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Fat Freddy"s Drop hit the ground running with new studio album SLO MO, a bass-heavy blast of redemption and resolution. Described by Fitchie as "afro rhythmic soul music, an exploration of Black music from Polynesia", this heady mix creates the undefinable Freddy"s sound. Renowned worldwide for euphoric live shows, the Aotearoa band stepped inside their BAYS studio in Wellington, sunup to sundown, to craft a sixth studio album. SLO MO is the strongest studio representation yet of a Freddy"s live show", says Chopper Reeds. "Usually we take the stage to the studio and this time, we"re excited about taking our studio creation on to the stage."

Fat Freddy"s Drop hit the ground running with new studio album SLO MO, a bass-heavy blast of redemption and resolution. Described by Fitchie as "afro rhythmic soul music, an exploration of Black music from Polynesia", this heady mix creates the undefinable Freddy"s sound. Renowned worldwide for euphoric live shows, the Aotearoa band stepped inside their BAYS studio in Wellington, sunup to sundown, to craft a sixth studio album. SLO MO is the strongest studio representation yet of a Freddy"s live show", says Chopper Reeds. "Usually we take the stage to the studio and this time, we"re excited about taking our studio creation on to the stage."

2024 Repress

All in that stark contrast between ethereal spaciousness and steely, martial rhythms out the industrial spectrum, 'Far Field' takes us on a voyage across the board, from breaks-heavy machine stunts to washed-out tapestries, via EBM-laced detours and junglistic maneuvers. Investigating the nexus zone between dance functionality and limitless escapology, it extrapolates both artists' blends to further immersive, hypnotic effect. Taking over the A side, .VRIL gets the ball rolling with 'Lost Together', which sets the tone on a low-slung, nostalgia-drenched note; combining the syncopated swagger of downtempo techno with ambient-oid stasis and static-filled opacity. Like watching an all-metal sun sinking past the blazing skyline. Revving up the engines, 'Fnord' feat. RAeYN conjures up a way more muscular arsenal of big-room-ready wares, from aggro snare salvos to anthemic synth kinetics, through that replicant-hunting kinda vibe. One to have the Saturn rings go hula hoop, with all woofers and brains in the vicinity melting in XTC. Shutting the A side off, 'We Believe' returns to a lighter, more vaporous mindset but sure implements that signature heavy swing of .VRIL, flush with textured kicks and FX-soaked arps. True monster prog swell. Flip it over and there's HVL dishing out a textbook example of his vortical electronic furls with the title-track, 'Far Field' - an oneiric drift that slowly rises from its heavy-lidded slumber, ascending towards bleepin' n bloopin' experimental effervescence as bars fly by. A number bound to hack your body and mind into two distinct facets, and while one dances its way frantically across the ever buzzing space/time continuum, the other shall reach a state of healing calm and transcending ubiquity. Smoothly shuttling us off to the upper layers of the ionosphere, 'Lancet Mxi' clenches it on a trippy note, taxiing us midway zero-G UK bass territories and eerie ambient abstraction. HVL's total, widescreen vision at its most unhindered, all set at expanding your mind to yet uncharted horizons of sound and closing the gap between two distant, estranged galaxies. A fractured headspace to both dance and dream to. *Dressed in a fine piece of artwork courtesy of Daniel M. Diaz, 'RYCL021' comes pressed on 180g audiophile black vinyl for optimal playing and listening experience.

"Subluminal" was conceived and recorded during the unique and uncertain period of March-April 2020, when the world was at a standstill. Created using a few analog devices, the album captures the raw and evolving nature of working with feral analog instruments. Electric currents traverse intricate obstacle courses, creating a distinctive and eclectic sonic landscape.

Despite being pressed on high-quality 180g vinyl, the record sat unreleased for four years. The decision to withhold its release was driven by contemplation and uncertainty. However, the time has come for "Subluminal" to see the light of day.

The term "Subluminal" means having a speed slower than the speed of light or existing under light. This concept reflects the album's exploration of how matter bends light, gives space its time, and creates a world through the interplay of sound and light.

"Subluminal" marks my first strictly electronic music project after years of working exclusively with field recordings. This record represents a significant shift in my musical journey and I'm thrilled to finally share it with you. Thank you for your patience and support. Enjoy the sounds of "Subluminal."

Slow paced drums with offbeats softly phased with the guitar, misty takeoffs from the synthesizer: a hazy idyll is starting off on the road to the rocket festival (bun bang fai). Answering each other on the responsive mode of the lam soeng, Sothipong engages in a flirt but Oulay Vanh is not ready to trifle with just anybody.

As a stylistic variation of a popular Lao musical genre, the lam soeng was the source of several themes among which the “bang fai” - which is part of the Lao conciliatory festivities preceding the rainy season - remains one of the most renowned.

However, the producer and composer of these songs, Sothy, created an unusual arrangement: the instrumental introduction separates from the sang canon, the synthetic mix is stripped down of the traditional organology - everything here becomes unsettling for a listener familiar with the genre.

Everything comes with a reason: the record was edited in 1981 under the title Sothy Productions yet produced in France by the Parisian label Oxygène (famously known for its unforgettable first French punk compilation 125 grammes de 33 1/3 tours). Chansons Laotiennes still remains hard to classify.

And then who’s Sothy? Along with the unverifiable identity of the seemingly Laotian singers, skepticism gains ground concerning the man behind the pseudonym. Is he an escaped musician from one of the first Cambodian rock bands of the 1960s? A surviving producer from the 1980s Paris? Or a composer in transit in one of the many places of the Laotian diaspora? Sothy eludes any researches and disappears behind his numerous homonyms.

The second track is just as enigmatic: a beat box, a lightly reverberated voice as well as a guitar solo and a small synthesizer break, “Tuei” or “Tawai” offering (as the writing on the record suggests) makes way to dancing step and a truly joyful melody. Twisted and lively steps on a romantic background tune turn this second track into a genuine paslop - a program recommended by therapists to relieve muscular pains due to seated positions: you will unlock your pelvis with some synchronized Laotian choreographies.

For their first edits, Akuphone called on a young Parisian producer. Shelter, aka Alan Briand, mingles his own mixes and electro productions with a large variety of influences and styles: krautrock, disco, traditional music, psychedelic, synth pop, ambient, bossa nova, Japanese funk. He produces both original compositions and remix.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce a tenth anniversary reissue of Oren Ambarchi’s Quixotism, originally released on Editions Mego in 2014. Recorded with a multitude of collaborators in Europe, Japan, Australia and the USA, Quixotism presents the fruit of two years of work in the form of a single, LP-length piece in five parts. Quixotism takes the driving rhythmic aspect of works such as Sagittarian Domain to new levels, with the entirety of this long-form work built on a foundation of pulsing double-time electronic percussion provided by Thomas Brinkmann. Beginning as almost subliminal propulsion behind cavernous orchestral textures and John Tilbury’s delicate piano interjections, the percussive elements (elaborated on by Ambarchi and Matt Chamberlain) slowly inch into the foreground of the piece before suddenly breaking out into a polyrhythmic shuffle around the halfway mark, and joined by master Japanese tabla player U-zhaan for the piece’s final, beautiful passages.

The pulse acts as thread leading the listener through a heterogeneous variety of acoustic spaces, from the concert hall in which the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra were recorded to the intimacy of crys cole’s contact-mic textures. Ambarchi’s guitar itself ranges over this wide variety of acoustic spaces, from airless, clipped tones to swirling, reverberated fog. Within the complex web Ambarchi spins over the piece’s steadily pulsing foundation, elements approach and recede in a non-linear fashion, even as the piece plots an overall course from the grey, almost Nono-esque reverberated space of its opening section to the crisp foreground presence of Jim O’Rourke’s synth and Evyind Kang’s strings in its final moments. Formally indebted to the side-long workouts of classic Cologne techno, the long-form works of composers such as Éliane Radigue and the organic push and pull of improvised performance,
Quixotism is constantly in motion, yet its transitions happen slowly and steadily, often nearly imperceptible, the diverse elements which make up the piece succeeding one another with the logic of a dream.

At the time of its first release, Quixotism was clearly a summation of Ambarchi’s work in the years leading up to it. Now, listening back a decade later, it also seems like an arrow pointing to the future, suggesting paths that would be explored further in works to come: the pulsating guitar layers of Hubris, the album-length collaboration with Jim O’Rourke and U-zhaan on Hence, Shebang’s joyous layering and percussive drive. Now sounding better than ever in a new remaster by Joe Talia, the time is ripe to rediscover its quixotic charms.

