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Newly signed to indie heavyweights Heist or Hit (Westside Cowboy, Her’s) EP two: ‘Marionette’ has been produced by Daniel Fox (Sprints, Melts, Psychotic Monks, Naked Lungs, Nerves, Ronan Group) and it’s set to be seminal. A set text for future musicians with aspirations of innovation. “The theme of the marionette is present throughout each song, involving some aspect of a power struggle and a lack of control within oneself.” Opener ‘Chocolate’ bounces in on a synth line as slippery and hyperactive as anything Aphex Twin ever cooked up. Crispy offbeat electronic cymbals play counterpoint to atonal guitars and pugilistic drumming before the track dry-wretches its way into a nauseating cacophony of euphoria. It’s a tale of crippling social anxiety and a preference for an unflattering, lonely reality. The muted guitar pluck in the intro to ‘Crows’ is the sonic equivalent of biting one’s nails. An anxious, involuntary tic that speaks to the theme of guilt, especially surrounding digital culture: “children can watch what they please, just with viewer discretion.” The track lurches between textures, weaving themselves in and out of focus. Guitars blare like sirens, interrupting paranoid urban centres at 2am, while the bass sounds like the inside of an insomniac’s head on day four of a REM drought.

The metallic intent of ‘Discipline’ squats on the chest as though Steve Albini is your sleep paralysis demon. The pain of accountability spews from the industrial regularity of the beat, apt to the narrative of a soldier coming to terms with the lies that made him commit atrocious, violent acts. EP closer ‘Servant’ starts like a Spectrum loading screen. Dial-up modem-coded, it pauses for moments of white-noise-vomit and existential bloops. Fitting for a more abstract take on the idea of the power struggle filtered through religious imagery and self-awareness of one’s own actions, coupled with an inability to exert control over them. The band pile on the textures with sadistic glee until the evil is exorcized and the modem melts. Connection severed. Across the EP, vocalist Joseph has a tendency to hyper-fixate on themes of control and unhappiness. Creating rooms in which doom and isolation ricochet. Not that it’s all bad news “we like to think that by shedding light on the negative, it commands a sense of hope.” Influenced as much by the liminal-space horror and uncanny dread of Silent Hill as the existentialist theatre of The Twilight Zone or the absurdity of Twin Peaks, they occupy a space between unease and impulse. Makeshift Art Bar are not a band interested in being liked. They’re a band interested in being necessary. There’s so much eating and drinking in their work that multiple listens simply don’t satisfy; something new reveals itself on each return visit. Audacious. Idiosyncratic. Vital. A young band carrying identity, defiance and an uncompromising vision as if it isn’t a rare cargo.

Downtown Boys have pushed relentlessly forward as an artistic and political project since their founding. Singer Victoria Marie and guitarist/singer Joey La Neve DeFrancesco first met at union meetings while working together at a hotel in Providence, RI, writing many of the band's early songs about labor organizing and exploitative workplaces. The quintet is completed by Joe DeGeorge (sax/synth), Mary Jane Regalado (bass), and Joey Doubek (drums). Over years of touring, and three acclaimed albums, Downtown Boys have continued to grow as artists, musicians, and organizers. Now, the band has arrived with Public Luxury, an enthralling album that keeps politics front and center while summoning the band's most urgent and powerful sound to date. The definition of Public Luxury falls very much in line with that of the title of the second Downtown Boys LP, Full Communism. Straight up, Public Luxury means, "everything for everyone." It's the stubborn insistence that a better world is possible, while fully recognizing the horrors we witness daily, and the individual and collective responsibility to resist the nihilism and hopelessness we all feel. Sentiments like "everything for everyone," and "we will have it all" perfectly represent the cathartic, communal live experience this cadre of multi-instrumentalists create. These sentiments also encapsulate the inclusive, joyful sonic fusion that defines the album: anthemic punk and indie rock mix with Latin traditions, drum machines blend with acoustic drums, saxophones punctuate riffs, and layers of synths add flourishes from new-wave to industrial. The amount of ground covered on Public Luxury can't be overstated, and yet the album feels totally vital and cohesive. Public Luxury is a revisitation of the band's past for the sake of their future. It was co-produced by DeFrancesco with recording engineer and longtime Downtown Boys supporter Seth Manchester (Lambrini Girls, Lightning Bolt, Model/Actriz) at the Pawtucket, RI studio and arts space Machines With Magnets, not far from the band's first home of Providence, RI. Victoria Marie's grandmother-a monumental figure for the band throughout their existence-passed away in May of 2025, and her influence looms large over the album; the songs "No Me Jodas" and "Sirena" are crystallized representations of the love between a woman and her ancestor. Beyond the loss, rage and frustration of the present, Public Luxury points boldly towards a vibrant, open-hearted vision of both music and the world: "Our music is simply for anyone and everyone who believes in the new future we can make together," Victoria Marie declares. "A world that will be awkward, inconsistent, yet truly free when it comes to all that matters."

