into the mind's hidden hollow circuitry. From euphoric dissolve to the hum of interior mechanisms, dream state traces the geometry of altered perception where the dancefloor becomes ritual chamber. An invitation to slip into the frontal cortex and navigate the frequencies that rewire thought itself.
2x12" Brown Marbled Vinyl 2026 Repress
A foray into deep, organic, cinematic dance music. Subterranean bass, intercepted alien transmissions, and stripped down dance-beats meld with sheets of sounds that roll over the listener like waves lapping up on the shore. Shimmering, watery, brain hemisphere synchronization tones caress and melt stress away. Dance floor friendly tracks that work equally well in one s private listening space. Immersive music with a distinctive aquatic quality. Inspired by Detroit & Berlin s dance genres, but tempered by more ambience / atmosphere than one would expect from those genres. Music without harshness or rough edges. Fuzzy, out-of-focus, soft-sounds that slip in and out of the listener's consciousness. Uniquely melds current dance rhythms with lushness and spirituality. Synesthetic sounds that trigger sensory experiences in cognitive pathways other than hearing smells of perfumes, thoughts of colours, and altered perception of time and space. Psychoacoustic, cerebral, electronic listening music for those wanting a different experience than the current harsher, darker dance trends are offering. Responsibly made gentle music designed from the ground-up to have a positive effect on the nervous system and leave the listener invigorated and recharged. Chi-building sonic balm. Timeless, exotic dance tracks for a new school of electronic music enthusiasts who are searching for beautiful sounds, crafted with a higher purpose in mind.
You blink; eyes crusty. Last night went a little too late again, and as you stumble towards the kitchen you stare at the record player like it’s a cup of coffee. The rest of your life can wait. You stare at the record again and hit the lever and the needle falls.
First up: Gastón Cabrera’s Inhumano, a little relentless and unforgiving, like being thrown in the back of an Aston Martin and driven away. The groove builds to a haunting peak, and you want more. Then the record blurs into Alfalfa’s La Fiebre, which tickles your ears with eerie bells, and builds from bass fundamentals into something more driving. It’s hopeful, but makes you work for it – wading through acid; climbing the hill.
Everything stops. Fuck it. You flip the record, and Marcos Coya’s The Underdog starts off easy, but slips you down a dark path to a pool of churning, hypnotic synths. There’s a strange moment of quiet before the final track. vault. and Isaac Elejalde close with authority on Just Melt: a raw and writhing finale spiked with voices and sirens that will leave you out of breath, somewhere else.
Introducing The Goods. Four tracks; one abduction. Limited to 300 copies – vinyl exclusive, forever.
Sa Pa launches Dub Techno For Life: a dedicated outlet for the artist’s more dancefloor-focused material - work that has largely sat outside the conceptual frame of his previous releases.
The label’s first release, Girls on Tour EP, opens with “Mokira Ultra Dub”, a 10-minute club rework of Mokira classic “Manipulation Musik”. Originally produced alongside an ambient version commissioned for Kontra Musik’s 2016 Kontra X compilation, the dancefloor mix was ultimately shelved until now. With Andreas ‘Mokira’ Tilliander’s blessing, it finally surfaces as a standalone Sa Pa production. A track too banging to go unreleased.
“Waiting For You” traces back to Sa Pa’s orbit around the giegling ecosystem via FORUM. Once lined up for an official release on the parent label before plans stalled, the track slipped into the archives. Buoyant and disarmingly pop by Sa Pa standards, it finds its place here as the A2 - tuned to the collective memory of mid-2010s German house music.
Harnessing the spirit of Chain Reaction from the abandoned patches and borrowed machines of a rainy night’s recording in Taipei, the B-side’s “Modular System” captures a late-night, one-take modular jam. A broken yet hopeful “World Saving Banger” closes the EP with some raw and IDM-leaning force, showcasing Sa Pa’s new label - and the Girls On Tour EP - as a space for neo dub techno ideals to take shape.
2026 Repress
French talent Hyden makes label debut on Mutual Rytm with conceptual new techno EP, 'To Whom It May Concern'. Hyden is a potent force in the French underground, creating powerful techno with dense percussion, immersive grooves and subtle nods to classic influences - all through his own unique lens. Having delivered standout releases in recent years, here he offers up sounds "anchored in psychoanalysis, time, and emotional residue" as he makes his mark on SHDW's Mutual Rytm imprint, delivering influences of dream logic and surrealism as the palette moves between brutality and introspection. "It's hypnotic music for moments of rupture where something breaks or breaks through". Opener 'Manifest Content' is inspired by Freudian theory and explores the surface illusions of thought and dream. It's about the dissonance between what we perceive and the deeper meaning that slips away beneath and is a deep and dubby techno track with flashes of unsettling melody. 'Bruises' is emotional trauma made sonic. This piece delves into invisible scars and traumas, residues of past conflict or intimacy - it's slow-burning, heavy and raw. 'Jikan' is a meditation built on time and its erosion. Inspired by the Japanese concept of impermanence, it reflects fleeting moments, decay and the tension between stillness and motion with jacked up but warm drums and turbulent bass. Next, 'Free Will' is born from inner conflict and plays with deterministic rhythms and evolving layers, questioning whether we are truly in control or just passengers in a prewritten sequence. The vocal mentions, "creatures, you're out of time" to bring darkness to the intense but sleek rhythms. The streamlined physicality of 'Swarm' channels the primal force of collective movement and is a nod to the loss of individuality in group behaviour. In addition, the package is loaded with digital bonus cuts. 'Yumehara' is a dive into surreal dream-states and evokes subconscious landscapes where logic dissolves and emotion reigns, while 'Lu Bu' is brutal and warlike and named after the legendary Chinese general that captures impulsive violence, betrayal and reckless glory with relentless energy and rhythm. Lastly, 'Neon Pale' is a synthetic dreamscape about fading beauty under artificial light - a melancholy ode to cities at night and the loss of warmth in modern life.