Distance as a measure of time and place informs Kelly Finnigan's, A Lover Was Born with a grit and grace that turns passion into virtue. The latest solo release from The Monophonics frontman roots itself in the best traditions of midwest soul labels like King, Curtom, Dakar, and the Bodie Recording Company. A Lover Was Born is a testimony that these deep cut grooves are not resigned to nostalgia, instead, they are at the burning heart of longing and hope. The journey Finnigan takes listeners on over Lover's eleven tracks echo the state of motion and growth since his solo debut, The Tales People Tell (2019). These two records bookend a prolific period of output, including a pair of Monophonics albums, a Christmas album, a mixtape, and a full slate of producing other artists (The Ironsides, Alanna Royale, the Sextones). "There's nothing like making records," says Finnigan. "It feels like that's my purpose _ the reason I was put on this earth." Written in California, Ohio, and Staten Island, Kelly Finnigan collaborated with old friends in and outside the studio. "I enjoy working alone but it's not how you want to make a record_almost everybody I brought in for this album I've worked with, toured with or spent a great deal of time with." Max and Joe Ramey (The Ironsides), Jimmy James (Parlor Greens), Sergio Rios (Orgone), Joey Crispiano (Dap Kings) and Jay Mumford (aka J-Zone) all contribute to the overall sound of A Lover Was Born. Dramatic influences like Isaac Hayes (check out the piano on "Be Your Own Shelter") and Jerry Ragovoy are chopped and folded into Northern Soul uptempo numbers to create stompers like "Get a Hold of Yourself" or "Chosen Few". Finnigan's take on Deep Soul is captured brilliantly on "Walk Away from Me" and "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)", while Boom Bap pervades on hard hitters "His Love Ain't Real" & "Cold World". Slower songs such as "Let Me Count the Reasons", the emotional "All That's Left", and the soul-stirring album closer "Count Me Out" show the honest and tender side that has become Finnigan's calling card. All the while, the voice is raw and earthy _ in the best tradition of R&B shouters like Otis Redding, Lee Moses, and David Ruffin. The songs on A Lover Was Born reconfigure the spliced and sampled DNA of hip hop (extracted by crate diggers like Dilla and RZA) to create something new, underscoring both the spectrum and depth of soul while making a case to the timelessness of Finnigan's sound.

Distance as a measure of time and place informs Kelly Finnigan's, A Lover Was Born with a grit and grace that turns passion into virtue. The latest solo release from The Monophonics frontman roots itself in the best traditions of midwest soul labels like King, Curtom, Dakar, and the Bodie Recording Company. A Lover Was Born is a testimony that these deep cut grooves are not resigned to nostalgia, instead, they are at the burning heart of longing and hope. The journey Finnigan takes listeners on over Lover's eleven tracks echo the state of motion and growth since his solo debut, The Tales People Tell (2019). These two records bookend a prolific period of output, including a pair of Monophonics albums, a Christmas album, a mixtape, and a full slate of producing other artists (The Ironsides, Alanna Royale, the Sextones). "There's nothing like making records," says Finnigan. "It feels like that's my purpose _ the reason I was put on this earth." Written in California, Ohio, and Staten Island, Kelly Finnigan collaborated with old friends in and outside the studio. "I enjoy working alone but it's not how you want to make a record_almost everybody I brought in for this album I've worked with, toured with or spent a great deal of time with." Max and Joe Ramey (The Ironsides), Jimmy James (Parlor Greens), Sergio Rios (Orgone), Joey Crispiano (Dap Kings) and Jay Mumford (aka J-Zone) all contribute to the overall sound of A Lover Was Born. Dramatic influences like Isaac Hayes (check out the piano on "Be Your Own Shelter") and Jerry Ragovoy are chopped and folded into Northern Soul uptempo numbers to create stompers like "Get a Hold of Yourself" or "Chosen Few". Finnigan's take on Deep Soul is captured brilliantly on "Walk Away from Me" and "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)", while Boom Bap pervades on hard hitters "His Love Ain't Real" & "Cold World". Slower songs such as "Let Me Count the Reasons", the emotional "All That's Left", and the soul-stirring album closer "Count Me Out" show the honest and tender side that has become Finnigan's calling card. All the while, the voice is raw and earthy _ in the best tradition of R&B shouters like Otis Redding, Lee Moses, and David Ruffin. The songs on A Lover Was Born reconfigure the spliced and sampled DNA of hip hop (extracted by crate diggers like Dilla and RZA) to create something new, underscoring both the spectrum and depth of soul while making a case to the timelessness of Finnigan's sound.

Distance as a measure of time and place informs Kelly Finnigan's, A Lover Was Born with a grit and grace that turns passion into virtue. The latest solo release from The Monophonics frontman roots itself in the best traditions of midwest soul labels like King, Curtom, Dakar, and the Bodie Recording Company. A Lover Was Born is a testimony that these deep cut grooves are not resigned to nostalgia, instead, they are at the burning heart of longing and hope. The journey Finnigan takes listeners on over Lover's eleven tracks echo the state of motion and growth since his solo debut, The Tales People Tell (2019). These two records bookend a prolific period of output, including a pair of Monophonics albums, a Christmas album, a mixtape, and a full slate of producing other artists (The Ironsides, Alanna Royale, the Sextones). "There's nothing like making records," says Finnigan. "It feels like that's my purpose _ the reason I was put on this earth." Written in California, Ohio, and Staten Island, Kelly Finnigan collaborated with old friends in and outside the studio. "I enjoy working alone but it's not how you want to make a record_almost everybody I brought in for this album I've worked with, toured with or spent a great deal of time with." Max and Joe Ramey (The Ironsides), Jimmy James (Parlor Greens), Sergio Rios (Orgone), Joey Crispiano (Dap Kings) and Jay Mumford (aka J-Zone) all contribute to the overall sound of A Lover Was Born. Dramatic influences like Isaac Hayes (check out the piano on "Be Your Own Shelter") and Jerry Ragovoy are chopped and folded into Northern Soul uptempo numbers to create stompers like "Get a Hold of Yourself" or "Chosen Few". Finnigan's take on Deep Soul is captured brilliantly on "Walk Away from Me" and "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)", while Boom Bap pervades on hard hitters "His Love Ain't Real" & "Cold World". Slower songs such as "Let Me Count the Reasons", the emotional "All That's Left", and the soul-stirring album closer "Count Me Out" show the honest and tender side that has become Finnigan's calling card. All the while, the voice is raw and earthy _ in the best tradition of R&B shouters like Otis Redding, Lee Moses, and David Ruffin. The songs on A Lover Was Born reconfigure the spliced and sampled DNA of hip hop (extracted by crate diggers like Dilla and RZA) to create something new, underscoring both the spectrum and depth of soul while making a case to the timelessness of Finnigan's sound.

Pique is the sensational debut solo album from Dora Morelenbaum, one of the key talents spearheading Brazil’s new musical wave. A member of the Latin Grammy award-winning band, Bala Desejo, Dora showcases a new side to her solo productions on this special LP. Whereas Dora’s first solo EP, Vento de Beirada, was a leap of faith, Pique sees her soaring as one of Brazil’s standout stars, emboldened, emphatic but ever elegant. Building bridges between past and present, it’s a funkier, more groove-based affair, weaved together with those signature, slower, celestial tracks. Touching on disco, MPB, soul, R&B and jazz, the album is enriched with an indie pop aesthetic courtesy of fellow Brazilian star and co-producer, Ana Frango Elétrico.

With an ethereal, enveloping air few can match, Dora’s gift shines through both the serene and the spirited songs contained within. The blissful, sun-soaked ‘Não Vou Te Esquecer’ opens, before the funk-fuelled, feel-good ‘Venha Comigo’ and ‘Sim, Não.’ give a glimpse of the creativity bursting from the production partnership between Dora and Ana Frango Elétrico. Elsewhere, the album reclines into hazy lean-back realms via ‘A Melhor Saída’ and ‘Petricor’, virtuoso jazz funk in the form of ‘VW Blue’ and radiant MPB through the album’s title track ‘Pique’.

The drumming is tight, fresh and swung, the horns and strings deftly arranged, as funk-driven basslines and strutting guitars mesh with playful production touches that give an added vibrancy to the record. It is an album that exhibits every side of Dora and one she has been involved in from the ground up, from the songwriting, singing, arrangement and production to booking the studio time and sourcing the artwork designer, Maria Cau Levy.

An exchange of musical ideas powers every great scene and Rio’s contemporary landscape is no different - a family of interconnected musicians and friends that collaborate on each other’s productions. Pique is graced by a wealth of these leading Brazilian lights including her Bala Desejo bandmates Lucas Nunes, Julia Mestre and Zé Ibarra, as well as Guilherme Lirio, Alberto Continentino and Tom Veloso to name just a handful. This exchange crosses generations merging tradition with modernity. In a full circle moment, Dora’s parents Paula and Jaques Morelenbaum, who featured in countless recordings from Tom Jobim's Nova Banda and Ryuichi Sakamoto to Gal Costa and Gilberto Gil, join on the album through backing vocals and arrangement.

Pique sees Dora embrace a freedom through fresh forms, showcasing the depth and diversity of her creative artistry. An infinitely listenable release that nods to Brazilian greats like Gal Costa, Banda Black Rio and Lincoln Olivetti, fused with the indie pop edge of Ana’s production. The result is truly unique and sure to be a future Brazilian classic.

