UnOwn deepen the intrigue of their debut record with a second clutch of shadowy edits, again courtesy of the elusive Fava Luva and Dr. Professor. First up is the airy, mystical 'Sent Ra' which drifts on a Balearic current with an aquatic pulse and low-slung groove. It's for late-night moments on intimate floors and is hella steamy. Flip it and 'Love Giver' is more extroverted but just as sensual with teasing spoken words opening up before a swaggering, gentle groove and deft keyboard flourishes awaken and coalesce into a boogie-tinged delight. Anonymous in name, perhaps, but unmistakable in taste.
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This first-time reissue of Quinteplus’ 1971 album revives a key moment in Argentine jazz, featuring crisp trumpet and tenor sax, electric piano-driven funk and modal grooves, and a tight, spacious rhythm section. It showcases prominent figures like Jorge Anders and “Pocho” Lapouble.
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Quinteplus was born in Buenos Aires at the end of the 1960s, emerging directly from the ideas and experiments of the legendary Agrupación Nuevo Jazz. Founded in the early ’60s, this collective brought together some of the most forward thinking figures in Argentine jazz functioned as a creative lab where musicians questioned where jazz could go next. Among the key ideas discussed was the fusion of jazz with Argentine folk styles such as zamba, chacarera, malambo, cueca, and candombe, as well as a deeper look into African rhythms as a bridge between musical worlds.
Two members of that collective, keyboardist Santiago Giacobbe and bassist Jorge “Negro” González, carried those ideas forward when they formed Quinteplus in 1969. The group came together naturally: all the musicians already knew each other and had played in different projects around the Buenos Aires scene. They shared a strong admiration for Julian “Cannonball” Adderley’s quintet, along with a clear goal—to develop a modern jazz language grounded in local Argentine rhythms.
From the start, Quinteplus stood out for its openness and adventurous spirit. Rhythm was central, and so was experimentation. The band belonged to a generation of Argentine jazz musicians eager to explore electric instruments and new textures, anticipating what would soon be known as jazz-rock. This was happening in Buenos Aires at the very same time Miles Davis was opening new doors with “In a Silent Way” and “Bitches Brew”. Giacobbe introduced one of the first Fender electric pianos in Argentina, while González pioneered the amplification of the upright bass and even developed a hybrid electric, boxless version of the instrument. Trumpeter Gustavo Bergalli, meanwhile, maintained close ties with the emerging Argentine rock scene, collaborating with Luis Alberto Spinetta and appearing on Almendra’s first album.
In 1971, Quinteplus recorded its first and only studio album for EMI. The original lineup featured Jorge Anders on tenor saxophone, Bergalli on trumpet, Giacobbe on keyboards, González on upright and electric bass, and Norberto “Pocho” Lapouble on drums and percussion—who also illustrated the album’s iconic sleeve. The record is a refined showcase of the band’s musical vision: original compositions, fluent jazz language, folk-derived rhythms, funky electric textures, tight ensemble playing, and standout brass solos. Though critically praised, the album received little label support and sold modestly, eventually becoming a sought-after collector’s item.
Quinteplus disbanded in 1973, their music was perhaps too bold and unconventional for its time.
Loud Ambient 2 picks up directly from where Loud Ambient left off. After picking the drum machines back up, we returned to the colourfield ideas that shaped the first record. Rothko remained a key reference, along- side a strong recommendation to spend time with the work of Josef Albers. We did exactly that, and it paid off.
Alongside the music, we created 50 new pieces of artwork for Loud Ambient 2. These became tools rather than decorations. Working this way felt open and rewarding, and brought a real sense of play back into the process. We already understood what a Loud Ambient track could be, so slipping back into that headspace felt natural. The tracks came together quickly, full of energy, movement and that familiar noodle quality.
The creative side landed easily this time. There is some- thing about working with colourfields that frees you up and pushes you further into abstraction. It removes hesitation and keeps the focus on instinct and response.
With the drum machines and synths loaded, we kept our heads down and made the kind of music we want to hear on a dance floor. Loud Ambient 2 is the result.
WRWTFWW Records is pleased to announce its fifth collaboration with NY-LA ambient / jazz / downtempo musician Danny Scott Lane with the first ever vinyl release of his 2022 full-length album Holy Goodnight, available on limited edition LP (500 copies worldwide) housed in a heavyweight sleeve.
After Home Decor, Shower, Caput, and Songs For Sex, here’s another Danny Scott Lane classic. On Holy Goodnight, he handles synths, keyboards, bass, guitar, percussion, and field recordings for a smooth nightride through city pop, contemplative jazz, vaporwave, slow funk, cozy ambient, library music vibes, and relaxed moods.
Holy Goodnight feels like cruising through a half-asleep city with the windows down and the radio low—lush harmonies and soft grooves guiding the way. It’s warm and hazy music for late hours and early mornings, introspective, comforting, cinematic, intimate…
Following the release of chillout staples on WRWTFWW, Danny Scott Lane further cements his unmistakable sonic universe. Complete the collection and sink deeper into the night.
Points of interest
For fans of ambient jazz, city pop, downtempo, smooth funk, vaporwave, library music, night drives, neon lights, quiet introspection, cozy late hours, and peaceful goodnights.
Super limited edition vinyl (500 copies worldwide) of Danny Scott Lane’s Holy Goodnight, available on vinyl for the first time ever.
British electronic music pioneers Graham Massey (founding member of Manchester legends 808 State) and Brian Dougans (the mind behind acid house milestone Humanoid and one half of The Future Sound Of London) join forces for their debut collaboration In Place Of Language, released on Belgian label De:tuned.
Both 808 State and Humanoid helped shape the UK's early rave and acid house movement. Here, Massey and Dougans channel that legacy into a beautifully balanced four-track EP that radiates warmth and energy, drawing on more than three decades of experience in electronic music. Inspired by key elements of the '89-91 era while embracing a contemporary edge, the duo merge their distinct sonic identities into a sound that feels both timeless and forward-looking.
In Place Of Language is not a nostalgia trip, but a natural evolution: a meeting point between foundation and future, and a blueprint for a new wave of electronic experimentation!
Kevin Foakes (Openmind, DJ Food, Ninja Tune) created all the graphic work. Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis. A separate digital release will also be available at the usual digital shops. Stay tuned!
“It’s been on my wishlist for a while that the incredibly talented Julienne Dessagne does a techno EP for us,” Michael Mayer says. You can hear why, straight up, on Speicher 139, as Dessagne’s project Fantastic Twins is finally let loose on Kompakt’s storied series. The key words: psychedelic acid trax. “False Index” is peeled back to core: a fearsome rhythm, with an endlessly helixing synth pattern twisting around your skull, crinkling like cellophane and warping like burnt plastic, while Dessagne’s Sprechstimme floats above everything – detached but effortlessly perceptive. “New Systems” is a new kind of Europe Endless – hypnotic and lush, its deep drones pinpricked by sonar bleep. “Uninhibited” is catchy in a way that only Dessagne can make possible, its vocal tattoo burnt into your mind as it echoes through massive architectures, tones dropping from scaffold and splashing at your feet as glitch-work burrows its way up through the floor, directly into your earholes. Uninhibited? Everything here’s simultaneously under control, all under the watchful, guiding eye of Dessagne, and playfully, wildly out of control, little arrangements of phenomena let loose to build new worlds. Organised chaos, and chaotic organisation.
„Es stand schon seit einiger Zeit auf meiner Wunschliste, dass die unglaublich talentierte Julienne Dessagne eine Techno-EP für uns produziert“, sagt Michael Mayer. Auf Speicher 139 kann man sofort hören, warum, denn Dessagnes Projekt Fantastic Twins erscheint endlich in der legendären Serie von Kompakt. Die Schlüsselwörter: psychedelische Acid-Trax. „False Index“ ist auf das Wesentliche reduziert: ein furchteinflößender Rhythmus mit einem sich endlos windenden Synth-Pattern, das sich um den Schädel dreht, wie Zellophan knistert und sich wie verbranntes Plastik verzieht, während Dessagnes Sprechstimme über allem schwebt – distanziert, aber mühelos wahrnehmbar. „New Systems“ ist eine neue Art von Europa Endlos – hypnotisch und üppig, seine tiefen Drones von Sonar-Pieptönen durchbrochen. „Uninhibited“ ist eingängig auf eine Weise, wie es nur Dessagne möglich macht, ihre Stimme brennt sich in dein Gedächtnis ein, während sie durch massive Architekturen hallt, Töne fallen vom Gerüst und spritzen an deinen Füßen, während sich Glitch-Work seinen Weg durch den Boden bahnt, direkt in deine Ohren. Hemmungslos? Hier ist alles gleichzeitig unter Kontrolle, alles unter dem wachsamen, leitenden Blick von Dessagne, und spielerisch, wild außer Kontrolle, lassen sich kleine Arrangements von Phänomenen los, um neue Welten zu erschaffen. Organisiertes Chaos und chaotische Organisation.
After “Messin plutôt que français / Enfonce-toi dans la ville” and “Gloire à Satan,” Noir Boy George, an iconic artist from Metz and a key figure in the French underground scene, unveils a new album: “Polytoxicomane de toi.”
This album brings together key tracks from Doug Carn recorded for Black Jazz Records in the 1970s.
Doug Carn is one of the most-important (and least-recognised) forces in the creation of the canon of 'deep and spiritual jazz music' - full of powerfully emotive intensity, consciously-uplifting lyricism and addictively beautiful melodies.
All of his LPs during this period have since achieved cult classic status including 'Infant Eyes', 'Adam's Apple', 'Spirit of the New Land' and 'Revelation'.
Aside from his songwriting and keyboard skills, many of the tracks here feature the stunning and powerful 5-octave range vocals of Jean Carn (later Carne), his wife at the time.
Musicians featured on this album include Alphonse Mouzon, Charles Tolliver, Henry Franklin, Michael Carvin, Walter Booker, Ronnie Laws and others. Aside from Carn’s compositions there are also striking interpretations of music by Lee Morgan, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Bobby Hutcherson and Wayne Shorter.
Black Jazz became one of the defining labels of independent and conscious jazz music in the 1970s alongside other important labels such as Strata-East and Tribe Records. As well as this Best of Doug Carn release, Soul Jazz Records are also releasing a Best of Black Jazz Records collection at the same time.
- 1: Bruce Springsteen - My Hometown
- 2: Bryan Ferry - Windswept
- 3: Sting - Love Is The Seventh Wave
- 4: Go West – Eye To Eye
- 5: Scritti Politti - Perfect Way
- 6: Abc - Be Near Me
- 7: Heaven 1 - …(And That’s No Lie)
- 8: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - La Femme Accident
- 1: Adam Ant - Vive Le Rock
- 2: Thompson Twins - Revolution
- 3: Midge Ure - That Certain Smile
- 4: Blancmange - What’s Your Problem
- 5: Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder - Good-Bye Bad Times
- 6: The Style Council - Come To Milton Keynes
- 7: Simply Red - Come To My Aid
- 8: Fine Young Cannibals - Blue
- 1: Cocteau Twins - Aikea-Guinea
- 2: The Jesus And Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
- 3: The Dream Academy - The Love Parade
- 4: Brilliant - It's A Man's Man's Man's World
- 5: Matt Bianco - More Than I Can Bear
- 6: The Colourfield - Castles In The Air
- 7: Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Green Shirt
- 8: The Clash - This Is England
- 1: Sheryl Lee Ralph - In The Evening
- 2: Barbara Pennington - On A Crowded Street
- 3: Miquel Brown - Close To Perfection
- 4: Hazell Dean - They Say It's Gonna Rain
- 5: Laura Branigan - Spanish Eddie
- 6: Divine - Twistin’ The Night Away
- 7: Eddie Murphy - Party All The Time
- 1: Billy Joel - You're Only Human (Second Wind)
- 2: John Mellencamp - Small Town
- 3: Bon Jovi - In And Out Of Love
- 4: Pat Benatar - Invincible
- 5: The Power Station - Communication
- 6: Chris Rea - Stainsby Girls
- 7: Marillion - Heart Of Lothian
- 1: Elton John & Millie Jackson - Act Of War (Part )
- 2: Patti Labelle - New Attitude
- 3: Tina Turner – Show Some Respect
- 4: Michael Mcdonald - No Lookin' Back
- 5: Daryl Hall & John Oates - Method Of Modern Love
- 6: Chaka Khan - Through The Fire
- 7: Whitney Houston - You Give Good Love
Welcome to THE VAULT for 1985. A collection that digs deeper into the year’s musical landscape – uncovering singles that may not have always reached the highest chart positions but remain essential to the rich and diverse pop story of 1985. Some were overshadowed at the time, some were highlights from albums that had already sold huge amounts, some found greater success internationally – but all deserve their place in this continued celebration of 80s pop.
45 tracks across 3-LPs – pressed in gorgeous green vinyl – NOW Yearbook – The Vault: 1985.
LP1 opens with a trio of tracks from huge-selling albums:- Bruce Springsteen’s ‘My Hometown’, the sixth single in the UK from ‘Born in the U.S.A’ - one of the best-selling albums of the decade, followed by Bryan Ferry with the stunning ‘Windswept’ from ‘Boys And Girls’ and Sting’s ‘Love Is The Seventh Wave’, taken from his solo debut ‘The Dream Of The Blue Turtles’. Next up, Go West with a U.S single release ‘Eye To Eye’, Scritti Politti with ‘Perfect Way’ – their biggest hit in America, and ABC with ‘Be Near Me’. The first side closes with two established bands; Heaven 17 and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark… Flip the LP over for Adam Ant with ‘Vive Le Rock’, Midge Ure, Blancmange and the second collaboration between Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder with ‘Good-Bye Bad Times’. The Style Council’s ‘Welcome To Milton Keynes’ leads to LP1’s closer’s from Simply Red and Fine Young Cannibals who followed their debut ‘Johnny Come Home’ with ‘Blue’.
LP2 opens with Cocteau Twins and the dream-pop atmospherics of ‘Aikea-Guinea’, ahead of The Jesus And Mary Chain with ‘Just Like Honey’, and The Dream Academy with ‘The Love Parade’.
Brilliant with their cover of James Brown’s ‘It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World’ and jazz-influenced pop from Matt Bianco are up next ahead of the sublime ‘Castles In The Air’ from The Colourfield and Elvis Costello & The Attractions, who released the 1979 track ‘Green Shirt’ to promote their ‘Best Of’ collection … and the side closes with The Clash’s ‘This Is England’ which would become their last originally released hit…whilst on the other side…celebrate the dancefloor, with a vibrant mix of Hi-NRG, soul, electro and club-influenced pop:- Opening with Sheryl Lee Ralph’s ‘In The Evening’ and Barbara Pennington’s equally superb ‘On A Crowded Street’, the hi-energy continues with Miquel Brown and Hazell Dean ahead of a US hit from Laura Branigan (‘Spanish Eddie’) and Divine’s cover of ‘Twistin’ The Night Away’. LP2 finishes with a massive U.S. dancefloor smash for Eddie Murphy with ‘Party All The Time’.
The final LP kicks off with a bunch of singles that achieved bigger hit status in the US than here and opens with Billy Joel’s ‘You’re Only Human (Second Wind)’, a track written exclusively for his ‘Greatest Hits – Volume I & II’ compilation, ahead of pop-rock from John Mellencamp plus an anthemic smash from Bon Jovi. Pat Benatar’s ‘Invincible’ features ahead of The Power Station’s third US Top 40 hit…whilst back in the UK Chris Rea enjoyed his biggest chart hit to date with ‘Stainsby Girls’ and the side is completed by Marillion with ‘Heart Of Lothian’ the third hit from their huge ‘Misplaced Childhood’ album… Flip to the final side for the stellar vocals on ‘Act Of War’, the huge collaboration between Elton John & Millie Jackson ahead of dancefloor smash ‘New Attitude’ from Patti Labelle and ‘Show Some Respect’ a U.S. single from Tina Turner. Sophisticated pop-R&B from Michael McDonald and Daryl Hall & John Oates come ahead of the collection’s closers- and two outstanding vocal performances: Chaka Khan’s ‘Through The Fire’ and the U.S. breakthrough hit from Whitney Houston with ‘You Give Good Love’ – signalling the arrival of one of the decade’s brightest new stars.
NOW Yearbook – The Vault: 1985 – A deeper dive into an unforgettable year in pop.
REPRESS ALERT! Long out of press and with copies regularly changing hands for close to £100 on the second-hand market, Air Miles are proud to present a limited repress of their inaugural release, “An Ode To Midnight EP’ by Jeigo.
The tone is set from the off with the eponymously named first track of the release ‘an Ode to midnight’. The tracks mellow break beat feel is met by warm rushing pads, ebbing and flowing between textures of the night before last.
Floor focussed, zero fussing ‘Wing Systems’ carries the front side at an orbital trajectory. No time for an intro, the drums jolt you into alertness, the wobbly bass perfectly counterpointed by gated, washing keys.
‘Lime Hawk’, melancholic euphoria brings the release back to the conscious. It’s structure toy-fully crescendos and builds, all while the Balearic synth peaks with the sub line keeping you grounded throughout.
Rounding off the record is ‘By My Side’ meandering the record into slightly darker territories. The shifting keys wash over, the siren call vocals penetrate and the thudding kick punches through, anchoring the track as an emotionally driven, cerebral affair.
Jess Sah Bi is well-known as half of the legendary duo Jess Sah Bi & Peter One who brought homegrown Country-Americana to the West African masses with their smash debut Our Garden Needs Its Flowers in the mid-1980s. Touring stadiums and reaching listeners worldwide, their music has racked up millions of spins on YouTube and remains imprinted in the hearts of Ivorians of a certain age. ATFA reissued their album in 2018, garnering critical acclaim from publications including Pitchfork and Rolling Stone and reaching a new generation of listeners outside Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire). Sometime in the early 90s, Die Sahbi - or Jesse, as he known to friends-became gravely ill with an unknown ailment and almost died. He visited various doctors and all kinds of religious healers and nothing helped. One day he went down to an Evangelical Christian revival in his neighborhood. They prayed over him and he was delivered. He says, "Their prayers helped chase out whatever demons and unhealthy spirits were inside me. After that my illness went away. When I went to the United States a few months later on an exchange program I wanted to make music to thank God because I was saved." He recorded an album of music praising God in order to honor a promise he made to himself at the depths of his desperation in the hospital. The album Jesus-Christ Ne Deçoit Pas Jesus Christ Does Not Let Us Down came out in 1991 and sold around 3000 cassettes in Ivory Coast. The master tape was lost along the way so the recording has never been on digital platforms until now. Jesse didn't have much time to record while visiting South Carolina, hence the relatively short album, 6 songs including two reprises for filler. A local pastor connected him with a studio and some American musicians (Robert Fortner and Gary Davis) to help. They added acoustic guitar, percussion and keyboard accompaniment to Jesse's soaring French and Gouro vocals, harmonica and finger-picked acoustic. The resulting recording is deeply soothing and contemplative music that perfectly compliments the songs already embraced by millions. But he had to find the rest of the studio expenses-$600 total-which he secured drawing cartoons for UNICEF. Jesse is Ivory Coast's first political cartoonist, a vocation for which he was widely celebrated at the time. It also made him a few enemies which lead to him leaving the country permanently a few years later. Jesus-Christ Ne Deçoit Pas is Jess Sah Bi's first and only gospel album. Fortunately, fans responded with enthusiasm: widespread radio airplay and concerts followed, along with a growing solo profile in the country. The first big gospel artists in Ivory Coast were the duo Mathieu et Constance, who emerged in 1989. There was a bigger gospel music movement in English-speaking counties like Ghana and Nigeria (Christians make up roughly 40% of the population in Ivory Coast, slightly less than Muslims). Jesse didn't have any intention of working in Christian music but he realized, "You don't make music to make money-you want to send a message." In the years since Jesus-Christ's release, gospel music in Ivory Coast has grown to become a key part of music culture in the country. Spiritual music appears in community actives across the public and private spectrum from religious gatherings and parties to television broadcasts and music festivals. And, as it has evolved and indigenized locally, gospel music has picked up elements of traditional Ivorian music, reggae and soul. The album ultimately precipitated the demise of the duo, who were soon separated geographically as Peter One relocated to Nashville. He went on to become a nurse and release a successful solo album on Verve following the ATFA collaboration. Nowadays Jesse lives in the Bay Area and continues to record and perform music wherever and whenever he has the chance. He is publishing a new book of humorous cartoons in 2025 and his most recent album Never Give Up came out in 2020
- A1: Archangel (Feat. Sølv)
- A2: Split In Two Minds (Feat. Seantommy)
- A3: Yosemite (Feat. Interplanetary Criminal)
- A4: Take Me
- B1: Fade Away (It’s A Feeling)
- B2: Man With A Second Face
- B3: If U Want My Heart (Feat. Dj Heartstring)
- B4: Do Not Go Gentle
- C1: 11Th Of January
- C2: Air Maxes (Feat. Shady Nasty & Fred Again..)
