Cerca:the head cat

"We're in the joy business," says frontman Ketch Secor, who launched the Grammywinning band in 1998. "From the very start, a lot of the virtues of Christmas -- the revelry, the singalongs, the happiness -- have been present in our show." Nowhere is that more apparent than OCMS XMAS , the group's first holiday album. Decorated with seasonal spirit and string-band stomp, it's the rare breed of Christmas record that packs a punch all year long, shining new light on the band's chart-topping version of American roots music. Old Crow Medicine Show aren't just reinterpreting their favorite yuletide standards; they're adding new songs to the canon, too, from "Jolly Man" -- a country-blues number inspired by Mississippi John Hurt and laced with harmonica, sleigh bells, and resonator guitar -- to the Zydeco- flavored "All About A Baby." They're telling fresh stories, too. On "Corn Whiskey Christmas," a bootlegger drives his Chevrolet through the snow on Christmas Eve, bringing moonshine to those craving a cup of cheer. On the John Prine-worthy "Bethlehem, PA" -- a sly reimagining of Jesus' birth story, with lyrics that substitute Steel Country for Jerusalem -- the band heads to the Keystone State to witness the Nativity, making stops at Wawa and Motel 6 along the way.

"Grandpa's Gone" grapples with the loss of a family figure during the holiday season, while the wicked "Krampus Night" puts a minor- key spin on the Christmas catalog, paying tribute to a folkloric creature who, according to Secor, "just might leave ya coal and steal your soul." Old Crow have thrived for more than a quarter century. Like many of their heroes, they've become torchbearers of classic folk music, reshaping those sounds for the modern world. They're creators, not replicators, and OCMS XMAS finds them tackling another tradition -- the time- honored Christmas album -- with humor, hillbilly twang, and novel ideas. Supported by the band's first-ever "Holiday Hootenanny" tour, OCMS XMAS just might be the start of a new tradition itself: a celebration of the seasonal sounds, shared joy, and holiday rituals that bring us all together. Christmas just got a new soundtrack.

Comprising of sisters Eva and Grace Tedeschi, The Cords are the brightest new indiepop band from Scotland and this is theri debut. They started playing drums when they were little kids and later found that they liked 80s and 90s indie music more than their peers did, and so formed a band, just the two of them, with Grace on drums and Eva on guitar - and the songs started to flow. With only a cassette and a flexi single released so far (both of which sold out in a matter of hours), Eva and Grace honed their skills by playing a whole series of gigs with some of the biggest names in Scottish pop. Their first show was with The Vaselines, and since then they have played with Camera Obscura, Belle and Sebastian, BMX Bandits and others, while also sharing stages with the new generation of indiepop stars: the Umbrellas, Chime School, Lightheaded. Like all great pop bands, The Cords have taken familiar ingredients and created something utterly fresh. Older indie fans will hear echoes of The Shop Assistants, The Primitives, Tiger Trap and Talulah Gosh, but they will hear something else too: a yearning, dreamy melodic power that takes the songs into darker, stranger places. Younger pop fans won't care about these old reference points: what they will hear is the sound of two young women doing something utterly exciting: playing loud guitar and loud drums, taking analogue instruments and hitting them hard in the service of immediate and infectious pop tunes, and not giving a second thought about the digital world that wants to own everything we do. The Cords sound free: they remind us that pop music, played right, is expressive, liberating, joyful and deeply personal. First single `Fabulist' is a sweet and catchy pop song that races along, so headlong and hooky that, on first listen, you could miss the fact that it's a wholehearted take-down of people who lie for a living. And the album is a fun rollercoaster ride from that point onwards, with the real stars of this record being Eva's sinuous guitar and silky vocals, and Grace's clattering, expressive sing-song drums. It's the sound of two sisters having an intense musical conversation with each other, pushing each other on to greater heights, exhilarated by the set of perfect pop songs they have magicked up. DIGIPAK CD, LP on BABY BLUE VINYL.