Forgive Yourself. Learn to live with yourself. Don't hurt yourself. This is the mantra of the new album Venus Smiles Not in the House of Tears from Samora Pinderhughes. Made over 8 years with loving detail by Pinderhughes and his longtime producer Jack DeBoe, it is a deeply personal exploration & reflection of mental health in the modern age. It tells a non-linear story about a relationship that didn't last, and the lessons learned through it. How can love exist when grief is in the way? Musically it's intentionally tough to pin down. Although Pinderhughes is Juilliard-trained, Venus is an open-genre exploration of musicmaking with wide-ranging production and a cinematic landscape of feeling and spirit. From quiet, contemplative piano pieces to hard-hitting and soulful full band jams, to expansive and fullthroated choir celebrations, Venus is a fitting accompaniment to a multitude of daily human experiences. It also features artists from Pinderhughes's tight-knit NYC community, representing a wave of new artists who thread the ethics of honesty & vulnerability into their work. Says Pinderhughes of the album, "Mental health isn't solitary; it's about how our feelings, fears, traumas, and conceptions of self meet the world around us. Like so many, I've struggled with depression, anxiety, and isolation within a complicated matrix of identities. I wanted to make a project that would be brutally and lovingly honest about what it feels like to try to sift through the debris of time. A project that really engages with what it means to love, in the midst of a society that teaches us all the wrong lessons. Our modern world wants us to get over things quickly and easily. That's where shame enters the picture, because when you struggle with deep cyclical feelings, the process of engaging with these elements in your life is never linear. It is always two steps forward, one step back. Kindness and honesty are required in equal measure in this life. Hopefully through the prism of these songs, you can feel something that resonates with you in your own life and experience." Pinderhughes is known for striking intimacy and carefully crafted, radically honest lyrics alongside high-level musicianship, and for using his music to examine sociopolitical issues and fight for change. His work delves into the things our society tries to hide - its history, its structures, and the things we all experience but don't know how to talk about. It is an invitation to feel and think deeply about how we live and a commitment to making art that is useful for everyday life. The New York Times described Pinderhughes' 2022 album GRIEF as a "visionary" work from "one of the most affecting singer-songwriters today, in any genre." Pinderhughes - a collaborator across boundaries with artists including Herbie Hancock, Glenn Ligon, Sara Bareilles, Common, Robert Glasper - is the creator and director of The Healing Project, a project that examines trauma & healing from incarceration, detention, and structural violence. Pinderhughes was the first-ever Art for Justice + Soros Justice Fellow and a recipient of Chamber Music America's 2020 Visionary Award. He is also a United States Artist Fellow, Creative Capital awardee, and Sundance Composers Lab fellow.

It's been nearly a decade since Montreal's PYPY (pronounced like 'π π'...with a long 'i' rather than long 'e', thank you very much) landed with their debut Pagan Day (Slovenly), but the same lunatics behind CPC Gangbangs, Red Mass and Duchess Says are back with Sacred Times on Goner Records. One might recall the thunderous pop of their banger "She's Gone" carving out a place for itself in the high-end fashion world, becoming the soundtrack to Yves Saint Laurent's 2016 show. If that album bounced, punched and clawed like Delta 5 covered in dirt and trying to get somewhere in a booted vehicle while dodging lightning rod guitar licks the whole way, Sacred Times takes things to somewhere far beyond the proverbial "next level."

Co-vocalist/founder/multi-instrumentalist Annie-Claude Deschênes' (Duchess Says) signature howl and vocal acrobatics are present but so is a tendency towards beautiful melodies. Bassist Philippe Clement's (Duchess Says) brings a nastier bottom end that locks onto Simon Besré's drumming with a death grip for the entire affair. And guitarist/co-vocalist Roy Vucino (Red Mass, CPC Gangbangs, Black Leather Rose, Les Sexareenos, a gazillion others) goes bonkers with wildass blown-out guitar that's like hornets caught in yr hair.

"Lonely Striped Sock" grooves along like "Earthbeat"-era Slits/ESG until the chorus transforms PYPY into something else entirely. Something huge. Something with monster riffs and wah wah that pins you to the back wall. So there is clearly a brilliance with dynamics here, and it proves to be a not-so-secret-weapon that repays the "ear-vestment" in dividends throughout. "Ear-vestment"? Yikes. Then it's time for "She's Back," a sort of part 2/continuation (maybe a trilogy is in the works?) of Pagan Day's best-known gem (the aforementioned "She's Gone"). This one packs a hook that'll make your brain take out a restraining order. Looking for lost keys? Jury duty? Underwater welding? Negotiating a hostage situation? It doesn't matter...nothing will stop it from invading your thoughts. They say the only way to get a song unstuck from the noodle is to listen to it from start to finish, but you'll be doing that anyway. A lot. "Erase" is a (synth) noise-punk nugget; revealing a need for Brainiac-meets-Blondie we didn't know we had...deceptively kicking off with a no-fi drum machine that is immediately lost in the massive pop din that seemingly includes everything within reach. "Poodle Escape" is two minutes of perfect (and perfectly distorted) synth-punk and "I Am A Simulation" – with lead vox from Vucino – is yet another hit that deviates from the noise a bit and pays homage to both Devo and classic late-70's (big) power-pop (ex: the first Cars LP), but with a manic nature that is 150% circa right now. "15 Sec" (actually 3:38 in duration, thankfully) serves up a stanky-brown bass line, Deschênes' gorgeous vocals, wonderfully combative white hot, pin-the-meters Oh Sees/early Comets on Fire guitar rips, and a stunning coda that seems to utilize everything great about this band over its final minute. The album's title track is a love letter to Hawkwind in the musical language already established here. "Vanishing Blinds" is like being chased through the rain-soaked streets in an unknown dystopian nightmare from 40+ years ago. The album closes with the brooding if not playful menace of "Poodle Escape,” which, like its predecessors, is completely unlike every track before it.

Phoebe Rings is a dream-pop band offering a unique blend of introspective yearning with celestial danceable grooves. Their self-titled debut EP, a hopeful collection of musings, out on Carpark Records, is a testament to the distinctive musical style of Auckland jazz-school-trained pianist and songwriter Crystal Choi. Across six tracks, the EP is a love letter to some of the band’s influences: Studio Ghibli films, Zelda and Stardew soundtracks, Bossa Nova, Stereolab, and 90’s Korean ballads.

In 2020, the band played their first gig in a ‘funny side room’ during a festival at Auckland Town Hall. Choi’s songwriting was brought to life with Alex Freer on drums, Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent on guitar and synths, and Benjamin Locke on bass. Choi says she knew the tracks had to be recorded after the band played the songs better than she could ever imagine. And so, remotely through the COVID-19 lockdowns, the band started recording the EP.

“Daisy” is the vibrant leading single, with the shimmery refrain “Ooh-wee-a-waa” and the uplifting mantra: “When you’re next to me, the world’s full of daisies.” The swirling synths fizz on the skin like warm sun, promising growth and new starts. “Cheshire” is an Alice in Wonderland-inspired trip through the rabbit hole, pacing in anticipation. “Like a Cheshire cat, it grins and disappears in moments when you accept yourself,” explains Choi. Locke and Choi finished the lyrics one evening, huddled in the corner of a local underground music venue, with references to Murakami’s book Dance Dance Dance.

Choi grew up in Seoul, developing a palette for K-pop and retro sounds. The city-pop influence of “January Blues” shines through, with Choi crediting one of her favourite songs from the ’80s: “연극이 끝난 후 After Play”. The track explores her disconnect with the summer break. “In the Northern Hemisphere, January is winter,” says Choi. “I missed that a lot, and I don’t vibe with the beach.”

“Spissky,” chimes in with Choi’s lilting vocals reminiscent of childhood lullabies, inspired by a lonely-looking castle she saw on tour with Princess Chelsea in Slovakia. While “Ocean” leans into its mumble-core roots, taking a leaf from the Cocteau Twins. There’s an external shift in the EP, with “Lazy Universe” being the most energetic track, evolving with the band’s chaotic sci-fi experimentation. Asking, “Are you still waiting for a kiss?” Choi is self-critical and urgently speaks up from being passive.

The members of Phoebe Rings are cemented in the musical ecosystem, balancing other projects and full-time work. Yet Sundays will always be carved out for Phoebe Rings to dream up imaginative, world-building tunes — often with a Nintendo game soundtrack in the background as inspiration.