SML is a Los Angeles based quintet featuring Anna Butterss, Jeremiah Chiu, Josh Johnson, Booker Stardrum, and Gregory Uhlmann. Spontaneous Music Live contains two side-length pieces of unedited improvisation, recorded live at Los Angeles venue Zebulon during SML"s December 2025 three-night residency, just weeks after the release of the band"s second album HOW YOU BEEN. It was recorded and mixed live to stereo tape by Bryce Gonzales (the same engineer/wizard known for his gorgeous live captures/mixes of Jeff Parker"s ETA IVtet). Between HOW YOU BEEN and their 2024 debut SMALL MEDIUM LARGE (both of which were heavily edited, shaped and post-produced) the band has developed a reputation for records that are heavily fused, polished, and punchy. The medium is on full post-modern display on those LPs, and the band"s post-production knife can be responsible for much of the perspective - the tastiest morsels collected, arranged, and rearranged just so. But the source material from both those albums were live recordings. Longform, unwieldy, ebbing and flowing. On top of that, every performance the band has ever done has been fully improvised in that spirit. So in the sphere of live performance the band"s esteem has grown down a different path - one of linear, hypnotic, expansion. It"s a perceived split persona shared by some of SML"s most inspiring conceptual bedfellows: compare the extended madness of Can"s Live in Paris 1973 to the relative tight form of Future Days from the same year; the speed-funk chaos of Miles Davis" Dark Magus to the heavily deconstructed On The Corner or Big Fun. Spontaneous Music Live removes the curatorial perspective and pulls the curtain back on that search-pluck-reconstruct editing process. What we"re left with is the psychedelic realism of the band in situ, in their home town, collectively improvising, fully in-the-moment, mining for that moment of discovery. We hear, in macro, each nugget of sound which could be the basis for a future SML album track, spattered amongst the collective chaos-and-control like stars in the night sky.

Big Crown Records is proud to present Adult Themes, the latest full length offering from El Michels Affair. This album takes the band's "Cinematic Soul" aesthetic literally and sends the listener on a journey through a whirlwind of moods and energies. With their 2005 debut album Sounding Out The City, EMA spearheaded an instrumental funk / soul movement that inspired a slew of bands and even lead to the creation of a few independent record labels. El Michels has since lent his signature sound to artists from Adele to Dr John, Lana Del Rey to Aloe Blacc, and a who's who list of others. In 2016 he co-founded Big Crown Records and has since produced the lion's share of its output. A short stint as the touring band for Wu Tang Clan in 2007 led to the cult classics Enter The 37th Chamber (2009) and Return To The 37th Chamber (2017). Adult Themes marks the long awaited, highly anticipated return to an album of original compositions from El Michels Affair. In 2017 in between producing, playing, and recording on other artists' records Leon Michels began creating compilations of short interludes intended to be sampled by hip hop producers. Some of these wound up becoming songs by Jay Z & Beyonce, Travis Scott, and Don Toliver. These minute-long snippets were inspired by the dense moody work of `60s composers like David Axelrod, and Francois de Roubaix, as well as Moondog's brand of classical jazz. Michels was having so much fun creating these instrumental / orchestral nuggets that he decided to expand on some of the ideas and create what would become the soundtrack for a movie that has yet to be made, an imaginary film entitled "Adult Themes." The album plays like the colors on an artists pallet. Songs like "Rubix" and "Villa" are densely orchestrated with the hard-hitting drums that El Michels Affair is known for. On "Life of Pablo", Leon's son makes his first appearance on record and intros a song with an epic arrangement and a moving mood. "Hipps" is a drum heavy ballad that could've easily fit on EMA's debut record, Sounding Out the City. Other compositions like "The Difference" and "Kill The Lights" are bare, melodic mood pieces with sparse drums and sophisticated chord movement. All of these tunes come together to make perfect backgrounds for dialogue and action. One of the beautiful things about instrumental music is that the listener can decide what the narrative is. With Adult Themes El Michels Affair has created a "choose your own adventure" in musical form.