Now into its sixth year, NuNorthern Soul’s Summer Selections series has become a popular annual fixture. Like its predecessors, 2026’s edition showcases a variety of Balearic dancefloor workouts, sensual soundscapes and tracks tailor-made for poolside sun-down sets.
As usual, Summer Selections Six is a vinyl-first affair, offering wax enthusiasts a chance to cop killer cuts set to feature on a swathe of forthcoming NuNorthern soul releases – including some that would otherwise be unavailable on physical formats.
To begin, is It Balearic? label regulars and Rotation Sound System crew members Wrekin’ Havoc turn their attention to NuNorthern Soul favourite B.J Smith’s 2014 cover of Outkast’s ‘Prototype’. Their take, which will be featured on a forthcoming collection of reworks of Smith’s NNS material, places the long-serving producer’s beautiful, beguiling vocals atop lo-fi 80s electro beats, moody pads, squelchy synth sounds and far-sighted electronics.
Up next is label newcomer Sasha Foam, a fast-rising Lisbon-based DJ/producer whose Memoria EP is set to land digitally soon. ‘Curios’, his contribution to Summer Selections Six, is a propulsive and ear-catching affair, with joyful synth melodies, rushing piano riffs and cheerful TB-202 style acid tweaks rising above a crunchy, drum-machine driven mid-tempo groove.
Rounding off side A is ‘Call To Wind’, a rootsy, warming and sun-baked slab of Balearic dub gorgeousness from Strictly Dub Records founder Saimon AKA Roots Artefact. The track, which marks his first new material since last year’s NuNorthern Soul debut Different Perspective, is one of the many highlights set to be featured on the Estonian’s forthcoming Rocking Boat EP.
Turn to the flipside and you’ll find three more inspired, immersive treats. Dan Dub Lounge, Muzka and Simon Sheldon being their Visions of Light project back to NuNorthern Soul with the borderline genius ‘ReBorn Slippy’, an exotic, intoxicating and sitar-laden slow-motion instrumental cover of the Underworld favourite taken from their soon-come collection of ‘mild pitch’ takes of dance and electronic classics.
To complete another stellar Summer Selections 12-inch label founder Phil Cooper platforms two recent additions to the roster. First is Potteries-based producer Andrew Wright AKA Lonely Deckchair. Wright offers up ‘Adaflo’ from his forthcoming debut album. Atmospheric and magical, ‘Adaflo’ is a simmering, slowly unfurling fusion of poignant pianos, minimalist beats, shuffling bass and tumble-down chords.
Then there’s Aussie artist Perth Lewis, whose first two self-released albums (Moments In Time and Distance Between) were recently reissued by NuNorthern Soul. The Sydney-based producer is set to release a new EP, Cherry Moon, soon, and ‘Monolith’ is taken from that collection. Deep, dubby and beguiling, it sees Lewis pepper a head-nodding, effects-laden beat with spacey sonics, cascading piano motifs and some seriously sparkling synths.
[d] B1: Visions of Light -
Maybe it was inevitable that Vilhelm Bromander and Fredrik Rasten would find each other. A symbiotic musical alliance of suggestive combinatory magic that stretches back to the interstitial two day space that separates their dates of birth and manifests here as the movement between ‘perfect’ or ‘just’ intonation and the ragged, psychoactive energy of the slippages from and towards that togetherness that render otherwise simple patterns or generally understood repetitions as wildly other and alive.
Astral Twins shares ‘twin’ works by each composer. The patiently unfolding real time retuning of Fredrik Rasten’s guitars on the a-side’s Sojourns and Vilhelm Bromander’s quickened steps and spry looping melodies on the flip’s Partially Dancing.
Both artists have history of going deep into the aesthetic and acoustic impact of intonation (how you think about what is ‘in tune’). Where their first LP (...for some reason that escapes us, 2019, Differ Records) shared a gorgeous set of sustained tone colour fields, this time they lean more explicitly into the folk music traditions of Scandinavia and further afield, whilst echoing the zoned minimalist atmosphere of Arthur Russell’s classic Instrumentals.
Recorded up close and in real time at Fylkingen’s soon-to-be-abandoned temporary location in Stockholm’s southern suburb of Bredäng, Astral Twins sings with the possibility that one plus one can equal more than two.
Fredrik Rasten:
Sojourns explores the live retuning of guitar and double bass in a sequence of just intonation harmonies. A guitar ostinato runs throughout the piece where the retuning becomes an integral part of the composition. The slow pace reveals every detail in the transition from one harmonic arpeggio to another — how interfering waves emerge and disappear as the tonal interactions settle in electric clarity. The double bass shadows the guitar's process and comments with occasional pizzicato tones and register jumps, at times providing a low foundation for the sound and sometimes soaring together with the guitar. This is music that is deeply listening; experimental and at the same time humbly inviting many kinds of being with sound.