- C3: Gotta Have It
- D4: I Believe (Feat. Prospa)
- D1: It Gets Better
- D2: Air Maxes (Kettama Mix)
- D3: Sort It Out (Feat. Clouds)
One of electronic music’s most sought-after names, producer and DJ KETTAMA today announces the release of his long-awaited debut album, Archangel, out 3rd of October. The announcement arrives in tandem with new single “Sort It Out” featuring Clouds, and a landmark moment in his career: his biggest ever London headline show, taking over Brixton Academy on Saturday, October 4th, followed by an expansive tour across Europe, North America, and Australia.
A decade in the making, Archangel is the definitive statement from KETTAMA (Evan Cambell), the Galway-born, London-based artist. The 15-track project is a powerful blend of hard-house energy, trance-inflected euphoria, hip-hop sample-based attitude, and unmistakable emotional depth—sonic signatures that have placed KETTAMA at the cutting edge of contemporary dance music.
The album showcases a curated roster of collaborators who reflect KETTAMA’s reach and relevance across today’s underground and mainstream scenes, including Interplanetary Criminal, Fred again.., Clouds, Prospa, DJ HEARTSTRING, Shady Nasty, SØLV and seantommy. Their contributions amplify the project's scope, offering a multi-sided view into KETTAMA’s musical universe.
Among its early singles, the Interplanetary Criminal collaboration “Yosemite” is a high-velocity anthem marrying speed-garage grit with ecstatic rave melodies, while his track “Air Maxes” with Fred again.. And Shady Nasty blends introspective vocal sampling with wide-eyed club emotion. On “If U Want My Heart” with DJ HEARTSTRING featuring KLP, the ensemble channels high-energy trance, breakbeats, and vocal euphoria into a soaring anthem that fuses emotional intensity with peak-time club energy. Meanwhile, his collaboration with Clouds, released today, “Sort It Out” dives headfirst into industrial-techno territory, conjuring a dark, cathartic energy destined for warehouse euphoria. And reigning as one of the undeniable anthems of the summer so far, “It Get’s Better (Forever Mix)” delivers euphoric waves of uplifting synths and relentless rhythm, bringing an irresistible surge of energy that’s become synonymous with this summer’s club moments.
Archangel has already found a home on the world’s biggest stages and radio airwaves, with early support from key tastemakers including Jack Saunders, Danny Howard, Sarah Story, and Tim Sweeney. Simultaneously, a grassroots groundswell continues to bloom across social platforms—where viral snippets and show footage capture the visceral reaction of a fast-growing, global fanbase.
This year, KETTAMA has elevated his status to a full-blown festival phenomenon, performing at major stages including Coachella, Glastonbury, Creamfields, Portola, Seismic, and ARC Festival, to name a few. In June, he played to 20,000 people in Belfast for a b2b with Chris Stussy—one of the UK’s largest DJ events in recent memory—and is currently mid-way through a 16-week Ibiza residency at Amnesia, playing every Monday night throughout summer. Full list of upcoming live dates can be found below.
Perhaps the clearest signal of his surging popularity is the jaw-dropping response to his upcoming Boiler Room live set, with over 15,000 fans signing up to attend— the set’s release is now highly anticipated as a time capsule moment in a breakout year for the artist.
KETTAMA’s rise to prominence has been anything but conventional. Eschewing the traditional gatekeepers of the industry, KETTAMA cultivated an underground following through the likes of SoundCloud and TikTok, where raw uploads, bootlegs, and viral edits generated a tidal wave of grassroots momentum. Over the years, these platforms became launching pads for a fiercely loyal global community, drawn to his unfiltered energy and boundary-pushing sound. This subversive path to recognition has made him not just a fixture of the scene but a symbol of how new-generation artists can forge success on their own terms.
From his humble roots in the Irish underground to the world stage KETTAMA is now pushing the limits of what a next-gen DJ-producer can achieve. With Archangel, he fuses the sound of his native ‘G-Town’ with a futuristic vision that’s unapologetically global—marking a creative milestone that cements his place among electronic music’s most compelling voices.
- A1: Yede Aba
- A2: Mene Menua Mienu
- A3: Sabarima
- A4: Ebia Nie
- A5: Amintiminim
- A6: Siakwaa
- A7: Nana Agyei
- B1: Efie Ne Fie
- B2: Nyankonton Nko Nyaa
- B3: Kwankwaasem Nti
- B4: Egya Ananse Yi Wonan Baako
- B5: Kwaadede Meyare Merewu
- B6: Eda A Mewu
Strut proudly presents the first-ever reissue of a landmark 1974 Ghanaian highlife classic Sikyi Highlife by Dr K. Gyasi & His Noble Kings, originally released on Essiebons.
A defining recording of the era, Sikyi Highlife bridges tradition and innovation at a pivotal moment in Ghanaian music. Deeply rooted in the classic 1950s–’60s highlife sound, K. Gyasi drew inspiration from the ancient sikyi drum-dance of the Akan people of southern Ghana, shaping the album’s rhythms around its distinctive pulse.
The vocal arrangements echo the traditional Akan modal style, grounding the music firmly in Ghana’s cultural heritage. Yet Sikyi Highlife is equally forward-thinking. As electric guitars became standard in highlife during the 1960s, the 1970s ushered in further experimentation. The Noble Kings broke new ground as the first highlife guitar band to incorporate keyboards and a full horn section into their sound, expanding the genre’s sonic possibilities while retaining its rootsy spirit.
Gyasi’s approach was part of a broader indigenisation movement among Ghana’s electric highlife bands in the post-independence era. Inspired by the nation’s ‘African Personality’ ethos and reinforced by Afrocentric messages arriving from American soul and funk, artists began reclaiming traditional forms within modern arrangements. Contemporaries included Koo Nimo, who revived the older palmwine style, and drummer Nii Ashitey, whose Wulomei band pioneered a folklorised Ga highlife sound from 1973.
Like many musicians of his generation, Gyasi was a passionate supporter of Ghana’s independence movement. In 1963, he travelled as a musical ambassador alongside Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, performing across North Africa and the USSR and carrying Ghanaian culture onto the world stage.
The Noble Kings’ mid-’70s line-up featured some of the country’s finest musicians, including guitarist Eric Agyeman (who led the band at the time), Thomas Frimpong on drums and vocals, Ernest Honny on organ, and bassist Ralph Karikari - who was renowned for his innovative technique of translating the rhythms and tonal language of the traditional talking drum onto electric bass.
Upon its original release, Sikyi Highlife became one of the biggest-selling albums of the 1970s for Essiebons, earning Gyasi the affectionate honorary title of “Dr” from his devoted fans. Today, the album remains an evergreen classic, still cherished across Ghana and beyond.
Spiritual World presents: Ashleigh Ball — Center of the Universe, a transcendental flute journey from the singer and flutist of Teal. Center of the Universe is a 32-minute improvisational odyssey recorded inside the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO), a National Historic Site on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia Canada..
Inspired by the pioneering work of Paul Horn and his Inside series, the recording channels a similar spirit of reverent exploration within a space rich in history and resonance. Completed in 1918, the observatory is home to the Plaskett Telescope - once among the largest and most powerful in the world - playing a key role in mapping the Milky Way.
Following months of coordination, three hours of private access were granted on the morning of August 25, 2025. Beneath the observatory’s towering telescope, Ball performed a wordless meditation, moving between alto flute and soprano concert flute, allowing each note to merge with the chamber’s vast natural reverb. Tones bloom, linger, and return, carried along the massive curved steel walls.
Captured using a minimalist recording approach, Center of the Universe preserves the purity of the moment—its warmth, stillness, and the architecture’s subtle mechanical resonance. Here, the observatory itself becomes an instrument, shaping the sound into something elemental, timeless, and deeply human. Center of the Universe will be released as a limited-edition vinyl LP (300 copies) with a printed insert on May 15, 2026, via Rubadub, Forced Exposure, and HiFi in Sheep’s Clothing.
Visionary producer Ibrahim Alfa Jr, who's been traversing the rave's farthest fringes since the late '90s, returns with his most focused and concise set to date, an anthology of undulating, bass-heavy experiments that surveys techno and its distorted history, printing fractured pulses and cybernetic synths over vanishing snapshots of jazz, funk, trip-hop, broken beat, dub and ambient music. It's a body of work that coalesced during a difficult time for Alfa.
After returning to Brighton and sobriety in 2022, he was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, subsequently suffering two debilitating heart attacks. With his immune system compromised, isolation was the only option, so for months on end Alfa devoted each waking hour to his art, recording samples, building digital synths and effects and meticulously sequencing some of his waviest, most experimental material to date. Over this period he finished over 500 tracks, writing impulsively and constantly challenging himself. "There was nothing to hold me back," he explains. "I just had music, I didn't know if I would see the next day."
Now recovered from his ordeal, Alfa looks back at this prolific period with optimism and fondness. It was a chance for him to reconnect with his art holistically, writing purely for himself without any outside influence. Because, at this stage in his life, Alfa has already been through a series of artistic evolutions. When he was still just a teenager, he penned a slew of grinding, jacking techno 12"s (under a variety of mysterious monikers) in the late '90s before re-emerging a decade ago with the acclaimed 'Hidden By The Leaves', an album made up of deeply personal archival tracks that were thought to have been lost. A few years later, Alfa returned wholeheartedly with a series of records for Mille Plateaux that redrew the boundaries of his "Black political music without words." And on 'Infinite Black Inside', those different strands are muddled with Alfa's profound life experiences and he expresses himself free of any self-imposed boundaries, writing quickly on a hybrid analog-digital setup to document as many ideas as possible.
There's a palpable sense of liberation that drives the album's opening track, 'Subutrax', lubricating polyrhythms that isolate the connective tissue between footwork and Detroit techno as they slip between looped electric piano vamps and vaporous synths. On 'Naked Lunchbreak' meanwhile, the beat generation's excesses are illustrated by mesmeric fast-paced acoustic drums that Alfa balances out with brassy drones and euphoric keys. He captures rubbery hits from a Ghanaian djembe on 'Drum Slinger', re-sequencing them into seismic waves that rumble underneath live woodwind blasts. And on 'Capture', decelerated breaks and garbled voices tumble into humid pads, suspending the album somewhere between the chill-out room and the night sky. It's a record of new beginnings and fresh narratives that collapses the hardcore continuum, revealing a sonic signature that's Alfa's alone.
- 1: Burn The House Down
- 2: Let The Demons Out
- 3: Crazy
- 4: Bad Love
- 5: I Don’t Give A Damn
- 6: Rock Me
- 7: Shake It
- 8: Wild Heart
- 9: Trouble In Mind
- 10: Fire And Gasoline
With Burn The House Down, Ghalia Volt delivers a raw and electrifying blend of blues, garage rock, and roots-driven energy. Fueled by gritty guitar riffs, hypnotic rhythms, and her unmistakable raspy vocals, the album captures the spirit of stripped-down, high-voltage rock’n’roll. Recorded with an organic and live feel, the songs pulse with authenticity and urgency, balancing infectious grooves with a rough-edged charm. Ghalia Volt’s performance is both fierce and soulful, channeling the essence of traditional blues while pushing it into a more modern, rebellious direction. Burn The House Down is a bold and uncompromising release—perfect for fans of The Black Keys, Larkin Poe, and raw, unfiltered blues rock
Mad Rey is a Paris-based producer and DJ whose universe moves freely between warm house, raw electronic textures, and influences drawn from the international club scene. First emerging through the D.Ko Records collective and label—one of the key forces behind the French house revival of the 2010s—he quickly developed a sensitive and organic signature, blending analog groove, evocative melodies, and a deep dancefloor energy. His notable releases on D.Ko, followed by projects with labels such as Red Lebanese and Ed Banger Records, reflect a singular trajectory at the crossroads of France’s most influential underground and electronic scenes.
Constantly evolving, Mad Rey is now opening a new chapter in his journey. An upcoming EP on Yoyaku affirms a more club-focused and percussive direction, while new productions leaning toward tech house outline a sharper sound designed for powerful systems and late-night dancefloors. This evolution comes with a clear ambition: to carry his music beyond French borders and expand his presence on the international stage.
Balancing production precision, DJ instinct, and an ongoing search for renewal, Mad Rey continues to shape a distinctive artistic world—rooted in the present yet firmly oriented toward the future of the dancefloor.
- A1: Bittersweet
- A2: Bongo Joe
- A3: The Moil
- A4: Paint
- A5: Never Called You Crazy
- A6: Gypsy Fade
- A7: Mercamon
- B1: Uptown Odyssey
- B2: Kid Kenner
- B3: The Beast
- B4: Tenderness
- B5: All Behind You Now
- B6: Doomed
On their fourth proper studio album Ruckus, Galactic wholeheartedly move not so much away from their past as a bad-ass New Orleans jazz & roll band, as they move toward another of its traditions: Voodoo funk.
Not merely content to stick to Mardi Gras or Dr. John esthetics, Galactic points firmly toward the technological present with their primordial groove machine music. Bass, bass, and more bass is the order of the day, and strange keyboard sounds come bubbling under like some lost Lee Perry session gone digital. Ruckus is a spooky ride to the other side of midnight. That moment in time when anything is possible.
This is musical rebirth of a band. Galactic was made all the better for its brave new direction. Ruckus is a album packed with ass-burning grooves and was produced by Dan The Automator.
Ruckus has not been available on vinyl more than 2 decades, and now it's finally out again as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on yellow & green marble vinyl, and includes an insert.
- A1: Boundaries
- A2: Cyber Dreams (Patrice Scott Remix)
- A3: Nasty (Feat. Marquinn Mason)
- B1: Cyber Dreams (Feat. Domenica Fossati)
- B2: Foster Child
Water Sign is the debut EP from producer and instrumentalist John Silas: a five-track suite that moves fluidly between peak-time dance and inward reflection. Deeply aligned with the open-eared ethos of NYC’s Love Injection Records, the release channels house and jazz into an emotive personal chronicle shaped by movement, memory, and community.
At its thematic center is “Boundaries,” a dynamically arranged dance-floor meditation that begins with piano, 4/4 kick and restless hi-hats before blooming into radiant synth work reminiscent of classic disco auteur Patrick Adams. Midway, the track shifts—electric piano, whistles and percussion reframing the groove into what Silas calls “hues of vulnerability.” The result mirrors the arc of love, release and renewal.“Cyber Dreams” leans into lush escapism, buoyed by surging keys and impassioned flute from Domenica Fossati, while a remix from Detroit mainstay Patrice Scott (Sistrum Records) adds unmistakable Motor City weight. “Foster Child” nods to Silas’ hero, the late Paul Johnson with exuberant Chicago spirit, and “Nasty” delivers a concise workout featuring Marquinn Mason’s robust saxophone.
Water Sign reflects Silas’s trajectory—from a childhood steeped in Soul Train, coming of age with hip hop, to MPC craftsmanship, his Detroit musical family and present-day Brooklyn—into a deeply personal record equally suited to discerning DJs and deep listeners.
- A1: Unknown Artist – Prologue
- A2: Blackrock – Yeah, Yeah
- A3: Black Merda – Cynthy-Ruth
- A4: Doug Anderson – Hey Mama, Here Come The Preacher
- A5: Iron Knowledge – Show-Stopper
- A6: Jacob's Kelly – Funk-Key
- A7: L.a. Carnival – Blind Man
- A8: Preacher – Life Is A Gamble (Pt. I)
- A9: Sir Stanley – I Believe I Found Myself
- B1: The Young Senators– Ringing Bells (Sweet Music) Part
- B2: Jade – Paper Man
- B3: Gran Am – Get High
- B4: Curtis Knight Zeus – The Devil Made Me Do It
- B5: Curly Davis & The Uniques – Black Cobra Part Ii
- B6: Hot Chocolate – Good For The Gander
- B7: Stone Coal White – You Know
- B8: Unknown Artist – ...Epilogue
- B9: Creations Unlimited– Chrystal Illusion
First ever vinyl release of this massive classic psychedelic black rock funk compilation. Lovingly reproduced for audiophiles on black vinyl and packaged in a fully artworked sleeve and labels and shrinkwrapped. Limited edition vinyl press! “One of the best compilations of formerly released material ever made. A classic” “The whole compilation is pretty damn sweet, but anything dug up by Iron Knowledge is essential listening”!
The new Nu Genea? A real band on Toy Tonics that plays dance music! Drums, bass, percussion, keys… no samples, no computers.
Kymono bring together house, Italian pop, Brazil, and jazz. They have amazing skills as musicians, as songwriters, and they ROCK hard live. It sounds a bit 70s but also it sounds so post-digital or as some say: organic. It’s a band for the Lo-Fi heads and the people who like groove on a dancefloor.
One song features Italian legend Alan Sorrenti on the mic. The rest has a few Italian vocals, which makes it so unique and charming that it will appeal not only to funky house music fans but also to lovers of the current jazz scene.
‘Test Press’ originally landed with Erol Alkan long before his monumental B2B2B2B with Busy P, Fred Again and Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk in Paris in October 2025. A few nips and tucks by Alkan later resulted in his own simple yet highly effective battle weapon, and ‘Test Press’ was ready for the Parisian dancers at the now legendary Pompidou Centre’s closing party, as well as thousands locked into the live stream of this unexpected link-up.
Not content with the edit to merely be confined to a series of YouTube rips and Alkan's own USB key, Felix Da Housecat’s ‘Test Press (Aphrohead Remix / Erol Alkan Re-Edit)’ has been pressed onto a limited edition single-sided while label.
This is not a promotional copy!
Test complete.
SCHWARM (Martinou Remix)
Martinou reshapes SCHWARM into fluid sound currents and a glowing, hypnotic arpeggio. Intimate yet euphoric, it's a slow-burning dream. He and Harald Björk first connected through Myspace in 2008. Martinou has since released on Nous'klaer and Mule Musiq, among others.
SCHWARM (Sniper Mode Remix)
Gregor Tresher revives Sniper Mode with sharp 808 electro - minimal, deep, precise. After meeting Björk via Cocoon, the link continued through Break New Soil.
ALUCO (Revisited)
Björk reworks his Cocoon Recordings release into a deeper, more spacious trance journey. A staple in his live sets and championed by Ida Engberg and John Digweed, it returns stripped, atmospheric and hypnotic.
ALUCO (AD Remix)
AD is the deeper alias of Alexi Delano, a key figure since the SVEK era. His version drifts through nocturnal Stockholm - dubby, cold, immersive.
For almost two decades, Igor Škafar has honed a own unique sound. Warm and nostalgic, the Slovenian artist melts unctuous analogue tones with subtle percussive patterns. This palette is at the heart of Ichisan’s fifth appearance on Bordello A Parigi. An undulating and understated introduction ushers in “Erotika,” the cosmic gazing sounds of the 1970s and the turquoise waters of Balearic flowing as one. Swirling space synthlines are countered by punchy beats, fudgy basslines balanced by the gently rippling melody. The break offers new directions, drum patterns scatter before regrouping around those sunkissed scaling chords care of Škafar’s impeccable craftsmanship. The beats take on a disco snap for “Midnight House,” a smouldering snaking synthline unfurling itself to glorious heights. Bongos and toms support the sci-fi dipped keys of this seven-minute journey into the musical mind of Ichisan. Two tracks that offer a deep dive into the sounds of a truly singular artist.
Polyamore presents “Ritmo Magnetico EP” by Disco Strummer, a vibrant blend of disco, funk and Italo grooves. The title track delivers deep basslines, bright keys and uplifting energy made for the dancefloor, while “Stardust” takes a cosmic turn with space‑disco atmospheres and hypnotic synths. Together, the two tracks celebrate movement, freedom and Disco Strummer’s signature blend of sunny groove and cosmic flair.
Rising star Storm Mollison lands her debut on Heist with an ep blending House & R 'n B and we're completely hooked.
The future is looking bright for Storm Mollison - Heist's newest. Marked as artist to look out for by Shazam on their fast forward 2026 list, Storm's got a bright and busy year ahead, after an already big 2025. Last year alone, she featured on Kiki's hit 'Getting ready for the party', featured on a Mixmag London event and a Raw Cuts X Heist ADE party, had her first cover feature on Spotify, multiple radio 1 appearances, released several singles, a full EP on Noir Fever and a Luuk van Dijk remix.