Die Cut Sleeve with download. It’s a strange betweenworld, bookended by sleep and the jolt of being wide awake in a place where you wonder how you got there. You know the feeling… It seems familiar but the colours are, well, unreal. In a high-ceilinged room, a grand piano plays lush melodies as, meanwhile, somewhere, an Alice In Wonderland clock ticks, cellos are bowed, a swarm of something vibrates and the hallucinatory crowd around Rosemary’s Baby babble. An echoey electronic hum builds and falls like a 50s refrigerator passed through and effects board, things run backwards, staccato strings are plucked… and that’s not the half of it. “I’ve never been happy staying in one particular school of musical thought. The fun has been turning things on their heads, to try something you were not supposed to do.” We’re on an immersive and adventurous travelogue with the former member of the legendary Tangerine Dream, Paul Haslinger - this is a man who knows how to build tension, hold moods, illustrate contempt, lies, passion and pleasure; He can create fear, loathing and love - he’s been unlocking the nuances of such emotions in a hugely successful career as a TV and film soundtrack composer (Halt And Catch Fire, Underworld and the Golden Globe-nominated Sleeper Cell). ‘Exit Ghost’ is his long thought out opus, a moment caught in time, flicking through reference points, taking an ethereal excursion that permeates musical genres as it becomes awash with intricate sounds and cross-pollinating rhythms. Built originally from the warmth of his grand piano ‘Exit Ghost’ resonates with purity and power, from an eerie and evocative betweenworld, that’s at once expansive and rolling, then intoxicating and suffocating in equal measures; modern composition at its most uplifting; cerebral, celebratory, intense and beautiful. “The soul searching in connection with this record was extensive. Finding places of resonance, giving a colour to your memories. It was more challenging because it’s not somebody else’s narrative. Finding the core of your own story can be the most difficult task of all.” Created over the span of eight years and filled with literal and personal references, the album itself is a testament to the search - a quest filled with hints, particles and suggestions.

15th Anniversary Edition. Black Vinyl. When Dinosaur Jr. reunited, more than 20 years after their formation and legendary dissolution, the worry was that these guys were just flogging the back catalog, taking the old show on the road as a marketing gimmick. But the 2007 release of Beyond gave a hearty Marshall-driven "F**K YOU!" answer to those inquiring ears. Restoring the sound established by the unassailable hat-trick gambit of their first three albums -- Dinosaur, You're Living All Over Me, and Bug -- Beyond continued the band's march into rock greatness by making old ears smile and new ears bleed afresh. And then came Farm, the 9th full length record by the original line-up: J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph. If Beyond was Dinosaur Jr.'s return to form, Farm is proof that Dinosaur Jr. could (and still do, to this day!) deliver timeless, exhilarating rock music. Farm encompasses Dinosaur Jr.'s signature palette: soaring and distorted guitar, unshakable hooks, honey-rich melodies. At times wholly 70's guitar-epic, at times perfect for sitting by a babbling brook with Joni and Neil, these songs get into your head and stay there, bouncing happily around. The ear-catching "Plans" is nearly seven minutes of classic whipped-topping rock dessert, while "I Don't Wanna Go There" is a meat-and-potatoes main dish, mixing unapologetic lead guitar with straight-ahead delivery a la James Gang or Humble Pie. This expanded deluxe edition of Farm features four songs never pressed to vinyl and never given worldwide release:"Houses", "Whenever You're Ready" (The Zombies Cover), "Creepies" (Instrumental), and "Show". "Whenever You're Ready", a cover of classic pop-rockers The Zombies, is impossibly good for a hidden gem; Murph stomps in with a sledgehammer to the kit, J and Lou layer low-end and fuzz like two halves of one brain, and right when things feel biggest, airy and colossal, there's J with a lightning bolt of a guitar solo. Pure electricity and melody like only he can make. Recorded in J Mascis' Bisquiteen studio in Amherst, Massachusetts, Farm was produced by Mascis himself, and delivers the singular, unique energy of one of America's greatest living rock bands.

Mathew takes inspiration from the weirdness of Aldous Harding and Amen Dunes while embracing the songcraft of greats like Neil Young and Jeff Buckley. Due for release on 3rd October 2025 via Tip Top Recordings (Mandrake Handshake, Japanese Television, Pearl & The Oysters), EP 'Full Weight' is a six track offering of emotionally driven, lyrically agile, eccentrically produced indie- rock. Released on limited edition (300) heavyweight white coloured vinyl.

Mathew's journey began with a childhood guitar and quietly grew into a private archive of hundreds of songs, never meant for anyone but himself. After stints with local outfits The Velotones and Violet May, he broke away to carve out his own space, one where every note and word belonged to him. Stepping into the studio with friends and trusted collaborators, he found the freedom and confidence to let the world in. The result is 'Full Weight', a bold new chapter in Mathew's musical story. '5:32' is the natural way to introduce Mathew's gloriously unique voice and songwriting, evoking Sheffield's musical royalty such as Richard Hawley.