The arrival of REAL, Vol. 1 marks a seismic shift in the global music landscape, uniting two of Nigeria’s most formidable forces for a project that defines the current zenith of Afrobeats. This collaborative effort sees Wizkid, the smooth-talking pioneer of the genre’s international expansion, and Asake, the "Mr. Money" whose neo-Fuji sound redefined the street-pop aesthetic, finding a middle ground between luxury and grit. The project serves as a sonic bridge between eras, blending the minimalist, high-fashion sensibilities of Wizkid’s recent output with the high-octane, choir-backed energy that has made Asake a household name. It is less of a competition and more of a conversation between two masters of their craft, exploring themes of spiritual gratitude, the weight of superstardom, and the unyielding pulse of Lagos.

With soundscapes both cinematic and deeply rhythmic, the production moves beyond standard club formulas, opting instead for a sophisticated fusion of traditional Yoruba percussion, shimmering synths, and the heavy, resonant log drums of Amapiano. Wizkid provides the effortless, melodic swagger that acts as the project's anchor, while Asake injects a spiritual intensity through his signature layered chanting and rapid-fire flows.

Ultimately, REAL, Vol. 1 is a celebration of authenticity in an era of global crossover. By stripping away the pressure of conforming to Western pop standards, Wizkid and Asake have created a body of work that is unapologetically Nigerian yet universally resonant. It captures the spirit of a city that never sleeps and the ambition of two artists who have conquered the world without losing their souls. This is more than just a collection of hits; it is a blueprint for the future of African music, proving that when Wizkid and Asake occupy the same frequency, the result is nothing short of legendary.

After a gap of over ten years, the Grammy nominated Jazz Funk band Down To The Bone are back with their groove laden, Acid Jazz tinged new album “This Way Forward”– here on an ultra-limited, special release of a doublepack vinyl album. Bringing together a good groove fueled album of ten original tracks with a diversity of flavours – from Jazz Funk to Soul to Brazilian tinged delights that are sure to get the musical juices flowing. Packed full of the band’s trademark grooves and bringing together multi talented musicians from the past and the present all culminating into a melting-pot of sounds that together represent Down To The Bone’s essential sounds.

The new album also brings together multi-talented vocalists on no less than seven tracks From the exquisite soul talents of Hil Street Soul, who co-wrote the opening soul infused groove track “Get Up And Dance”, to the equally soulful tones of Natasha Watts and then the Brazillian sounds of Guida De Palma. The pulsing horn section of Tim Smart, Ryan Jacob (Bonobo/Alice Russell) and James Arben (Vibration Black Finger/Mulatu Astatke), together with Piers Green on sax solos, along with the driving bass of both Julian Crampton and Jo Phillpotts to the pumping beats of drummer Davide Giovannini (Snowboy/Jazztronic/Da Lata and Pucho/Lisa Stansfield), to the melodic chords of Neil Angilley (Snowboy/Jazzhino/Maceo Parker) and Anders Olinder (PeeWee Ellis/Courtney Pine), to the chugging guitar of Tony Remy( Dave Lee/The Sunburst Band/Incognito/Omar) and Mark Jaimes (Simply Red) plus Gianni Chiarello – and the icing on the cake with percussion from Joe “Bongo” Becket.

All working together to bring a stellar performance on this cracking new release to show that DTTB are a force to be reckoned with both on stage and on the wheels of steel.

After finding their feet with a couple of remixes for Before I Die, Talking Drums ditch their sea legs and swap the pirate booty of their cult edit series for a five-track EP of original productions, each swimming in LinnDrums, digital chimes and synth-vox sunshine. Summer sounds abound as the crew refract house, disco, ambient and dub through shimmering sea glass, bringing the beach to the bar, club, garden or grotto.

Inspired equally by tropical Sceneries (but Not Songs), Ecco the Dolphin and Echoes of Wally, as well as a few tall tales about trendy whales, this 16-bit caper makes a splash from wave top to bikini bottom. Written and produced as a cohesive EP over three sun-baked weeks in 2025, and stitched together with field recordings and found sounds from Sicily, rural France, Japan and Singapore, Pier Pressure sees each track flow into the next: distinct seas that make up one larger ocean.