If that's not enough to get you excited, we suggest you just listen to her 'Act like that' EP on Heist. In Storm's own words: "it's the most exciting music I've made so far" and we couldn't agree more. Her EP is a perfect blend of her love for house music and soulful R 'n B with its 4 tracks smothered in deep chords, smooth vocals and crunchy textures.
EP opener 'Doing Sumthin'' has been a staple in Dam Swindle's sets ever since receiving Storm's first demo and has never failed to make the crowd bounce from left to right with its quirky and equally cool vocal courtesy of Aaron Pfeiffer. Sometimes, you just need someone to tell you which way to move and before you know it, the whole club is doing it. The beat is chunky, and the sax lick is a nice wink to the old school house that has influences Storm's sound so much.
Act Like That - the EP's title track -, is a modern R' n B song that could have easily been on Rochelle Jordan's latest album. The lyrics are perfectly delivered by Storm herself and celebrate women who stand up to unreliable men. It could well be the badass soundtrack of womanhood for 2026 delivered in a silky-smooth package that'll live rent-free in your head for the foreseeable future.
On the flipside is "Gotta Go', an undercover dancefloor burner with lush keys and a lean-back groove. The track relies on crisp textures and little frizzles all throughout the track, with a big breakdown for ultimate release.
Ep closer 'Workin' takes us back into R 'n B territory, this time in a very danceable form. Storm's soft vocals lie on top of a steady beat with deep chords and a bassline so sexy It'll make you get down no matter where you're hearing this.
It's hard to speak about a breakthrough for an artist that has already seen such a rise in the scene, but if we're talking about her music, this will be the record that people come back to after years and say, "remember when she releases ALT!?"
As always, enjoy the music and play it loud!
Yours, Maarten & Lars
From his roots in House, Alex Finkin is a renowned producer and creative director. Working in his Paris studio he has developed numerous projects, notably his own (Roseaux), as well as commissions for radio and television. Meanwhile, with 30 years of production and DJing under his belt, Rocco Rodamaal belongs to the elite circle of House innovators who continue to influence the scene. He's played alongside some of the best in the industry showcasing his versatility and deep understanding of the genre, and remixed artists including Marshall Jefferson, Kerri Chandler, Louie Vega & Moodymann, Todd Terry, Barbara Tucker and Robert Owens to name just a few. Alex Finkin befriended Rocco Rodamaal, who he met via the soulful Parisian club Djoon, where Alex was resident from 2006 to 2014. They have since collaborated on a number of projects together, including "In Da Hood" released on COD3 QR in 2023. Kenny Dope's "O'Gutta" remixes are a series of house and club-focused reworks characterized by raw, gritty and often stripped-back percussion, which he now brings to "In Da Hood".
Ross McMillan, known professionally as Carlos Nilmmns, is a Scottish electronic music producer, DJ and composer originally from Glasgow. Over the years he has collaborated with a range of notable artists, including Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning figures, including Kenny Dope, Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson and Davina Bussey, plus respected artists like Niko Marks, Rolando, Laurent Garnier, Santiago Salazar, Hardrock Striker, Karl The Voice, Zadig, Ben Sims, Andrés (who worked with Jay Dilla and Moodymann), and YouANDme. His music has been released on Planet E, Trax, Cocoon, Ornaments, Circus, Virgin, Skylax/Universal Music France and more. His style draws from house, techno and jazz influences, often combining analogue and digital production methods. A returning regular and COD3 QR favourite, he's back with another stunner in "Latin Quarter".
K' Alexi Shelby is a prominent figure in electronic music and with a career spanning decades, he's established a significant influence on House and Techno. Throughout his career he's worked with many well-known artists and remixed tracks that are now key pieces. The cultivation of his massive musical catalogue has overflowed into albums and the three labels he heads. It's also led to legendary collaborations with artists such as The Pet Shop Boys, Robert Owens, Kenny Dixon, Roy Davis Jr., Maurice Joshua, Terry Hunter, Joe Smooth, Steve Silke Hurley, Tyree Cooper, Ron Trent, Glenn Underground, Larry Heard, DJ Pierre, Carl Craig, Felix da Housecat, Marshall Jefferson, Will Smith and countless others. Already respected around the world as a true underground House legend, he delivered "Flame" in 2025 for COD3 QR. Now he's back with "When I", another deep and sexy cut.
Benny Rodrigues a.k.a. ROD unveiled his new moniker, The Lost Souldancer when he dropped "No More Voices" for COD3 QR last year. In his own words, Benny says: "The Lost Souldancer is about coping with the loss of what once was. Finding comfort in the invisible rather than what can be seen. Disconnect to connect in order to be loved rather than liked." He continues this ethos with the delicate and melodic closing track "Life and Death".
- A1: Skyscraper (Live In Uelzen)
- A2: It's A Hard Life (Live In Paderborn)
- A3: I Got My Eyes You (Live In Uelzen)
- A4: Strange Feeling (Live In Uelzen)
- A5: Goldrush (Live In Uelzen)
- A6: It's Good To Know (Live In Uelzen)
- A7: Just Get Back (Live In Paderborn)
- B1: Dirty Slapstick (Live In Paderborn)
- B2: Heart In Danger (Live In Paderborn)
- B3: We Don't Want It No More (Live In Paderborn)
- B4: Legend (Live In Uelzen)
- B5: Subways Of Your Mind (Live In Uelzen)
- B6: Waiting Song (Live In Uelzen)
We are pleased to announce the first FEX live album, Don't Look Back. The release features selected recordings from two concerts in Paderborn and Uelzen, both captured in 1985. All tracks on the album are previously unissued, including entirely unheard songs such as It's a Hard Life, Just Get Back, Legend, and Waiting Song, alongside a previously unreleased version of Subways of Your Mind, widely known as "The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet."
One of the most striking aspects of the album is the remarkable sound quality of the live recordings, as well as the strength of the performances themselves - particularly given that FEX were still considered a newcomer band at the time. The four-piece lineup consisted of singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter Ture Rückwardt, Michael Hädrich on keyboards and occasional second guitar, Norbert Ziermann on bass, and Hans-Reimer Sievers on drums. In 1985, the band was preparing for broader exposure through a nationwide tour organized by the small promotion company HBM-Musikbüro.
The album opens with the psychedelic Skyscraper, a track Rückwardt reportedly regarded as a personal favorite to perform. Hädrich contributes dynamic synthesizer layers, while Ziermann underpins the track with a distinctive slap bass groove. This is followed by the energetic rock number It's a Hard Life, which once again demonstrates that the band possessed multiple songs capable of matching the impact of their best known track Subways of Your Mind.
After this energetic opening, the album shifts into a more restrained mood with the synth-pop ballad I Got My Eyes On You. It is followed by Strange Feeling, presented here in a particularly compelling live version that arguably surpasses the previously released studio demo featured on the Skyscraper LP, with Rückwardt delivering one of his most expressive vocal performances. On Goldrush, another fan favorite, it is Hädrich's DX7 synthesizer work that stands out.
Don't Look Back continues to flow seamlessly, moving between styles such as new wave, synth pop, and a blues-influenced form of classic rock. On It's Good To Know, a song addressing the theme of stardom, the band returns to a heavier rock sound. In contrast, the synth-driven Just Get Back reflects on the conflict in Northern Ireland, then ongoing at the time. Lines such as "It's the money, it's the money why they come along" are directed at mercenary soldiers, while "even Sunday's a killing time" directly references Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2.
Previously known songs such as Dirty Slapstick and Heart in Danger lead into We Don't Want It No More, perhaps the band's most striking pop ballad. It is easy to imagine that the track had the potential to achieve radio success in the 1980s. The following piece, the epic Legend, explores themes of loneliness and love simultaneously. With poetic and abstract lines such as "some isolate in the falling rain" and "that's why I count all the reasons they call out for living, sadness is falling inside," it builds an almost eerie atmosphere.
One of the final highlights of the album is Subways of Your Mind, recorded in Uelzen. In this version, Rückwardt's vocal performance is even more on point than on the previously issued recording from Paderborn. Another notable moment is the driving, 1970s-inspired rock 'n' roll track Waiting Song. Both the composition and its live performance carry an energy that could easily stand alongside the repertoire of bands such as AC/DC. It was usually the track that FEX ended their concerts with, calling out each band member at the end of the song.
This leads to a broader reflection: it is striking that FEX did not achieve a wider breakthrough at the time. The performances captured here suggest a band capable of delivering consistently, song by song, note by note. It is not difficult to imagine FEX performing in large venues and engaging sizeable audiences. In reality, however, most performances in 1985 took place in front of relatively small crowds. The recordings featured on this album originate from the Roxy club in Paderborn and a small, unknown venue in Uelzen, likely in front of fewer than fifty attendees.
An essential figure behind these recordings is the engineer known only under his nickname Hase (German for "rabbit"), who was responsible for capturing not only these concerts but many other surviving FEX recordings. Bringing his own mixing desk to performances, he developed a deep familiarity with the band's material and was able to shape the live sound with precision, including the timely use of vocal effects. The original recordings existed only on cassette and required careful and extensive restoration work. Zoey Cairs was finally responsible for bringing them to their present quality.
This album marks the beginning of the Live Waves series, following the rediscovery of additional recordings that have gained international attention since November 2024, when they surfaced through what has been described as the largest "lost wave" music search to date. The title of this first live LP Don't Look Back carries a certain paradox. While the album invites listeners to revisit recordings from forty years ago, FEX themselves were always oriented toward the future. In that spirit, further releases of brand new material are already planned.
The cover artwork is once again based on an image by Magnussen from the Kiel archive, depicting the Prinz-Heinrich-Brücke. The bridge, once located in the northern part of the city, no longer exists. As a symbol, however, it remains fitting: a bridge stands for movement and connection - qualities that FEX sought to embody on tour, bringing their music to different places and audiences.
Time To Get On Board A New Black Universal Express.
With each new recording Anthony Joseph presents an imaginative, personal vision of contemporary black culture, and The Ark is yet another compelling album by the award-winning Trinidadian poet and musician. This second part of a sequence of two albums launched with last year’s Rowing Up River To Get Our Names Back, finds Joseph giving full vent to his desire to explore many thought-provoking themes. However, there is a specific thread running through the glorious offering of sounds.
”I was especially interested in the idea of using Afrofuturism as a means of using the future in order to correct the wrongs of the past,” explains Joseph. “And so a lot of lyrics reimage or imagine an alternate black history. At the same time there are elements of autobiography.” The aforesaid cultural phenomenon, a view of the black experience through the prism of science fiction and ancient Egypt and Africa, as mapped out by visionaries from music and literature such as Sun Ra, Parliament-Funkadelic and Octavia E. Butler, has previously inspired Joseph. His 2006 novel The African Origins Of UFOs was a multi-hued work, and the new music shows how Joseph
has, much like all significant artists, gone on to broaden his conceptual palette, creating beguiling new stories and images set to startling rhythms and tones. Tracks such as ‘James’, with its taut, crisp bass and dubbed-up brass, and ‘Transposition Of Space (Glissant)’, a potent evocation of the influential Martiniquan theorist set in a haze of jazz guitar and ambient synthesizers, are marvels of text-sound painting.
As for ‘Baron Samedi’, shaped by a languid, almost wounded guitar line and slow rise of horns that frame Joseph’s journey to the ‘mountain of fire, almost touching the sky’ it is an epic blend of commanding vocal delivery and dramatic sonic tapestry.
Joseph led the Spasm band in the early 2000s and recorded well-received albums such as Bird Head Son and Time, in which songs were largely based on spirituals or chants enhanced by improvisation. But his musical curiosity has naturally led to collaborations, and the new work is produced by Dave Okumu, the prodigiously talented guitarist-vocalist-composer known as the leader of Mercury Music Prize-nominated The Invisible, and who was also a member of the seminal band Jade Fox.
Having first performed together at a show curated by influential saxophonist-flautist Shabaka Hutchings at the storied Total Refreshment Centre In London during lockdown, Joseph and Okumu struck up a rapport that further developed when the former guested on he latter’s album. With the connection made Joseph knew Okumu was the ideal producer for this latest project, which has a freewheeling, almost black psychedelic thing. After sifting through demos and loops the guitarist made on pro-tools the poet started to live with the music. Many months later words began to take shape. Joseph then went into the studio with Okumu’s band and set about creating a magnum opus. Boasting a stellar cast such as vocalist Eska Mtungwazi, trumpeter Byron Wallen and keyboardist Nick Ramm, The Ark is a highly intricate musical mosaic framed by simmering funk grooves, wily jazz improvisation and haunting dub effects. Through the use of many genres the music has simply become its own genre.
The Ark can be perceived as a vessel or means of transport to new worlds, along the lines of Sun Ra’s Ark or Funkadelic’s Mothership, and the material it contains is a unique blend of who Anthony Joseph is and how he sees the world and society in these stimulating, challenging times. “It balances the personal with the universal in a much more vulnerable, accessible way than on previous albums,” Joseph explains.
“It has become less about a personal experience and more about a collective, communal experience in which the artist is conduit, messenger, urban griot.”
Australian composer-performers Judith Hamann and James Rushford have worked together in countless projects for two decades, perhaps most notably in Golden Fur, their trio with Sam Dunscombe. Black Truffle is pleased to announce Midmeste, their first work as a duo. Its title is Middle English for ‘the middlemost point’, alluding to how the piece builds on the points of overlap between the highly personalised musical languages Hamann and Rushford have developed in recent years. Performed on cello and a variety of pipe organs, Midmeste is a spacious, sometimes unsettling exploration of their shared interest in alternative tunings, psychoacoustic phenomena, the physical properties of their instruments, and the usually peripheral sounds generated by the performing body.
Beginning with a sequence of austerely vibrato-less harmonics from Hamann's cello, trailed by Rushford's whistling portative organ tones, the music soon expands into a slow-moving melodic wander, pausing at times to linger over an uncomfortable harmony or particularly resonant cello tone. Hamann and Rushford have long histories of engagement with pre-Classical European musical traditions, having in past projects performed and radically extended the work of Solage, Louis Couperin, Johann Conrad Beissell and other composers. Here they use a 15th century song by John Dunstaple, ‘O rosa bella’, which returns throughout the piece, distorted, aerated and splayed into new forms.
Developed while the two shared residencies at Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart in 2020 and La Becque on Lake Geneva in 2023, Midmeste integrates recordings made (at at the invitation of the Biennale Son) on the organ of the Basilica St Valere in Sion, Switzerland—the world’s oldest playable organ, built in the early 15th century. Played by both Rushford and Hamann, the instrument’s idiosyncratic features, including bellows pumped manually using massive wooden beams, are integrated into the music through amplification. Creaks and thumps locate the music physically both in the performers’ bodies and the specific site of its making. Moving through a series of distinct episodes across its forty-minute span, Midmeste makes space for near-silent duets of high harmonics and hissing air, moments where twittering high tones and rumbling sub-bass could be electronic, and static fields that unexpectedly blossom into almost Romantic harmonies.
Listeners familiar with Hamann and Rushford’s work will find many familiar features here: the stunningly rich cello tones, their patient sustain allowing heightened awareness of the inner life of sound and its interactions with the environment; the care with which acoustic space is activated, becoming at times a third instrumental voice; the attention to fragile, unstable sonorities that sometimes have a comic edge. A major work from two key figures in contemporary experimental music, Midmeste synthesises rigorous exploration of fundamental questions of sound and performance with an unapologetic embrace of beauty.
- A1: The Sweeping Wind (Kwa Ti Feng)
- A2: Ice Cream Man
- A3: Rockin’ Rockin’ Leprechauns
- A4: Summer Morning
- A5: Afternoon
- A6: Fly Into The Mystery
- B1: South American Folk Song
- B2: Roller Coaster By The Sea
- B3: Dodge Veg-O-Matic
- B4: Egyptian Reggae
- B5: Coomyah
- B6: The Wheels On The Bus
- B7: Angels Watching Over Me
Rock 'n Roll With The Modern Lovers is the second album released by The Modern Lovers.
The band was formed in 1970 by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jonathan Richman, with Jerry Harrison (keyboards - later went on to join Talking Heads), Ernie Brooks (bass), and David Robinson (drums). Richman's friend John Felice joined them occasionally. Their sound almost totally focuses on the sound from the Fifties. The lo-fi record breathes folky roots music and rock ‘n roll as it would sound ages ago. The albums features the popular tracks "Ice Cream Man", "Roller Coaster By The Sea", and "Egyptian Reggae". The latter was a cover version of Earl Zero "None Shall Escape The Judgement" and became a UK Top 5 hit.
Rock 'n Roll With The Modern Lovers is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on silver vinyl.
- A1: A Long Distance Call
- A2: The Book Of Self Doubt
- A3: In A Rut Ft Sydney Spann
- A4: Score Ft Anysia Kym
- A5: Seems Like I A6. Flatline Ft Miho Hatori
- B1: Peak Again Ft Alan Sparhawk
- B2: Habits And Patterns Ft Tirzah
- B3: Wish I Was Like U
- B4: Ending Us All Ft Le3 Black X Fyn Dobson
- B5: Forever Still (Steel)
- B6: See Through
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.
EFUNK Volume V is the fifth installation of the annual VA compilation featuring music from a curated collection of artists set to perform at Soul Clap’s House Of EFUNK touring party series. This release date on wax and digital is right in time for the official Movement Festival afterparty @ TV Lounge in Detroit that spans 2 days with 3 areas of sound. This year’s compilation features music from Soul Clap alongside long time friend and Baltimore favorite Baronhawk Poitier who present “Set The Scene”, a futuristic earthshaking groove with Baronhawk’s spoken vocals backed by Charles Levine’s vocoder and a Moog topline played by Baronhawk that won’t quit. Hercules & Love Affair makes a debut on the label with “Stay Ready” a chugging tracky / acid infused banger which should absolutely induce a dancefloor sweat. Kai Alce shares a discofied sample-licious crowd pleaser called “Boogie” with the help of additional keys by Byron Blaylock better known as Byron The Aquarius. Detroit’s new school starchild JMT joins with the hard hitting peaktime soul powered “Black Magic Touch” and last but certainly not least, Lauren Flax adds an edge of danger while calling for “Revolution” featuring vocals from Liz Wight. These tracks are sounding warm and round thanks to the mastering expertise of Caserta and have been dancefloor approved by Soul Clap!
ANAOH INVITES - Homeground Edition
Celebrating 10 years of ANAOH, this special edition of the label's annual Invites series turns the focus inward. Fixon and Dig-It open the A-side with two collaborative tracks reflecting the sound and creative bond that has shaped the label over the years.
On the B-side, Damian Vargas and Victor Fernandez, key members of the ANAOH crew, contribute two distinctive cuts representing the label's close-knit artistic circle.
Four tracks celebrating a decade of shared vision and community.
Available May 22 in record stores worldwide.
- A1: Judy Cantor - Palabras De Chucho Valdes
- A2: Conjunto Artistico De La Far - Sincopancia
- A3: Grupo V.c. - K.1
- A4: Grupo Candombe - El Bailador De Mi Cuba
- A5: Felipe Dulzaides Y Los Armonicos - Juan Antonio
- A6: Grupo Achere - Este Es Mi Sucu Sucu
- B1: Grupo Havana 75 Ejt - Este Tumbao
- B2: Los Barba - Ciento Once Compases De Ritmo
- B3: Los Bocucos - Mi Quimbin
- B4: Combo Tiempos Nuevos - Camina Con Los Codos
- B5: Maggie Carles & Luis Nodal Y Los Magneticos - Solo Por Ti
- B6: Osvaldo Rodriguez (Los 5U4) - Para Las Pailas
This tidy joint release between Future Rootz and Luchando Music compiles rare recordings from 1970s and 80s Cuba, all sourced from private archives and reel-to-reel tapes. This is the sort of selection to get serious diggers hot under the collar as it explores funk-driven arrangements, jazz-informed horn sections and rhythm-led compositions contoured with Afro-Cuban percussion. There is plenty of tape saturation and analogue noise present throughout that reinforces the archival origins of the music and instrumentation centres on brass, keys and layered percussion, with grooves built from syncopated patterns and live ensembles. Alongside the music, restored credits and contextual research foreground the musicians and recording histories behind these previously unavailable works. Do not sleep on this one.
Besides having one of the most original artist names out there, Qrusifix aka Hampus Karlsson, is a true record collector who has been putting in the work on his MPC 2000 for quite some time. With roots in Småland and now based in Stockholm he’s been spinning records, low-key producing tracks on his home turf and popping up whenever the time felt right to spread his vibes. In 2024, together with fellow producer and friend David, he released his first record on the Malmö label Hip Hop Weekend.