As the single artwork depicts, '5:32' was conceived by Mathew "in bed, during COVID, eating cereal and taking my meds. As Thom Yorke once said, 'no one is really a solo artist'". The surging, cathartic anthem 'Weight Of Love' is about a simple case of unrequited love. Mathew says, "In my case, it's a story of my dad leaving. The cover artwork is of me and my brother around the age he left" . Further tracks like 'Lady Luck' lean into a slowburning groove of shimmer and snarl, while the fully exposed 'Creature Of Comfort' is built on skeletal instrumentation. 'Full Weight' captures the duality of refusing to choose between fragility and force. It's music that aches, bleeds, and ultimately triumphs: a testament to the strength in showing your cracks. Mathew J Hall celebrates the EP with a live show on 24th October at Hallamshire Hotel, Sheffield.

Coke Bottle Clear vinyl. Jun 25, 2021 (EST) CD MRG755cd 673855075525 $6.00 Jun 25, 2021 (EST) LP - Black MRG755lp 673855075518 $11.00 Dec 02, 2022 (EST) LP - Coke Bottle Clear MRG755lp-dlx-C1 673855075556 $12.50 TOTAL Quietly Blowing It was written and arranged by Taylor in his home studio_his 8' x 10' sanctuary packed floor to ceiling with books, records, and old guitars_as he watched the chaotic world spin outside his window. "Writing became a daily routine," he explains, "and that was a ballast for me. Having spent so much time on the road over the past ten years, where writing consistently with any kind of flow can be tricky, it felt refreshing. And being in my studio, which is both isolated from and totally connected to the life of my family, felt appropriate for these songs." Between March and June, Taylor wrote and recorded upwards of two dozen songs_in most cases playing all of the instruments himself_before winnowing the collection down and bringing them to the Hiss band. In July, the group of musicians, with Taylor in the production seat, went into Overdub Lane in Durham, NC, for a week, where they recorded Quietly Blowing It as an organic unit honed to a fine edge from their years together on the road. "We all needed to be making that music together," he recalls. "We've all spent so many years traveling all over the world, but in that moment, it felt cathartic to be recording those particular songs with each other in our own small hometown."

Ground-breaking percussive ambient recordings from Gabrielle Roth & The Mirrors, inducing altered states of consciousness through ecstatic dance. "Selected Works from 1985 to 2005" finally available on Time Capsule

Despite featuring an extraordinary cast of musicians (with credits including Pharoah Sanders, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Santana and Milton
Nascimento) and selling hundreds of thousands of albums, the music of Gabrielle Roth & The Mirrors remains largely unheard beyond their sphere. Conceived as live, improvised soundtracks to Roth’s transcendental dance workshops, musical acclaim was never on the agenda.Instead, for a passionate dancer and spiritual polyglot like Gabrielle Roth, movement was a means through which to channel a wide spectrum of teaching, from experimental psychology to psychedelic counter-culture. It was from this heady mix that she devised a movement meditation known as 5Rhtyhms, which came to define her life’s work.

As “guide and catalyst”, Roth would dance to inspire the percussion-led instrumentals that would in turn fuel her 5Rhythms workshops, stimulating a secular form of ecstatic dance with roots in Native American shamanic traditions, Afro-Brazilian Candomblé and Yoruba drumming. Using anything from a Sioux pony drum to East African kihembe and Japanese Kabuki drums, Gabrielle’s lawyer-turned-drummer husband Robert Ansell set the foundational rhythms for The Mirrors’ recordings, each of which would then feature a rotating cast of friends and professional musicians.

“The secret of everything we’ve done is that we never told anybody what to play,” Robert shares. “Instead of our albums being a musical vision of one person like me or Gabrielle, they were the musical vision of a whole bunch of people.”At times the recordings have a Middle Eastern flair, at others, West African and spiritual jazz modes come to the fore. Hints of kosmische musik, proto-house and electronic ambience are laced like LSD through the organic rhythmic structures. This was kaleidoscopic ambient music to stir the body and free the mind.

In practice, the task of synthesising these different elements fell to Scott Ansell, Robert’s son and a recording engineer whose credits now include Nile Rogers, Duran Duran, Grace Jones. With meticulous attention to detail he captured and translated the dynamic energy of each drum onto record. Their sessions became legendary, and with access to the best studios in the NYC, The Mirrors sparkled.

Despite being initially overlooked by the burgeoning ‘80s New Age market, which preferred pipes and gongs to The Mirrors’ heavy-grooving drums, Robert Ansell set up Raven Recording to self-release the music, creating a vast sonic archive of sixteen albums over almost forty years. The breadth of Raven’s catalogue is such that curator Pol Valls had to cut an initial selection of sixty-six tracks down to the eleven featured here. What crystallises is a stunning, mind-altering collection which spans, in Pol’s words, “a variety of genres, styles, and vibes within their catalogue, whether it is emotional, esoteric, spiritual, melancholic, hypnotic, dark, or at times a combination of these elements together.”Music for immersive and intimate environments, Gabrielle Roth & The Mirrors were born from the dance. In the hands of the right DJ, at the right time, in the right place, they might just return there.