Vilhelm Bromander:
As the title suggests, this song has a partially dancing character. The title also has a double meaning with reference to the partials and harmonics that dance together. The basic idea was to write music in just intonation that instead of being drone-based is reminiscent of a lightly dancing folk music, where the joyous feeling of just being in the music — “musicking" — is allowed to lead the way.
The double bass plays repeated overtone double stops in an open harmonic progression with subtle modulations that is inspired in equal parts by Steve Lacy's persistent repetition of phrases as east-asian khaen music. The guitars and mandolin have a freer role, with plucked retuned strings that enhance the bass's modulations and provide forward movement. The music invites to both melodic and spectral listening, suddenly halting so that other focal points can reveal themselves. For example, a chord sequence suddenly transitions to a more spectral part where Fredrik is playing a bowed guitar with a chain, several plucking guitars, voices, and pitch pipes. I wanted to make something ‘orchestral’ with just two people and no overdubs: a dance of overtones and open resonant strings, where we seamlessly take turns standing in the foreground.
Building momentum around his moody, alchemical breakthroughs in the techno-bass laboratory, Buckley lands on Sneaker Social Club with a punchy quadruplex that marks him out as an innovative talent in the next generation of low end producers.
Manchester-based Elias Buckley first came to light with a lathe-cut drop on ec2a, followed up over the past two years with outings on Well Street, Dimeshift and S.P.E.C. That sets the tone for exploratory zone Buckley is operating in, and he maintains a forward-thinking slant to his physical, dynamic club weapons on this latest EP.
'City Dweller' rests on a creeping mid tempo 4/4 pulse, all the better to carry slithering layers of sound design that slide off the undulating sub bass throb. Minimalism is the order of the day here, but his approach is shot through with gully zaps and rude swagger that makes this a positively UK- centric affair. 'Carl's Floorboard' makes a sizeable swerve towards brutalist grime mutation, letting the space in the mix swallow you whole around the dislocated bass womps and whipcrack snares.
On the B side, 'Gawy' hits the mark squarely between techno propulsion and soundsystem swagger, plying slippery sound design to the bass blasts and working an offbeat groove designed for maximum lock-in. Making sure there are no doubts about his range, Buckley saves one of the deadliest joints on the record for the closer, whipping up a wide-as-you-like UKG bounce on 'M.O.B.S.O.T.' while maintaining the lean and mean sound that binds the EPs any angles together.
Gatefold Sleeve
M’Bamina – African Roll (1975)
The story of an album born between Africa, Italy, and the nightclub culture of the 1970s
In the heart of 1970s Italy — a country undergoing profound social change and a music scene just beginning to open itself to distant sounds and cultures — an extraordinary, almost improbable story took shape. It is the story of a group of young African musicians who found their way to Europe, of a Turin nightclub that became a crossroads for communities and experimenters, and of an album which, released in small numbers and largely unnoticed at the time, is now considered a rare jewel of Afro-fusion.
The band called themselves M’Bamina — an ensemble of musicians from Congo, Cameroon, and Benin, who arrived in Italy in the early Seventies. Settling between northern Italy and the Pavia area, they began performing in small clubs and community events, bringing with them a vibrant rhythmic heritage: African polyrhythms, call-and-response vocals, funk-infused bass lines, and Caribbean or Afro-Latin colours absorbed along their musical journeys. Their raw, contagious energy on stage quickly drew attention.
Meanwhile, in Turin, another story was unfolding. There was a venue becoming almost legendary: Voom Voom, one of the city’s liveliest nightclubs, run by Ivo Lunardi. The club attracted an eclectic crowd — students, artists, foreigners, night owls — and Lunardi quickly understood that the dancefloor wasn’t just a place for music, but a melting pot for a new kind of cultural energy. Out of this vibrant atmosphere came his idea: to turn the club’s name into a small independent record label, Voom Voom Music, capable of capturing the spirit of those years and giving voice to unconventional projects.
When Lunardi heard M’Bamina, he immediately sensed that this was the sound he had been searching for: fresh, different from anything circulating in Italy at the time, and capable of blending African tradition with funk and European sensibility. He brought them into the studio.
Production was handled by Lunardi along with Christian Carbaza Michel, while the engineering was entrusted to Danilo Pennone, a young sound technician with a sharp, intuitive ear.
The recording sessions — held in Turin in 1975 — produced a remarkably warm and direct sound. The music feels almost live: grooves rooted in African tradition, but open to funk-rock structures and modern arrangements. It is a natural fusion, never forced. Tracks move between tribal rhythms, funk basslines, light electric guitars, congas and Afro-Latin percussion, with call-and-response vocals and melodies that echo both Congolese tradition and the lineage of Latin jazz. Not by chance, one of the album’s most striking tracks, Watchiwara, reinterprets a Latin standard through M’Bamina’s own rhythmic language.
The album was titled African Roll — a name that was already a statement of intention. It is African music that “rolls,” that moves, adapts, transforms within a new geographic and cultural setting. It is not strictly Afrobeat, nor Congolese rumba, nor Western funk: it is a spontaneous, hybrid blend, shaped more by lived experience than by any calculated aesthetic program.
When African Roll was released, the world around it barely noticed. Distribution was limited, and 1970s Italy had yet to develop a cultural framework for receiving such music. The national music press rarely paid attention to African or “world” productions. The album slipped into silence — though the band’s own story did not.