The Intima led a chameleon-like existence from 1999 to 2004, confounding critics who struggled to describe their distinctive sound while sharing stages with everyone from The Rapture to The Mekons. Hailing from Olympia and Portland, the postpunk quartet utilized sharp rhythms, prescient lyrics, and a collaborative compositional approach to conjure forth a sound that manages to be explosive yet detailed, experimental yet propulsive and melodic. Featuring a classically-trained violinist, custom-tuned guitars that careen at odd angles, and an imaginative and powerful rhythm section, the band explored the intersection of art-punk and agitpop with a spirit and tenor uniquely their own. In 2017, the Polish website More Noise summed up their sound by saying that "the first association that comes to mind is The Ex and the Dutch avant punk scene of the 1980s, but fans of the bands Dirty Three, Godspeed You Black Emperor and Unwound may also be intrigued."The group toured the States extensively during the 4+ years that they were active, including one grueling six-week tour undertaken just after 9/11 and another one in 2003 during which the US began bombing Iraq. The group's live sets are remembered for their combination of unbridled intensity and tightly-coiled musicianship, as well as their chaos potential, whether that chaos was performing in the middle of an illegal street party or causing a PA to burst into flames immediately preceding a headlining set by Deerhoof. A memorable show in DC with Q And Not U was mentioned by Dischord group Black Eyes in their Speaking In Tongues booklet last year, with Hugh McElroy describing the Intima as "a really aggressively-beautiful and poetic punk band with a violin where a guitar normally would be...pushing genre barriers in a way that helped me see a vision of how we might want to do that ourselves."Peril and Panic was recorded in Olympia over eight months in 2002 and was released in 2003 on LP (Zum/Collective Jyrk) and CD (Slowdance). In 2022, in the midst of the pandemic, the group commissioned Jason Powers to remix the original tracks from the ground up, which turned into an 18-month endeavor that included some compositional edits, significant work to improve the sound of the drums, and the uncovering of unreleased songs. Today, a fully remixed and remastered Peril and Panic is finally being released into the wild sounding much closer to how it was originally meant to be heard. Sounding more relevant than ever, it seems increasingly clear that the ideas and feelings that informed both band and album are no longer so "radical" - if anything, they've become the zeitgeist of today, as a confluence of global crises points to a fraught future long predicted.

The success of the 1962 Modern Sounds in Country And Western Music albums paved the way for Charles’ creative freedom as an artist. Throughout the rest of his career, he continued to show his deep affinity for country music. 1965’s Country and Western Meets Rhythm and Blues (aka Together Again) features Ray’s timeless version of the Buck Owens country standard “Together Again.” It also holds the distinction of being the first album Charles recorded in his own RPM International recording studio. While on 1996’s Crying Time album Ray delivers the definitive version of that Owens song and earned Ray the GRAMMY for Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance Male and recognition as Producer of Best Rhythm & Blues Recording by The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. As if that weren’t enough, the album also boasts Charles #1 Billboard smash “Let’s Go Get Stoned.”

Conscious Pilot was founded by Joe Laycock and Jack Sharp as a successor to theatrical punk group Cheap Teeth, the pair birthed the project from their joint love of immersive, beat-driven soundscapes and an exploration of subtle shifts. After recording the debut EP "Epoxy Plains" in 2024 the band have already recorded a follow-up EP "Wipe Clean". Conscious Pilot offer post-punk with a dollop of sonic melodies, inspiring lyrics and raw vocals.

2024 coloured (violet) vinyl repress for this year's Sonic Cathedral's 20th anniversary! Hull/Leeds based five-piece bdrmm release their much anticipated debut Bedroom on July 3, via Sonic Cathedral. The 10-track album was recorded late last year at The Nave studio in Leeds by Alex Greaves (Working Mens Club, Bo Ningen) and mastered in Brooklyn by Heba Kadry (Slowdive, Beach House). It's a hugely accomplished debut and a real step up both sonically and lyrically from their early singles, which were rounded up on last year's If Not, When? EP. Musically, there are nods to The Cure's Disintegration, Deerhunter and DIIV, while the band reference RIDE and Radiohead. There are also echoes of krautrock and post-punk, from The Chameleons to Protomartyr, plus the proto shoegaze of the Pale Saints' The Comforts Of Madness, not least in the cross fading of some tracks, meaning the album is an almost seamless listen. As a result, Bedroom becomes an unexpected and unintentional concept album, running through the different stages of a break-up set against the backdrop of the ups and downs of your early twenties. "The subject matter spans mental health, alcohol abuse, unplanned pregnancy, drugs_ basically every cliché topic that you could think of," reveals frontman Ryan Smith. "But that doesn't mean they ever stop being relevant. It's a fucker growing up, but I'm lucky enough to have been able to project my feelings in the form of this band, surrounded by four of the best people I've ever met." And that band name, in case it needs explaining, is pronounced the same way as the album title. "I never thought I'd get to the stage where I would have to explain it so much," says Ryan. "We have been pronounced as Boredom, Bdum and my old boss thought we were a ska band called Bad Riddim. We're all sarcastic cunts, so Bedroom spelt correctly seemed like the perfect title." He's right. The perfect title for the perfect debut album. "A modern day shoegaze classic" - NME "The general roller coaster of being twenty-somethings in post-Brexit England who find themselves awash with a shimmering soundscape that recalls Oshin-era DIIV, Deerhunter's Microcastle, or even The Cure at their most ambiently grandiose" - Under The Radar

Exploring late-night, after-hours meditations on sound; ‘Everything Above The Sky (Astral Travelling with Luke Una)’ is a new compilation by the titular DJ, promoter and enigmatic cultural curator. Off the back of the E Soul Cultura phenomena, this compilation comes at a timely point in Luke’s rich career as he soars the heights of playing all over the world. Avoiding any chance of his sound being pigeonholed, Luke has put together a tracklist of songs and music that have a transcendental feel, after coming off the grid, going back to source, outside the city walls .

Music has long been believed to aid out of body experiences and many of us have searched long and hard for a combination of those elusive ingredients that might alleviate some of the monotony of everyday life, our daily routines and obligations, and those things that seem to block us from the spirit of the universe. In this collection, Luke selects music with all the right ingredients in just the right quantities, allowing the listener to engage in an esoteric journey of enlightenment through sound. Being a prolific collector of music, Luke initially delivered enough tracks to compile several compilations, making the licensing process the biggest effort to date for the label. The music moves softly and slowly, never becoming too intrusive, exemplifying the wonderful elevating properties of simple songs played from the heart.

Luke’s Everything Above The Sky manifesto reads, “Astral Travelling in the meadowlands with acid folk, spiritual jazz, around midnight hocus pocus, cosmic psychedelic soul, magical spellbound whirling swirling love songs, Brazilian ballads of light into machine soul gospel utopia dreaming, Balearic bossa, Outer Space ancient African drum, the breath of trees, escaping the big bad modern world, gathering round winter fires, walking amongst the bracken in Padley Gorge in late summer twilight, overlooking the Hope Valley, escaping ego, detaching and finally letting go amongst the stars with the slowly floating people. It’s beautiful beyond. Everything above the Sky”.

Beginning his career as an original Sheffield house young blood in the mid 1980s, Luke’s move to Manchester and partnership with Justin Crawford saw the birth of Electric Chair, a cornerstone cult night in the UK underground club scene. Then came Electric Elephant, a Croatian festival paying homage to their wild eclecticism from Balearic to Brazilian to É Soul, house, disco and techno. Luke’s much loved, long-running Homoelectric night and more recently Homobloc sell out festival for 10,000 souls has been at the forefront of Manchester’s LGBTQ+ cultural landscape. Luke’s Friday evening show on Worldwide FM captured imaginations and became a cult four-hour must-listen monthly journey for fans all over the world. Today, Luke remains, as ever, at the forefront of a changing milieu, pairing the momentous legacy of Manchester’s 80s and 90s scene with the delivery of what today’s club communities need to get down.

Maverick UK producer Kevin Richard Martin (Zonal / Techno Animal / King Midas Sound) joins Relapse for the release of his devastating new double album Machine, his first solo instrumental record as THE BUG.

Machine started life as a series of self-released "floor weapons" (to use Martin’s description), landing in installments between 2023 and 2024 on the Bandcamp page of Martin’s own PRESSURE label. And now - always his intention - Martin has collated a single, powerful, unified statement from those EPs. The album detonates apocalyptic dread-tech mutations of crushing intensity, fusing a unique new strain of futuristic dub with deadly deep electronics and killer bass riffs worthy of the heaviest metal. It is, writes Martin, “ice cold and dystopian.” It celebrates “atmospheric pressure, and the joy of full body assaults, via oversized sound systems in undersized club rooms.” Machine also represents the latest metamorphosis of the "Macro Dub Infection" philosophy Martin germinated with the groundbreaking series of compilations he began curating for Virgin Records as early as the mid 90’s.

One of London’s most loved underground parties, Tangent, celebrates its 10th birthday this year with a new compilation on Mr Bongo. Its residents, John Gómez and Nick the Record, have curated a selection of prized, rare and dancefloor-ready tracks that have soundtracked the past decade of their parties. Alongside remastered reissues of these original cuts, the CD version of the compilation also houses three incredible edits from Nick, John and Dan Tyler of the Idjut Boys. These were too good not to press onto vinyl, so we’ve given them the standalone 12" they deserve.

Contextualising their edits Nick states, “Tangent was not only the place for us to play the music we love the most, it also became the testing ground for our edits. It was really helpful being able to see the effect each of these had on a dancefloor before the records were released and many of them also became firm Tangent classics.”

Up first, Nick is joined by Dan Tyler (Idjut Boys), who he runs the edit label Record Mission with, for a furiously feel-good re-edit of Leo Basel’s ‘Quelle Drôle De Vie’. Basing their edit on the 1987 ‘Special Remix’, it does what any great re-work does, dropping the sections from the original that don’t quite hit the mark, whilst focussing on the gold in amongst it all. The result is a slice of peak-time, French boogie joy, that will warm even the coldest hearts.