Manchester’s own The Slow Readers Club are set to embark on a special anniversary tour celebrating ten years since
their seminal breakthrough album, Cavalcade. Titled ‘A Decade of Cavalcade’, the tour will see the band revisiting the
album that set them on their path to becoming one of the UK’s most revered indie acts, while also marking an exciting
new chapter in their journey.
The tour announcement follows a milestone year for the band with their latest album Out Of A Dream landing at
UK Number 11 in the Official Charts in the first week. With growing momentum on streaming platforms and an everexpanding fanbase, The Slow Readers Club continue their upward trajectory, making A Decade of Cavalcade both a
reflection on the past and a celebration of what’s still to come.
A Celebration of a Pivotal Moment
Originally released in 2015, Cavalcade was a turning point for The Slow Readers Club, capturing hearts and minds with
its brooding, atmospheric sound and emotive lyricism. Featuring fan-favorite tracks such as Plant The Seed, I Saw A
Ghost and Forever In Your Debt, the album resonated with a generation of music lovers and laid the foundation for the
band’s future success. One of those supporters were the band James who personally invited The Slow Readers Club to
support them on a huge headline tour which brought them to a whole new audience.
Now, a decade later, the band will bring Cavalcade back to life on stage, performing it in full alongside other cherished
songs from their extensive catalog. The tour promises to be an electrifying experience, blending nostalgia with the raw
energy of and ambition that continue to define The Slow Readers Club today.

Manchester’s own The Slow Readers Club are set to embark on a special anniversary tour celebrating ten years since
their seminal breakthrough album, Cavalcade. Titled ‘A Decade of Cavalcade’, the tour will see the band revisiting the
album that set them on their path to becoming one of the UK’s most revered indie acts, while also marking an exciting
new chapter in their journey.
The tour announcement follows a milestone year for the band with their latest album Out Of A Dream landing at
UK Number 11 in the Official Charts in the first week. With growing momentum on streaming platforms and an everexpanding fanbase, The Slow Readers Club continue their upward trajectory, making A Decade of Cavalcade both a
reflection on the past and a celebration of what’s still to come.
A Celebration of a Pivotal Moment
Originally released in 2015, Cavalcade was a turning point for The Slow Readers Club, capturing hearts and minds with
its brooding, atmospheric sound and emotive lyricism. Featuring fan-favorite tracks such as Plant The Seed, I Saw A
Ghost and Forever In Your Debt, the album resonated with a generation of music lovers and laid the foundation for the
band’s future success. One of those supporters were the band James who personally invited The Slow Readers Club to
support them on a huge headline tour which brought them to a whole new audience.
Now, a decade later, the band will bring Cavalcade back to life on stage, performing it in full alongside other cherished
songs from their extensive catalog. The tour promises to be an electrifying experience, blending nostalgia with the raw
energy of and ambition that continue to define The Slow Readers Club today.

For the first time ever, Marcal's "Thought Control" is available on vinyl to commemorate Enemy Records' 20th anniversary. Previously only available digitally, the EP figures some of Marcal's biggest tracks such as "Seroto"and "Manta Ray." This ep is part of a limited series of reissues and first pressings from the label's back catalog, headed by Dustin Zahn.



"Thought Control" takes on a slightly deeper and heady direction than his previous output for Rekids or Uncage. However, the drums are still slammin' and every detail is crystal-clear. Marcal's natural progression shows he is more in control of his sound than ever before.



Manta Ray starts the EP with swinging drums and shots in the dark that will keep people marching through the night. Nevoa is the most melodic cut on the record. It's moody, wandering, and tripped out enough to disassociate you from reality. Robotic Thinking is as rigged as it is funky. The strong, pedaling, unified groove is laced with vowel formants and pulsing sinewaves. Closing out the EP is Seroto, a steady headsdown tribal workout for those trying to find their way through the late-night fog

Evolving from a solo-project of Christian Wilson Larsen to a dynasty including members of Serena Maneesh, Le Corbeau, Mindy Misty, Burning Motherfuckers, Next Life, Far From Tellus and Deathcrush, - Izakaya Heartbeat is seemingly a constellation in flux - complimentary to their psychedelic soundscape. Three available albums in our catalog and more on the horizon. "They do a sort of driving early/mid 90s alt rock thing, mentioning Sonic Youth, MBV, Trumans Water, Unwound, Can, Mudhoney and 100 other bands you know as influences. Their guitar sound is definitely Thurston/Lee, but unlike SY, they have members who can headbang their impressively long locks when locating a locked noise-rock groove." - Stereogum

Swimming Paul’s music has always lived in the push-and-pull between euphoria and melancholy; the rare kind of electronic music that can make you cry while your body keeps moving.