The Chasing Clouds EP, out in May 2026 on Västkransen Records, presents four tracks built for late nights that drift into dawn - calm, dreamy and slightly melancholic soundscapes, as if you're on your way somewhere but without rush.
- 01: Under The Silver Moon
- 02: 6 Years
- 03: Harap Dan Ragu
- 04: The More
- 05: Through The Changes
- 06: Di Hotel Malibu
- 07: What's On Your Mind
- 08: I'm Just A Girl
- 09: Selatan
- 10: I'd Be Lost
- 11: Di Dalam
- 12: Crazy Eyes
- 13: Boru
- 14: Rahasia
Big Crown freut sich, das zweite Album von Thee Marloes, ,Di Hotel Malibu", zu präsentieren. Es erweitert den Rahmen - ein selbstbewusster Schritt weg von den Grenzen, die ihren Sound einst klar definierten, hin zu etwas Durchlässigerem, Gesprächigerem und zutiefst Indonesischem. Zwei Jahre sind vergangen, seit ,Perak", das Debütalbum des Trios aus Surabaya bei Big Crown Records, ihren einzigartigen Sound vorstellte. Dieses neue Album bricht nicht mit dieser Tradition, sondern erweitert sie und zeigt, wie sehr sie als Band seit der Veröffentlichung ihres Debüts und all den damit verbundenen Erfahrungen gewachsen sind. Bestehend aus der Sängerin und Keyboarderin Natassya Sianturi, dem Gitarristen und Produzenten Sinatrya Dharaka und dem Schlagzeuger Tommy Satwick, haben Thee Marloes stets als Einheit gearbeitet, wobei ihre Songs von Satwick, haben Thee Marloes stets als Einheit gearbeitet, wobei ihre Songs von gemeinsamen Referenzpunkten und einem ausgeprägten Sinn für Groove geprägt sind.
Auf diesem Album erweitert sich diese gemeinsame Sprache. Die Arrangements bewegen sich über ein breiteres Spektrum, mit neuen instrumentalen Farben, unerwarteten rhythmischen Wendungen und einem lockereren Ansatz in Bezug auf die Struktur. Die Band beschreibt es als eine Reaktion auf die letzten zwei Jahre ihres Lebens: soziale Realitäten, Liebesleben in Der Album-Opener ,Under the Silver Moon" ist ein kühler Two-Stepper, der die bitteren und süßen Seiten von Fernbeziehungen vor einem luftigen musikalischen Hintergrund thematisiert. ,Six Years" ist eine Seite aus dem Leben der Sängerin Natassya Sianturi und ihrem Kampf, den Schritt zu wagen, einen bequemen und sicheren Tagesjob aufzugeben, um ihrem Traum von einem erfüllten Leben zu folgen.
Big Crown freut sich, das zweite Album von Thee Marloes, ,Di Hotel Malibu", zu präsentieren. Es erweitert den Rahmen - ein selbstbewusster Schritt weg von den Grenzen, die ihren Sound einst klar definierten, hin zu etwas Durchlässigerem, Gesprächigerem und zutiefst Indonesischem. Zwei Jahre sind vergangen, seit ,Perak", das Debütalbum des Trios aus Surabaya bei Big Crown Records, ihren einzigartigen Sound vorstellte. Dieses neue Album bricht nicht mit dieser Tradition, sondern erweitert sie und zeigt, wie sehr sie als Band seit der Veröffentlichung ihres Debüts und all den damit verbundenen Erfahrungen gewachsen sind. Bestehend aus der Sängerin und Keyboarderin Natassya Sianturi, dem Gitarristen und Produzenten Sinatrya Dharaka und dem Schlagzeuger Tommy Satwick, haben Thee Marloes stets als Einheit gearbeitet, wobei ihre Songs von Satwick, haben Thee Marloes stets als Einheit gearbeitet, wobei ihre Songs von gemeinsamen Referenzpunkten und einem ausgeprägten Sinn für Groove geprägt sind.
Auf diesem Album erweitert sich diese gemeinsame Sprache. Die Arrangements bewegen sich über ein breiteres Spektrum, mit neuen instrumentalen Farben, unerwarteten rhythmischen Wendungen und einem lockereren Ansatz in Bezug auf die Struktur. Die Band beschreibt es als eine Reaktion auf die letzten zwei Jahre ihres Lebens: soziale Realitäten, Liebesleben in Der Album-Opener ,Under the Silver Moon" ist ein kühler Two-Stepper, der die bitteren und süßen Seiten von Fernbeziehungen vor einem luftigen musikalischen Hintergrund thematisiert. ,Six Years" ist eine Seite aus dem Leben der Sängerin Natassya Sianturi und ihrem Kampf, den Schritt zu wagen, einen bequemen und sicheren Tagesjob aufzugeben, um ihrem Traum von einem erfüllten Leben zu folgen.
Big Crown freut sich, das zweite Album von Thee Marloes, ,Di Hotel Malibu", zu präsentieren. Es erweitert den Rahmen - ein selbstbewusster Schritt weg von den Grenzen, die ihren Sound einst klar definierten, hin zu etwas Durchlässigerem, Gesprächigerem und zutiefst Indonesischem. Zwei Jahre sind vergangen, seit ,Perak", das Debütalbum des Trios aus Surabaya bei Big Crown Records, ihren einzigartigen Sound vorstellte. Dieses neue Album bricht nicht mit dieser Tradition, sondern erweitert sie und zeigt, wie sehr sie als Band seit der Veröffentlichung ihres Debüts und all den damit verbundenen Erfahrungen gewachsen sind. Bestehend aus der Sängerin und Keyboarderin Natassya Sianturi, dem Gitarristen und Produzenten Sinatrya Dharaka und dem Schlagzeuger Tommy Satwick, haben Thee Marloes stets als Einheit gearbeitet, wobei ihre Songs von Satwick, haben Thee Marloes stets als Einheit gearbeitet, wobei ihre Songs von gemeinsamen Referenzpunkten und einem ausgeprägten Sinn für Groove geprägt sind.
Auf diesem Album erweitert sich diese gemeinsame Sprache. Die Arrangements bewegen sich über ein breiteres Spektrum, mit neuen instrumentalen Farben, unerwarteten rhythmischen Wendungen und einem lockereren Ansatz in Bezug auf die Struktur. Die Band beschreibt es als eine Reaktion auf die letzten zwei Jahre ihres Lebens: soziale Realitäten, Liebesleben in Der Album-Opener ,Under the Silver Moon" ist ein kühler Two-Stepper, der die bitteren und süßen Seiten von Fernbeziehungen vor einem luftigen musikalischen Hintergrund thematisiert. ,Six Years" ist eine Seite aus dem Leben der Sängerin Natassya Sianturi und ihrem Kampf, den Schritt zu wagen, einen bequemen und sicheren Tagesjob aufzugeben, um ihrem Traum von einem erfüllten Leben zu folgen.
Undisputed legend of the dubstep scene Commodo collaborates with Jazz aficionado Alfa Mist on Deep Harbour. “I’ve admired Alfa Mist’s work for some time and I had a couple of avenues I wanted to explore using keyboards. One being a darker, dissonant take on a jazz flavoured half-step. The release also features two mixes by Anz. "Anz is a real producer’s producer with a broad range and felt like the perfect remixer.” Commodo has seen support from DJ Mag, Crack, Clash, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6, NTS and played likes of Boiler Room Festival, Outlook Festival Boomtown Festival, Keep Hush and more.
- 1: Bleed
- 2: Wrong
- 3: Oh My God Ft. Widowdusk
- 4: The Knife
- 5: Understand Ft. Wratt Starr
- 6: Jemma
- 7: Sink
- 8: Rot Ft. Someone You Can Call
- 9: Altar
- 10: Home
- 11: Philip
- 12: Sweat And Tears Ft. Casper Hill
Dead Calm is a band from Liam McCay... a young, prolific Irish musician from County Donegal, known for creating music under numerous aliases, most notably Sign Crushes Motorist, Dead Calm, and Take Care, exploring genres like slowcore and indie rock with poignant, introspective, and often melancholic themes, gaining significant online traction while maintaining a low-key, hobbyist approach to his rapidly growing career. He began with the fiddle, pivoted to guitar during the pandemic, and has since released extensive work, even turning down record deals to keep his creative process personal.
- 1: Grow Ft. Masumi
- 2: Mountain
- 3: Slump
- 4: Keep Moving On
- 5: Turn Around Ft. Rosevile Sucks
- 6: Chance Ft. Widowdusk
- 7: Gorgeous Night
- 8: Say Goodbye
- 9: We Love You Dennis Rodman
- 10: What Took You So Long
Dead Calm is a band from Liam McCay... a young, prolific Irish musician from County Donegal, known for creating music under numerous aliases, most notably Sign Crushes Motorist, Dead Calm, and Take Care, exploring genres like slowcore and indie rock with poignant, introspective, and often melancholic themes, gaining significant online traction while maintaining a low-key, hobbyist approach to his rapidly growing career. He began with the fiddle, pivoted to guitar during the pandemic, and has since released extensive work, even turning down record deals to keep his creative process personal.
- 1: Christus Christus (The Shells Have Cracked)
- 2: Falling Back In Fields Of Rape
- 3: From Broken Cross, Locusts
- 4: Raio No Terrasu (Jesus Wept)
- 5: St. Peter's Keys All Bloody
Reissue of a lost hit by the British composer Kevan Frost, now championed and given a brand-new Dub Mix by Mark Grusane. Up for pre-order now and due late-March on our RSS series!
Kevan Frost grew up in Jos, Nigeria where he became a self-taught musician and developed a deep understanding of rhythm and melody. In the 90's, Frost was a session musician for many studios in London, one of these was unable to pay him so they gave him a few free days in the studio and the result was "Give It Up" as he explains:
"I went in and recorded all the music in a day, and the vocals and mix on day two. This was the days of only having 24 tracks available on tape so I programmed the drums, bass and keyboard parts on C-Lab which was only available on the Atari computer and the samples I made on my Akai S-1000 sampler. Full of floppy disks I went in early on day one and printed all of this on tape. I then recorded the guitar parts. Day two was me layering the lead vocals and Backing vocal parts as quick as I could before starting to mix."
However, the track fell into obscurity with no major label backing or marketing budget. A friend of Mark Grusane’s came across it in Brooklyn at the African Record Centre and it eventually ended up in Mark's hands and from there he edited the original track to a more stripped-back dub mix and began playing it out to great effect on dancefloors.
After a bit of digging, we tracked down Kevan and a fully licensed reissue is due on Rush Hour in late March 2026, including a brand new ‘Dub Mix’ from Mark Grusane.
Yanuka is the solo project of acclaimed keyboardist, composer and producer Tomer Zuk and here he makes his debut on Ma Ze Music with Hashrika and No Tomorrow. Known for his cinematic touch and eclectic style, Zuk blends Middle Eastern motifs, hypnotic grooves, and meditative atmospheres into what feels like a modern-day Morricone from the desert. There are psyched out 60s elements, Library music overtones, funk, soul and jazz instrumentals and great sound designs all bringing these two mysterious and enchanting sounds alive. The first is a late-night wander that echoes Khrangbuin and the second is all wah-wah magic and slick, rolling rhythms.
Detroit Legend, Rick Wade joins Collect Records for the first time with Just Beneath EP. A key figure in Detroit's second generation of house producers and founder of Harmonie Park, Rick Wade delivers three deep and hypnotic cuts rooted in jazz, soul and classic machine funk. Warm, stripped-down and functional, with one acid-leaning track adding extra tension to the EP. Underground house music for late night hours. Collect Records operates from Collect, the Lisbon-based record shop and radio located in Cais do Sodre, a meeting point for DJs, collectors and the local underground scene.
2026 Repress
Glaskin is the alias of two brothers, Jonathan and Ferdinand, based in Munich. The pair have emerged as key figures in the citys electronic music scene as longtime residents of the renowned Blitz Club, standing out a homegrown talents amongst its vibrant electronic landscape. Bringing a unique, forward-thinking techno style, as evidenced by their contributions to Mutual Rytms Federation Of Rytm II and III compilations in previous years, they now mark a new chapter and open 2025 in style with their debut 12 on the label, Inertia Of Motion. Each cut on the EP has been handcrafted with analogue gear, reflecting their distinctive artistic and sonic vision. The release is a direct outcome of the creative process behind their live set, which has become an integral part of the duos identity and shows a natural evolution of their singular sound.
Hush Up kicks things off with deep, rubbery and rolling techno rhythms. The drums are stripped back and laced with pulsing synth patterns and spoken word snippets that add a freaky edge. Double Tap ups the anti with classic, pumping deep techno with smart filters adding movement to the track as urgent leads hurry onwards. Inertia bring a more anxious atmosphere with tightly coiled drums and perc and eerie bell sounds ring out over the fat, twisted bassline. The brilliant Tank brings mind-melting loopy techno with dubby chords and textured leads warming their way between the beats to great effect, while Motion is suspenseful techno that locks you into a high speed groove peppered with thumping hits and kicks. Last of all, digital bonus Blushed Blue explores a moody, minimal, late night techno sound that is warm, stylish and hypnotic to close the show
RNT co-founder JKriv joins forces with keyboard virtuoso Jason Lindner to drop the Real Ones EP, a clubby and musical 3-track excursion that includes a deep and polished remix from rising star Retromigration. Needing little introduction, JKriv is a driving force behind RNT, architect of edits, original productions, and the aesthetic direction of the label. Jason Lindner has a storied musical history that includes leading the in-house big band of legendary jazz club Small’s in the early 2000s through to performing on David Bowie’s final album Blackstar, and much more. The duo have been honing a musical alliance for the past few years through their work together in the A Joyful Noise band and hybrid-live sets on hometown Brooklyn Razor-N-Tape events, developing an inctricate musical interplay and incendiary energy that is captured perfectly here. Across these 3 melodic house tracks, lush layers of synths interlock and build toward big anthemic moments, with hard-hitting drums driving the energy forward. Retromigration steps up to deliver a gorgeously slick remix to round out this exceedingly musical and eminently playable 12".
Our next 7” release welcomes young and talented key player Stefano Nardon from Vicenza, Italy.
The record features two jazz-infused broken beat compositions, performed and recorded live, capturing an intimate and organic session feel.
On the A side, “Mangrovia” unfolds as a warm, floating piece built around Fender Rhodes textures, subtle harmonies and a slow-burning groove. A deep and immersive cut, balancing between jazz lounge aesthetics and cinematic mood.
The B side, “Underwater”, was created in collaboration with drummer Stefano Cosi (Padova). His live drum contribution adds movement and depth, giving the track a more dynamic pulse while maintaining the introspective character of the release.
Detroit's Rocksteady Disco its dropping a couple of golden nuggets this season and Brooklyn-based producer, DJ, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and label-owner JKriv is next up with his 'Adaptation' EP. Opener 'Greene Street Lament' is a swooning, laid back way to open and immediately slows your pulse. 'Adaptation' raises it again with a funky drum and clap combo underpinned by a busy little bassline. 'Total Pleasure' tugs at the heart with an aching vocal riding the mid-tempo, deep cut drums and lavish synth sounds. The mid tempo magic continues on 'Vibetown' which smears synths between gentle broken beats with string flourishes and jazzy keys all rising up. 'Adaptation' gets a dub rework to close out a tasteful EP of heart warming sounds.
Colored Vinyl. The Gaia II Space Corps ist ein Album, das nicht ganz nach Heavy Metal oder Hard Rock klingt, aber eindeutig die Qualitäten dieser Genres aufgreift. Es ist Post-Psychedelic und Pre-Metal und nah an einem echten Classic-Hard-Rock-Album, zumindest so nah die Band Motorpsycho diesem jemals kommen wird. The Gaia II Space Corps ist ein kurzes, knappes, eingängiges und mitreißendes Album, das dort anknüpft, wo die Tracks Stanley und The Comeback vom letzten Album aufgehört haben. Die Instrumentierung besteht größtenteils aus Gitarren, Gitarren und noch mehr Gitarren, doch es gibt auch eine ganze Menge Gesang sowie gelegentlich den einen oder anderen Keyboard-Sound. Vor allem aber ist es Gitarrenmusik, die _ nun ja, rockt! Und zwar heftig!!
Key long-term collaborators and Coil's "secret third member" Danny Hyde located the original Hellraiser studio session tapes, and the bonus material recovered from them is presented here as an "expanded ritual" edition.
For fans of pain & pleasure, Throbbing Gristle, lost horror soundtracks & haunted electronics.
Back in 1987, Clive Barker's supernatural body-horror classic Hellraiser hit cinemas worldwide and introduced audiences to the demonic Cenobites. Barker was a devoted COIL fan (Peter Christopherson and John Balance), and he famously said they were the only band he'd ever heard on record whose music he'd had to take off because, in his words, "theymade his bowels churn.". He initially invited them to compose the film's music, and the group began recording cues. But the producers at New World Pictures ultimately rejected the material in favor of a more traditional approach, bringing in Christopher Young, whose final score remains excellent, if less experimental. What remains from Coil is an unfinished soundtrack with surviving fragments and rough ideas, abruptly left behind mid-process, a glimpse into an alternate Hellraiser movie, one we can only fantasize into existence.
Nearly 40 years later, key long-term collaborators and Coil's "secret third member" Danny Hyde located the original Hellraiser studio session tapes, and the bonus material recovered from them is presented here as an "expanded ritual" edition, reassembled into a standalone, possibly definitive and strangely beautiful nightmare suite. Play it in the dark and experience the consequences of raising hell...
The Coyote-affiliated Magic Wand wafts its mercurial charm over a series of mega-useful and equally effective edits here. Robot 84 kicks off with a slow, cyborg-infused and digitally finished dub of a Prince classic and Ali Renault brings sugary synth charm to 'Indovina Key'. Bratley himself then steps up with the whacked out piano house of 'PNO', a slow jam with oversized impact. 'Song To The Hills' gets a Secret Soul Society mix that's infused with subtle psychedelic charm and fresh disco chug.4 new heavyweight reworks from Secret Soul Society, Robot 84, Ali Renault and Craig Bratley.
Forever Records
Music springs eternal. Recognising the enduring power of timeless albums to guide us through life, Forever Records is a reissue series dedicated to rediscovering lost musical treasures from across the spectrum of head-feeding, heart-rending electronic music.
Established by Rush Hour co-founder Christiaan Macdonald and Delsin founder Marsel van der Wielen, Forever Records places heartfelt faith in a carefully curated sequence of seminal, largely forgotten records from disparate eras, scenes and spaces within electronic music history. Tipped towards the mellow and introspective, these are albums that stop time when the needle hits the groove, stirring only when it's time to flip over before you sink back into the experience. That's what albums were always meant to be about, back then, right now, always and forever.
The Release:
Dancing on the wildest edge of the 90s outsider techno zeitgeist while proudly independent of any so-called scene, Ov Biospheres And Sacred Grooves: A Document Ov New Edge Folk Classics is both of its time and out of time. Rooted in the experiments of electronic music pioneers, industrial culture and ethnic music from around the globe while responding to the house and techno explosion, Robbert Heynen, Reinier Brekelmans, Reinoud van den Broek and Tim Freeman's freewheeling masterpiece takes in lush electronica and murky abstraction on its singular voyage through parts unknown.
Forever Records presents an extensive reissue edition of the first 'fully released' Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia album. Originally released in 1992, this is the first time the full, previously CD-only, version of Ov Biospheres and Sacred Grooves will be pressed on vinyl. The original LP and CD artwork from the various editions released in the early 90s has been combined and designed by the band, and the audio has been remastered with their full approval. As well as a new LP edition of the album, there will also be a uniquely numbered, limited edition available housed in a gatefold sleeve that comes with a bonus 10" featuring two previously unreleased tracks.
Press response to Ov Biospheres and Sacred Grooves - A Document Ov New Edge Folk Classics:
“That’s Magick! The Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia are Holland’s best kept secret.”
Sherman, NME, UK 1992
“PWOG’s debut LP is an organic invocation rite — the soundtrack to a new world coming to life, an odyssey. Cross-cultural rhythms, ambiences and environmental samples segue into one another like a fluid relay, and unlike the majority of dance records, it never settles into a routine. It’s always evolving, always unpredictable, an indefinitely religious experience.”
John Selzer, Melody Maker, UK 1992.
"Grown men, who snorted their first ecstasy to this record, stammered with tears in their eyes about divine experiences and the cosmos, man."
Peter Erik Hillenbach, Marabo Magazine, Germany 1992.