John then joins Dan at the dials for a cosmic revamp of Love Isaacs 'Surprise Surprise'. A serving of ‘80s electro-funk, dripping in swagger with a highlife tinge. John and Dan extended the grooves for maximum dancefloor power, space echoing it into the stratosphere at all the juiciest points.

Lastly, Nick takes on Rick Asikpo and Afro Fusion 'Let's Get High' from the super sought-after 1980 album, Got To Be Me. Celestial, gospel-infused soul from Nigeria, Nick homes in on the energetic last 2 minutes of the original as the building block of his 12-minute edit. A completely reworked, feverishly paced creation, Nick switches the sections around, saving the slow, soulful segment for a brilliant cosmic breakdown before the track erupts back into its full flow. Synthesised, jazz-funk elation from start to finish!

Following releases on Sähkö Recordings and The Trilogy Tapes, "Fever of the World" is the Soda Gong debut by Memotone, the nom de plume of UK-based multi-instrumentalist Will Yates. As a collection, it is both intimate and expansive, like the feeling of gathering one's thoughts before setting off on a long journey or committing to an irrevocable course of action. Throughout, Yates' talents as both player and sound designer are on full display, as are the sonic signatures that have come to characterize the Memotone catalog: low-lit, ECM-inflected noir; evasive and evolving loop-based accretions; and mellifluous mosaics of keys, guitar, reeds, and percussion. It is patient and focused music, built around production techniques and compositional ideas that have been perfected both in studio and in live performance over a period of several years. "Catherine, On Fire" sets the scene, one of two languid, longform selections, and develops slowly from a spare, harmonic-laden guitar loop into a bed of rippling textural ambience and woozy clarinet filigree. Later, "The Bus" and "When the Bakery Has What You Want and It's Cheap" conjure images of rain-streaked windows, fanciful baked confections, and grey skies broken finally by sunlight. Warm, generous, and comfortable in its own skin, this is music that reminds us that when it feels easy to resign ourselves to world weariness, we should pause for a moment and listen to the rustle of the leaves. The wind knows not to linger.

In Cornish slang it is said that things get done ‘dreckly’; that is, not now, not necessarily tomorrow, but, at some indefinite point...in the future...soon...

Fitting then that when Bristol’s Langkamer decamped to their de facto home-from-home in the picturesque south-west seaside town of Falmouth to record their third album in as many years (with an EP thrown in there too) - there was no particular need to rush things: “The process was much slower and more considered for Langzamer.”, drummer/vocalist Josh Jarman explains: “The first two albums felt pretty urgent, and each was finished in about 6 months, but this one feels a lot more deliberate. It’s taken us two years to get this done.”

Equally fitting too that Langzamer kicks off proceedings with ‘Heart of Tin’: the first bars are languidly lugubrious, so deliciously plucked-out and scuzzed-up that they linger in the air like passing smoke, magically, slowing time down to their own assured and steady will. And in so much time, that also feels like no time at all, comes an opening line of such stark, disarming confessionalism as might be found in the David Berman/Silver Jews songbook: “Do you want the good news or the bad news first? // They’re both bad news, but the bad is worse” It’s Langkamer in a nutshell: embattled, heart-on-sleeve Slacker Rock slaked with twinges of fret-sliding Americana, yet deeply embedded in the folk mythologies, colloquialisms and experiences of the band’s West Country roots.

Throughout Langzamer, confronting the listener again and again is this conflict between the band’s breezy, melodic charm, and the threat of something more sinister lurking in the undergrowth. While those more familiar with Langkamer’s oeuvre to date will have already come to know and love their often self-deprecating yet witty lyricism, the songs on Langzamer take this trademark ebullient gloominess to more challenging plains: “Principally this is an album about grief, and everything that entails...” explains Jarman. “in a sense death brought these songs to life.”

This thread is felt no more so than on ‘Salvation XL’. Inspired by a “particularly bad batch of food poisoning I had in Morocco”, Jarman explains, and beginning with the memorable opening line, “Jesus came to me a Burger King in Marrakech”, the band wind their way through the ‘big topics’: death and God.

“This trip was shortly after a few of my friends had passed away, and I think a lot of my thoughts and actions at that time were being influenced by my grief without me realising it.”, he explains, “Whenever I dwell on grief, and how death has given my life a new context, I come back to that. The ongoing battle between agnosticism and atheism. I wasn’t raised in a very strict religious home, but I come from a long line of methodists, and it’s interesting to think about the way theism and religion have shaped my life without me knowing it. I think that’s being channelled on this album a lot. The uncertainty that comes with disbelief.”

Our collective mortal frailties are also felt on lead single ‘Richard E Grant’. With a trademark bittersweetness, a track that begins as an appreciation of the actor’s humorous social media presence unfolds as a study on “finding healthy coping strategies to deal with loss.”. Elsewhere, ‘At The Lake’ - to the tune of mournful, folk-like balladry - explores binge-drinking culture and the troubled association between unhealthy behaviour and creativity. The listener is left in no mind as to the meaning behind the references to James Joyce and Janis Jopin as “souvenirs stolen from the dark”.

With themes as weighty as these strewn across the album’s 10 tracks, It seemed like a particularly astute move then for the band to personally approach Ben Woods, founder of the Golden Dregs, to assist on production duties. Not only would the delicate intimacies of Woods’ main project - see 2023’s On Grace & Dignity for reference - add an appropriate moodiness, but Woods was also born and raised in Cornwall, where the album was recorded; amidst “eating pasties” and breaks by the sea, Woods and the band transformed the vaults underneath iconic Falmouth venue The Cornish Bank into a makeshift studio for a weeks’ worth of recording. Occasionally friends would drop by to lighten the load; Zander Sharp tracking violin on ’Double Island’ and ‘Flight’; Josh Law and Ben Sadler of Breakfast Records labelmates Getdown Services, both of whom contribute to the soul-stirring ‘mountain’ chorus on ‘Aberfan’.

When compared to the brightness of 2023’s The Noon and Midnight Manual, Woods’ influence on the record seems indisputable. On the aforementioned ‘At The Lake’, for instance, which features backing vocals from Woods. Or, most acutely, on the piano strains of harrowing closer ‘Bluff’, a track with such chilling, spectral severity as to effect the band’s most heartbreaking effort to date. While it’s particularly sombre note on which end proceedings, it's also an appropriate one: Langzamer bravely stands tall as their most restrained, matured, and sincere collection to date. And almost by virtue of its impeccable honesty, those moments of sunshine-joy that creep through the cracks feel that much more golden.

Kerri Chandler joins forces with Nae (SA) for new single ‘Caged Bird’, accompanied by remixes from the widely beloved Atjazz, and Moplen.

Leading the release is the ‘Full Vocal Media Mix’ of ‘Caged Bird’, which sees Kerri Chandler lay down emotive piano melodies, organic drums and atmospheric strings alongside soulful vocal stylings from South Africa’s Nae.

Up next is Italy’s Moplen, producer for the likes of G.A.M.M. and Lumberjacks In Hell delivers his twist on ‘Caged Bird’, shifting gears into more classic house realms, infusing drifting keys, weighty lowend tones and heavily swung drums and violin melodies with the original’s smooth house aesthetic.

On the flip side is the first ‘Atjazz Remix’ of ‘Caged Bird’, a nine minute cinematic excursion from the British composer, embracing the soulful fragments of the original and twisting them into a slow burning, subtly evolving nine minutes delicately detailed with sweeping echoes, reversed reverberations, crisp percussion and choppy stab sequences. An ‘Atjazz Remix Instrumental’ follows, as the name would suggest stripping away the vocals.

Tokyo-based emerging label INFODUMP Recordings, led by Takuro Hasumi, who captivated audiences with the unique and left-field “Fafrotskies vol.1” released in 2023, has eagerly released a new work titled “Fafrotskies vol.2”! The EP features three tracks that subtly color the dance floor:

“High Fidelity” (A1): A mid-tempo, synth-driven, minimalistic, and romantically imaginative time-warp house track at BPM 113.
“Sparta” (B1): A tribal left-field house track with added electronic and experimental elements, clocking in at BPM 122.
“S.I.M” (B2): An industrial, cut-up loop awakening trip with a stoic parallel groove, flying low at BPM 123.
Each track contributes to the EP’s unique and cool vibe, making it a great addition to any dance floor!
(Text by COMPUMA)


“Hard to pick a favourite here! Love all 3 tracks but the trippy and slower A1. High Fidelity really resonated with me! great ep.”
Axel Boman (Studio Barnhus)

The highly anticipated follow-up to Thee Sacred Souls's breakout 2022 self-titled debut, Got A Story To Tell, features 12 all original new songs, a soaring statement of exquisite craftsmanship from this young band from San Diego whose story grows bigger by the day. Recorded and produced by Gabriel Roth at Penrose Recorders, in Daptone’s Riverside, CA studio, and written in the throes of supporting their 2022 album, which was met with significant excitement and major touring that brought them across the world. What swirls together on Got A Story To Tell is an appreciation of decades of soul music, and beyond - a sound and feel that is timeless, lived in, and very much in the now. Album opener “Lucid Girl” champions independent women, set to some of the toughest sounding drums and bass the band has yet to put to tape. “Waiting On The Right Time” slinks with a touch of slow-burning psychedelia. A plea for empathy punctuates “One and the Same,” with Lane singing: “We’re one and the same, I feel one day / We learn to live with each other / In love, not fear / Just for a moment, why can’t we be together.” “On My Mind” is a sweeping orchestration, with Lane navigating the complexities of finding happiness while balancing the good with the bad. The album is punctuated with strings and squelching guitar, trundling piano, pops of conga, horns - it makes for a thrilling, layered listen that rewards with multiple spins.