On Smiling Through the Pain 2 (out October 24 via Headroom Records), the French-born, London-based producer doubles down on that emotional duality, delivering an album that feels as much like a diary as it does a DJ set.

Over the course of 15 tracks, Paul stitches together late-night catharsis, suburban nostalgia, and the jagged tenderness of early adulthood. The record is sequenced like an unbroken night out: the giddy anticipation, the sudden moments of reflection, the quiet comedown as the sun edges in. It’s an album that refuses to treat joy and sadness as opposites, they coexist here, often in the same chord progression.



“I don’t want to escape the feelings, I want to bring them with me” Paul says. “If you can’t stop thinking about something, you might as well dance with it.”

That philosophy runs through the singles: the emotional release of Holly (with Junior Simba), the aching nostalgia of Different Time, the hypnotic haze of Hard 2 Sleep, and the house-driven Drinking to Get Drunk, a bittersweet ode to nights spent outrunning your own thoughts. Elsewhere, Liza M1 folds heartbreak into an almost triumphant piano hook, while Shine a Light urges listeners to take risks and live without hesitation—as if youth’s boldness could be bottled.



Since debuting in 2023, Swimming Paul has quietly built an empire on emotional resonance: 150 million streams across platforms, 1.9 million monthly listeners on Spotify and more than 50 editorial placements (including Dance Party, Crying on the Dancefloor, Electronic Rising….), 10,000+ radio spins worldwide, and sold-out tours across Europe and North America. His sound has earned co-signs from BBC Radio 1, Triple J, KCRW, Sirius XM and a wave of DJs who value melody as much as momentum.

But Smiling Through the Pain 2 isn’t chasing charts, it’s chasing connections. Paul’s global fanbase, nurtured through a lively Discord community and nights on the road, has become a two-way conversation, with fans’ stories feeding back into the music’s emotional core.
This autumn, Paul takes the album to stages that match its ambition, from London to a string of US club dates, festivals and intimate pop ups designed for shared release.



Smiling Through the Pain 2 is an invitation to feel everything at once. To sweat through the sadness. To let your guard down under strobe lights. To realise that the best nights out don’t make you forget; they help you remember.

2025 Repress
One for the heads as they say ... this deep Detroit Techno inspired 12" by UK Techno veteran Paul Mac was supposed to be released on Ben Sims' infamous Theory sub label Navite in 2003, but apart from 5 test pressings with the catalogue number NTV 04 it never made it to a proper release. When asking Paul about this 12" we were very happy that he agreed to release it on Mojuba sub label a.r.t.less. Some of his most soulful and deeper organic Techno EPs finally available and remastered by Redshape to current standards.
For illustration duties we are super grateful to have the one and only Kilian Eng on board for the next releases, showcasing some of his sketch work in a new context, some of you might remember his stunning artwork from the Sam McQueen album "Dreams In Sepia" for a.r.t.less. Enjoy! Limited edition in hand-pulled screen-printed cover.

"Raise your swords up high: BLOODBOUND march into a powerful future with Field Of Swords, out November 21st via Napalm Records. Twenty years after the release of their debut album, the Swedish warriors stand taller than ever on the front line of epic power metal, delivering their most modern work yet. Most recently drawn to the Viking era, the latest concept album Field Of Swords turns the page to another chapter in history, moving past the year 1066 and into the Middle Ages. As warfare evolves and the significance of forging iron with carbon leads to superior swordsmen, the bloodstained battlefields show new, grim faces, leaving room for more of BLOODBOUND’s vivid storytelling that continues to thrill audiences at countless live shows around the globe. BLOODBOUND’s first release with Napalm Records adds another 11 captivating battle hymns to their repertoire. A diverse record with aggressive songs and epic tracks alike, their eleventh album also contains some of the band’s fastest material ever written. The opening title track, “Field Of Swords”, immediately storms into BLOODBOUND’s signature sound, braiding stories of glory with a sweeping blend of melodic and heavy power metal. The dominant “As Empires Fall” follows the crusaders east and powerfully depicts said glory in epic battle in contrast with sacrifices made on the way. “Defenders Of Jerusalem” cleverly expands on the topic of loss, leaving listeners to wonder which side is holding their heads up high in the face of imminent defeat. Catchy flutes have the heroes take heart in “The Code Of Warriors” to guide them into the “Land Of The Brave” and Field Of Swords to new heights at the same time. “Light In The Sky” further illustrates BLOODBOUND’s battle scars turned electrifying sound, while the mature “Teutonic Knights” opens up the bleak reality of the tragedy that undoubtedly accompanies this battle-torn era of history. Yet, “Forged In Iron”, “Pain and Glory”, and “Born to be King” hold their ground as equally unforgettable tunes, all leading up to the brilliant finale: Brittney Slayes of powerhouse Canadian band UNLEASH THE ARCHERS joins “The Nine Crusades” as another valuable fighter to lead Field Of Swords to greatness. BLOODBOUND’s latest triumphant march impressively illustrates the importance of purpose and perseverance with heroic tales in shining heavy metal armor.