Sacred Grooves’ introduces tribal dance music for the mind, body music leaning on the avant garde. Its ripples of sound drift through tranced out ritualistic beats into ambience and serenity resembling something akin to The Orb meeting Klaus Schulze at a brain tuning session.
Sherman, NME, UK 1992
"There's still dance for a moment, in the opening track "The Challenge," then Psychick Warriors roam the earth, where African drummers, tropical sounds, and science-fiction chords have found their place in a spiralling interplay of rhythms and sounds. A captivating, almost magical ritual." Corné Evers, Oor Magazine, Netherlands 1992.
"It's truly astonishing what these Dutchmen have come up with for their first LP. Their roots might explain the enigma, for Psychick Warriors are more in the tradition of Psychic TV than in the desolate temples of techno-house fetishists, to which they are wrongly relegated. Here, chromosomes dance, not instincts." CMK, Tip, Germany 1992.
"The transcendental essence of this album is spread throughout, with musical gravitations emerging unexpectedly from sonic experiments that are sometimes primitive, sometimes
futuristic in intention… But there is always an aura of cosmic magic that constantly puts all the parts involved in conflict and which, upon closer analysis, ends up being the main reason for the final result." Blitz Magazine, Portugal 1992.
Forever Records
Music springs eternal. Recognising the enduring power of timeless albums to guide us through life, Forever Records is a reissue series dedicated to rediscovering lost musical treasures from across the spectrum of head-feeding, heart-rending electronic music.
Established by Rush Hour co-founder Christiaan Macdonald and Delsin founder Marsel van der Wielen, Forever Records places heartfelt faith in a carefully curated sequence of seminal, largely forgotten records from disparate eras, scenes and spaces within electronic music history. Tipped towards the mellow and introspective, these are albums that stop time when the needle hits the groove, stirring only when it's time to flip over before you sink back into the experience. That's what albums were always meant to be about, back then, right now, always and forever.
The Release:
Dancing on the wildest edge of the 90s outsider techno zeitgeist while proudly independent of any so-called scene, Ov Biospheres And Sacred Grooves: A Document Ov New Edge Folk Classics is both of its time and out of time. Rooted in the experiments of electronic music pioneers, industrial culture and ethnic music from around the globe while responding to the house and techno explosion, Robbert Heynen, Reinier Brekelmans, Reinoud van den Broek and Tim Freeman's freewheeling masterpiece takes in lush electronica and murky abstraction on its singular voyage through parts unknown.
Forever Records presents an extensive reissue edition of the first 'fully released' Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia album. Originally released in 1992, this is the first time the full, previously CD-only, version of Ov Biospheres and Sacred Grooves will be pressed on vinyl. The original LP and CD artwork from the various editions released in the early 90s has been combined and designed by the band, and the audio has been remastered with their full approval. As well as a new LP edition of the album, there will also be a uniquely numbered, limited edition available housed in a gatefold sleeve that comes with a bonus 10" featuring two previously unreleased tracks.
Press response to Ov Biospheres and Sacred Grooves - A Document Ov New Edge Folk Classics:
“That’s Magick! The Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia are Holland’s best kept secret.”
Sherman, NME, UK 1992
“PWOG’s debut LP is an organic invocation rite — the soundtrack to a new world coming to life, an odyssey. Cross-cultural rhythms, ambiences and environmental samples segue into one another like a fluid relay, and unlike the majority of dance records, it never settles into a routine. It’s always evolving, always unpredictable, an indefinitely religious experience.”
John Selzer, Melody Maker, UK 1992.
"Grown men, who snorted their first ecstasy to this record, stammered with tears in their eyes about divine experiences and the cosmos, man."
Peter Erik Hillenbach, Marabo Magazine, Germany 1992.
Sacred Grooves’ introduces tribal dance music for the mind, body music leaning on the avant garde. Its ripples of sound drift through tranced out ritualistic beats into ambience and serenity resembling something akin to The Orb meeting Klaus Schulze at a brain tuning session.
Sherman, NME, UK 1992
"There's still dance for a moment, in the opening track "The Challenge," then Psychick Warriors roam the earth, where African drummers, tropical sounds, and science-fiction chords have found their place in a spiralling interplay of rhythms and sounds. A captivating, almost magical ritual." Corné Evers, Oor Magazine, Netherlands 1992.
"It's truly astonishing what these Dutchmen have come up with for their first LP. Their roots might explain the enigma, for Psychick Warriors are more in the tradition of Psychic TV than in the desolate temples of techno-house fetishists, to which they are wrongly relegated. Here, chromosomes dance, not instincts." CMK, Tip, Germany 1992.
"The transcendental essence of this album is spread throughout, with musical gravitations emerging unexpectedly from sonic experiments that are sometimes primitive, sometimes
futuristic in intention… But there is always an aura of cosmic magic that constantly puts all the parts involved in conflict and which, upon closer analysis, ends up being the main reason for the final result." Blitz Magazine, Portugal 1992.
- A1: A Path Into Unknown
- A2: Can't Wait For Today (Feat. Finnoh)
- B1: Disclosed
- B2: Forbidden Truth
- C1: Open The Door
- C2: Mind Extraction
- D1: Take A Break (Feat. Mystic State)
- D2: Infection Of Lies
- E1: Trigger Activation
- E2: Dangerous Road
- F1: This Is My Rap
- F2: 4 Am (Feat. Congi)
- G1: Bubs (Feat. Khromi)
- G2: Hard Choice
- H1: Ballistics
- H2: My Feeling (Feat. Nst)
Kercha’s debut album ‘Open The Door’ arrives this April via DNO Records. The Black Sea artist’s mystical, disorienting style has set the tone for the label since he dropped the inaugural release six years ago. Now, across 16 tracks — including collabs with Mystic State, Congi, NST, Khromi and Finnoh — his smoky sampledelic dubstep is tighter, heavier, and more curious than ever, with a new sense of danger and bubbling rage that feels fit for our chaotic times.
Themes of movement and change course through the LP. On the opening gambit ‘A Path Into The Unknown’, twinkling arpeggios emerge from the gloom like stars lighting the way. Tracks like the eponymous ‘Open The Door’ and ‘Mind Extraction’ deliver that classic Kercha sound, where left-field samples dart in at right angles. ‘Dangerous Road’ weaves between the call and response action of grotty stabs and devilish subs. ‘Take A Break’, featuring Mystic State, goes on the attack with searing acid. ‘Can’t Wait For Today’, though lethargic in its pace, sees San Francisco-based rapper Finnoh deliver stream-of-consciousness bars that skewer our present and nudge us to revolution.
Work took place over the course of several years, during which Kercha relocated with his family from Russia to Georgia, where he now resides in the capital, Tbilisi. “Sometimes I wrote music while travelling on a bus, sometimes late at night while my family was asleep, sometimes just sitting on the grass in a park, and of course in my home studio as well,” he says. “By the time the album was finished, it included music from different periods, and it may vary in sound and concept.”
Any major upheaval in life will result in moments of hardship, but also hope. Both can be found throughout ‘Open The Door’. There’s times when the darkness threatens to envelope everything: during the cold, crackling ‘Disclosed’ and the eerie, dystopian ‘Infection Of Lies’; on ‘Trigger Activation’, with its grunting lows and broken glass hook, and ‘Ballistics’, where a wall of sub-bass is pierced by shrapnel stabs.
The balancing light comes on ‘4 AM’, featuring Nottingham duo Congi, when clashing swords and cinematic strings, meet a soft Rhodes piano — the juxtaposition between heavy low-end and floaty keys and vox reflecting those moments of transcendence often found in the early hours. From the injection of garage energy on ‘Bubs’, with Edinburgh’s Khromi. And on with ‘My Feeling’, featuring South Russian vocalist NST, which closes the album on a deep but expansive note, bookending the experience with more starlight synth tones.
“It’s a reflection of my life journey and the changes connected with emigration and overcoming various difficulties,” explains Kercha. “This period means a lot to me, which is why the album includes tracks from the time of preparing to leave up to adapting to a new country.”
Still, he wants listeners to be able to derive their own understanding. “I think the essence lies in the ability to contemplate, not in any predetermined meaning,” he says. “I can only say one thing: thank you for appreciating what I do and for your support. I hope it inspires you to make the same firm decisions to change for the better as it did for me.”
Out via 4 x 12” vinyl, ‘Open The Door’ is a captivating artistic statement, showcasing the journey of an artist with a truly original signature sound — a rarity that should be treasured and celebrated.
Rhythms of postmodern realism at the very bottom of the DNO.
/// First track, Symmetry, debuted on BBC Radio 6 New Music Fix, 10th February: "A beautiful, beautiful album" /// I got my life back. On 17 February 2025, 1024 rays of ultra sound converged at an operation table in Bern, Switzerland, and disconnected a noisy circuit on my brain. 90% of the manifestation ceased – of a disease that I no longer wish to mention by its name. During the same period, I completed my new album: Self Help Manual. I’ve read more current research about the nameless disease than my neurologist, who despite that I didn’t follow his advice on suitable treatment, called me after the successful operation: a brave, brave man. I have composed the music in the same way as in my previous album – Songs for the Nervous System – through layers upon layers of improvisations in dialogue with my synthesizers, most of which are the same age as me. I made the majority of the songs in my studio in the remains of Old Hagalund in Solna. I edited the recordings in my bed during the waking hours of clarity at night. Some songs – NAC, Ketosis, Overkill – were recorded in the basement of my childhood home in Skutskär, in Norduppland, where I’d returned to be nurtured by my retired parents – who during a night when I couldn’t turn over in bed, or pull the blanket over me – made a list of what would happen to my belongings. To my friends who have stood out with me despite my disease, I want to state: you will not inherit me yet. On the new album, the electric bass takes on a leading role. ESG and Liquid Liquid have been important when I reinvented my baselines, limited and liberated by my poor fine motor skills. Plasma is my homage to Summertime Rolls by Jane’s Addiction, that I listened to frequently in my youth. I guess that no one will hear the resemblance. In several songs, the Fender Rhodes plays an important role, a magical instrument that I bought shortly after my diagnosis over a decade ago, and for a long time didn’t dare to touch out of respect for Herbie Hancock and Fela Kuti. A couple of songs draw inspiration from the Horn of Africa – Inner Nile and Delta. At first, subconsciously in the reverb-drenched Inner Nile, then more consciously in Delta. I’m sorry it doesn’t swing the right way, but it was my attempt to return to the cradle of humanity. Longevity is possibly my favourite. The melody is played by an arpeggiator that I controlled by pressing down different keys in an exhilarating sense of freedom. One song in particular, the second track – One – has caused friends to associate freely: one thought it sounded like Patrick Cowley, another like Sly & Robbie meets Kraftwerk, a third like Air – Moonlight Safari. I made one song just before the surgery: opening track Symmetry. It’s the mightiest and most minimal song. I made one song after the surgery: finishing track Self Help Manual. My previous medication pump is heard through the microphone of my Ovation Magnum. It’s the most hopeful song on the album. I took the cover photos with my Hasselblad during walks in Tokyo suburbs of Ōmori and Kamata more than ten years ago. It was something about the faith of the traffic cones that fascinated me – born in the same streamlined form, they had over the years become increasingly individual and lovable. The mixing was finalized by Christoffer Roth in the newly built Studio Dubious in Nacka. Rashad Becker, who in an interview said that he listens as much with his mouth as with his ears, mastered the album at Clunk in Berlin. Right now it feels like anything is possible. My recovery is perhaps a small step for mankind, but a giant leap for me. I hereby leave the music to you. Joakim Forsgren
- 1: Clive Zanda - Ogun
- 2: Michael Boothman's Family Tree - Tabu
- 3: Lancelot Layne - Umbawa
- 4: Andre Tanker - River Come Down
- 5: Black Truth Rhythm Band - Save D Musician
- 6: Art De Coteau - Kerieka Woman
- 7: Mansa Musa - Beat The Drum
- 8: Sensational Roots - Calypso Zest
- 9: Frends - Mystery Music
- 10: Abdul Malik De Coteau - More Weight
Kaiso Power is a collection of rare jazz, calypso and percussive gems from Trinidad and Tobago from the revolutionary generation of the 1970s, bringing radical new political vision and reclaiming ancient spiritual consciousness through music. At the dawn of the 70s a shift was taking place all around the world. The streets of Port of Spain thronged with Black Power marches, trade union demonstrations and Carnival protest bands - one epicentre in a growing global exchange of ideologies and strategies among Pan Africanist circles in Jamaica, Guyana, London, New York, Montreal, Lagos, Accra and beyond. And when the meetings were over, the revolution moved to the cramped secret dance halls, the Carnival fetes, the steelband yards. The music always had a sharp edge. Searing commentary has always been part of the various types of music in Trinidad, and in the absence of lyrics, the defiant use of the drum maintains the resistance, as well as the re-framing of the playing of European instruments to the needs of the message. Lancelot Layne, Delano Abdul Malik De Coteau, Andre Tanker, Clive Zanda, Mansa Musa were more than artists, they were teachers, community workers and advocates for justice. These recordings are as raw as an all-night Carnival jam, the horns loud, the percussion ringing out, the bass dripping with joy and rebellion. Under the modern influences is a solid rhythm, an unbroken connection to Africa, the songs and keys and cadences brought across the middle passage. These songs are a peep into the untapped treasures of a revolutionary generation, looking at the world with fresh eyes and believing that music was a central part of the mission to build consciousness and regain confidence.
- A1: Another World
- A2: Fleeting
- A3: I’m Bored
- A4: Easy Man
- A5: Killincs
- A6: My Sister’s Loom
- B1: Mountain Song
- B2: Belljar Convenience
- B3: Fated To Pretend
- B4: Waiting Game
- B5: A Light
A Profound Non-Event, the debut album by Sydney-based three piece Daily Toll, comprises 11 songs traversing three years of forged friendships, collaborative experimentation and a shared love of growing through words and song.
Those attuned to the ever-vibrant Australian underground may already be well familiar with Daily Toll, their consistent live presence since their inception in 2021 embroidered by a handful of (mostly) home-recorded, (mostly) digital self-releases that have steadily accumulated an appreciative following. Initially the project of self taught musician, poet & artist Kata Szász-Komlós(they/them) and Jasper Craig-Adams(he/him), and expended to a three piece with the more recent addition of friend Tom Stephens(he/him), Daily Toll represents the union of three unique creative dispositions, of relationships blooming through the push and pull of creative practice. Mapping the band’s existence through their recorded output is to bear witness to the flux of three people learning to respond to one another and gently ossify into a collective vision that at once calls to mind folk song intimacy, post-punk dynamics and the artful poeticism of an adjacent Flying Nun legacy.
If those earlier recordings reflect a band imagining themselves into being in real time, A Profound Non-Event observes a clear shift in both conviction and approach. Recorded in just three days with Alex Bennett at the purely analogue Sound Recordings studio in Castlemaine and holing up at night in the century old cottage situated beside the studio, sheltering from the late-June wind and rain within walls littered with instruments and microphones, lighting fires to stay warm. Kata describes the experience as defined by “candle light and creative camaraderie”, an idyllic account of a collection of songs that glide with an undeniably warm, easy charm, evidenced in particular in the record’s second half as the tone turns increasingly introspective, the very sound of a cold evening’s drift into night. When contrasted with the moody swirl and sing-song bounce of the opening trio of tracks, there’s clear evidence of a band not simply in the process of becoming, but committed to finding their truth in that process.
Still, if Daily Toll display a reluctance to be wholly defined, then album centerpiece ‘Killincs‘ (positioned in the middle for a reason) might just be their Rosetta Stone. A verbose rumination on unsettled feelings of isolation and longing, exploring the challenges in making peace with one's decisions amidst the uncertainty of an often harsh world and the realisation that some things remain best unresolved - “I have the keys still, but I’ve buried the path”.
Toronto’s Ducks Ltd. (formerly Ducks Unlimited), the bright jangle-pop duo of Tom McGreevy (lead vocal, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Evan Lewis (guitar, bass, drum programming), accomplish the impossible. The pair craft songs that play to very specific inspirations without drowning underneath them—immediately evidenced on their critically acclaimed EP, Get Bleak, and sharpened on Modern Fiction, their debut LP. “The Servants, The Clean, The Chills, The Bats, Television Personalities, Felt,” Evan rattles off. “Look Blue Go Purple is one I reference a lot with our production.” Echoes of ‘80s indiepop abound, but they never overwhelm. This is not a nostalgic record, after all, nor is it a derivative one. Instead, across 10 cheery-sounding songs, Ducks Ltd. explore contemporary society in decline, examining large scale human disaster through personal turmoil (hence the title, taken from a university course called Gnosticism and Nihilism in Modern Fiction, influenced by Graham Greene novels. Bookish indie fans, look no further.)
Writing the album was intimate. Tom drafted the nucleus of a song on an unplugged electric guitar and brought it over to Evan’s apartment, where the pair sat in his bedroom, placing percussive beats from a drum machine under nascent melodies, passing a bass back and forth, adding organs and bridges where necessary. “It’s computer music trying extremely hard not to sound like computer music,” Tom jokes. Fearful that limited and expensive studio time would kneecap the project creatively, eroding their charming naivete, the pair re-recorded the album in a storage space owned by Evan’s boss. Ornamentation through collaboration followed: there’s Aaron Goldstein on Pedal Steel in the Go-Betweens’ “Cattle and Cane”-channeling interlude “Patience Wearing Thin,” Eliza Niemi on cello (“18 Cigarettes,” a song loosely inspired by a 1997 Oasis performance of “Don’t Go Away”), and backing harmonies from Carpark labelmates The Beths (on an ode to friendship at a distance, “How Lonely Are You?,” “Always There,” and on the sped-up Syd Barrett stylings of “Under The Rolling Moon.”) While in his native Australia due to covid-19, Evan worked closely with producer James Cecil (The Goon Sax, Architecture in Helsinki) on Modern Fiction’s finishing touches—at one point, in the mountains of the Macedon Ranges in Victoria, recorded a string quartet (featured on “Fit to Burst,” “Always There,” “Sullen Leering Hope,” “Twere Ever Thus,” “Grand Final Day.”)
It’s danceable, depressive fun, with some relief: in “Always There” and “Sullen Leering Hope,” Modern Fiction’s faithful heart. “There’s a tendency in my writing, because of my world view, to be very bleak.” Tom explains. “A quality I don’t always see in myself and really appreciate in others is the courage to go on.” And yet, the record manages resiliency—enough for pop fans to fall in love with.
MUSIQUE POUR LA DANSE presents The Unreleased Themes From Hellraiser expanded ritual by Coil
Back in 1987, Clive Barker's supernatural body-horror classic Hellraiser hitted cinemas worldwide and introduced audiences to the demonic Cenobites. Barker was a devoted COIL fan (Peter Christopherson and John Balance), and he famously said they were the only band he'd ever heard on record whose music he'd had to take off because, in his words, "theymade his bowels churn.". He initially invited them to compose the film's music, and the group began recording cues. But the producers at New World Pictures ultimately rejected the material in favor of a more traditional approach, bringing in Christopher Young, whose final score remains excellent, if less experimental. What remains from Coil is an unfinished soundtrack with surviving fragments and rough ideas, abruptly left behind mid-process, a glimpse into an alternate Hellraiser movie, one we can only fantasize into existence.
Nearly 40 years later, key long-term collaborators and Coil's "secret third member" Danny Hyde located the original Hellraiser studio session tapes, and the bonus material recovered from them is presented here as an "expanded ritual" edition, reassembled into a standalone, possibly defnitive and strangely beautiful nightmare suite. Play it in the dark and experience the consequences of raising hell...
Notes by Danny Hyde
Original artwork by Trevor Brown
For fans of pain & pleasure, Throbbing Gristle, lost horror soundtracks & haunted electronics.
MUSIQUE POUR LA DANSE presents The Unreleased Themes From Hellraiser expanded ritual by Coil
Back in 1987, Clive Barker's supernatural body-horror classic Hellraiser hitted cinemas worldwide and introduced audiences to the demonic Cenobites. Barker was a devoted COIL fan (Peter Christopherson and John Balance), and he famously said they were the only band he'd ever heard on record whose music he'd had to take off because, in his words, "theymade his bowels churn.". He initially invited them to compose the film's music, and the group began recording cues. But the producers at New World Pictures ultimately rejected the material in favor of a more traditional approach, bringing in Christopher Young, whose final score remains excellent, if less experimental. What remains from Coil is an unfinished soundtrack with surviving fragments and rough ideas, abruptly left behind mid-process, a glimpse into an alternate Hellraiser movie, one we can only fantasize into existence.