Opener ‘Fashionable Whale’ surfaces with mystic motifs and dreamy pads arcing above the spray before a purring low end and drum-box shuffle plunge us into Balearic house depths. A rippling breakdown, bookended by insistent arps, provides respite from the rhythm before the low-tempo pulse returns to take us home. Sticking with Zone 2 cardio, ‘Salmon Hats’ serves wonky disco at Valium pace, its beatific vox and glittering sequences underpinned by a hip-swivelling bassline and topped with a future-primitive melody. After drifting into dream house for a sunset lull, it’s back to the beat and the enduring question of how best to dance on a lilo.

‘Mangrove’ offers an intertidal intermission as tuned percussion finds a place among the cicadas and lapping waves, gently unfolding into an RPGambient ode to humid languor. Refreshed, albeit ailed by a sunstroke haze, we’re back on the dance floor with the optimistic motifs and jolly polyrhythms of ‘Flutti Di Mare’, an uptempo, Afro-adjacent house workout designed to inspire mile-wide smiles. Then the EP sails off into the sunset with the fathoms-deep delight of ‘Squid Dub’, a Cousteau-coded cod-reggae stepper with digi-dub bass, pound-shop marimba and all manner of THCtinged FX. Don’t be deceived by the loose and limber opening: a solid sequencer emerging at the midpoint sees the Squid squeeze every bit of bump out of the finale.

Forget ATOL protection - Talking Drums deliver your summer holiday directly to your stereo.

The Mexican band The Survival created a blend of blues and acid rock influenced by the U.S. West Coast movement and British blues, captured on this 1971 album-the only one they recorded. They are often described as a combination of Country Joe and the Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Moby Grape, and Ten Years After. One of the rarest records ever released in Mexico, it stands as a significant testament to the "onda chicana," a historical moment when Mexican youth took up instruments to express their reality. The group formed in August 1970 and recorded a single album, "La onda de The Survival" (1971), which combined laid-back blues with distortion. One distinctive feature was that lead vocals were handled by drummer Andrés Lusher-an unusual choice that gave the band a unique sonic identity. The album captured the spirit of the time, portraying generational shifts, repression of youth, fraternity, pacifism, and the influence of drugs. Despite their brief existence, The Survival and their sole album remain a significant testament to the "onda chicana", a lasting mark on the history of Mexican rock. Includes an insert with liner notes.

‘Batteries Not Included (Brain Sold Separately)’ EP Arrives Via No Static Automatic

No Static Automatic is proud to announce the new EP from UK Electro legend Phil Klein under his Mental Note alias. Titled “Batteries Not Included (Brain Sold Separately),” this release marks the dynamic follow-up to the acclaimed 2020 debut “Voices In My Head (Noises In My Pants).”

Few authentic Electro producers from the UK can wear the badge ‘legend’ with the same level of justification as Phil Klein, aka Bass Junkie. Active since the late 80s, Klein has tirelessly shaped his distinct vision of Electro, both as a solo artist and through storied collaborations with icons like Dynamix II, Keith Tenniswood (Radioactiveman), and Si Brown (Dexorcist). As a DJ, remixer, live act, and the driving force behind the seminal Battle Trax label, his influence is woven into the fabric of the genre.

With essential releases on labels including DMX Krew’s Breakin’ Records, Andrea Parker’s Touchin’ Bass, and Billy Nasty’s Elektrix, the Bass Junkie sound seamlessly bridges the old-school beats of Electro’s origins with a potent, borderline-industrial edge. As noted by Andy Barton of Bass Agenda: “From funky to ferocious, Bass Junkie’s discography is a must-have for anyone claiming passion for the genre – influential, individual, and infectious with every beat.”

Now, as Mental Note, Klein continues his exploration of electronic psychedelia. The new EP, “Batteries Not Included (Brain Sold Separately),” is a four-track expedition through the Electro cosmos:

“Brainwash” immerses the listener in swirling, hypnotic synths.
“They're Not Blue, They’re Purple” delivers a masterclass in crunchy, textured drums.
“Primordial Soup” showcases frantic, intricate programming.
“Kluster Funk” offers a moment of deep, sonic relief and groove.