Ren Schofield’s long running electronic project Container returns with his first release since the Creamer EP in 2021. Rolling straight out of the pandemic Schofield has since played a large number of live shows all over the planet, rilling up audiences with a heady mix of method and mania. Now is the time to unleash a new studio offering.

Yacker presents what is undoubtedly an electronic record but one imbued with a spirit more aligned with rock music. Always hijacking the electronic music scene for his own unique and twisted path here we see a further extrapolation on his original blueprint for DIY noise techno adding a more physical and muscular edge to the standard hysterical proceedings. The drums retain an almost human, somewhat muscular feel with a sweaty and suggestive ‘real drums’ feeling.

Schofield cites inspiration on Yacker as the Nirvana song ‘Oh, The Guilt’, the Mindflayer album ‘It’s Always 1999’, and the Rah Bras song ‘Sooop Toe Pump Girls’. Container has always danced the absurd space between serious and stupid, with Yacker all elements are turned up to eleven as he delivers a pristine field guide to furious frenzied fun.

Yacker strikes an even balance between heavy, relentless, joyful, silly, and sloppy. Think Lollapalooza 1996 held at Berghain 2006 and you are somewhere on the way to formulating this fresh new insanity from one of the contemporary electronic music scene's more playful pioneers

Hugo Race (Dirtmusic, Fatalists, ex-Bad Seeds) and Michelangelo Russo (True Spirit), fuse rock, blues, ambient and electronic sounds on their raw, compelling new album "100 Years".
In 2017, the duo released John Lee Hooker's World Today (Glitterhouse/Gusstaff Records), a tribute to the blues legend's delta blues legacy reinvented in a swirling mix of analog grit and deep trance pulses.

100 Years showcases the duo's sonic chemistry against Race's stark songwriting. Inspired by the raw majesty of early blues recordings, the album was recorded in two days in a non-stop live Hugo Race & Michelangelo Russo - 100 Years session. Amplified harmonica, open-tuned guitars, smoky vocals and primal foot beat walk us through a landscape of dreamlike devastation, a hypnotic wall of sound suspended in time and space celebrating endurance and redemption, hand-made from ancient roots. "Tradition does not mean passing the ashes, but the fire."

100 Years. Recorded November 1 & 2, 2023.
Engineered by Andrew 'Idge' Hehir at Soundpark Studios, Melbourne.
Mastered by Giovanni Versari at La Maesta, Milano.
Published by Peermusic.

PRESS about former album:
Rock'n'Roll Monuments, Greece:
"Race and Russo's pioneering electronic atmospheres give the historical Blues something you never imagined possible."

Rolling Stone, Germany: 'Dark Eros and transcendental blues…'
Musikreviews.de, Germany: "A psychedelic ghost blues of a profound sort, a mature, sensitive interpretation of the music and lyrics of John Lee Hooker. (Race and Russo) have blown us away in slow motion, economically instrumented and with painfully beautiful intensity. "

Q, London: "A darkly singular experience then, and one of the best records (Race) has ever made..."

The Music, Australia: "A collection of bluesy, brooding songs from a talented singer-songwriter with three decades of musicianship under his belt."

Eclipsed, Germany: "Hypnotic rhythms and haunting guitars, this album tingles under your skin..."
Focus Kultur, Germany: "No one else makes music like this, and that in itself is an achievement..."

Rock and Folk, Paris: 'This traveler without borders advances through a menacing atmosphere of no-wave electro-acoustics. Here is the spirit, and he does not forget
the body and the soul ... '
Tom Tom Rock, Italy: "An almost epic attack, worthy of the soundtrack of an apocalyptic post-nuclear catastrophe film… a talking blues of the third millennium, filtered by years of psychedelia and industrial music - and the Berlin years of Hugo Race can certainly be felt - hypnotic and dark, but precisely for this reason enveloping and fascinating. A record in which the music of the legendary bluesman is completely transfigured, without, however, the fidelity to his "spirit" and his "message" being questioned in the slightest. In short, JLH is alive and fighting with us, if we find the strength to follow him."

Hugo Race (Dirtmusic, Fatalists, ex-Bad Seeds) and Michelangelo Russo (True Spirit), fuse rock, blues, ambient and electronic sounds on their raw, compelling new album "100 Years".
In 2017, the duo released John Lee Hooker's World Today (Glitterhouse/Gusstaff Records), a tribute to the blues legend's delta blues legacy reinvented in a swirling mix of analog grit and deep trance pulses.

100 Years showcases the duo's sonic chemistry against Race's stark songwriting. Inspired by the raw majesty of early blues recordings, the album was recorded in two days in a non-stop live Hugo Race & Michelangelo Russo - 100 Years session. Amplified harmonica, open-tuned guitars, smoky vocals and primal foot beat walk us through a landscape of dreamlike devastation, a hypnotic wall of sound suspended in time and space celebrating endurance and redemption, hand-made from ancient roots. "Tradition does not mean passing the ashes, but the fire."

100 Years. Recorded November 1 & 2, 2023.
Engineered by Andrew 'Idge' Hehir at Soundpark Studios, Melbourne.
Mastered by Giovanni Versari at La Maesta, Milano.
Published by Peermusic.

PRESS about former album:
Rock'n'Roll Monuments, Greece:
"Race and Russo's pioneering electronic atmospheres give the historical Blues something you never imagined possible."

Rolling Stone, Germany: 'Dark Eros and transcendental blues…'
Musikreviews.de, Germany: "A psychedelic ghost blues of a profound sort, a mature, sensitive interpretation of the music and lyrics of John Lee Hooker. (Race and Russo) have blown us away in slow motion, economically instrumented and with painfully beautiful intensity. "

Q, London: "A darkly singular experience then, and one of the best records (Race) has ever made..."

The Music, Australia: "A collection of bluesy, brooding songs from a talented singer-songwriter with three decades of musicianship under his belt."

Eclipsed, Germany: "Hypnotic rhythms and haunting guitars, this album tingles under your skin..."
Focus Kultur, Germany: "No one else makes music like this, and that in itself is an achievement..."

Rock and Folk, Paris: 'This traveler without borders advances through a menacing atmosphere of no-wave electro-acoustics. Here is the spirit, and he does not forget
the body and the soul ... '
Tom Tom Rock, Italy: "An almost epic attack, worthy of the soundtrack of an apocalyptic post-nuclear catastrophe film… a talking blues of the third millennium, filtered by years of psychedelia and industrial music - and the Berlin years of Hugo Race can certainly be felt - hypnotic and dark, but precisely for this reason enveloping and fascinating. A record in which the music of the legendary bluesman is completely transfigured, without, however, the fidelity to his "spirit" and his "message" being questioned in the slightest. In short, JLH is alive and fighting with us, if we find the strength to follow him."

Forgetting You Is Like Breathing Water, the self-titled debut from the duo of trumpeter Will Evans and guitarist, synthesist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Theo Trump, arrives like a vault revelation. It feels like a decades-old yet newly unearthed masterwork of gorgeous ambient improvisation, the sort of thing scholars live to research and shepherd into deluxe reissue.

The patient, crystalline chords that swell and resonate like a series of confessions; the textured brass murmurs that suggest a ’60s or ’70s Fire Music master at their most poignant. Provocative found-sound experiments threading arcane religious recordings through dystopian soundscapes. Ear-shattering free-noise tumult. Where and when did this music come from? Who are these voices?

As it turns out, Forgetting You Is Like Breathing Water springs from an engrossing human story, though it isn’t necessarily the one you’d expect. This work of stunning maturity is in fact an entrance by two little-known explorers in their early 20s, who grew up together in Virginia, in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It documents one of those perfect, sparkling moments in post-adolescence when big decisions and responsibilities are right around the corner, but for a spell, two young artists are able to create among the comforts and nostalgia of their shared past.

It also represents a reunion of sorts, as Evans and Trump connected as toddlers, became inseparable as boys, then pursued independent lives and creative paths as young adults. “Theo is my oldest friend,” Evans says, “and I feel like that’s what this band is — us meeting right in the middle of our interests.”

Now, having conjured this magic, they’ve detached once again: Evans, whose other works include the indie/avant-jazz unit Angelica X, is currently based in New York City. Trump recently moved to England, where he’d participated in his family’s theatre company, to go to school and further his solo ambient project. “This album didn’t start out as something super ambitious,” Evans explains. “It was more just an excuse to spend time together again and make music.”