Nearly 40 years later, key long-term collaborators and Coil's "secret third member" Danny Hyde located the original Hellraiser studio session tapes, and the bonus material recovered from them is presented here as an "expanded ritual" edition, reassembled into a standalone, possibly defnitive and strangely beautiful nightmare suite. Play it in the dark and experience the consequences of raising hell...
Notes by Danny Hyde
Original artwork by Trevor Brown
For fans of pain & pleasure, Throbbing Gristle, lost horror soundtracks & haunted electronics.
- A1: Missing Project - Poisson D'avril (Da' Future Given A Deep Soul Mix) 08:19
- B1: Virgo - First Epilogue (Tek Of 606 Remix) 05:47
- B2: Tensor - Balloon (I.d. Remix) 05:36
- C1: Penance - Cure Of Soul (Fossil Mix) 08:00
- C2: Virgo - Proxima Scope (Zanzibar Mix) 06:12
- D1: Led-M - 713Aw (Dendrobium Remix) 06:19
- D2: Missing Project - Poisson D'avril (Galaxy Dub) 07:41
WRWTFWW Records is thrilled to announce their 5th archival release taken from cult Tokyo label FORM@ RECORDS' catalogue, this time with the first-ever vinyl edition of Re-Form Ver-1.0. The remarkable, yet not widely known, 1999 remix compilation is now available as a limited edition 45rpm cut double LP housed in a heavyweight sleeve, as well as in digital format.
Originally only available on CD in extremely limited quantities, Re-Form Ver-1.0 resurfaces as a fascinating document of FORM@ RECORDS' late-1990s creative peak. Re-imagining key pieces from the label's catalogue, the remix collection offers a rare glimpse into Tokyo's electronic underground, where techno, house, ambient, and IDM breathe freely through FORM@'s soulful and exploratory vision.
Highlights include two remixes of Missing Project's adored gem "Poisson D'Avril" (including its well known ethereal ambient Galaxy Dub which appeared on Music From Memory's Virtual Dreams II) as well as the otherworldly Fossil (aka the legend Virgo) Mix of Penance's "Cure & Soul". Throughout, the compilation balances dancefloor sensibility with introspective listening, embodying the warm human approach to machine music FORM@ RECORDS excels in.
Another essential time capsule from a crucial era of underground music, Re-Form Ver-1.0 echoes the spirit of Warp's Artificial Intelligence era, alongside the forward-thinking energy of Ken Ishii, Carl Craig, The Black Dog, and Ian O'Brien, while keeping its feet and individuality firmly rooted in local context - the magic recipe for creating a universal, timeless language of electronic expression.
Re-Form Ver-1.0 follows the vinyl edition of Virgo's Landform Code (1998) and Remnants (1999), as well as the FORM@ compilations Art Form I (1997) and Art Form 2 (1998), further expanding WRWTFWW's archival series dedicated to uncovering hidden gems of late '90s Japanese electronic music.
Brånd is one weird/post black metal act from the Upper Austrian town of Linz.
Started off in 2015 as a solo act by Vritra (also in Kringa and Weathered Crest) with the need for a form of expression free from perfection or boundaries, over the past ten years the ever-evolving project ventured into various soundscapes, from crude black metal to lo-fi ambient and from ferocious post-punk to psych downer rock, all while splitting releases with extreme underground torchbearers like Absolute Key, Calvary and Rosa Nebel.
Joined by musicians to evolve old and new ideas, Brånd debut full-length album grew from 4-track demos gathered over the last decade to become an album of richly arranged songs from all over the fields of interest, breaking from their lo-fi tradition to new horizons.
To describe thoroughly “Tåg & Nåcht” is possibly the hardest task to do, given all the influences that are skilfully intertwined and perfectly balanced. In this witches’ brew the most schooled listeners will hear some angular post-punk à la Gang Of Four sustaining pagan declamations in the vein of Fenriz folk metal excursus Isengard. Straight forward dark anarcho punk assaults are mitigated by almost new age juxtapositions. Traces of 70’s German krautrock like La Düsseldorf are melted into a heavy metal cast, while wind instrument raids that are equally James Chance and Death In June seem to drop when least expected.
The sound is crunchy and surprisingly warm, contrary to what one might expect of a band emerging from a black metal background. But right now, Brånd is so much more than this: they can master a wide range of sounds that span from 70’s space rock, passing through 80’s post-punk and UK82, reaching 90’s black metal and 2000’s blackgaze, all in one incredibly coherent album. If this sounds too good to be true, suit yourself and press Play.
Split released with Tour De Garde in US/CA.
Deaf Florists, the alias of Conor Wheeler, returns with a powerful new EP on trUst Recordings, the imprint founded by Saoirse. A key figure in the pre-social media UK techno and bass underground, Wheeler first made his mark in the early 2010s with his label Nineteen89, operating alongside the era that birthed influential collectives such as Night Slugs, Swamp81 and Hessle Audio.
After years spent navigating the industry—managing artists, overseeing A&R for major labels, and curating club nights at some of the UK’s most respected venues—Wheeler channels 17 years of deep listening and lived experience into Deaf Florists. The project moves fluidly between peak-time intensity and introspective depth, unbound by strict genre lines.
Lead track “Squelch, already a highly ID’d fixture in Saoirse’s DJ sets, is built around a corrosive acid line from a Roland TB-03, reinforced by a Behringer Crave counter bass and a pitched-down vocal command to “get down.” “Melt” detonates with industrial force, inspired by the chaos of a reactor in meltdown—earning Saoirse’s succinct verdict: “It’s a bomb.” Closing cut “Gunk” nods to the hypnotic repetition of Mr G, transforming a stripped-back DJ tool into a distorted techno workout primed for dark rooms.
Six years after their last standalone release, TESTE return in full raw power!
Following their 2020 double 12" on L.I.E.S. - which marked a renewed phase after years of silence - David and Martin (TESTE) now open a new chapter.
ERASED FROM MEMORY is a 4-track EP developed between 2023 and 2026, continuing their exploration of sharp, unconventional sound design - suspended between chaos and decadence.
The visual direction features a key contribution from the late Juan Mendez // Silent Servant via his SILENT EDITIONS imprint, combining archival TESTE materials with his legendary punk vision.
He completed the cover and zine before his passing in January 2024.
This release is dedicated to TESTE and their three decades of legacy, and to Juan Mendez - one of our greatest heroes.
- 1: Perfected Steps
- 2: Janet Planet
- 3: Waiting
- 4: Party Again
- 5: Future Waits
Als Begleitwerk zum 2020er-Album ,I Feel Alive" ist das längst ausverkaufte ,Empty Seats" ein absoluter Fan-Favorit, der einige der pointiertesten und spritzigsten Stücke der Band enthält und Vergleiche mit Bands wie The Whitest Boy Alive und Men I Trust hervorruft. Wie es in der Biografie heißt, legen sie ihr Herz offen auf den Tisch und tauchen mit ihrem Songwriting in die emotionale Komplexität persönlicher Beziehungen ein, wobei sie Fragen nach Macht und Begierde stellen. Riley Flecks ausgewogenes Schlagzeugspiel und David Carrieres charakteristische Gitarrenriffs verschmelzen mit Marta Cikojevics üppigen Keyboards. All diese Elemente wirken zusammen und stehen im Dienst von Jane Pennys unverwechselbarer, wehmütiger Stimme. Das Ergebnis dieser Mischung ist eine Sammlung von vier selbstproduzierten Alben und einer Handvoll Singles, die eine Bandbreite an Stimmungen und ein komplexes emotionales Spektrum abdecken, ohne dabei den Groove und die Musikalität aus den Augen zu verlieren.
- Svitlana Nianio Phanton - Fake
- Svitlana Nianio Phanton - Manyspace
- Svitlana Nianio Phanton - Quiet Place
- Svitlana Nianio / Phanton - Політ Світляки
- Няньо, Гинерв & Таран - Nianio, Geenerve & Taran - Шепочуть Cтіни - Whispering Walls
- Няньо, Гинерв & Таран - Nianio, Geenerve & Taran - Pічка Bтома - Tired River
- Solar - Your Secret
- Solar - Three Steps
- Solar - August Samba
- Taran - Death And Bachelor
"I got to know visual artist, musician, and producer Guido Erfen and sound engineer, acoustic artist, and percussionist Michael Springer as part of a group of five by the name of SHM1. The members of the group organised concerts at Rhenania, a disused grain silo, where I performed with The Absurd in 1988 and 1989. The band was also featured on one of Erfen's tape releases. Erfen and Springer met when they were still at the same secondary school and soon became close friends and musical allies. With the other members of SHM they built an independent network for creating and distributing music beyond the mainstream in Cologne. Rent at Rhenania was incredibly low, allowing a recording studio to be established there.
The first traces of the Ukrainian Underground arrived at Erfen's door via a cassette tape with three bands from Kharkiv and Kyiv, the package including a long essay which detailed the rock scene in the two cities by Sergey Myasoyedow. In 1986, Myasoyedow, together with Sasha Panchenko, had founded the “Novaya Scena“ rock club in Kharkiv, presenting bands inspired by punk, the avant-garde, dadaism, and even medieval melodies. If Erfen hadn't been part of the independent mail-art scene, he wouldn't have had the chance to discover this unorthodox music. It was the summer of 1990, shortly before the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine became an independent state the following year.
In 1991, singer and keyboard player Soloveyka from Kharkiv arrived in Cologne and gave Erfen half a dozen cassettes with underground bands from Ukraine and a handful with bands from the Soviet Union. Intrigued by the original music of many of the acts, he visited Ukraine twice, made friends there, compiled a tape with his favourite tracks and finally succeeded in convincing Hamburg label boss Alfred Hilsberg to present underground music from Ukraine on the CD “Novaya Scena“ via his label What's So Funny About (the original home of Einstürzende Neubauten).
The album compiled 20 tracks recorded between 1986 and 1992 by 14 bands out of Kharkiv and Kyiv– music beyond the usual Perestroika records, often with jarring dissonances over grooves that fans of Captain Beefheart or The Fall would certainly enjoy.
On the other hand, there are tracks featuring flute and trumpet that seem inspired by folk, classical music, and punk. Ghostly chamber prog miniatures by Cukor Belaya Smert (lit. Sugar White Death) from Kyiv featuring, among others, the classically trained pianist and singer Svitlana Nianio (née Ochrimenko) and guitarist, visual artist, and spokesman Yewgeny "Yenia" Taran. Nianio sang in her native Ukrainian, as did two more of the bands. Today, this seems more relevant than ever, more culturally and historically significant from a Ukrainian point of view than it was even in 1993. Young Ukrainians were amazed at that time that rock music sung in their native tongue could work!
It is in the aftermath of the “Novaya Scena“ album that the music on this LP was created. About a year after the release of the CD in August 1993, Nianio and Taran came to Cologne to work on music for the dance production "Transilvania Smile" by the dance theatre ensemble Pentamonia2.
The seeds for the Traces of Ukrainian Underground in Cologne were sown. Starting in 1994, a series of informal recording sessions took place at Michael Springer’s Phanton Studio and at SHM studio in Rhenania. Together, these sessions formed the basis of the four different incarnations of the Ukraine-Cologne connection heard on STROOMS’s compilation.
‘Warm Waves’ first appeared in 2020, ten years after Turn On The Sunlight’s debut self-titled album was first released in Japan. During that decade, Turn On The Sunlight’s Jesse Peterson and Mia Doi Todd welcomed their first child and co-founded a music venue in Los Angeles. When performance spaces were required to close at the start of the pandemic, Jesse’s focus shifted back towards home recording. Since ‘Warm Waves,’ five more Turn On The Sunlight albums have followed (including ‘Drives To The Beach,’ also on Tokonoma Records), all of which can be seen as an expansion of the musical direction set forth on this album.
The group heard on ‘Warm Waves’ consists of musicians who Mia and Jesse were regularly playing with at the time - Sam Gendel, Mitchell Brown, Andres Renteria & Gabe Noel - joined by Laraaji, Arji & Luis Pérez Ixoneztli, making their first recordings together.
The group’s blended signal was routed through Mitchell’s tape loops and modular synthesizer, which contributed to the unique communal sound of these recordings. Further extending this approach, Carlos Niño then reprocessed and reimagined ‘Passing Rain’ with Jamael Dean for his Elemental Beat Mix.
Originally released one week into the official lockdown period, some listeners found the warm, collective sound well-suited for the time of introspection and shifting priorities that followed. Now, in 2026, ‘Warm Waves’ returns on vinyl to once again encourage peaceful contemplation and open-hearted togetherness, in echo of the spirit of its creation.
Credits
Sam Gendel: Saxophone & Electronics on A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3
Laraaji: Voice & Zither on A3
Luis Pérez Ixoneztli: Bird Sounds on A1, Aerophones & Water Drums on B2
Mia Doi Todd: Voice on A1, A2, B2, B3; Piano on A3
Jesse Peterson: Guitar, Bass, Organ & Bird Sounds on A1; Organ on A2; Guitar & Bass on A3; Wooden Whistles, Guitar, Ukulele & Piano on B1; Ice Breaking on B3
Andres Renteria: Percussion on A1, A2, B1, B2, B3; Marimba & Percussion on A3
Mitchell Brown: Synthesizers & Magnetic Tape on A1, A2, A3, B2, B4
Gabe Noel: Bass on A2, A3, B1
Arji: Bells & Shells on A3
Carlos Niño: Production / Remix on B4
Jamael Dean: Additional Keyboards on B4
Produced, mixed & recorded by Jesse Peterson
Except B4, produced by Carlos Niño
‘Warm Waves’ first appeared in 2020, ten years after Turn On The Sunlight’s debut self-titled album was first released in Japan. During that decade, Turn On The Sunlight’s Jesse Peterson and Mia Doi Todd welcomed their first child and co-founded a music venue in Los Angeles. When performance spaces were required to close at the start of the pandemic, Jesse’s focus shifted back towards home recording. Since ‘Warm Waves,’ five more Turn On The Sunlight albums have followed (including ‘Drives To The Beach,’ also on Tokonoma Records), all of which can be seen as an expansion of the musical direction set forth on this album.
The group heard on ‘Warm Waves’ consists of musicians who Mia and Jesse were regularly playing with at the time - Sam Gendel, Mitchell Brown, Andres Renteria & Gabe Noel - joined by Laraaji, Arji & Luis Pérez Ixoneztli, making their first recordings together.
The group’s blended signal was routed through Mitchell’s tape loops and modular synthesizer, which contributed to the unique communal sound of these recordings. Further extending this approach, Carlos Niño then reprocessed and reimagined ‘Passing Rain’ with Jamael Dean for his Elemental Beat Mix.
Originally released one week into the official lockdown period, some listeners found the warm, collective sound well-suited for the time of introspection and shifting priorities that followed. Now, in 2026, ‘Warm Waves’ returns on vinyl to once again encourage peaceful contemplation and open-hearted togetherness, in echo of the spirit of its creation.
Credits
Sam Gendel: Saxophone & Electronics on A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3
Laraaji: Voice & Zither on A3
Luis Pérez Ixoneztli: Bird Sounds on A1, Aerophones & Water Drums on B2
Mia Doi Todd: Voice on A1, A2, B2, B3; Piano on A3
Jesse Peterson: Guitar, Bass, Organ & Bird Sounds on A1; Organ on A2; Guitar & Bass on A3; Wooden Whistles, Guitar, Ukulele & Piano on B1; Ice Breaking on B3
Andres Renteria: Percussion on A1, A2, B1, B2, B3; Marimba & Percussion on A3
Mitchell Brown: Synthesizers & Magnetic Tape on A1, A2, A3, B2, B4
Gabe Noel: Bass on A2, A3, B1
Arji: Bells & Shells on A3
Carlos Niño: Production / Remix on B4
Jamael Dean: Additional Keyboards on B4
Produced, mixed & recorded by Jesse Peterson
Except B4, produced by Carlos Niño
"Carol Maia & Jeremy Gustin’s haunting collaborative album is the result of a long distance partnership during which tracks were traded back and forth across thousands of miles, Jeremy working from his home studio in Brooklyn and Carol from hers in Rio De Janeiro. Later they enlisted support from a number of key players in the Rio scene, Frederico Heliodoro, Paulo Emmery, Ricardo Dias Gomes, and from Brooklyn’s musical community, Will Graefe and Ryan Dugre, to shape this understated masterpiece of sophisticated global pop and quiet experimentalism.
"It's hard to describe what Carol, Jeremy and their guests have achieved on 'it's nice to see a lake in your eyes', a kind of pop music that stands outside of time and is neither Brazilian, American or of any other recognisable place. Maybe it's risen out of the lake they imagined into being? Maybe it's formed like rain in the thousands of miles of air between Rio and New York? Whatever happened was certainly alchemical as you will hear.
"Carol told me her writing on this record was greatly influenced by her reading of Marcelo Ariel's poetry book A água veio do sol, disse o breu so maybe the best thing to do to describe this music is to let you read one of his poems:
A luz do ser é como a água
também veio do Sol
onde todos os planetas querem entrar
Dentro do Sol
O ser é imóvel
como a gratuidade de um êxtase
parecido com a respiração
Fora do Sol
o ser é móvel
Tempo eternidade
e tempo cronológico
The light of being is like water
it also came from the Sun
where all the planets want to enter
Within the Sun
Being is immobile
like the gratuitousness of an ecstasy
similar to breathing
Outside the Sun
Being is mobile
Time eternal
and chronological time
"Jeremy Gustin is an unorthodox drummer, percussionist and songwriter who has toured and recorded with Joan as Policewoman, Iggy Pop, David Byrne, Marc Ribot, Delicate Steve, and Norah Jones. If you follow Hive Mind then you probably know him best from his amazing work on Ricardo Dias Gomes' Muito Sol. Jeremy is also in the experimental pop bands Star Rover and Blurry the Explorer.
"Carol Maia is one of Rio's new generation of singers and musicians currently lighting up the city's vibrant music scene. She also featured heavily on Wolfgang Pérez's album Só Ouço, which was released on Hive Mind in 2025."
Carpet & Snares inaugurates its ‘Friends’ series with four slammers from Stephen Slade aka Infinity Plus One. Active since the 90s and author of a series of highly sought-after minimal tech house records, Stephen’s sound is precision tooled for dancefloor explosions, and this EP is no exception.
On the A, he brings two versions of ‘I Broke Your Solar System’, one a stripped-back DBX-style tweaker, the other drenched in sunkissed keyboards and strings. On the B, ‘Forward Together’ is a tight house groove lifted into the stratosphere by flanged percussion, while ‘In The Streets’ luxuriates in stepping electro groove and lush pads.
- A1: Morningtime X Chillwme - Lofty
- A2: Zendr X Comodo - Palm Island
- A3: Enluv X Spaniel Mac - Playa De Las Siestas
- A4: Globuldub X Fred Paci - Heatwave
- A5: Vhskid. - Lights Down Low
- A6: Solo San X Omar Juárez - Verão Sereno
- A7: Lock X Fred Paci X Toti Cisneros - Areia
- B1: John Lee X Jazzyhan - Sunset City
- B2: Banks X Skyswimming - Beach Day
- B3: L’atune X Squeeda - Maracujá Mood
- B4: No Spirit X Fool Parsley X Camel Club - Maneira
- B5: Erwin Do X Toti Cisneros - Beira Mar
- B6: Viktor Minsky X Living Room - Sea & Sun
- B7: Mike Beating - Amour D’été
- C1: J’san X Zeyn X Aboueb - Côte D’azur
- C2: Fnonose X Lazlow - Canopy
- C3: Flâneur X Mranthony - Barefoot
- C4: Lazlow - Celestia
- C5: Møndberg X Marsquake - Waves And Whispers
- C6: Gatz2Gatz X Ødyssee - Lagoon Daydream
- C7: Lenny B X Erwin Do - Drifting Tides
- D1: Lotus Beats - Head High
- D2: Marsquake X Dosi - Lazy Waves
- D3: Corey J. Beats X Krynoze - Iced Tea
- D4: Lucid Keys X Hokø - Sundaze
- D5: Odd Panda X No Spirit X Hikari - Turnip Tides
- D6: Pines & Pines X Otaam - Fácil
- D7: Kiabits X Dani Catalá - Sonhos Na Areia
Feel the sun, samba, and soul that define summer in Rio.
Summer in Rio blends smooth bossa grooves with mellow lofi beats, capturing the laid-back energy of Brazil’s most iconic city. Born on Rio’s beaches in the late 1950s, bossa nova fused samba rhythms with jazz harmony and soft vocals, a sound both timeless and deeply expressive. This 28-track compilation brings that spirit to life: the first 14 tracks dive into bossa lofi with guitars and syncopated rhythms, while the last 14 ease into warm, expansive summer lofi.