Each track reinforces Mental Note’s signature: a journey that is cerebral, raw, and irresistibly rhythmic.


About Bass Junkie/Mental Note:
Phil Klein, operating primarily under the alias Bass Junkie, is a cornerstone of the UK Electro scene. For over three decades, his work has defined and evolved the sound, earning him a revered status among peers and purists. His Mental Note project is a focused outlet for a deeper, more experimental strand of his production genius, further solidifying his legacy as an electronic music innovator.

Featuring rare- and first-on-vinyl tracks from beloved producers such as 2000 And One, Stasis, and CiM. Remastered by DMX Krew and with an accompanying online essay by Oli Warwick.

Across eight carefully selected slices of starry-eyed machine soul, Cold Blow presents an exquisite tour through backroom techno and downtempo electro. With a focus on thematic flow and an immersive listening experience, the London-based label explores works from leading lights of the 1990s and previously unreleased cuts that celebrate the human heart that can be discovered in synthetic sound practices. The development of techno in the 1990s saw the music evolve in different directions across the world. From the expressive blueprint laid out by the Detroit pioneers, a wide range of tempos and energies emerged. Techno's evocative synthesis and intricate drum machine programming was especially potent for deeper explorations away from the dancefloor. Documents Of A Different Reality casts back to when technology was steering quantum leaps in communication and creativity and the future was shot through with naive optimism. It was also a time when the media and industry hadn't caught up with the music to box it into distinct categories. As such, there's a sense of creative freedom that informs the older tracks on the album, from 2000 And One and Sandy Huner's sparkling example of early Dutch techno to London-based LA Synthesis' detailed take on braindance and the majestic night sky vision of cult legend Stasis. There's also space for rare, late 90s machine funk from Icelandic outlier Thor alongside Connective Zone's charmingly fractured bleep dream and a more contemporary offering from Barcelona-based duo Permutation. Meanwhile Mind Control and CiM both capture the spirit of stylistic fusion with twitchier rhythms that take influence from hardcore and jungle as much as techno. With an atmospheric through-line of melancholic pads and harmonious leads, this small but perfectly formed collection naturally follows on from previous, equally thought-out compilations on Cold Blow, and adds a distinct perspective on the history and continuing legacy of pioneering early ambient techno.

One of the UK’s best loved and most respected dance music producers, Michael Gray, unveils his exciting third artist album, ‘You & Me’, on his own ever vibrant Sultra Records. Featuring a superb array of both fresh and regular vocal and musical collaborators, Michael delivers another superb helping of lovingly crafted discofied, boogie and soulful dance treats, where meaningful songwriting, passionate vocal performances and impeccable musicianship combine to create one of Michael’s best bodies of studio work to date!

“I’m really excited about this album. I enjoyed making ‘Optimism’ 2 years ago, but I feel like my sound and creativity have developed further during the production of my third album ‘You & Me’. I think there will be a few tracks that people are not expecting from me… and that’s the joy of making an album! You can really get creative”. – Michael Gray

Across the album, Michael brings together an impressive array of world class talent. Rising 29 year old vocalist Bran Mazz features prominently, delivering fresh performances on the standout cover of Maxwell’s ‘Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder)’, as well as on ‘I Like The Way’, ‘Medicine’ and ‘Breaking Away’. Chi town house legend Mike Dunn joins Michael on the title track ‘You & Me’, built around a clever sample of Freeez’s ‘Flying High’. Vocal powerhouse Tania Foster turns up the heat on the Latin disco flavoured ‘Shake’. New York singer Kelli Sae lends her unmistakable soul to ‘Give It To Me’ and ‘Detonate’, the latter also featuring singer/songwriter Errol Reid (China Black / Axwell). Jamiroquai’s Derrick McKenzie adds his signature live drums to ‘Detonate’ and ‘I Like The Way’. Sian Lee appears on the current single ‘Gravity’, which is sitting at the top of the Traxsource chart. ‘Universe’ sees Michael deliver an instrumental jackin’ house twist, set for a full single release on Toolroom in June. Adding further depth to the album, superstar diva Phebe Edwards brings her impeccable soulful tone to a cover of Cleo Sol’s ‘Life Will Be’, Brit soul favourite Dyanna Fearon shines on ‘I’m Falling For You’, and Audrey Martells lifts ‘Beautiful’ with her stunning, uplifting vocal.

