quête:the dig

It says a lot about the interconnectedness of the global dubwise underground that it took downtime with Bristolian Neek in Portland to spur the link between ZamZam and Feel Free Hi Fi out of the Minneapolis Twin Cities. Once he put us on to them we were hooked- not only by their brilliant music but by their rigorously DIY approach and aesthetic. Heavily inspired by the more esoteric angles of early digi-era JA dancehall and UK dub (Shaka, Disciples, Mixman and Gussie P being some touchstones) the duo create a sound both reverential and unique, steeped in the traditions but striking out hard left into idiosyncratic territory all their own. Releasing all of their works up to this point on their own fantastic Digital Sting label, we’re excited to showcase them on ZamZam.

Melodic Techno 2025 – A New Era Begins ZYX Music kicks off its brand-new annual compilation series: Melodic Techno. Featuring over 30 cutting-edge tracks, available on CD and digital, this release is a must-have for fans of deep, driving, and atmospheric beats. Carefully compiled & mixed by Tom Franke, a true veteran of the global DJ scene.

With 25+ years behind the decks, the Koblenz-born artist—also known as DJ TOM—has brought his sound to clubs and festivals worldwide. Expect a powerful blend of rising talents and underground gems, alongside iconic names like Cosmic Gate, Ferry Corsten, Signum, and many more. Backed by RautMusik.FM, Europe‘s largest internet radio station, Melodic Techno 2025 is here to set the tone for the future of electronic music.

Back in 2017, Field Of Dreams remixed the deep house masterpiece, 'La Nuit Des Tropiques' by Les Crocodiles. It became a firm favourite with the late, great Andrew Weatherall and his partner Sean Johnston at the ALFOS parties.

With only a few DJ's given a copy of the demo, it gathered momentum and was set to be huge. Unfortunately, due to a couple of abortive attempts to get it pressed, it was never released.
The FoD boys have now licensed their own remix and can now put it out there for all to enjoy on their own label.
Add to that an amazing Pete Herbert chuggy remix of their 'Pourquoi?' single which, again, never saw the light of day until recently, on digital, and we have a pretty special 12 already.

Al & Chris decided that wasn't enough. They thought their much loved deep house track, 'In Our House', needed a bit more love so gave it a slight re-edit/re-eq and brought a banging new track, 'Protect Yourself' into the fold. The result is a rather special 12 inch record with four completely different but equally strong tracks.

No fillers here.

PURPLE TRAP, the powerful trio of KEIJI HAINO (voice, guitar), BILL LASWELL on bass and RASHIED ALI (drums), recorded live on stage at The Stone.


Recorded in december 2005, this furious live album by what can easily be called a super group remained unreleased till in 2023 BILL LASWELL made it accessible in a rough-mixed digital version for his bandcamp subscribers program exclusively. For this vinyl version, the music has been newly mixed by DIRK DRESSELHAUS (SchneiderTM) and mastered / cut by RUY MARINÉ at Dubplates & Mastering Berlin.


PURPLE TRAP, the trio of LASWELL / HAINO / ALI, reunited for this one-off gig as part of a 5-day-HAINO-festival at John Zorn's venue "The Stone", seven years after its only album Decided ... Already The Motionless Heart Of Tranquility, Tangling The Prayer Called "I" had been recorded (released on Tzadik in 1999).
The six untitled tracks (+ one as digital bonus) deliver what can be expected from such musical masters:
RASHIED ALI, iconic free jazz drummer who played with JOHN and ALICE COLTRANE, PHAROAH SANDERS, SONNY ROLLINS, JAMES BLOOD ULMER and countless more, is all drums, from quiet tiny sounds to high-energy rhythm patterns.
KEIJI HAINO, one of the most prolific artists of the Japanese experimental / noise scene for almost 50 years now, switches between truculent guitar splatters and full-on psychedelic outbursts.
BILL LASWELL, who as producer and musician created a massive body of work in fiields as diverse as ambient, world music, funk, jazz (and often hybrids of these), has proven his mastery in improvisation in projects like MASSACRE, PAINKILLER or (early) MATERIAL and provides the low-end grounding with his signicature bass sound, or adds effect-laden ornaments to the whole.
An overdue addition to a very small body of work by a clearly under-documented supergroup!

Credits:
KEIJI HAINO: voice, guitar BILL LASWELL: bass RASHIED ALI: drums

Recorded at The Stone, New York, december 15th, 2005. Edited by James Dellatacoma at Orange Music, West Orange, NJ. Mixed by Dirk Dresselhaus at the Zone, Berlin. Mastered & cut by Ruy Mariné at D&M, Berlin.