GATEFOLD DOUBLE VINYL WITH SPOT UV FRONT COVER

Following the skewed-unself-help-brilliance of ‘Sus Dog’ (which marked his first full foray into songs, abetted by Thom Yorke), and its companion piece ‘Cave Dog’, Chris Clark returns to the dancefloor’s simple, but no less affecting pleasures, with ‘Steep Stims’.
“I found it hard to pull away from listening to this record, hard to stop making it, I had to remove myself from the Stims and stop enjoying it at some point. The album feels like nature to me. I love it when electronic music feels more naturalistic than acoustic music, more potent, that’s the devil’s trick, the promise of electronic music.” comments Chris.
“I used an old synth - the Virus on all of the tracks. I used it at Mess in Melbourne - run by my friend Robin Fox - I loved it so much I had to buy one when I got back to the UK, it took a while to find. They’re a bit clunky to program but make some of my most favourite sounds.”
‘Steep Stims’ marks a back-to-basics approach, invoking the early years of gung-ho creativity enforced by limitations in technology at the time. “Most of the tracks on this album capture the spirit of making music on old samplers, which don’t have much memory time”, explains Clark. “It reminds me of making ‘Clarence Park’, my first album, where I would have to finish tunes in the session, as they would be saved on floppy disks and I couldn’t easily go between tracks. This new record is just a few synths and a few choice sounds; the writing is the important thing.”
Made quickly, ‘Steep Stims’ reflects the immediate rave energy of his live show, but that’s not to say it’s basic floor fodder, as it’s rife with personality, synth magic, and knack for melody. Although swift and impressionistically captured rather than laboured over, it’s still formidably deft, with plenty of oddball weirdness lurking beneath the dancefloor.
Soft, orange, scorched, brutal, the opening track ‘Gift and Wound’ captures the classic dance music dread / awe / euphoria combo perfectly, before ‘Infinite Roller’ merges sparkly-minimalism with snarling bass and soft sines, which turn more dense and metallic as it progresses.
The melancholic smoke belch of ‘No Pills U’ gives strong classic vibrations, which is belied by its creation, made in just 20 minutes. “I love working quickly sometimes”, comments Clark. “Inspiration hits, rough and ready. It’s off the cuff but also screams ‘don’t gild the lily with nonsense, keep it simple keep it clean’”. Segueing into its elder brother, the piece becomes bigger and beatier on ‘Janus Modal’, where it permutates for over 7 minutes of fluttering, beatific club majesty.
At ‘18EDO Bailiff’ you inexplicably find yourself at a clearing, things have suddenly got much quieter. You enter a decrepit and eerie old house, and as you move through its unsettling interior, you arrive at ‘Globecore Flats’. A real piano tuned to 18 notes per octave gives the pair of tracks a haunted, olde worlde feel, which promptly gets eaten by a huge tech step tearout monster, birthing a strange but exotic beast.
The white hot ‘Blowtorch Thimble’ is all hooktasm-rave-hyper-amen-energy, whilst acidic flute leaps around like Ian Anderson on pingers throughout the catchily simple jump-up lurch of ‘Civilians’.
“‘In Patient’s Day Out’ is like some sort of Morricone-does-kraut-rock-with-drum-machines, but that’s probably just in my head” says Clark. “I made several versions of this then went with the early mix but cranked through some choice outboard because it just had something.”
Drumless, yet still full of exhilarating-big-trance-drama, ‘Who Booed The Goose’ flashes by in stroboscopic fast forward, then ‘5 Millionth Cave Painting’ gives a palate cleanser, letting “the virus with its delicious broken, luxurious reverb have a moment”, before ‘Negation Loop’ swoops down in all its glory, with Clark’s tweaked vocals leading deconstructed trance breakdowns, tape edits and brutal noisebursts.
An antidote to the bombast of its predecessor is ‘Micro Lyf’, which closes the set on a poignant note, of sorts. Muted staccato gives way to field recordings “that gradually put it in this outside space; alien in a meadow somewhere nameless. It feels like a sinkhole. The record kinda swallows itself up and then is gone”, ends Chris.