2026 Repress!

With recent releases for some of the scene’s leading labels, Fideles (aka Daniele Aprile and Mario Roberti) are an Italian duo on the rise. Their spellbinding ‘Impressum’ EP is both a fine example of the Fideles sound and exactly in keeping with the direction Tale Of Us are steering their Afterlife label. Inspired by the Ionian sea in Southern Italy, low-pitched basslines and soaring synths give the tracks just the right amount of drama, whilst the rich sound-design allows them to make the most of a big system; something Tale Of Us have put to great use in their sets this year. Take the emotionally-charged title track, the rolling, mechanical drums of ‘Kalotypse’ or the more restrained ‘Hadar’. Across all five tracks Fideles’ character shines through the adventurous melodies and distinctive touch, creating an inspiring next episode of the Afterlife catalogue.

Gradual Isolation started in the early 90s as the musical project of 2 friends, Luc Van Den Bosch and Filip Van Breda, both living in Turnhout, Belgium.

They were inspired by EBM and new wave from the 80s and 90s and saw bands such as the Canadian Psyche as their great examples. With just a few synthesizers, a drum machine and a homemade microphone, they made music that could be described as emotional, and somewhat naive bedroom new wave. If the term emo-wave doesn't exist yet, it should be invented to describe Gradual Isolation's music.

Over the years, many tapes have been filled with their improvisations and about 20 to 30 songs have been more or less completed. They never officially released their music, only a handful of handmade cassette tapes were distributed to friends. They did not go further than a single performance in the local new wave bar ‘The Cave’ in Turnhout in 1991, but the duo stayed together and continues to make music to this day.

‘The Sky Converts’ and ‘Agony By Men’ appeared on Underground Wave Volume 7, and now, for the first time, a full-length LP ‘Remaining Faces’ has been released on Walhalla Records!

WRWTFWW Records unleashes the first ever release of legendary post-disco, funk, soul and electronic UK trio Imagination's cult album Night Dubbing in (well deserved) double LP format. The limited edition full-length comes with pristine audiophile treatment and luxurious packaging : a 45rpm and Half Speed Mastered DLP housed in heavyweight silver cardboard sleeve.
Imagination's singular 1983 album Night Dubbing is a refined deconstruction of black British soul and club pop, filtered through the deep studio and mixing techniques of dub music. Elegant, restrained, and, in its very own subtle way, radical, the record reshapes choice selections from the group's stellar catalogue into an immersive and out-of-this-world listening experience.

The special mixes on Night Dubbing are built on time and space. Basslines elongate and dissolve. Vocals appear, vanish, and reappear like ghosts. Drums fall away into vast silences, while echoes, tape edits, and precise engineering manoeuvres smoothly slide across the stereo field, revealing themselves like magic over repeated listens. Far from simple extensions or 12" versions, Night Dubbing treats the studio itself as an instrument, opening new dimensions of sound.

Often cited as a foundational record in the genesis of the house genre, the album also features the historic Larry Levan remix of "Changes", a Paradise Garage anthem that helped shape the direction of club music for decades to come.

More than 40 years on, Night Dubbing remains a seminal work. Its influence continues to echo through contemporary dance music, offering a blueprint for how pop could be transformed into something darker, stranger, more physical - a timeless sound that drifts effortlessly from the dancefloor into space.

Important note : it sounds amazing played on 33rpm too !

Reissue. As undeniably powerful, durable, and straight-shooting as Motorhead's Lemmy Kilminster, Spirit Caravan's inveterate founder and leader, Scott "Wino" Weinrich, is an absolute rock lifer. Following on the heels of the band's debut, Jug Fulla Sun, Dreamwheel is a Spartan-sounding five-song EP, the perfect compliment to the dense, doom-laden psychedelia of the full-length. In fact, Dreamwheel's greatest strength is the breathing space between notes, provided by the rock solid rhythm section of drummer Gary Isom and bassist Dave Sherman. Such rhythmic austerity -- the kind championed by the effort of bands like Free, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, and Grand Funk Railroad -- allows Wino's compelling, soulful baritone voice and sizzling Hawkwind-esque leads to truly sing out. As the voice behind St. Vitus and the Obsessed, Wino helped formulate and configure the shape of modern stoner rock and doom metal. Spirit Caravan, as evidenced by this brilliant, relaxed gem of an EP, is perhaps his most able vessel. Each song burns with analog warmth, intensity, and brightness. Though it took nearly a decade for Wino to receive his overdue appreciation as an artist, the late '90s and early part of the new millennium have seen his stock soar, even if not financially. - All music