Layout & design by kaidoh. Cover photography by Jasmin Bär.

The debut album from CEM, 'FORMA' was developed as a soundtrack to Mauro Ventura’s series of "action painting performances" and uses various bell sounds (cowbells, doorbells, Shinto bells, singing bowls) to pick out anxious giallo sequences and heaving Dadaist formations.

CEM's best known for pneumatic DJ sets that have propped up Berlin's queer underground for a decade at this point, but don't expect to find any vaped darkroom tek on 'FORMA'. Each of the six compositions were commissioned for Ventura’s performative installation at Volksbühne in 2022, and CEM opted to represent the piece's themes of labor and repetition by sampling an arsenal of bells and metal objects that anchor his varying widescreen vignettes. 'The Calling' is a relatively subtle introduction, establishing the space with double bass drones and ratcheting digitally altered chimes - it's 'Bells Corrupt' that cements CEM's concept more righteously, harking back to Goblin's iconic 'Suspiria' score without pastiching any of its Italo-prog themes. Cycling ritualistic bell loops with squashed, industrial-strength thuds and granulised laptop belches, CEM silhouettes the tension and the vivid color of Argento's film, chrome plating the result.

'An Industrial Satire' is even more convincing; this one takes its cues from legendary German sound artist Limpe Fuchs, and the first part integrates scraped, alien resonances with CEM's loping industrial rhythms and squelchy EBM bassline. The real shift occurs in the second part, when CEM's choppy electroacoustic minimalism falls away to unlock his rolling hand drum performance, that he matches with a ghaita sample lifted from the Master Musicians of Joujouka's 1971 album with Brian Jones. With the future-facing deconstructions a memory, 'Statue Garden' beds reedy organ drones in eerie gallery ambiance, and closer 'The New Sincerity Test' finds Lithuanian performance artist Gertrūda Gilytė skewering the wellness industrial complex over nauseous subsonic oscillations and scratchy noise.

The wonderfully favourable response to our first CD and double vinyl volume of the original A and B sides of the singles of the late great Isaac Hayes – as originally released on Stax’ Enterprise subsidiary between 1969 and 1972 – has forced us to bring forward, this month, the release of “Hot Buttered Singles 2” to cater for what Ace is sure will be just as great a level of popular demand.

This volume picks up where “Hot Buttered Singles Vol 1” left off with Hayes’ final 45 of 1972, and carries his seven inch story through to 1976 – by which time Stax was defunct, and Hayes’ was on his own Hot Buttered Soul label via ABC Records. It features eight US R&B chart hits including the much sampled ‘Hung Up On My Baby’ and ‘Chocolate Chip’, Hayes’ biggest hit of this period ‘Joy’ and the ever-popular 1976 instrumental ‘Disco Connection’, which finally gave Hayes’ his second UK Top 20 hit after ‘Shaft’.

All tracks match the original single edits, and wherever possible are taken from digital transfers of the original Enterprise singles masters. Where the original 45s came in two parts, they also do so here. And where original singles masters no longer exist, as was the case for two tracks, Ace’s engineers have re-created them beat for beat from the longer album versions. (Have fun guessing which two they were…)

With Horror Spectrum, Bunnies plunges headfirst into the shadowy abyss of their art-rock multiverse, unearthing sounds that slither, shimmer, and scream.

Equal parts psychedelic hallucination, krautrock ritual, and noise rock exorcism, this record feels like the sonic aftermath of mad scientists summoning ghosts through an analog synthesizer they excavated from a cursed tomb. It's less an album and more an experiment gone deliciously wrong—a séance that channels the chaotic energies of dimensions better left untouched.

From the extraterrestrial pulsations of “Eyer of Ire” to the technicolor bliss of “That Evil Ghoul,” Horror Spectrum is a seven-track odyssey that detonates the boundaries of Bunnies’ already unhinged catalog. These tracks drag you by the ankles into realms where sound has teeth, time melts into warped rainbows, and the music feels like it’s plotting something sinister. Few bands dare to tread where Bunnies boldly hop, but here they are, mapping out mythical soundscapes with the glee of cartographers lost in their own creation.

This freakish entity of a record is profoundly unsettling and weirdly exhilarating. Horror Spectrum is the sound of a band digging deep into their subconscious and inviting you to get lost in the labyrinth.

Will you find your way out?

And if it sounds this good, why not just stay?