From beachside mornings to golden hour evenings, this is summer on loop.
UK-based producer Hurdslenk has quickly carved a niche as a genuinely one-of-a-kind artist in his sound. After much heralded releases on Key Vinyl, Frenzy, Hardgroove and Hayes amongst others, he's now joining the dolly TS family! Modern sound design meets timeless groove, a combination few execute with such precision. Tightly coiled rhythms and signature industrial elements, highlighted by the occasional, stark metallic synth stab define this monster of a 4 tracker for serious techno enthusiasts!
Following their debut 7" on Les Disques Lexi (2021), Musica Mosaica expand their unpredictable geometry. In their 'laboratorium dilettanti' notes and musical phrases weave a mind boggling tapestry, in which sounds often find themselves in awkward situations. "Clock In, Clock Out" refers to time as a key element both in musical composition and in the organisation of labour. New causes, new consequences.
NUTRIA Sounds proudly welcomes Leo Kal to the family with his debut EP, The Roots EP (NUTRIA 004). Across five tracks, Leo Kal delivers a deeply musical statement—grounded, expressive, and rich with intention—perfectly aligning with what NUTRIA Sounds continues to cultivate: organic sound, essential rhythm, and soulful movement.
The Roots EP showcases Leo Kal’s true musicianship, blending groove, harmony, and texture into a body of work that feels both timeless and forward-thinking. Each track is driven by feel and craft, emphasizing connection over excess and allowing the music to breathe naturally on the dancefloor and beyond.
Celba opens the EP with an uplifting, bouncy groove—light on its feet yet firmly rooted, setting a joyful and inviting tone.
Station Verlaine soars effortlessly, carried by smooth, flowing keys that glide across a warm, rhythmic foundation. Roots, the EP’s title track, shines with warm piano lines and earthy percussion, embodying the spirit and intention behind the project.
Round 50 delivers the EP’s most club-friendly moment, channeling a spacey, late-’90s feel with a modern, refined touch.
Second Eyes closes the EP on a downtempo, junglesque note, wrapping the listener in texture and atmosphere while leaving them wanting more.
With this release, NUTRIA Sounds continues its mission to highlight nutrient sounds for the soul and the feet—music that is honest, rooted, and deeply connected. Leo Kal’s debut stands as a confident and inspired entry into the catalog, reinforcing the label’s commitment to artistry, balance, and musical integrity.
2026 Repress
Portuguese techno mainstay Dextro drops cultured EP 'Covil Dos Abutres' for his label debut on Mutual Rytm.
Dextro has been immersed in electronic music and DJing since the early 90s. In the decades since, he has become synonymous with a sound deeply rooted in simplicity and authenticity. Fuelled by a passion for his craft, his production process is guided by intuition and spans a diverse range of styles, from tunnelling grooves to more potent techno with deep and hypnotic layers. He has held several key residencies and released on top labels like CLR and Missile Records, and he adds to those with a first outing on SHDW's Mutual Rytm with 'Covil Dos Abutres'.
The five-track 12" and eight-track digital EP has a sleek, stripped-back style, with wide-spanning corners of the techno realm explored. 'Covil Dos Abutres' is a deep space transmission with journeying, frictionless beats and deft sci-fi motifs that recall classic touches synonymous with the genre's pioneers. 'Correct Incorrect' keeps the pressure on with more rubbery, dubbed-out groves beautifully decorated with delicate melodies. 'Vida E Morte' is another sublime and hypotonic minimal techno sound with funk in the kicks and a freaky late-night spirit. 'Element One' again combines perfectly reduced drum groves with atmospheric pads and curious samples that keep you intrigued, and 'Beautiful Day' closes out with sonar-like synth pulses over the most skeletal but captivating rhythms. Digital cuts 'Time Line', 'Savana Urbana', and 'Diferencas' further explore the intersection of minimalism with cosmic synth designs that take you off into distant astral worlds.
2026 Repress
Georgian powerhouse Yanamaste drops long-anticipated new EP on Mutual Rytm.
In-demand DJ/producer Yanamaste is a resident at Georgia's renowned Khidi Club and a key part of Amsterdam's Vault Sessions crew. His unique sound and fresh creative approach result in raw and visceral techno, reflecting his passion for pushing boundaries and showcased perfectly via his 'Dance' EP on Vault last year. Now, he returns with an EP born out of the creative process behind his live set with a debut appearance on SHDW's Mutual Rytm, 'Evil' - a collection of heavily-requested tracks that have already made an impact after featuring in his Boiler Room and Stone Techno Festival livestream.
'Evil' kicks things off with perfectly rubbery, funky drum patterns and an urgent sense of movement that sweeps you off your feet. 'Lahante' is more percussive, with busy snares riding the rolling, forceful drums and stark synths arresting your attention. 'Dragonfly' is perfectly reduced via minimal drums intertwined with thunderous effects and ghoulish energy, while 'Modulation Detected' has a more cosmic feel as it journeys into the future with whispered spoken words and synths searching across the face of the groove. Last but not least is the irresistible broken beat goodness of 'Walking On Mars', with its swinging kicks and vast bassline spraying about the mix beneath hypnotic melodic patterns.
Two superb bonus cuts, 'Ohohoi' and 'Pwiu', are also provided for digital buyers, bringing further gems loaded with moody depths and compelling rhythms.
After the massive success of Vol 1 Boogie Down Edits are back with Vol 2 keeping the same winning formula with another group of Hip Hop legends ATCQ. re-inventing some of their best-loved hip-hop cuts as party-starting house jams. Wisely, they've chosen to retain many of the key musical ingredients of their source material, subtly shifting the grooves to aid slick mixing and peak-time joy.
Limited Pressing get your orders in fast.
The Scythe is a collective of rappers united around commonality in sound and skills as MCs, headed by ringleader Denzel Curry and including familiar collaborators A$AP Ferg, Tia Corine, Bktherula, & Key Nyata. Comprised of its five members and rooted within a budding scene of modern and cross generational hip-hop, The Scythe picks up the banded spirit of Denzel's foundational Raider Klan days while continuing his futuristic takes on old school regional rap (Memphis, Houston, Miami), heard most recently on King of the Mischievous South. Combining Denzel's energetic style with classically gritty, southern sounds, the project centers hip-hop's core across eras, paying homage yet ushering in a rising new guard.
a 1. THE SCYTHE | Denzel Curry Feat. TiaCorine, FERG (II)
b 2. LIT EFFECT | Denzel Curry Feat. Bktherula, LAZER DIM 700
c 3. PHONY | Denzel Curry Feat. Juicy J, Key Nyata, FERG (II)
d 4. MUTT THAT BIH | Denzel Curry Feat. 1900Rugrat, Key Nyata
[e] 5. HOOPTY | Denzel Curry [Feat. TiaCorine, Smino]
[f] 6. YOU AINT GOTTA LIE | Denzel Curry [Feat. 454, Luh Tyler]
[g] 7. TAN | Denzel Curry [Feat. Bktherula, TiaCorine]
[h] 8. UP | Denzel Curry [Feat. Rich The Kid, FERG (II), SadBoi]
[a] 1. THE SCYTHE | Denzel Curry [Feat. TiaCorine, FERG (II)]
[b] 2. LIT EFFECT | Denzel Curry [Feat. Bktherula, LAZER DIM 700]
[c] 3. PHONY | Denzel Curry [Feat. Juicy J, Key Nyata, FERG (II)]
[d] 4. MUTT THAT BIH | Denzel Curry [Feat. 1900Rugrat, Key Nyata]
[e] 5. HOOPTY | Denzel Curry [Feat. TiaCorine, Smino]
[f] 6. YOU AINT GOTTA LIE | Denzel Curry [Feat. 454, Luh Tyler]
[g] 7. TAN | Denzel Curry [Feat. Bktherula, TiaCorine]
[h] 8. UP | Denzel Curry [Feat. Rich The Kid, FERG (II), SadBoi]
[a] 1. THE SCYTHE | Denzel Curry [Feat. TiaCorine, FERG (II)]
[b] 2. LIT EFFECT | Denzel Curry [Feat. Bktherula, LAZER DIM 700]
[c] 3. PHONY | Denzel Curry [Feat. Juicy J, Key Nyata, FERG (II)]
[d] 4. MUTT THAT BIH | Denzel Curry [Feat. 1900Rugrat, Key Nyata]
[e] 5. HOOPTY | Denzel Curry [Feat. TiaCorine, Smino]
[f] 6. YOU AINT GOTTA LIE | Denzel Curry [Feat. 454, Luh Tyler]
[g] 7. TAN | Denzel Curry [Feat. Bktherula, TiaCorine]
[h] 8. UP | Denzel Curry [Feat. Rich The Kid, FERG (II), SadBoi]
[a] 1. THE SCYTHE | Denzel Curry [Feat. TiaCorine, FERG (II)]
[b] 2. LIT EFFECT | Denzel Curry [Feat. Bktherula, LAZER DIM 700]
[c] 3. PHONY | Denzel Curry [Feat. Juicy J, Key Nyata, FERG (II)]
[d] 4. MUTT THAT BIH | Denzel Curry [Feat. 1900Rugrat, Key Nyata]
[e] 5. HOOPTY | Denzel Curry [Feat. TiaCorine, Smino]
[f] 6. YOU AINT GOTTA LIE | Denzel Curry [Feat. 454, Luh Tyler]
[g] 7. TAN | Denzel Curry [Feat. Bktherula, TiaCorine]
[h] 8. UP | Denzel Curry [Feat. Rich The Kid, FERG (II), SadBoi]
[a] 1. THE SCYTHE | Denzel Curry [Feat. TiaCorine, FERG (II)]
[b] 2. LIT EFFECT | Denzel Curry [Feat. Bktherula, LAZER DIM 700]
[c] 3. PHONY | Denzel Curry [Feat. Juicy J, Key Nyata, FERG (II)]
[d] 4. MUTT THAT BIH | Denzel Curry [Feat. 1900Rugrat, Key Nyata]
[e] 5. HOOPTY | Denzel Curry [Feat. TiaCorine, Smino]
[f] 6. YOU AINT GOTTA LIE | Denzel Curry [Feat. 454, Luh Tyler]
[g] 7. TAN | Denzel Curry [Feat. Bktherula, TiaCorine]
[h] 8. UP | Denzel Curry [Feat. Rich The Kid, FERG (II), SadBoi]
[a] 1. THE SCYTHE | Denzel Curry [Feat. TiaCorine, FERG (II)]
[b] 2. LIT EFFECT | Denzel Curry [Feat. Bktherula, LAZER DIM 700]
[c] 3. PHONY | Denzel Curry [Feat. Juicy J, Key Nyata, FERG (II)]
[d] 4. MUTT THAT BIH | Denzel Curry [Feat. 1900Rugrat, Key Nyata]
[e] 5. HOOPTY | Denzel Curry [Feat. TiaCorine, Smino]
[f] 6. YOU AINT GOTTA LIE | Denzel Curry [Feat. 454, Luh Tyler]
[g] 7. TAN | Denzel Curry [Feat. Bktherula, TiaCorine]
[h] 8. UP | Denzel Curry [Feat. Rich The Kid, FERG (II), SadBoi]
[a] a1 | THE SCYTHE [Feat. TiaCorine, FERG (II)]
[b] a2 | LIT EFFECT [Feat. Bktherula, LAZER DIM 700]
[c] a3 | PHONY [Feat. Juicy J, Key Nyata, FERG (II)]
[d] a4 | MUTT THAT BIH [Feat. 1900Rugrat, Key Nyata]
[e] b1 | HOOPTY[Feat. TiaCorine, Smino]
[f] b2 | YOU AINT GOTTA LIE [Feat. 454, Luh Tyler]
[g] b3 | TAN [Feat. Bktherula, TiaCorine]
[h] b4 | UP [Feat. Rich The Kid, FERG (II), SadBoi]
[a] a1 | THE SCYTHE [Feat. TiaCorine, FERG (II)]
[b] a2 | LIT EFFECT [Feat. Bktherula, LAZER DIM 700]
[c] a3 | PHONY [Feat. Juicy J, Key Nyata, FERG (II)]
[d] a4 | MUTT THAT BIH [Feat. 1900Rugrat, Key Nyata]
[e] b1 | HOOPTY[Feat. TiaCorine, Smino]
[f] b2 | YOU AINT GOTTA LIE [Feat. 454, Luh Tyler]
[g] b3 | TAN [Feat. Bktherula, TiaCorine]
[h] b4 | UP [Feat. Rich The Kid, FERG (II), SadBoi]
[a] a1 | THE SCYTHE [Feat. TiaCorine, FERG (II)]
[b] a2 | LIT EFFECT [Feat. Bktherula, LAZER DIM 700]
[c] a3 | PHONY [Feat. Juicy J, Key Nyata, FERG (II)]
[d] a4 | MUTT THAT BIH [Feat. 1900Rugrat, Key Nyata]
[e] b1 | HOOPTY[Feat. TiaCorine, Smino]
[f] b2 | YOU AINT GOTTA LIE [Feat. 454, Luh Tyler]
[g] b3 | TAN [Feat. Bktherula, TiaCorine]
[h] b4 | UP [Feat. Rich The Kid, FERG (II), SadBoi]
London-based producer IZCO is set to release his latest single, “Guiding Star (feat. Reek0)”, blending soulful nostalgia with the raw energy of the capital’s underground sound.
Drawing from influences that span UK dance music, hip hop, and soul, IZCO’s music captures both the energy of the dancefloor and the emotion of lived experience. Over the years, IZCO has become a key figure in London’s cross-genre underground scene, collaborating with artists like Reek0, Greentea Peng, Sam Wise, Liam Bailey, and Novelist, and performing at iconic venues and festivals across the UK and Europe.
His previous releases, including tracks like soulboy - IZCO Remix, Beauty Inside, and OBiNRin - IZCO Remix, showcase his knack for crafting warm, sample-rich productions that balance classic influences with a distinctly modern edge. Whether behind the decks or in the studio, IZCO continues to push boundaries, creating music that feels timeless, authentic, and deeply rooted in community.
“Guiding Star” is no different. It pairs warm, vintage soul textures with the sharp percussion and bass-driven pulse that have defined IZCO’s sound across his discography. Featuring long-time collaborator Reek0, the single bridges eras and styles; a homage to the past while firmly rooted in the energy of today’s London.
Speaking on this release, IZCO says:
“Guiding Star. That classic shit, Combining the soulful sample with the London grit, real London track. Inspired by a mixture of 70s soul, US hip hop and UK grime.
Made this track without thinking much, the sample spoke for itself.
Reek0’s vocal was from one of the first sessions we ever did years ago, and it had never been released but it sounded perfect on this track. A taste of nostalgia, this track reminds me of good memories and friendships. Simple but meaningful. And an honour to use such a beautiful sample”
Later this year, fans will be able to own an exclusive 7-inch vinyl edition of Guiding Star, featuring both the original and instrumental versions - a collector’s piece for crate diggers and fans alike. Out on the 5th December.
With “Guiding Star (feat. Reek0)”, IZCO continues to carve out his place as one of the most versatile and soulful producers in UK production, grounding every beat in authenticity, emotion, and connection
IZIPHO SOUL is thrilled to release the epic “HIGHER POWER”- better still these are unearthed and unheard versions, especially commissioned for this 7” release.
Paul Tillman Smith wrote, produced and assembled the cream of Bay Area musicians - Featuring the legendary late greats - Freddie Hughes, Pharoah Sanders and Calvin Keys.
Freddie Hughes powerful tenor voice is ’Dripping with soul’ and at it’s captivating best - the warm tones of Pharaoh Sanders’ tenor saxophone intertwines with the harmonic richness of the backing vocals, making this an immense piece of music!
New album by SABA ALIZADEH, a groundbreaking voice in contemporary Iranian music who blends classical Persian traditions with avantgarde experimentation.
Born in Tehran in 1983 as son of the world renowned tar and setar virtuoso HOSSEIN ALIZADEH, SABA ALIZADEH established himself not only as a true master on the Iranian spike fiddle kamancheh but one of the groundbreaking voices in contemporary Iranian music, blending classical Persian traditions with avantgarde experimentation. His music, praised by THE WIRE as "a bridge between the ancient and the contemporary", turns sound and image into powerful narratives of memory and resistance. Over the past years, ALIZADEH (who relocated to the Netherlands a few years ago) has appeared at key festivals and venues such as Reeperbahn Festival, CTM, Flow Festival, Philharmonie Berlin, Kölner Philharmonie, solidifying his reputation as a singular live performer.
After the critically acclaimed releases "Scattered Memories" (his international debut, released on Karlrecords in 2019), "I May Never See You Again" (2021) and last year's "Temple of Hope", his new album fascinates again with a unique artistic voice, weaving together centuries-old sonic heritage and the urgency of the present through deeply immersive, meditative landscapes in two epic pieces. "Rituals Of The Last Dawn" may feel like a sad or resigned title (compared to the positively fierce "Temple Of Hope"), but at the same time the highly meditative music provides a good lot of contemplative strength. Appealing to an open-minded "world music" audience as well as fans of current streams of ambient or drone in its most subtle forms, ALIZADEH's latest work is a strongly needed soul food in bitter times. Created on the spot with his musical partners PIETRO CARAMELLI (guitar and electronics on "First Ritual") and LIEW NIYOMKARN (lap steel and electronics on "Last Ritual"), "Rituals Of The Last Dawn" is a pure, unfiltered emotional expression from one of contemporary Iranian music's leading artists.
Ltd Edition 10"
Budapest based concept label Blue Sun welcomes formerly independent local afrobeat-jazz ensemble to its catalogue with a nuanced 4 tracker EP. The release not only marks the beginning of the collaboration, but a definite new musical direction in the band’s life.
Written in a one week jam session retreat in the Hungarian countryside, and recorded at one of the highest peaks of Hungary after a year of global touring, The Garden becomes an amalgamation of the band's personal and artistic experiences. The material conveys a more jazzier approach, with complex harmonies, and an almost cinematic, dreamlike atmosphere, somewhat distancing from (but not completely forgetting) the previously emphasized, dance-oriented Afro- and Latino roots. Song for Ramon serves as the EP’s emotional climax inspired by the passing of a close friend and local underground chef pioneer.
Formed in 2019 in Budapest, Hakumba is a staple of the Hungarian festival circuit, with a growing international presence (SXSW London, SHIP, PIN Music Showcase). They’ve recently finished a tour in Australia this January.
The groove-driven ensemble blends afrobeat, jazz, and various strands of world music into a sound that is both rhythmically powerful and harmonically adventurous. With an eleven-piece lineup featuring an expansive horn section, multiple vocalists, percussion, and keys, the band moves effortlessly between dancefloor energy and more intricate, jazz-influenced musical ideas.
Like the band’s previous album, the EP was again recorded, mixed, and mastered by András Weil, the producer behind The Qualitons, the only hungarian band ever performed Live at KEXP. This continuity preserves Hakumba’s recognizable sonic identity while giving space for new colors and more complex musical ideas to emerge.
Written & performed by:
Soma Számel – drums
Endre Szép – bass
Imre Hegedűs – guitar
Zalán Bendegúz Huff – guitar, vocals
Csongor Mari – keys
Noel Nagy – percussion, vocals
Dorka Foster – flute, vocals
Kristóf Szabó – alto sax
Alpár Sikó – tenor sax
Gáspár Simon – trumpet
András Téglásy – baritone sax
Produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Andras Weil
Artwork by Eszter Lukács
Graphic design by Péter Tóth
Manufactured by AD Records
Distributed by Rush Hour
Recorded at Galyatető, Hungary
Released under the Blue Sun
- 1: Lake Walk
- 2: Lazy Daisy
- 3: Ups & Downs
- 4: Silently
- 5: There Was A Nice Sunset
- 6: Somewhere Good
- 7: Slow Island
- 8: Movin’ On
If – in some parallel universe (or perhaps a not-so-distant-future version of the one we’re already sentenced to living in) – the evil overloads of artificial intelligence were actually successful in their attempts to create convincingly enjoyable “original music,” more specifically tasked with wholly encapsulating my own personal tastes by data-chugging some cocktail of – oh, I don’t know – the posters on my wall, the records in my “most listened to” pile, the mixtapes I made for others, intensive physical scans of my auditory cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, heart strings, whatever else they have splayed out on their autopsy table with the intention of generating one all-encompassing “perfect band” based on the fruitful sum of their findings – that band, for me, would be (or would at least sound exactly like) the Tara Clerkin Trio. It is, quite simply, without exception, the music I wish to hear.