Aqua Blue Vinyl, limited to 300 copies. As undeniably powerful, durable, and straight-shooting as Motorhead's Lemmy Kilminster, Spirit Caravan's inveterate founder and leader, Scott "Wino" Weinrich, is an absolute rock lifer. Following on the heels of the band's debut, Jug Fulla Sun, Dreamwheel is a Spartan-sounding five-song EP, the perfect compliment to the dense, doom-laden psychedelia of the full-length. In fact, Dreamwheel's greatest strength is the breathing space between notes, provided by the rock solid rhythm section of drummer Gary Isom and bassist Dave Sherman. Such rhythmic austerity -- the kind championed by the effort of bands like Free, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, and Grand Funk Railroad -- allows Wino's compelling, soulful baritone voice and sizzling Hawkwind-esque leads to truly sing out. As the voice behind St. Vitus and the Obsessed, Wino helped formulate and configure the shape of modern stoner rock and doom metal. Spirit Caravan, as evidenced by this brilliant, relaxed gem of an EP, is perhaps his most able vessel. Each song burns with analog warmth, intensity, and brightness. Though it took nearly a decade for Wino to receive his overdue appreciation as an artist, the late '90s and early part of the new millennium have seen his stock soar, even if not financially. - All music

Forged from the fire of internal struggles, Loraine James was wrestling with confidence and a desire for change when she embarked on “Detached From The Rest Of You”. A guiding hand came through producing 2025's “Clandestine” EP with singer Anysia Kym, which gave her the experience of a more 'pop' setting and the tools and insight to work her instrumentals into more conventional shapes; a shift from club driven sounds and winding instrumentals into more precise song forms.


Loraine’s production is stripped to the bone, soundscapes of clicks and glitches inspired by Aoki Takamasa, Ryoji Ikeda, and the early-00s Clicks & Cuts school. Here, often with not much more than sparse keyboard chords to fill in with subtle colouring, she uses the space around the sounds and vocals to draw the listener in to a succinct and direct album, her most confident yet.


Guest contributors include vocalist Sydney Spann on “In a Rut”, Alan Sparkhawk (Low) on downcast anthem “Peak Again”, Miho Hatori (Cibo Matto) on “Flatline”, Anysia Kim on “Score”, and Tirzah on “Habits and Patterns”. Finally her old spar, the rapper Le3 bLACK returns to spit fire with the jazz-indebted track “Ending Us All” with Fyn Dobson backing on tumbling drums.

Somewhere between krautrock, noise rock, decaying psychedelia, and pagan proto-punk, Dééfait makes music like one performs a ritual: in trance, on repeat, and without a safety net. From the chaotic arteries of Mexico City to the basement venues of the Paris suburbs, Dééfait sculpts noise rock in apnea. Their self-titled debut EP is a noise rite: a wall of guitars, incantatory percussion, and possessed voices. With Dééfait, sound twists, repeats, stretches, until exhaustion and ecstasy. Formed in 2023, Dééfait brings together the Valero brothers (Lucas on guitar / Pablo, ex-Pays P, on drums), Enir Da (bass - Temir Alcy, Dali Muru & the Polyphonic Swarm), Grégoire Couvert (guitar), and Riki Lara, a Mexican-born vocalist and performer whose lyrics _ chanted, whispered, shouted _ alternate in three languages: English, Spanish, and French. Active on the Paris underground scene since 2024 (La Mécanique Ondulatoire, Le Cirque Électrique, Nouveaux Sauvages_), Dééfait imposes a ritual tension, physical, almost hallucinatory. No choruses to hum along to, no comforting melodies _ just a dense sonic flow that seeps and vibrates. This debut EP, set for release in December 2025 on Ici, d'ailleurs (Zëro, Matt Elliott, Bruit Noir_), lines up six long tracks resembling pagan litanies. Six extended pieces forming a possessed monologue, as if a camera had been slipped inside a burning body. Everything pants. Everything overflows. From We Love Each Other So Much That We Won't Belong To Any Species Anymore, love exceeds expected forms and becomes an organic pact, a ritual of species departure: "Cut me like you want, in bloom your fire," "We scratch consanguinity / We don't belong to any species anymore." It quickly suggests a call to ecstasy, to trance. The EP as a whole navigates unstable zones where desire, sacrifice, and alienation entwine like serpents on acid. Molokh 8 chants an offering to a carnivorous deity, between severed tongue and chemical body. In Bondbondbond, voices entangle, seek each other in a delirious, sensual chiaroscuro where pleasure derails into compulsion. It's a dogma-free ceremony, a game of inverted masks. Alether _ a live-explosive track and perhaps the most powerful of this first project _ shatters frameworks: convulsive dancing, possessed rhythms drowned by waves of guitar. Finally, Ferreri, cook for us closes the EP as a dark farce: a deviant homage to Italian filmmaker Marco Ferreri, the track chews and regurgitates words as if digesting an overfed world. Recorded in the chaos of DIY and mixed as a raw work, the record captures Dééfait's electric discharge in its purest state. The sound is dirty, visceral, possessed. Think Terminal Cheesecake, Boredoms, Nick Cave-era Birthday Party on acid, but also CAN impaled on an autopsy table, or a Giallo under a strobe light_ Yet it emerges as a singular work.