We are excited to announce the release of the highly anticipated 7-inch single from the rising singer-songwriter Mei Watanabe, created in collaboration with Shinichi Osawa (MONDO GROSSO). This special release marks the debut of the track on vinyl, and it includes the previously unreleased Shinichi Osawa DJ edit on the B-side, making it a must-have for collectors and music lovers alike.

This new single, which reflects Mei Watanabe's exploration of questions about the uncertain world we live in today, was created through over six months of sessions between Watanabe and Osawa. Inspired by Osawa's artistry and music, the track features lyrics penned by Watanabe herself, showcasing her unique vision and voice.

Since its digital release last October, the song has been featured as a Power Play on FM NORTH WAVE and CROSS FM, among many others, and has been receiving significant airplay, generating excitement and buzz across the airwaves.

If you are a celebrated progressive rock musician who has produced dozens of albums, how do you make an album that is different to what is usually expected? One answer is to work with musicians who also have decades of experience and worldwide recognition, plant a few seeds, then stand back and see what happens. For the Cosmic Cathedral project and their debut album ‘Deep Water’, this is exactly what Neal Morse did, joining up with Chester Thompson (Genesis), Phil Keaggy & Byron House. Much of the album was created from jam sessions where Morse’s long-time audio partner Jerry Guidroz put the best parts together, such as for the 38 minute epic, Deep Water Suite. Says Morse, “Time To Fly, also came directly from one of the jam sessions, where we took one of Phil’s ideas and all four of us elaborated on it.” What resulted from all this was a more groove-orientated feel, which Morse calls a “prog meets yacht rock meets The Beatles” kind of album, with an unmistakable jazz fusion influence: “These guys are real groovers: even if they're playing proggy stuff, it has more of a Steely Dan feel to it, but when Phil and I start singing it sounds like The Beatles!” Available as Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP & as Digital Album.

Isabelline curator and label head Practitioner reveals a stunning selection of his own archival productions with 'Portobello Innocent', the third release on the mysterious and acclaimed Berlin-based imprint. Recorded between 2016 - 2024, these «ve selected works offer a broad look into Practitioner’s sonic sphere. Introspective club re¬ections that cover a grand scope of machine-translated human emotions. The EP feels like a dug-up lost tape, timeless tracks untouched by current modes or trends, each composition progressively digging deeper into unknown chasms of the enigmatic producers' distinct sound.

Raisina - A hypnotic club track featuring sharp drum machine rhythms and a prominent vocal sample from a 1960s North African love song, creating an alluring and surreally beautiful opener. Well-Behaved Boys - Pulsating, shu®ing techno drums take front and centre, as warped frequencies from raves of a bygone era tune in and out, ¬ickering between past and present with frenetic rhythms and spoken fragments. Form & Emblem - An effervescent ambient interlude, its shimmering textures and layered atmospheres provide a meditative pause amidst the EP’s harder edges. Kala - Hazy and dreamlike, this track layers a wandering dub bassline under a steady house beat, glimmering jazz chords and ethereal textures surround the sonic sphere, evoking ¬ickering memories and lingering mystery. Council - A relentless, bassheavy techno groover with sharp vocal cuts and infectious energy. Council feels like a culmination of all that camebefore, resulting in a hypnotic and kinetic underground offering that feels in«nite. With 'Portobello Innocent', Practitioner offers a rare glimpse into his abstract realm, crafting magnetic spaces between memory and rhythm, the ancient and the future, the human and machine.

This project by Manu Dibango, the legendary saxophonist and pioneer of Afro-fusion jazz, delves into a musical universe where the saxophone becomes the voice of a spiritual and introspective quest. Sax & Spirituals Lamastabastani merges jazz, gospel, and African influences to weave a dialogue between sacred traditions and modern expressions.

With this work, Dibango pays tribute to the spiritual roots of music while reaffirming his commitment to sonic innovation. The project's minimalist and meditative approach speaks to both the soul and the senses, offering a musical experience imbued with depth and humanity.

We are honoured to present Domingo Dark Vinyl's first solo vinyl as Kaxtelian.

An EP with 6 tracks plus 2 bonus tracks in digital, that oscillates between the powerful breaks of Electro, UK Hardcore and Techno, to the influences of Belgian origin and the genuine sound of Valencia.

Sounds created directly between the ghettos of Albacete and Badalona that perfectly define his eclectic vision of the dancefloors.