***

In conversation, Evans and Trump are a delight, especially for cynics who might think that Gen-Z is only capable of doomscrolling. They come across as kindly young intellectuals who grew up using the internet as it was intended, for exposure to ideas and art across genres and generations. Trump points to indie-folk and the oracular post-rock of late Talk Talk, Bark Psychosis and Gastr del Sol. Pressed for his guitar heroes, he cites Bill Orcutt, Mary Halvorson and Marc Ribot, and mentions his devotion to alt-country. Heyday electro-industrial stuff like Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails also meant a lot to him.

Evans is equally intrepid, though his background has a greater jazz focus. Ambrose Akinmusire, among today’s most thoughtfully commanding trumpeters, is a favorite. As for the soulful murmur he offers throughout Forgetting You, Pharoah Sanders’ wistful and lyrical contributions to Floating Points’ work is a touchstone.

The two grew up down the street from each other in the northern Piedmont town of Batesville, Virginia. Their families were friends, holidays were celebrated together and they became the most loyal of pals. As children they had a pretend band.

Then life unfolded, they attended different schools and their paths diverged. Evans discovered John Coltrane and became a jazz obsessive, as Trump found punk and hardcore and later began making ambient music. As a dedicated jazz trumpeter, Evans studied formally and widely; Trump was an autodidact, teaching himself guitar and absorbing synthesis and production techniques. The late teens and very early 20s brought moves away from home and back to home, as well as plenty of listening and learning. The Covid pandemic meant an opportunity to reconnect on long walks. Through it all, together and apart, they remained reverent of each other.

By early 2023, they found themselves living again among the Blue Ridge Mountains. In the evening, after giving trumpet lessons in Charlottesville, Evans would make the eerily beautiful trek “over the mountain” to Trump’s home in Staunton, Virginia. They’d talk and eat and begin to improvise, deep into the night. Evans played trumpet and sometimes drums. (Given the wee-hours recording schedule, the neighbors didn’t appreciate the latter.) Trump plugged a rickety, junk-store Telecaster-style guitar into a cheap solid-state amp and explored open tunings; he also layered on lap steel, electric bass, synths and electronics.

They locked in and relished each other’s gifts. In Trump, those include patience and intentionality and sonic decision-making; for Evans, a distinctive trumpet sound that both musicians think of as a singer’s voice. “Will’s playing is so thoughtful and well placed,” Trump says. “My goal from a producer’s mindset is that the trumpet will occupy the space that vocals would take.”

Often, they got lost in the best way. “The thing I look for most when I’m playing is that feeling of disappearing into what you’re doing,” Evans says. “Usually when that happens, the music is good.”

By the same token, they didn’t pursue free improvisation as an ethic, or as a pure process. Their goal was something closer to spontaneous composition. “We were trying to make good songs,” Evans says simply. Later, Trump did brilliant post-production work, expanding a modest setup into an enthralling soundworld. Under his judicious editorship, music that was wholly improvised sounds at times like a carefully composed new-music commission.

The results speak for themselves. “A Happy Death” summons up a swath of American desolation through the viewfinder of Wim Wenders. “Flesh of Lost Summers” and “Partings” are highlights from an essential ECM LP that never was. “A Collapse of Horses” infuses those seminal post-rock influences with the plod of doom metal or slowcore. The album’s final track, “The Mountains Are a Dream That Calls to Me,” was in fact the first thing the duo recorded, as an evocation of those twilit drives across the Blue Ridge Mountains. “Looking back at what we chose to name the songs,” Evans says, “and some of the sounds and how they make me feel, there is an air of impermanence and loss to this album.”

“I’m excited for everything that’s to come,” he adds, “but I recently thought, ‘Damn — that’s not going to happen again.’ It was a privilege for us to have that time together.”

Coke Bottle CLear Vinyl. The breakout success of 2016's Puberty 2 saw Mitski hailed as the new vanguard of indie rock, the one to save the genre from the white dudes who've historically dominated it. But the often overlooked aspect of being a rising star is the sheer amount of work that goes into it. "I had been on the road for a long time, which is so isolating, and had to run my own business at the same time," Mitski explains, "a lot of this record was me not having any feelings, being completely spent, but then trying to rally myself and wake up and get back to Mitski. I was feeling really nihilistic and trying to make pop songs."We want our artists to be strong but we also expect them to be vulnerable. Rather than avoiding this dilemma, she addresses directly the power that comes from appearing impenetrable and loneliness that follows. "With a lot of the romantic infatuations I've had," she says, "when I look back, I wonder, Did I want them or did I want to be them? Did I love them or did I want to absorb whatever power they had? I decided I could just be my own cowboy figure that I so desire." In Be The Cowboy, delves into the loneliness of being a symbol and the loneliness of being someone, and how it can feel so much like being no one.

Lee Ranaldo and Rob Menard have been friends and collaborators for years and this split cassette release on Important Records' Cassauna label amplifies their unique musical personalities and sonic compatibility. Both artists contributed over 30 minutes of music making this a pair of mini-albums on one tape.

Ranaldo plays Farfisa, electric guitar, tres, marimba, bass and bells, taking the listener on a lyrical, hazy, ride full of life, time and echoing riff shimmer. Massive vibes from author, artist, Sonic Youth gtr slinger.

Rob Menard (Ascension Sound), delivers a mini-album of washed out, minimal lo-fi astral guitar and feedback drones. Menard founded the 20 Guitar Circular Wall Of Angelic Sound and practices vibrational frequency healing.

"A landmark in 80s experimental ambient music - previously tape-only, here released for the first time on vinyl, spread across a double LP with five additional tracks, four of which were previously unreleased. Remote Dreaming has been freshly remastered and includes an insert with photos and liner notes.

Dark Entries summons Philadelphia synthesizer scribes The Ghostwriters to rouse their ambient masterwork Remote Dreaming. The late Buchla maestro Charles Cohen and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Cain joined up in 1971 to craft electroacoustic chaos as Anomali, later renaming themselves The Ghostwriters.

Their collaborations with choreographers and visual media artists led to their singular style, straddling improvisation and composition, the oneiric and the immediate. Following their debut album, Objects in Mirrors Are Closer Than They Appear, they were approached by ambient outlet Mu-Pysch. Remote Dreaming would take shape in various studios over nine months. Jeff Cain's instruments on this project included electric and acoustic pianos, the Juno 106 synthesizer, and a Mirage sampler, while Charles Cohen used his signature Buchla 200 Series Electronic Musical Instrument. A stark departure from the tightly wound first LP, Remote Dreaming shows the duo unfurling with soothing pianos and psychoacoustic textures, its somnambulant drones just skirting the edges of the uncanny. Although ignored in its time, Remote Dreaming is now heralded as a landmark in 80s experimental ambient music.

Proceeds will be donated to SOSA (Safe from Online Sex Abuse), a nonprofit that combats online child sex abuse and trafficking"

As we approach the threshold leading us back to the Black Lodge on our transformative 8th journey, we are escorted through and beyond the mystical portal by the vigorous and fierce forces of Sneaker. Portrait in House is a collection of 3 resonant works, which are unified into a singular vision within its uncanny language that is rooted deeply in the foundations of Jak, New Beat, EBM, and Wave. Existing inside the liminal spaces of where light meets dark, we are presented with a documentation of dissonance and harmony. We begin our voyage with Jihad, a sluggish and slogging piece that unforgivingly drags us through the grime and the dirt in a ritualistic fashion that would have the ghost of Georges Bataille dancing in circles. Voices call out and howl into the dark as the drum patterns of the 707 rhythmically grasps onto its anarchic components. In the dark, we can see the light beyond the known universe. In the words of Sneaker "The name is not our message, but a document of an evident, traditional concept in (y)our world." As we find ourselves sprawled out on the ground following the 1st sonic stanza, a menacing voice bellows and warns that this is a Sax Track. Referencing Chicago icon Lil Louis, this work juxtaposes classical elements of house music together with the bare knuckled spirit of Jak. A magical spell led by disharmonious Portasound FM keys in conversation with a teetering sub bass, where at its core, this plus this, equals something that is uniquely familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. A number fit for any uncanny ritual that will fall under the night sky. Bringing our cosmic procession to a close we pick up the pace with a commanding number titled, Dance On, a no holds barred work that will possess your soul in the name of Jak. Flangers wail unforgivingly alongside a pulsating 101, as samples of the human voice are chopped up and arranged into a conversation that hypnotically calls for our bodies to be transformed into soft machines, while powered by ceremonious motions that are generated from the liberating process of ritual movement. We command you to dance! Words by Justin Aulis Long

2024 Repress
For Frenzy's third release, and the first solo release, the Uruguay-based William Arist is introducing us to his world of 'tribal techno'. Hailing from the city of Montevideo, this Southern-American-born artist already is a talent to watch overseas. Through their like-minded vision of electronic music, William bonded strongly with our Amsterdam-based Frenzy crew over the last couple of years. This warm connection evolved into Frenzy 03 - showcasing pure dance floor eclecticism that only William can deliver, including two remixes by no other than VIL and rising star Kenji Hina aka Alarico.