Mercurial Swede Axel Boman debuts on Aus Music with four spellbinding deep house beauties

Swedish artists pbeatgirl and Joakim Åhlund & Jockum Nordström feature on one track each
Axel Boman has brought playful charm to the underground for nearly two decades. His colourful, emotive sound marries melodic whimsy with warm, cuddly grooves and is underpinned by invention and experimentation in sound design, rhythm and mood. The Studio Barnhus co-founder is an artist who can make you laugh and cry at the same time, as continually shown across more than 20 EPs and four full-length albums on a tasteful array of labels. He strides into 2026 with a first EP for Aus that embodies everything that makes him easy to love and hard to pin down.

First up is 'Night Blooming' feat pbeatgirl - a provocative figure in Sweden's post-pop underground. The sensual late-night lullaby has soft drums and even softer spoken words whispered in your ear. Add in the dreamy synths, and you have perfect house hypnosis. 'Someone Stop Me' slows the tempo but ups the texture with raw, tumbling drum loops, incidental guitar licks and sustained pads that help you zone out and gaze into the distance on a summer's afternoon.

'Svalor Radiosignal (Axel's Dub)' features Joakim Åhlund, who is currently on tour of Australia with his band Les Big Byrd, and is also a guitarist and lead singer in the Caesars band he founded, as well as being a prolific producer. World-renowned multi-disciplinary artist Jockum Nordström works across painting, sculpture and collage and also features. There's a signature Boman innocence and charming naivety to the melodies here. They leave wispy, painterly trails above the smooth, dubby groove and fill you with warmth and comfort. Closer 'Spooky' journeys later into the night with a more rickety, edgy mood, but beautiful, shape-shifting synths are like a tender hand guiding you into darkness.

This is Axel Boman at his most intimate and expressive, a quietly powerful EP for heads-down moments and after-hours warmth.

Jimpster delivered some great releases in 2023, most notably his Natural Child collab EP with Crackazat as well as his Tribute EP featuring South African vocalist Mavhungu and including heavy Osunlade remixes. He also produced some of his best remixes to date including Thakzin’s Don’t Let Me See, Blaze’s Wonderland and Detroit Rising’s Rocket Love.

It’s always a good day to announce a new Jimpster EP on Freerange and with two captivating originals plus a stunning Atjazz remix you’re in for a treat! You’re My Ecstasy sets the tone with Jimpster’s trademark deep Rhodes pads, punchy bassline and shuffling classic house drum groove. He once again manages to strike a great balance between soulful, musical, warm and just a touch moody.

Next up we have The Passion which builds a deep and jazzy mood around a 4 bar piano progression whilst the sampled interviewee gives his insight into how he maintains his passion for music. London based trumpet player KingCrowney adds some lovely horn parts, emphasising the jazz feel to compliment the spoken word.

Atjazz gets well and truly stuck in on his remix of The Passion. Reportedly completed in just two studio sessions the hardest working man in deep house (as Jimpster calls him) brings his well-loved deft touch introducing an beautifully syncopated bassline and classic Atjazz drums making for a clubby interpretation for the deep, discerning dance floors.