Wie macht man als gefeierter Progressive-Rock-Musiker, der schon Dutzende von Alben produziert hat, ein Album, das anders ist als das, was man normalerweise erwartet? Eine Antwort ist, mit Musikern zusammenzuarbeiten, die ebenfalls über jahrzehnte-lange Erfahrung und weltweite Anerkennung verfügen, ein paar Samen zu säen und dann abzuwarten, was passiert. Für das Projekt Cosmic Cathedral und das Debütalbum "Deep Water" hat Neal Morse genau das getan und sich mit Chester Thompson (Genesis), Phil Keaggy und Byron House zusammengetan. Ein Großteil des Albums entstand in Jam-Sessions, aus denen Mor-ses langjähriger Audiopartner Jerry Guidroz die besten Stücke zusammenstellte, wie zum Beispiel das 38-minütige Epos "Deep Water Suite". "Auch Time To Fly", so Morse, "entstand direkt aus einer dieser Jam-Sessions, bei der wir eine von Phils Ideen aufgriffen und zu viert weiter ausarbeiteten. Herausgekommen ist ein eher Groove-orientiertes Album, das Morse als eine Art "Prog meets Yacht Rock meets The Beatles" bezeichnet, mit einem unverkennbaren Jazz-Fusion-Einfluss: "Diese Jungs sind echte Groover: Selbst wenn sie Prog spielen, klingt es eher wie Steely Dan, aber wenn Phil und ich anfangen zu singen, klingt es wie The Beatles! Erhältlich als Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP & Digital Album.

Wie macht man als gefeierter Progressive-Rock-Musiker, der schon Dutzende von Alben produziert hat, ein Album, das anders ist als das, was man normalerweise erwartet? Eine Antwort ist, mit Musikern zusammenzuarbeiten, die ebenfalls über jahrzehnte-lange Erfahrung und weltweite Anerkennung verfügen, ein paar Samen zu säen und dann abzuwarten, was passiert. Für das Projekt Cosmic Cathedral und das Debütalbum "Deep Water" hat Neal Morse genau das getan und sich mit Chester Thompson (Genesis), Phil Keaggy und Byron House zusammengetan. Ein Großteil des Albums entstand in Jam-Sessions, aus denen Mor-ses langjähriger Audiopartner Jerry Guidroz die besten Stücke zusammenstellte, wie zum Beispiel das 38-minütige Epos "Deep Water Suite". "Auch Time To Fly", so Morse, "entstand direkt aus einer dieser Jam-Sessions, bei der wir eine von Phils Ideen aufgriffen und zu viert weiter ausarbeiteten. Herausgekommen ist ein eher Groove-orientiertes Album, das Morse als eine Art "Prog meets Yacht Rock meets The Beatles" bezeichnet, mit einem unverkennbaren Jazz-Fusion-Einfluss: "Diese Jungs sind echte Groover: Selbst wenn sie Prog spielen, klingt es eher wie Steely Dan, aber wenn Phil und ich anfangen zu singen, klingt es wie The Beatles! Erhältlich als Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP & Digital Album.

Seit mehr als zwei Jahrzehnten ist CALIBAN eine der prägenden Kräfte im Metalcore. Mit ihrem kommenden Album "Back From Hell" entwickelt die deutsche Band ihren Sound weiter und bleibt dabei der Intensität und Emotion treu, die ihre Karriere definiert haben. Angeführt von den Gründungsmitgliedern Andreas Dörner (Gesang) und Marc Görtz (Gitarre), umfasst das aktuelle Lineup der Band zusätzlich den neuen Bassisten Iain Duncan, der mit seinen cleanen Vocals eine neue Dimension in die facet-tenreiche Dynamik der Band bringt.Nach dem Erfolg der letzten Singles - "I Was a Happy Kid Once", "Echoes" und "Guilt Trip feat. Mental Cruelty" - veröffentlichen CALIBAN ihr bisher ambitioniertestes Werk. "Back from Hell" erforscht Themen wie innere Kämpfe, Resilienz und Katharsis und verbindet ihre charakteristischen, krachenden Riffs und den gutturalen Gesang mit atmosphärischen Melodien und einer moder-nen Produktion.Im Laufe der Jahre haben sich CALIBAN ihren Platz unter den Metalcore-Legenden erarbeitet, mit unzähligen Tourneen, Festi-valauftritten und einer Diskografie, welche Genregrenze immer wieder aufs Neue definiert. Im Jahr 2024 und darüber hinaus wird die Band mit "Back From Hell" auf Tour gehen und ihren Ruf als einer der elektrisierendsten Live-Acts der Heavy Music unter-mauern. CALIBAN sind stärker als je zuvor!"Back From Hell" ist erhältlich als: Ltd. CD Digipak & Branded Air Freshener, LP, Digital Album.