M’Bamina continued performing across Europe and Africa, even sharing a stage in Cameroon with none other than Manu Dibango. By the late Seventies, they moved to Paris, signed with Fiesta/Decca, and recorded a second LP, Experimental (1978). Meanwhile, the peculiar record they had made in Turin began to resurface quietly among vinyl collectors, Afro-funk enthusiasts, and DJs hunting for forgotten grooves.
That is when the album’s fate began to shift.
Over the decades, African Roll emerged as an almost unique document: a snapshot of an intercultural Italy before the word “intercultural” even existed, a fragment of migrant history, a spontaneous experiment in musical fusion born far from major industry circuits but rich in authenticity. Original copies began commanding high prices on the collector’s market, and the album became recognized as one of the hidden classics of European Afro-fusion from the 1970s.
Today, more than fifty years later, this reissue finally restores visibility and dignity to a project that deserves to be heard, studied, and celebrated. It is not simply an album: it is the testimony of a rare cultural encounter, born in an Italy unaware of how fertile such exchanges would one day become.
It is the story of a visionary producer, an extraordinary band, and a fleeting moment in which music, migration, and nightlife came together to create something genuinely new.
African Roll is — now more than ever — the sound of a bridge: between continents, between eras, between cultures. A record that, after rolling far and wide, has finally come home.
For the first time in more than a decade, Paul St. Hilaire (AKA Tikiman) presents a solo album – 100% Tiki.
Over his 30-plus year career, St. Hilaire has become one of dance music’s quietly legendary figures. Born and raised in Dominica, he moved to Berlin in 1994 and has lent both his voice and his musicianship to some of the most iconic electronic music from the German capital – and beyond. Renowned for his collaborations with Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus (AKA Rhythm & Sound), he has also appeared on records with Deadbeat, Rhauder, Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers and Stereotyp (G-Stone Recordings), amongst others.
However, few know the extent of St. Hilaire’s compositional and technical mastery. From his home studio in Kreuzberg, which includes an extensive collection of vintage hardware, self-built instruments and notebooks scribbled with endless lyrics, he has created a vast archive of material spanning ambient dub, avant-jazz, lush techno and lovers rock.
Tikiman Vol. 1 is a heady, downtempo tour de force of patois metaphors on education, displacement and personal vs. global histories, as is evident on slippy album opener “Bedroom in My Bag”: Mister, mister / Where are you going? / I’m heading for a faraway land / What are you having in the bag in your hand? / Help us to understand / He said, I’ve got my bedroom in my bag.
Overall, the album’s lyrics reflect on life between Berlin and Dominica, specifically St. Hilaire’s hometown of Grand Bay, where he has worked with various musicians famous for the island’s different genres of carnival music. St. Hilaire himself always favoured the island’s more “discrete” music, developing a sonic synergy between two different geographical strains of groove and minimalism, and combining them with foundational Caribbean mixing techniques, which provide the basis for his songwriting and distinct
baritone.
Tikiman Vol.1 offers a rare insight into St. Hilaire’s complex artistry, from the eyes-down grooves of “Little Way” and the guitar-heavy digi dancehall experiment “Keep Safe,” to the subtle hypnosis of “Ten to One” and the softly crashing synth waves of closer “Three And A Half”, evoking not only beaches but also coasts and borders. It’s a fitting expression of both the breadth of St. Hilaire’s work, as well as his history as one of the few black, Berlin-based artists who, despite remaining largely overlooked, has influenced the city’s electronic music culture since its beginnings.
Credits
Written & Produced by Paul St. Hilaire
Mastered by Stefan Betke
Artwork by Grant Gibson
Kynant Records was founded in 2015 by Richard Akingbehin, a British-Nigerian radio programmer (Refuge Worldwide), music writer and DJ. Originally specialising in deep techno and featuring artists such as Cio D’Or, Terrence Dixon and Donato Dozzy, Kynant has since launched a sub-label Kynant EX which focuses on ambient, dub and experimental electronics.
Das neue Album von Slippers-Mastermind Madeline BB ist ein Meisterwerk. Als hätte man die Beatles mit Sprühdose und Wachsstift bemalt. Das letzte Album von Slippers trug den Titel ,Do You Like Slippers?". Passender wäre ,Do You Like Pop Music?" gewesen. Denn wenn die Antwort auf eine der beiden Fragen ,Nein" lautet, was machen wir dann hier überhaupt?
Bolka is known as the man with the cap. His cap has lived through a lot: his glitchy and microtonal experiments, studies at Institute of Sonology in The Hague or through countless performative works. A few years ago, Bolka’s cap fell apart. By that time he was already a fixture on the slovak experimental scene, but only releasing his debut album, “smutné stropy.” He started wearing new caps from then: somehow reminiscent of the old one, but much more varied — same as “smutné stropy,” bubbling with motifs, charming humour and pop sensitivity layered over detailed soundscapes popping with surprises.
On schwarzkopf, Bolka returns wishing for a thick black hair. With his charming love songs, that are positioned somewhere between a tightly run freak folk orchestra, deconstructed ballads and colorful ecstatic melancholy, he creates an album that thrives on juxtapositions that are completely unique, yet strangely familiar. Bolka’s songwriting is at once tender and irreverent — lovestruck whispering suddenly tripping over absurdist jokes and surreal images that fizz like soda. His songs move in that strange space between vulnerability and mischief, where intimate confessions collide with radical playfulness and the poetic rubs shoulders with the delightfully ridiculous.