The A side instantly kicks off at full good vibe-throttle with two productions that reminisce about those iconic Love Parade moments during the very first days of rave culture. Balancing on the edge of house and techno, 'Chaka Chaka' loops the listener into a straight sense of movement. With rhythmic drums and uplifting vocals, 'Days' feels like stepping into an after hour dance-floor at the beach while the morning sun rises through the exotic vegetation. On the B side, William leans towards a more hypnotic sound. With a great tempo and a dark yet subtle mood, 'Tero' sets the tone for those murky clubbing moments where the boundaries dissolve and bodies merge. Slowly climbing out of the deep, 'Gultural' stays on the same energy level while adding dubby hints and a taste of freshness.

To top it off, the release is provided with two remixes that leave no room for interpretation. Portuguese producer VIL turned 'Chaka Chaka' into a true peak-hour beast while Italian multi-talent Alarico shows his versatile skill set with a speedy house remix of 'Gultural' under his Kenji Hina alias.

This very limited Future Primitive EP contains 4 ridiculously good remixes that have accumulated over the last few years, and finally get a full vinyl release! Radiophonic oddity brings his usual chaotic and ruff insanity to his version of Feel It, which Diakronik moves in a more classic and clean vein, with a lovely mid 90s remix. Lift Me Up gets an energy injection from Bustin and Skampy, and the EP is rounded off nicely by the early 90s slower remix from Sub Fundation, showing off how original old skool should be done...

Stepping outside his usual sphere, Blue Hour delves into dub-infused atmospheres with his latest EP, ‘Duality’. The EP kicks off with ‘Trekia’, a chord-driven techno track evolving slowly with blissful pads and a dreamy melody. ‘Orisus’ follows a similar palette, adding more funk to the drums and introducing drama with an unexpected string variation.
On the B-side, ‘Atoll’ delivers a more rolling, percussive groove, with subtle riffs breaking through the repetition. The final track, ‘Triton’, takes a deeper, moodier turn, featuring melancholic bell like tones and a wandering arpeggio. Followers of Blue Hour will find echoes of his earlier work here, but ‘Duality’ brings a breath of fresh air and sense of refinement, making it the perfect home on Arsenik Records.

Not so long ago in 2017, the first release on Michiel Claus' and Ailsa Cavers' Basic Moves saw the light of day and especially the shine of night. Produced by founding father Walrus, BM01 set the tone for a record label that focuses on releasing hidden archives from the 90s, whilst combining them with modern club music from the here and now. By highlighting the musical heritage of the Belgian electronic music scene, the label illustrates the continuity between past and present, history and shaping identities of 21st-century artists, undeniably building on the strong foundations of their forerunners. Seven years and nineteen releases later, Basic Moves is rounding off the series with BM20, a final double 12'' by one of the major figures from the Belgian underground: Circadian Rhythms also known as Dj Deg. After many years of collecting, deejaying and producing music, his musical spectrum ranges from synth, library and wave, to jazz, funk and disco, from house to techno. His journey started in clubs like Bocaccio (1988 - 1993), and La Gait? (1979 -1989), where young Deg came across deejay's like Olivier Pieters or Eric Beysens who made him choose the path of becoming a devoted disc jockey himself. BM20 is a sonic witness of Deg's first musical encounters with his machines, revealing a withdrawn selection of six bedroom patchwork tracks produced between the years of '93 & '99, a time without the internet or user manuals to help you solve the riddles of technology. Though only at the very beginning of his creative process, Deg's unique personality is nevertheless already clearly identifiable: blending techno with jazz, where the sharp edges of 16-step drum-sequences are smudged and bent in different directions. In the lower countries, the second half of the 90s was a period of fast & funky, happy Detroit, 140 BPM techno. Whenever Deg was not oscillating between record shops or gigs and had a moment on his own, mostly during morning hours after the club, he would spend his leftover energy in the studio. Either by himself or with his loyal ally Mike DMA, he would benefit from these moments to slow down and give space to a different, introverted sound - processing moods, feelings and thoughts. This record therefore gathers only a few of many (unrecorded) one-shot live sessions which were never intended to be shared - and only existed for the love of music and its power to take you beyond all things known. Thank you Deg for sharing your music and giving us a glimpse of your universe. Without your productions, your memorable warm-ups and closing sets - many of us would not be where we are now, and Basic Moves might never have been founded. As a last note to a closing song, BM20 is about being fully committed to the music and the club, a medium and place of fruitful settings for encounters, creativity and growth. Where dreams and ideas have a chance to exist, being almost ready and thought out to shape future times to come - and many party nights. Gurl, December 2023

Maggot Mass, the fifth full-length album by Pharmakon on Sacred Bones Records, marks the project's return after a five-year hiatus. This album signifies a departure from the original rules and structures established by Margaret Chardiet for Pharmakon, evolving into a new form. It retains the project's experimental roots in power electronics and noise while incorporating industrial and punk influences. The album stems from a profound disgust with humanity's dysfunctional relationship with the environment and other life forms. It explores the loneliness resulting from this broken bond and challenges us to acknowledge our personal and systemic responsibility. What peace can we make with privilege when the true cost of our comfort is not measured in dollars but in death? How can we reconcile with death when we impose the same hierarchical structures on it that we do in life? Is life worth living in the isolation of this self-imposed species loneliness? Humans often measure worth by accumulation _ money, assets, objects _ mistaking this for power and influence. Western heritage dictates a hierarchy, placing humans at the top, separate from the natural world. This delusion turns bodies into objects, land into property, and people into expendable tools. If our value were instead determined by our contribution to the ecosystem, who could claim that a human is more valuable than a maggot? Maggots recycle death into life, breaking down matter and nourishing new growth. They transform into flies, pollinating plants and sustaining the Earth's flora. In contrast, humans pollute rather than pollinate, with a select few profiting from exploitation at the expense of biodiversity and the well-being of many. In grappling with grief and loss on both personal and global scales, Margaret sought solace in the idea of rebirth through death, celebrating the beauty of regeneration through decay. However, she had to confront the stark reality of the disconnection from the earth under oppressive systems. Pharmakon is here imagining a path where the final act is to give back what was received from creation, offering our lives and deaths to sustain existence. once I slough off this human skin I will find my home and ancestral kin_ in the coffin-birth of my cadaver's ecosystem

2024 Repress

'Solar Nights' is the long awaited second album from German nu-disco star Tim Bernhardt, aka Satin Jackets. Released on Eskimo Recordings this April, 'Solar Nights' follows on from Bernhardt's critically acclaimed, and Gold certified, debut LP 'Panorama Pacifico' and features 14 tracks of smooth disco and leftfield pop sounds with guest appearances from the likes of Future Classic's Panama, David Harks, Niya Wells, Emma Brammer and Anduze.

The global success of 'Panorama Pacifico' has seen Bernhardt coaxed out from his remote studio in one of Germany's ancient forests to play to fans across the world, from South Korea to Mexico and beyond, experiences that inspired both the album itself and its title, 'Solar Nights'.

"In recent years the world's become smaller, a more inter-connected place. It can be dark and cold here, with snow all around, and the next day I can be playing to people on a beach. Somewhere on the planet it's always daytime or summer, but beyond that day and night just blend into each other these days," Tim explains. "We have daytime discos so you can go and party while the sun is still high in the sky, and you can go and hit the gym at night. Beit day or night, Satin Jackets is your soundtrack."

And what a soundtrack it is, from the first chords of opening 'Welcome Back' it's clear we're in safe hands here, the warm pads, delicate guitars and pianos providing the perfect introduction to the album. Whether it's the slow burning seductive pop of tracks like 'Just Like You', piano led house tracks like 'String It Again', the Balearic haze of 'All For You' or bonafide hits like the Nordic inspired 'Northern Lights' and 'Mirage' that between them have already scored well over 10 million streams across streaming platforms, 'Solar Nights' takes everything we loved from 'Panorama Pacifico' and polishes it to an ultra high sheen.

And in an age when rough and raw production is seen as an easy shorthand for authenticity, Tim's love of über-smooth production has made him an unlikely iconoclast, "I had always been fascinated by how glossy people like Nile Rodgers made their music," he reveals. "It always sounded like the musical equivalent of a fashion magazine's cover. I'd been making more underground music for a while but really wanted to go in totally the other direction and instead create a really smooth, polished sound."

That obsession with sonic fidelity shines through across every track on 'Solar Nights', and the years since his debut was released have been well spent perfecting his craft. "Even in just the last couple of years I've made some big changes in how I produce music. Compared to my debut, everything under the hood has changed here," he explains. "Every day, with every production, I'm learning new things and when I listen to these new tracks, the depth in the mixes, the clarity, I like to think of 'Solar Nights' as Satin Jackets but in 3D."

From wanting to recreate the sound of magazine covers to appearing on them, the past few years has been quite some journey for the still enigmatic producer. The man behind the golden mask may prefer to stay out of sight but 'Solar Nights' reveals him to be fully in control, producing music that reflects the glamour and glitz of 70s Manhattan, artfully updated for the 21st century.