The Heinz Beauvaix project dates back to the mid-1990’s when Niels Rønne and Flemming Kaspersen played in Danish ambient act Swimwear Catalogue. On an ever growing number of DAT tapes they recorded semi-improvised synth/sampler/sequencer jams that mixed influences from ambient, electro and industrial. Later they began working with more detailed studio productions.

The seven tracks on “Vision Man” combine complex synth pads, interweaving monophonic synth lines, discrete drum rhythms, and strange voice samples. The sound is experimental and melodic at the same time. Influences range from early industrial to IDM, techno and synth pop. Rønne and Kaspersen originally met through a shared obsession with Canadian industrial giants Skinny Puppy. And if there is one seminal album that has influenced the Heinz Beauvaix sound, it is the obscure Skinny Puppy side project Doubting Thomas and their solitary album “The Infidel”, released in 1990.

Others have mentioned influences from bands such as Coil, Severed Heads, Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber’s Delerium and Future Sound Of London.

“Vision Man” is old school synthesizer music with tunes you can hum.

Micor ist eine Band aus Karlsruhe, deren Frontmann Robert Besta (bekannt aus ,Back in Action"/Netflix und seit 10 Jahren bei ,Die Fallers") ist und zu der Johannes Frisch, Stefan Breuer und Marcus Franzke gehören. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Bestas Texte und Kompositionen, deren Musik literarische Tiefe mit roher emotionaler Kraft verbindet und einen ebenso intimen wie weitläufigen Sound schafft. Micor schafft reichhaltige, atmosphärische Klangwelten, die cineastisch und immersiv wirken und den Zuhörer in einen Raum der Reflexion, des Geschichtenerzählens und der Resonanz einladen. Mit ihrer unverwechselbaren Stimme und ihrem künstlerischen Anspruch sticht Micor als einzigartiges Musikprojekt mit einer starken, wiedererkennbaren Identität hervor.

A must-hear for dub lovers, beat heads, and adventurous ears alike - Gwaan is genre fusion done right. Catalan vocal powerhouse Sr. Wilson joins forces with producer Geliks for Gwaan - the bold debut of Cinta Gara Records. Rooted in dub but fearlessly genre-hopping, this EP delivers four distinct versions that blend hip-hop, roots reggae, techno, and trap with finesse. Sr. Wilsons dynamic performance commands the spotlight, while remixes from Krystian Shek, Quindactiv, and Sascha Reder push boundaries.

NYC electronic music collective P.E. return with their third and final album Oh!, due October 3 on Wharf Cat Records. Oh! Is the sound of a startled exclamation punctuating an exit, and the embodiment of the music within: fun and fluorescent, fluid and flirty, dirty and a little dangerous. From their conception in 2017 through the NOPE Tape series, P.E. existed as an experiment in co-conspirited collaboration. Oh! continues to cast a wide net, featuring an expanded lineup from their original formation, including Eleanor Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces on the lead single "Color Coordinator". The resulting music ranges wide as ever, from the jubilant grooves of the title track and "Color Coordinator" to "The Fiction Writer" - a tender duet between Veronica Torres and Jonny Campolo - through the city pop sounds of "(Do You Like) So So?" and "Purple On Time", and into the abstracted beyond. This isn't a goodbye, but a "see you around". A tear falls down the cheek of a stranger, dancing as they catch your smile in the reflection of a glass building. Ceremoniously, serendipitously, they sidewalk surf away, stepping on something sharp - "Oh!" - leaving a teardrop on the city pavement. Following the last P.E. show, Jonny Campolo fully embraced his persona of The Grayscale Clown. You can hear him crooning in pets (along with Nick Campolo and Chase Ceglie) and droning in Microfibers (featuring Keegan & Eugene of Decor). His brother Nick Campolo successfully uploaded his consciousness to the cloud. He & his simulacrum perform in the aforementioned pets and solo as Nick Nun Ca. Ben Jaffe was in a freak nuclear waste accident when his DNA merged with a puma - he is now known as The Puma Man. You can catch him prowling around NYC with Sleaze Generator and as a sax beast for hire. Bob Jones went on a silent meditation and forgot how to speak. He now quietly releases music under the name R.A. Jones (as on his recently released Whispered to A Child), and as Scythe with David West (on A Colourful Storm). Jonathan Schenke disappeared for six months without a trace; when he returned he had developed a nervous tic anytime he heard a 909 rimshot or a saxophone. His recent solo album Passages (on No Gold) features neither of the above, nor does his project Gift Horse with Matthew Hord. Veronica Torres headed west to pursue her studies, developing a ceramic polymer whose beauty has caused madness in certain individuals. Her band Cha Cha 9 is a darling of the Minneapolis scene. P.E. would like to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who listened to our records and danced at our shows - your love is felt. Thank you so much to Wharf Cat Records for all of the support over the years. Thank you to the fans. Thank you Pill and Eaters. Mitwirkende