On schwarzkopf, Bolka expands his world with a wide circle of collaborators and an even richer sonic palette. The album is meticulously detailed yet carefree: delicate moments sit next to sudden explosions, drifting from gentle pop to bursts of noise. Toward the end, the album even slips into a footwork-infused remix by Kodiki, passes through Julek ploski’s signature neon-baroque string perspective, and briefly wanders into Lénok’s cinematic sonic world. Bolka sings that he wants to dissolve into a healing ointment, to be ground in a mortar with calendula — and he invites us into this musical spa with him: a place that stings a little but ultimately soothes, a gorgeous soundscape that is both painful and joyful at the same time.
Secrets Of Sound slip into electronic erotica with this new and steamy compilation of after-hours disco and sexually charged sounds. Both originals and tasteful reinterpretations of classic tunes from Kylie Minogue, Amanda Lear, La Tour and Enigma feature on this most intimate collection. There is blissed out depth from Ed Temple, Italo melodic flair from Lipelis and sultry vocal allure on System Olympia's 'Signal Your Love.' Elsewhere, Jorja Chalmers casts you adrift on a new age Balearic life raft and Gareth Anton Averill & Sobrenadar closes with the shimmering 80s nostalgia of 'Paris.' Steamy indeed.
2026 Repress
Do you know what time it is It's debut o'clock. Emitting his first material for Pampa, it's &ME - craftsman of all things deep and sturdy, at the same time connoisseur of emotive touch and virtuoso of sure instincts, one of the scene's central characters for a good amount of years now and one of the main figures of Berlin's Keinemusik-crew. The man has been hitting the bulls eye of public perception several times in the past, meeting everything it takes to get a crowd going with an intent on the detail when it comes to his arrangements and sound. These new two cuts seem nothing less than the essence of his abilities.
There is "In Your Eyes", the name lending A side to this EP, showcasing a rather pensive mood. It's just a few bars for the compound of kickdrum, tuned hi-hat tambourine and shimmering background noise until the first chords of an improvised piano-piece are tenderly laid upon the beat. Add a synth-motive coming back and forth and you'll have the main ingredients to this - in every sense of the word - floor-moving tune. Accordingly, the arrangement won't aim for an all too obvious sensationalism and rather opts for a flowing and intertwining call and response of its elements, ultimately resulting in a staggering impact anyway.
In comparison, "As Above So Below" on the flipside is adding a fair amount of emphasis. It unfolds in a dry and dense sounding beat-architecture that's suspense-packed with shaker sounds and subtextual field recordings. Most certainly, a slip-proof ground for this tune's centre-piece, a scale-riding synthbass sparking an almost anthemic trigger for floor-ecstasy. While details like subtle reverberating tapping and sparkling ambient textures sound like recorded deep down in a dripstone cave, the overall energetic layout pushes relentlessly to the heights of peaktime-grandeur. There you have it: "As Above So Below" - this tune works on every level.
Seeking out the inspirational intersection between free improvisation, rave and ancient mysticism, Plants Heal deliver an album of kaleidoscopic, organic beatdowns to Quindi.
Plants Heal is a collaborative project between Dan Nicholls on synths, Dave De Rose on drums and Lou Zon (aka Louise Boer) on visuals. The roots of the project are entwined with Dan and Lou's London-based event Free Movements, which began in 2018 to explore how instrumental music could merge with live electronics and DJ sets. Dave and Dan found themselves playing together frequently at the event and as part of Dave's free improv project Agile Experiments, with their accomplished track records as multi-instrumentalists reaching across many layers of music culture. The particular synergy of their partnership taps into the subliminal, surreal and transcendental soundscapes, but they're reliably anchored by instinctive rhythms and driven by a natural flow-state.
From the tentative steps of their first collaborations, Dan and Dave coalesced Plants Heal as a more pronounced project with Lou's live visuals, culminating in a first self-released album in 2021 and since organically fed and watered through continued performances across adventurous festivals and intimate club spaces. Every incremental step along the path of the project yielded new surprises and the deepening sense of a unique, powerful energy. The trio opted to pour this energy into two days of studio sessions at Sonic Playground Studios in Athens, maintaining their unplanned approach and letting the music and visuals unfold in the moment. The end result is Forest Dwellers, a sincere document of truly free music that uses the rhythmic structure of dance and trance music as a springboard into heightened consciousness.
Throughout the album you can hear hints of the familiar - dub techno shimmers, trip hop boom-bap, kosmische momentum, snarling bass modulation, new age ambience and even the odd sizzle of disco. But none of these references are explicit, and they weave in and out of less placeable expressions deeply bedded into Dan and Dave's sonic practices. The end result is a swirling tapestry of unspooling groove, wide open and agile enough to shift gears mid-flow - just as comfortable letting the propulsion melt away as locking into a four-to-the-floor throwdown. From the slippery syncopation of 'Avena Moon' to the angular bait-and-switch of 'Alien Hardware', 'Yarrow's starry-eyed reverie and the rolling, warm-hearted funk of 'Space Ballad', the Plants Heal sound world is expansive and equally enthusiastic for immediate musical motifs as much as wild abstraction.