Reissue des Debütalbums "Kontraband" (2019) des mittlerweile mit einem Grammy ausgezeichneten, jamaikanischen Reggae-Künstlers Kabaka Pyramid, der mit seinem unverwechselbaren Musikstil die Kraft, Energie und Melodie des Reggae mit der Lyrik des Hip-Hop verbindet. "Kontraband" wurde von Damian "Jr Gong" Marley produziert, der selbst - neben Akon, Chronixx, Protoje, u.a. - mit einem Feature vertreten ist.

Nach zahlreichen Digital- und Tape-Releases legt das Freiburger Trio endlich ihr offizielles Debüt-Album vor! Überragend nonchalant kombinieren die drei Protagonisten darauf alles, was sie in ihrem jungen Leben so in sich aufgesaugt haben - sei es Team Scheisse, Queen oder die Tagesthemen. Da treffen ebenso clevere wie amüsante deutschsprachige und zumeist überaus politische Lyrics auf völlig überdrehte Stones-Uh-Uh"s und trashiges Hunde-Gehechel auf aggressive Gitarrenriffs, knackiges Drumming und wummernde Basshooks. Thematisch arbeitet man sich dabei von Migrationspolitik über Gentrifizierung zu Chancengleichheit, hat zwischendrin Zeit messerscharfe Beobachtungen anzustellen und in ironische Witze zu verpacken, mal eine Umarmung zu spendieren und uns immer wieder über"s Parkett zu jagen.

Das erste Album, das während der Numa-Jahre veröffentlicht wurde, war Berserker, das den Wandel in
Numans Sound darstellte, als er sich einer härteren digitalen Ästhetik zuwandte, während er gleichzeitig
die analogen Texturen seiner früheren Arbeiten ehrte. Das Album zeigt nicht nur Numans kreatives Wachstum, sondern feiert auch seine Fähigkeit, Grenzen zu überschreiten und die Zuhörer auf eine fesselnde
musikalische Reise mitzunehmen. Auf dem Album verwebt Numan fiktive und persönliche Erzählungen
zu einem reichen Klangteppich, der auch nach 40 Jahren noch bei den Fans Anklang findet und für seine
eindringlichen Themen und Titel wie „My Dying Machine“, „This Is New Love“ und „Berserker“ gefeiert
wird.
Diese neue remasterte und erweiterte 2LP-Edition enthält das Originalalbum und ausgewählte Bonustracks,
während die Deluxe-4CD-Edition das Originalalbum zusammen mit Bonustracks, erweiterten Mixes von BSeiten und Numans Live-Album White Noise enthält, das während der Berserker-Tour aufgenommen wurde
und seine dynamische Performance zeigt. Die Wiederveröffentlichung von Berserker markiert den Beginn
der Retrospektive „The Numa Years“ und stellt nur den ersten Schritt einer umfassenderen Erforschung
dieser Ära dar.

Seit mehr als zwei Jahrzehnten ist CALIBAN eine der prägenden Kräfte im Metalcore. Mit ihrem kommenden Album "Back From Hell" entwickelt die deutsche Band ihren Sound weiter und bleibt dabei der Intensität und Emotion treu, die ihre Karriere definiert haben. Angeführt von den Gründungsmitgliedern Andreas Dörner (Gesang) und Marc Görtz (Gitarre), umfasst das aktuelle Lineup der Band zusätzlich den neuen Bassisten Iain Duncan, der mit seinen cleanen Vocals eine neue Dimension in die facet-tenreiche Dynamik der Band bringt.Nach dem Erfolg der letzten Singles - "I Was a Happy Kid Once", "Echoes" und "Guilt Trip feat. Mental Cruelty" - veröffentlichen CALIBAN ihr bisher ambitioniertestes Werk. "Back from Hell" erforscht Themen wie innere Kämpfe, Resilienz und Katharsis und verbindet ihre charakteristischen, krachenden Riffs und den gutturalen Gesang mit atmosphärischen Melodien und einer moder-nen Produktion.Im Laufe der Jahre haben sich CALIBAN ihren Platz unter den Metalcore-Legenden erarbeitet, mit unzähligen Tourneen, Festi-valauftritten und einer Diskografie, welche Genregrenze immer wieder aufs Neue definiert. Im Jahr 2024 und darüber hinaus wird die Band mit "Back From Hell" auf Tour gehen und ihren Ruf als einer der elektrisierendsten Live-Acts der Heavy Music unter-mauern. CALIBAN sind stärker als je zuvor!"Back From Hell" ist erhältlich als: Ltd. CD Digipak & Branded Air Freshener, LP, Digital Album.