The perfect accompaniment to that deep fall feeling, Frank Maston's beloved 2025 single finally gets its long overdue vinyl release! As our friends New Commute articulated beautifully, "Foreign Affairs" drifts through London fog and Paris shimmer, its avant-lounge glow wrapping each melody in a wistful ache. On B-side "Liaison," ghostly strings and a solitary piano paint a deserted twilight shoreline, Pacôme Henry's distinct 16mm cinematography hovering nearby." We've pressed just 500 of these gorgeous records so, be quick, Maston always flies.

Originally written for a film Maston was scoring in 2024, he decided to keep it aside for himself. And, well, us all. The song has a vibe Maston has previously flirted with; he wanted to dive in...all the way: "The arrangement is huge, definitely the biggest I've written, and it merited live musicians playing together. Also another experiment, to do it with all live musicians playing my arrangements. I wanted to make something that you'd want to put on when you bring a date back to your place. It's on the edge of sappy but that's sort of the point. I decided to give myself an unlimited budget - just spend whatever was necessary to get the right musicians and record it the best way possible."

It's this dedication to sonic perfection which Maston is rightly lauded for. We couldn't not put this on a cute wee 7" when we heard it.

The A side, "Foreign Affairs", is a brilliant, Bacharach-esque romp with a bit of that unapologetically romantic Morricone angle. Says Frank: "I was trying to synthesize that sort of jazzy/sexy/classy/romantic mature sound, where the edginess is in these surprising chord changes and subtle arrangement cues."

A wonderful complement, the flipside "Liaison", evokes Martin Denny, but Eden's Island was in Frank's head, too. He wanted to take a deep dive into that exotica sound - a genre he'd referenced a bit but never fully committed to - so the piece is lavished with those big sighing strings and a pretty lush arrangement. Happily, it all sounds super rich. Also, "Umiliani is always a reference for this sort of thing (Il Corpo etc.), That almost mechanical arrangement of things moving together and a simple melody over it (something I nicked from Ennio)".

The two songs were recorded in Paris and London in the summer of 2024. Aside from the rhythm section and piano, there's vibraphone, a full string section, trombones and alto and concert flutes. "Liaison" boasts strings, vibraphone, a female choir and tenor sax. Maston played piano and acoustic guitar but that's it (as opposed to playing basically everything on Tulips). His friend Oscar Sholto Robertson played drums and percussion whilst Maston mainstay Elie Ghersinu (formerly of L'Eclair) played bass.

The theme for a lot of Maston's titles is that they have two meanings. So "Foreign Affairs" is both a reference to him living abroad and the idea of constant cultural diplomacy and then there's this sexy/cheeky interpretation of foreign affairs in a literal way - "an affair abroad, ooh la la!". The artwork for this 7" single has Roman campaign flags, referencing the foreign affairs in sort of a sassy way. There's a violence implied. But then if you look from a bit of a distance it looks like a bouquet of flowers. So Frank thought it went with the spirit of the title. Also, he's used a lot of roman motifs now so he kept that theme going, even with the terracotta cover.

This is a vitally important project for our Frank. He explains why, here: "For whatever reason, these songs really resonated with me. I feel like they are either the end of a stylistic era for me or the beginning of a new one. They're sonically the culmination of what I'd been working towards and trying to get better at since I started. If I heard this when I was making Tulips I would have said "YES! *This* is what I want to be doing!". So that's the essence of it. It's a statement and the intended reaction is "This is really good, but why now?". Like the edge to it is the context of someone making this sort of thing in 2025, which I think is a huge strength. The real heads will get it. My music always has like a 2-3 year latency until people really catch onto it, and these ones will have a nice payoff I think."

We couldn't put it better ourselves. So we haven't.