Lou's visual practice is an intrinsic part of the project. During performances she improvises with analogue footage from her library run through video mixers and synthesisers, focused on medicinal plants such as yarrow, hawthorn, nettle and thistle. All those plants feature in processed form on the cover of the record, which was designed in collaboration with Lou's brother Arthur Boer. Meanwhile, Lou recorded additional footage in Athens during the recording sessions to feed into the continued cycle of the project's live evolution.
Forest Dwellers' meaning honours this cycle and its reflection of the eternal undulations of the natural world. It's also a sincere tribute to the spiritual importance and radical potential of the dancefloor, drawn from the freedom taught by jazz and dedicated to reclaiming lost ideas about community, agency, bodies and the enduring allure of the unknown.
The legacy of wipE′out′′ has transcended time and cemented itself as a true transgenerational phenomenon. Launched in 1995, it didn’t just revolutionise the gaming industry, it created a bridge between the gaming ecosystem and the raver community. Its futuristic aesthetics and forward-thinking sound left a mark not only on mainstream audiences but also on the most demanding corners of the underground.
Decades later, the game’s impact is still alive. The release in 2023 of The Zero Gravity Soundtrack on Lapsus Records proved once again that wipE′out′′’s accompanying audio will go down in history as much more than just an anti-gravity racing game soundtrack.
This is why we decided to go deeper into the slipstream and build the second volume you’re now holding in your hands. Drawn from the original archives of Tim Wright, aka CoLD SToRAGE, this new collection surfaces unreleased cuts, pieces that couldn’t fit on the first edition, and a suite of self-authored ambient reworks that translate pure velocity into wide-screen atmospherics engineered for the long straights, the drone of airbrakes, the blue hour between checkpoints. It also reconnects the circuit, gathering selections and variants tied to later chapters of the saga — wipE′out′′ HD and wipE′out′′ Pure — plus alternative mixes that, until now, only existed in the Sega Saturn dimension of the franchise.
Finally, the material takes a leap into the future in the hands of four remixers especially chosen for this release: Tim Reaper, SHERELLE, Mantra, and NikNak, who collectively forge links between CoLD SToRAGE’s pioneering musical vision, the sound world of the game, and the contemporary breakbeats and drum & bass vanguard.
Expect the DNA you remember — accelerated breaks, trance-vector synths, jungle influences, sub-bass rumbling neatly beneath the craft’s hull, and at times even echoes of classic hardstyle — now revealed with new angles and air. The previously unheard material carries the same aerodynamic design sense that made these tracks feel faster than the track map itself, while the ambient versions open the field of view with melodies hovering at the lip of overdrive. Without a doubt, here you’ll find a strong sense of nostalgia. But this isn’t just nostalgia; it’s also proof that this sound world continues to evolve when you ease off the throttle.
For the faithful — crate-digging ravers, speed-run obsessives, and design nerds — this is an essential expansion pack: compiling rarities, restoring context, and reframing the emotional core of wipE′out′′ for late nights and early mornings alike. Bridging memory and momentum, club and console, rush and afterglow. Strap in.
Detailed tracklist, with annotations by Tim Wright aka CoLD SToRAGE
· Scratch Pad 1: “This track was composed using incomplete tracks that were developed around the time of the first wipE′out′′. It’s so long because it was used for a marathon-length Psygnosis promotional video.”
· Messij Received: “Messij was a firm favourite with wipE′out′′ fans, so it made sense that there’d be more where that came from — this was one of those re-workings.”
· God’s Gift: “I was always very fond of Erasure’s track Love to Hate You with the canned crowd FX sounds. God’s Gift was a tongue-in-cheek reference to how some musicians think they are just that. This was way before I even played live as CoLD SToRAGE.”
· Tentative: “I wasn’t sure about introducing some wacky beats and distorted sounds into one of the tracks, because it was kinda heading away from the other tracks, hence Tentative — but it turned out OK.”
· Canada 2048: “When wipE′out′′ 2048 was launched I decided to re-make Canada as a kind of tribute, but in a slightly new-tech, laid-back way, using Propellerhead Reason and all software synths.”
· Wiped Out: “Based on a few riffs from a MIDI file unused at the time of the original wipE′out′′ game compositions, this featured on my debut album MELT.”
· Body in Motion (Body Plus Mix): “A more trippy interpretation of Body in Motion that featured on non PlayStation versions of the game e.g. Sega Saturn.”
· Onyx (“Dark Side of the Moon”): “Onyx was my sole contribution to wipE′out′′ Pure on the Sony PSP handheld gaming console. This version was something I developed in a darker style, that eventually erupts into a crescendo.”
· Messij Received (WSTWGBE Mix): “Like I say, Messij was a hit with most wipE′out′′ fans, so when I was asked to compose more music for non-PlayStation versions, I adapted this tune into a parallel-universe version for PC and Sega Saturn. By the way, WSTWGBE refers to Who Said This Was Going To Be Easy?”
· Canada (Drunken Ausländer Mix): “In early 2018 I released a fresh album called Ch'illout′′, a re-working of many of my wipE′out′′ tracks in an ambient, Sunday-morning vibe style — it was a few years’ work, here and there.”
· Tentative (Woffenfum Mix): “Another chilled re-working of one of my wipE′out′′ tracks, the mix named with a nod to a good friend of mine, Carl Woffenden — someone who I've worked with for many years in the games industry.”
· Messij (Bobbing Boat Mix): “A nice cheesy computer blip-blop start belies its deep and upbeat chilled-out melodic finale.”
· Body in Motion (Timeless Techno Mix): “Another classic track given the chilled-out vibe mix, as featured originally on my Ch'illout′′ album. This one’s a really trippy, deep-space take on the original.”
· DOH-T (AM / FM Mix): “The idea with this chilled-out mix was to imagine all the melodic parts of this varied track being broadcast on terrestrial radio, so each theme drifts in and out through the radio static.”
· ’95 Future Echoes: “Originally developed as a companion album for wipE′out′′ HD, this track actually has its roots in a tiny loop of a song that never progressed to anything special back in the mid-’90s when I was composing for the original game.”
· Turbine: “Also from my wipE′out′′ HD album, it leans heavily into the upbeat, uplifting tunes from the original game, but also steals a bit of vibe and energy from The Prodigy, with those distorted flute sounds.”
· Pencil Neck: “This excerpt from my wipE′out′′ HD album features lots of sounds centre-stage and forward from Propellerhead Reason’s Subtractor virtual synth. I learned to love this more than my JD-800!”
· Messij 2005 (New Science Mix): “Yet another take on the track that still raises a smile, this time through a mix of samples from the original and Propellerhead Reason — the ‘new science’ when compared to an Amiga 1200 running Bars and Pipes.”
SPTLP007 - ASC - Vanishing Point LP
Evolving further with each release, ASC delivers his latest monumental album on Spatial, a varied and memorable journey through stunningly realised fusion of modern and classic atmospheric breakbeats.
A1 - Mystic Street
Setting a murky tone with light cymbals and synthwork flecking the intro, Mystic Street calmly purrs and growls towards a drop of analogue kicks and a sparse, menacing drum pattern to kick off this incredible album. Enveloped by a dense cloud of darkly atmospherics, the track coils with tension, each element rippling through the mix like distant memories as the suitably enigmatic bassline rumbles beneath.
A2 - Convergence
Straight into the beats with a DJ-friendly two step intro, ASC utilises sparse, sci-fi hits and persistent danceable breakbeats with a melodic bassline. As the atmosphere builds, percussive tones punctuate the swirling pads, creating a luscious sense of forward motion with echoing samples and effects combining in the mix to create a dreamlike soundscape perfect for the dancefloor and headphones alike.
B1 - Invisible Borders
No ASC album would be complete without an amen workout, and we certainly have that here as Invisible Borders rushes into view with simmering intent, melodic samples tore from battlegrounds of yesteryear providing a truly epic atmosphere, rippling breakbeat trickery teasing the listener before crushing full contact amens arrive with panache and veracity - twisted across yearning bass with an unflinching fighting spirit.
B2 - Celestial Bodies
Up next a moment of calm as we soak up the charms of the dreamlike Celestial Bodies, a soothing journey of beats, breaks and atmosphere from Spatial's label head. Melodic notes ripple across the mix with old school breaks filtering to and fro, conjuring images of a cosmic journey unfolding, where old school breakbeat rhythms pulse like distant constellations, echoes shimmering in the vast expanse of ASC's versatility.
C1 - Losing Track Of Time
Into an absolute stunner next as ASC unleashes a modern classic which has a wonderfully instant familiarity to it - like it was lifted directly from the golden era of atmospheric drum & bass. The old school breaks have a distinctive feel while a variety of pads teaming with life swirl around above. A myriad of spirited melodies develop and maintain your attention with classic 808 basslines to complete this remarkable composition.
C2 - Slipstream
Switching up the vibe in style, ASC delivers an intense, cosmic intro to Slipstream which builds gradually with whooshing effects and long female vocals before a crisp, crunchy slice of Hot Pants breakbeat heaven tears through the mix, chock-full of excitable edits portrayed in a brilliant clarity. Warm sub bass punctuates the track while a reverberating earworm melody slowly etches itself into your mind.
D1 - Paradigm Shift
A good old fashioned roller up next as Paradigm Shift sees ASC blend a superb 2-step rhythm with a sumptuous smooth bassline - guaranteed to move the dancefloor. Atmospherics take no back seat either as elegant synthwork swirls and washes across the soundscape with subtly used vocal samples adding texture and warmth to an impressively layered mix that maintains its pace right through to an echoing conclusion.
D2 - Transmitter
Sending us back to interstellar space for an inspired mission through vast unexplored star systems, Transmitter sees ASC create a stunningly evocative, ethereal collage of atmospherics with sonar-like beeps punctuating and persisting throughout. Driving the track along are the superbly programmed drums, filtered and layered with twisted, distorted vocal samples to complete this exhilarating album in pure Spatial style.
Our journeys into uncharted lands of the Reducerverse continue.
Essential must-buy shit for all disciples of: The Rootsman x Muslimgauze, Love's Secret Domain era Coil, Chris & Cosey, Meat Beat Manifesto, early Reinforced Recs, Shut Up & Dance, He Dark Age, Zombies Under Stress, SPK.
If you've just joined us: Reducer ARE the greatest lost dub punks. Rumoured to have almost signed to On-U Sound but told Sherwood to stuff it when he wanted his hands on the desk. Fame never found them, cos they didn't want it anyway. Living in the obscure memories of the select squatters and weirdos lucky enough to have had their minds blown, their first recordings were scraped off the linings of the cosmic dustbin recently through a series of self-released 12"s, cassettes, USBs and strangest of all a 3D performance screened at the Cube (in association with pals Bokeh Versions).
In short: Reducer's the most thrilling fairytale resurrection these pages have been privy to, joining 23 Skidoo, Killing Joke, PiL, Slits, Terminal Cheescake etc on the Mount Olympus of the Punky Reggae Party.
This latest slice of karmic justice comes from The Human Aerial aka Reducer's guitarist and prime mover Hooly. And ohhhh what a justice it is. Drawing on 40 years of private solo recordings across 7 tracks from Abu Ama style dabke jaguar steppas punishment to thumping bass-led electro, peak Depth Charge dubby big beat to careening breakbeat hardcore, trashcan gamelan spirituals and Jamie Vex'd style maximalist beats blissouts,
Tying together this jaw-dropping range of styles and fashions is a relentless sampladelic bombardment. The Human Aerial's habitual pilfering of TV and radio for into lovingly spliced tape loops and samples showcases humanity at its best and absolute worst. Tele-evangelists rub shoulders with long dead chieftans: "there is no death, only change of worlds" "We're MAD AS HELL AND WERE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE" "THe land is sacred, a cathedral of the spirit". These wisdoms and grave sins slip into us subliminal through the dance, the needle drops like a waking dream.
While the Reducer archives may be running low, we assure you the Human Aerial coffers are full. And long may our minds be blown by this ongoing renaissance.
Pressed on 140 gram 10”.
D.D. Mirage return with new single “Echoes”, a lovers meditation featuring North Carolina’s Teddy Bryant, who delivers a velvet vocal performance steeped in yearning and late night reverie. The chorus “the things you do for love echo in my mind all night” hits the melancholy sweet spot, wrapped in the rich and authentically 80s sounding production we’ve come to expect from D.D. Mirage.
The Sydney based duo, now expanded into a full four piece live band, continue to stretch their sound beyond the Balearic and Dub tinted palette of their debut Exotic Illusions released earlier this year. With production assistance from Jono Ma, they capture a lush, cinematic space where street soul sentiment meets modern dream pop psychedelia, the kind of record that slips perfectly between Sade, Tom Tom Club and a lost Compass Point B-side. Flip the record for the Introspective Dub: a drifting, dubbed out companion that strips back the vocal to its echoes and lets the rhythm bloom.
Following live appearances at Dark Mofo and SXSW Sydney in 2025, D.D. Mirage round off the year with a live performance at Victoria’s Strawberry Fields festival mid November.
artwork and sticker by Bradley Pinkerton.
“From Birmingham and centred around the extraordinary songwriting talent of James and Patrick Roberts – initially as The Sea Urchins and since 1993 as Delta – they’ve only just got round to releasing their debut album, Slippin’ Out. It is a work of some beauty”. 9/10 NME ALBUM OF THE MONTH, 2000
“It’s classicist for sure, shot through with the influence of The Beatles, Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. In James’ downright beautiful closing ballad ‘I Want You’ one can also discern the school of ambitious English balladry that peaked in about 1968: The Casuals, Love Affair, Barry Ryan. The impression of accomplished old-schoolery is only furthered by the dizzying string arrangements penned by Louis Clark Jnr, son and namesake of the one-time orchestral chief of Electric Light Orchestra” – Mojo lead review, 2000
Having ended the 90s with the spirited ‘Laughing Mostly’ compilation of singles and demos (Guardian Album Of The Week) Delta finally released their debut studio album of twelve songs in the summer of 2000 on the Dishy Recordings label. Accepting that this might be their sole studio album the band threw everything at these recordings allowing it to exist in its own sphere, unbothered by their contemporary generation and disregarding the idea of even releasing a single.
Recorded at DEP International there was a notable difference to the scruffier, looser charm of their 1990s recordings, a tighter focus developed by having the experienced Lenny Franchi mixing the LP with them. Lenny had been working with a number of Island artists including My Bloody Valentine and Tricky so knew his way around a desk. There was also the question of budget (a few months passed between recording and mixing whilst funds were raised) so every day counted. Ultimately though you can hear the joy in the recordings, even amongst the melancholy and angst. As James recently recalled in an interview in Shindig! Magazine: “It was such a big deal for us. It’s one of my fondest memories doing that record. Everyone was happy. If there’s anything that I’d stand by, I think it would be that”
Louis Clark Jr joined the band towards the end of the ‘90s and brought a classically-trained element to the recordings particularly with his string arrangements. For ‘Cuckoo’, ‘I Want You’ and the prophetic ‘We Come Back’ Louis brought in eight players from the Birmingham Conservatoire; the baroque style is partly why the record often receives comparisons to Love’s ‘Forever Changes’.
On release ‘Slippin’ Out’ was a big favourite with writers at the NME, Mojo and The Guardian again and before long the band were signed to Mercury/Universal for their second studio album ‘Hard Light’, a far more expensive and expansive love affair. It was a temporary palatial home where things quietly fell apart again, but that’s another chapter.
“If long-term memory is nothing more than selective editing and only pop’s most weighty visceral works are built to last then it’s quite possible that in 50 years the Britpop era will be best recollected for the two bands it ostracised. Earlier this year we met Shack and thought their story of mercurial brilliance indicated the biggest music biz oversight of the 90s. We were wrong because we hadn’t met Delta yet. This is richer and more engrossing than anything by Shack”