Formed in Bristol UK (where none of them are from yet all of whom are deeply engrained) in 2020, the Tara Clerkin Trio – as it somewhat democratically exists today, despite the singular authority implied by its name – consists of the titular Tara Clerkin, her partner Sunny Joe Paradisos, and Sunny’s brother, Patrick Benjamin. I’ll confess, I don’t know what their respective roles are within the operation and there’s only a very small part of me that cares to learn, as one of my favorite qualities in an objective listening experience is the mystery of who is playing what, which sounds are “authentic” versus synthesized, which chunks are performed “live” in a room together versus meticulously Frankenstein’ed from measure to measure, or how exactly the overall sound is so (seemingly) effortlessly achieved. Though, I suspect, if and when I do witness a live performance by this band at any point, my enjoyment of the music will not be lost in my better understanding of it.
With two extraordinary mini-albums – In Spring (2021) and On The Turning Ground (2023) – making a splash on London’s formidable World of Echo label in wake of their self-titled 2020 debut, this upcoming Somewhere Good LP is, in many ways, the band’s most realised work. In running their usual gauntlet of idiosyncratic (*an overused adjective for which here there is regrettably no sufficient alternative) approaches, Clerkin & co. colour in and outside of compositional lines over the course of 40+ celebratory minutes - never wallowing, despite inherently somber subject matters of self-defeat, disease, displacement, restlessness, gentrification - allowing their arrangements and improvisations ample space and time to situate, stretch out, breathe, cross-pollinate, and ultimately take deeper hold on the listener’s imagination – all while somehow sounding more like themselves than ever before.
Of course, there are traceable influences herein, if one felt that such comparisons were necessary to properly examine and enjoy this music (they aren’t)… Being the big dumb American from the small boring town that I am, cornfed on ‘90s alternative radio with the enchantingly exotic sounds of Maxinquaye and Mezzanine emanating from my chunky tube television, I can’t help but to make a blatantly obvious reference to a “Bristol sound”, ie the whole trip-hop trip, the pastoral crooning over the suggestive urban grime of cracked electro/piano treatments, the digitally-yet-primitively reconstructed James Bond soundtrack string-beats, etc.. But the Tara Clerkin Trio is so infinitely much more than that. There are elements of avant-pop, modern classical, kraut-folk, audio verité, dare I say indie rock (and not of the beer guzzling, masturbatory fuzz-flex variety but perhaps more like a Trish Keenan-fronted Faust, Adrian Sherwood at the mixing desk of If You’re Feeling Sinister, or – in expanding on our alternate reality – a world in which High Llamas cut a full-length for Warp Records with Andrew Weatherall on coffee duty).
The hazy, unmappable skyline-mirage of droning harmonium, upright bass, peculiarly accentuated wind instruments, acoustic guitar, hushed yet literally mighty keys combine to hypnotizing effect. The band may make underlying nods to jazz, sure, but it’s not appropriation, it’s that they have the actual chops to build it out. Beneath the janky samples and oddball percussive embellishment lies actually great drumming. Beyond the manipulated vocal witchery and woefully reflective plain-spoke moments are Tara’s subtly inspired melodies, sung with what might honestly be the glue to the whole crazy equation. A calming consistency throughout the otherwise unpredictably dynamic, boldly intuitive, uniquely British exploration of this (their own) universe in song. – Ryan Davis (Chicago, February 2026)
2026 Repress
since his first ep tips' on luciano's label cadenza in 2007 producer and dj petre inspirescu emerged into one of the key figures of the romanian electronic music scene.
so far he released music on labels such as vinyl club, lick my deck or amphia. together with his buddies rhadoo and raresh he also launched in 2007 the label (a:rpia:r) - a platform where he, his two friends and many producers from romania and abroad released detailed grooving house and techno, that stands out with delicate structures and one-of-a-kind grooves.
both of his more dance floor oriented solo albums intr-o seara organica...' and gradina onirica for (a:rpia:r) are enlarged with melodies, sounds and harmonies that go beyond the usual characteristics of a dance album.
furthermore his love for classic musicians like mily alexejewitsch balakirev, alexander porfiryevich borodin or or nicolai andrejewitsch rimsky-korsakow can be felt in the album padurea de aur (opus 2 in re major) and two more eps that he released under the alias pensemble on the romanian label yojik concon in order to unite classical spheres with analogue electronic music production.
in february 2013 he also released his highly acclaimed fabric mix cd that only features dance floor leaning music produced by himself. with talking waters' he published in late 2014 his first 12inch on mule musiq that is now followed by the full-length album vin ploile' which he produced without the intention to entertain with easy to hook up rhythms, melodies and harmonies.
even tough he established himself as a internationally playing house dj that regularly performs at all major clubs, festivals and other party destinations around the globe: as a musician petre inspirescu always tries to enter new territories to explore with a heartfelt human touch the infinite space of sound.
for his latest album the man that originally comes from the eastern romanian town braila stepped away from his former experiments of melting classical spheres with electronic music. instead the 36-years old man from bucharest only used some piano, string and wind instrument elements and analogue electronics to arrange a gracefully deep ocean of sound.
all slow grooving tracks spread the atmosphere of live improvised sessions that are edited, tweaked and mixed to perfection. in-the-moment moods of strange and unusual analogue synth sounds groove in a fluid quality with subliminal bass shapes, latinate percussions, jazz rhythms and acoustic melodies.
together they create a gaseous kinetic atmosphere full of tangible rhythm patterns, delicate chords and ghostly modular synth pads - all mixed subtle to create space for the tones between the tones.
you can call it a hypnotic after hour album for after hours that are dedicated to a deep listening experience. you can tag his arrangements as brilliantly textured and musically super-charged ambient, which goes beyond the usual definition of the genre.
all nine suspenseful compositions seduce with a deep melodic sensibility, harmonic adventures and an overall rhythmic ambiance of freshness and laidback enthusiasm. together they represent a challenging auditory experience that will resonate in your mind long after the music has finished.
- 1: I Can Live W That
- 2: U Wld Never Do It
- 3: Gracious
- 4: Don’t Get Stuck
- 5: End Of Spring (Ft. Lucy Bedroque)
- 6: Noir Kei
- 7: Pray For
- 8: Good Game
- 9: Like Glue (Ft. Katmoji)
- 10: Glass (Ft. Xaviersobased)
- 11: Let The Keys Cry
- 12: Fw19
- 13: Tofu
- 14: Shibuya Transfer
- 15: Three Worlds Apart
DMV-born rapper and producer kuru is already a veteran among their contemporaries. Spurred by the online renaissance that accompanied the pandemic, they began to foster a cult following while in high school, their Soundcloud releases leading to production work with artists such as Black Kray and Destroy Lonely. Over the past few years, as Kuru began to prioritize their own voice, they prioritized their solo endeavors. Growing up in Maryland, kuru was inspired as much by the work of Future, Hikaru Utada, Yuyoyuppe, and the sounds of Japanese math rock as he was by his native DMV’s rap scene. He first began making music in 2019, garnering buzz with early tracks like “clueless”, “typo” (4M Streams), and “atmosphere” (9M+ Streams) — cuts brimming with the catchiness you’d expect out of a mainstream pop hit, but uncharacteristic of the internet rap landscape at the time.
The forthcoming sophomore album is a summation of all of kuru’s work in both electronic and hip-hop. It’s the artist’s most focused effort to date, and touts credits from Lucy Bedroque, frequent collaborator xaviersobased, and a rolodex of Soundcloud’s most cutting-edge producers. “Backstage Hologram” ties together a mosaic of the current internet underground’s landscape with a veneer of dusky futurism, and panoramic wide post-production.
Surrrealism label boss EdOne returns to HABITAT with the ‘Show Me Love’ EP, following the release of his track ‘Madness Diary’ on the ‘METAFLORA III’ compilation in April 2025. Dropping on 26th February,
‘Show Me Love’ is a striking four-track EP that captures the full emotional range of his meticulously crafted sound. With multiple top ten Beatport chartings and releases on respected imprints such as Innervisions, Bedrock, Global Underground, and Renaissance, EdOne now brings his signature intensity, tension, and melodic precision into one of his most complete and expressive works to date, with the package featuring a collaboration from Rotterdam’s Beswerda.
Title track ‘Show Me Love’ opens the EP, delivering a backbeat-driven, clap-heavy groove, with soothing maracas, sundrenched synths, and warm pads creating an inviting, melodic house cut. ‘DTS’ serves as a moodier counterpart; its thudding bassline, rattling central synthline, and atmospheric low-end strings build a deep, cinematic tension. On the flip side, ‘The Next Men’ leans into EdOne’s progressive, hypnotic sound, featuring preaching vocals, minor-key progressions, and steadily building emotional weight. Closing with ‘Lahn’ , EdOne and Dutch mainstay Beswerda descend into a raw aesthetic, blending industrial grit with dub-like textures for a brooding final statement.
Hypnotic Mindscapes returns with its sixth release, introducing Lisbon-based artist Jorge—by way of NYC—through a tightly constructed, high-fidelity four-track EP. Progressive-tinged tech-house meets crisp vocoders and understated oscillations in an acoustic inspired techno format, designed for peak-hour precision. Electro-breakbeat accents cut through deep, rounding out a sharp and focused trip.
- 1: I Don't Know
- 2: Kissburn
- 3: I'm Getting Ready
- 4: Something Out Of Nothing
- 5: Home
- 6: Orange Blossom (There's A Million Reasons)
- 7: Miedo De Olvidar
- 8: Quand Vient Le Soir
- 9: Needed
- 10: Burning Down The House
Nach ihrem Debütalbum ,I" im Jahr 2023, das ihnen nationale Radiopräsenz, Auftritte bei großen Festivals und Europatourneen einbrachte, erweitert das Montrealer Art-Pop-Trio Bye Parula mit seinem zweiten Album ,Something Out of Nothing" seinen ästhetischen Horizont und widmet sich einem eher introspektiven Songwriting. Wie sein Vorgänger wurde ,Something Out of Nothing" von Robbie Kuster von Patrick Watson produziert und von Warren Spicer von Plants and Animals gemischt, aber das neue Album präsentiert auch ein Team von Mitwirkenden - darunter die Inuk-Sängerin und Songwriterin Elisapie, Adèle Trottier-Rivard von Bibi Club, Morgan Moore und Karkwa-Keyboarder François Lafontaine -, das von der wachsenden Bedeutung von Bye Parula in der kanadischen Indie-Szene zeugt. Das Ergebnis ist eine vielseitige Mischung, die sich aus dem orchestralen Funk von Serge Gainsbourg, den melancholischen Melodien von Elliott Smith, den weltlichen Rhythmen von Talking Heads und dem bodenständigen R&B von Dijon speist, allesamt durchdrungen von einer cineastischen Sensibilität der 70er Jahre, die die Grenze zwischen sonnendurchfluteter, weichgezeichneter Fantasie und urbaner Raffinesse verwischt. Doch die vergnügungssüchtigen Klänge von ,Something Out of Nothing" können die unter der Oberfläche lauernde Not nicht verdecken - dies ist ein Album, das Ihre Schultern musikalisch massiert, während es Ihnen textlich in die Magengrube schlägt.
Cinthie’s Collective Cuts sub-label of her 803 Crystal Grooves label welcomes the UK’s Black Eyes onto its roster this March with his ‘Hydrocity Reflex’ EP, comprised of four original soul drenched House Jams.
Cinthie’s 803 Crystal Grooves Collective Cuts welcomes Black Eyes with a fresh four-track EP that distils the Manchester-born, Berlin-based artist’s signature aesthetic into its purest form. Fusing deep, trippy and soulful house with a raw, Detroit-leaning sensibility, Black Eyes channels the influence of House music’s roots into rolling rhythms and fluid textures alongside shaped by his enduring love of water. Now firmly embedded in Berlin’s underground while carrying the grit of his northern roots, he delivers a release that feels both immersive and driving a natural fit for 803 Crystal Grooves’ dance floor focused sonic vision.
Opening the EP is ‘Can You Dig That Depth’, an emotive slice of House driven by saturated keys, soulful vocal lines, heavily swung drums and a buoyant bassline. ‘Pressure Malfunction’ follows, stripping things back to organic percussion, sweeping filtered funk loops and intricately processed spoken-word chants. The B-side begins with ‘Loyalty To Tha Deep’, living up to its name as it embraces classic Deep House sensibilities through choppy, airy chord progressions, hypnotic breathy vocals, fluttering melodies and slow-slung, crunchy drums. ‘Funky Oxygen’ then brings the release to a close, channelling the spirit of Motor City House with a refined blend of cut-up samples, shuffled percussion, jazzy keys and a snaking bass groove.
Soul singer supreme, Jalen Ngonda and producer/veteran keyboardist, Victor
Axelrod join forces to deliver the collaboration we all needed- the impossibly soulful, reggae banger “All About Me”.
Having worked together on the sessions for Come Around and Love Me, Axelrod recalls being inspired by the similarities between Jalen’s voice and a young Bitty Mclean. He had the beds to a track already recorded, but needed the right singer. With Jalen on board, the two wrote the lyrics and recorded the vocals in one night.
Written from the perspective of an arrogant lover, the track’s party-forward swing and stellar vocal performance make for a pop-forward gem poised to be massive on both the soul and reggae scenes.
- A1: Is This What You Like - Terra
- A2: The Tribe - The Fred Bloggs Band
- A3: Morning Light - Smythe And Rucker
- A4: Zig Zag - David Chalmers
- A5: High Again - Shades Of Rayne
- B1: Animal Talk - Dana Alberts
- B2: Child Of Nature - The Key Of Creek
- B3: Child Of Earth - Chuck Robinson
- B4: Silvery Waterfalls - Luellen Reese
- B5: The Lost Road - Doria
2026 Repress
A further exercise in musical curation, Child Of Nature is our latest sonic confluence of self-released tracks from the loners, hippies and outsiders of the 70s and early 80s. A collection of privately pressed music, able to breathe and be created free from the constraints of heavy handed commercialism, yielding a pure vision of artistic expression. Child Of Nature features ten songs of brooding soft rock and psychedelic folk steeped in melancholia. Some ache for better times or past lovers, while others seek spiritual fulfilment or social progress.
A compilation to evoke the raw and unobstructed, to summon the occult, to fundamentally conjure a vivid portrait of our untamed natural environment. Recorded on the north coast of California, Luellen Reese’s ethereal “Silvery Waterfalls” drifts and swirls with electric guitar as her unearthly vocals transcend across a seven minute opus, fit for the golden age of labels like 4AD or Dedicated. “The flowers are dancing just for you …”, Reggie Russell croons over glistening Key Of Creek’s title track “Child Of Nature”, evoking a utopian world of natural harmony free from the present day realities of industrial decay.
Tap into your inner primal being, to embrace wholeheartedly, with frivolity and without reserve, your own child of nature.
With »News from Planet Zombie«, The Notwist return to view after years of exploration and experiment with an album rich in both melancholy and positivity, sketched across a suite of thrilling, fiercely committed pop songs. It’s an album reflecting a chaotic world, but responding with warmth and generosity, to achieve creative and spiritual consolidation. Recorded in their home base of Munich, it reconnects with the security of the local to explore the troubles of the global: a guiding impulse writ large across this album’s eleven songs. It’s also the first studio album since 1995’s »12« that the entire band recorded together in the studio in its expanded live formation.
A new album by The Notwist is always a curious endeavour; their musical language is as consistent and resilient as the contexts for creativity are unpredictable and ever shifting. For »News from Planet Zombie«, the core trio of Markus and Micha Acher and Cico Beck embraced the plural possibilities of writing together, bringing songs to the collective and then arranging, rehearsing and recording that material live, in the studio.
The result is an album that’s energised, fully in ›the now‹, with spectacular moments where you can hear the magic bubbling up in the dynamic between the Achers, Beck, and fellow members Theresa Loibl, Max Punktezahl, Karl Ivar Refseth, and Andi Haberl. If »Teeth« begins »News from Planet Zombie« quietly and reflectively, by »X-Ray« everyone’s supercharged, blasting out future anthems with the collective energy cranked up high. The chiming keys of »Propeller« skim the instrumental’s surface like stones across burbling water; »The Turning« clangs its way into one of the album’s most heartwarming melodies.
»News from Planet Zombie« was recorded over one week at Import Export, a non-profit space for arts and music. You can tell, too; there are some pleasingly rough edges here, as though The Notwist’s striving for hazy perfection means they’re also confident enough to let the songs breathe and mutate between our ears. That openness to chance also takes in guest turns from friends both local and international, reflective of a cosmopolitan Munich: Enid Valu joins in on vocals, while Haruka Yoshizawa guests on taishōgoto and harmonium, Tianping Christoph Xiao on clarinet, and Mathias Götz on trombone.
The Notwist aren’t best known for cover versions, but »News from Planet Zombie« features two: a gorgeous version of Neil Young’s »Red Sun« (from 2000’s »Silver & Gold«), which the group originally developed for a theatre play directed by Jette Steckel, and a take on Athens, Georgia folk-pop gang Lovers’ »How the Story Ends«. They slot into the album’s narrative perfectly, nestling in like old friends, revealing The Notwist as poetic interpreters. Played well, the cover version is both acknowledgement of fellow travellers and act of generosity, and The Notwist nail both aspects here.
And that narrative, the way the album plays out? »News from Planet Zombie« acknowledges the distress of our current geopolitical impasse, while reminding us there are collective ways forward. Fed through the figure of the zombie, Markus Acher explores our anxieties: »In the title and some lyrics I reference B- and horror-movies, which is a reference to the crazy world at the moment, which seems to be like a really bad and unrealistic B-movie.« But there’s a reminder here not to lose the thread entirely, that these things, too, will pass.
»The river here in Munich I often go to has been there forever and will be there long after us,« Acher reflects, pinpointing an important source of succour for him, »always the same but always changing. Very calming, but also always reminding me that like this river time only flows into one direction and you can’t go back. Every moment is very precious.«
Artwork by Marie Vermont
The Notwist:
Markus Acher: vocals, guitar
Micha Acher: bass, sousaphone, euphonium, trumpet
Cico Beck: electronics, keyboards, guitar, recorder, percussion
Theresa Loibl: bassclarinet, clarinet, piano, harmonium, organ
Max Punktezahl: guitar
Karl Ivar Refseth: marimbaphone, vibraphone, glockenspiel, congas, percussion
Andi Haberl: drums, dulcimer
+
Enid Valu: vocals on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11
Haruka Yoshizawa: taishōgoto on 6, harmonium on 9, 10, 11
Tianping Christoph Xiao: clarinet on 4, 10, 11
Mathias Götz: trombone on 4, 10, 11
Peach Discs' first release of 2026 comes from fast-rising star of the Manchester scene PACH. (pronounced "pack"). Five slippery rollers built for dark rooms, wafty terraces and the most locked-in of afters.
"The Wake-Up Call" EP represents the full spectrum of the PACH. sound, one rooted in the minimal tunes coming out of Romania but with a cheeky playfulness that can only come from a life spent in the trenches of UK club culture. The A1 "Keep It Bubblin’" is a prime example, as Todd Edwards-style vocal chops flirt back and forth with dub-inspired feedback lines, or "5am Wake-Up Call's" skipping, UKG-adjascent hats. Things get a little rowdier with "Complex Waveform's" scuzzy bassline that wouldn't sound out of place coming from the Clone Records ecosystem. Here it's bolted to a chassis of tough, techy drums and trippy vox that tickle at your peripheries. Flip to the B-side for something a little deeper – the dubbed-out percussion and disembodied voices of "Not That Kinda Party" contrasting with the moody, low-key synthetic tones of "Book The Dungeon", both sharing a mutual concept of smartly stripped-back, hypnotic jams that focus on heads-down grooves and rolling energy.
Commissar Lag - Absolution EP (Earwiggle)
The 38th Earwiggle release comes from one of our favourites, and a debutant on the label, Serbian studio supremo Commissar Lag. The "Absolution EP" finds Lag delivering his playful vision of techno, dipping into the past while also pointing us to the future, all framed through an exquisite production gleam. Dense, rolling rhythms reminiscent of early '00s Stockholm techno, combined with a catchy repeating vocal sequence (one of Lag's trademark techniques) and rising sirens, result in the monster opening title track "Absolution". "Aim Without Mercy" is another club destroyer - jabbing keys, broken jagged beats, and a series of rising pressure points making it another winner. "The Blessed" meanwhile, shifts the mood from mental to majestic, with interchanging leads and reverb-drenched climaxes marking the big-room peak of the record. Rounding things off is Irish wunderkind Dylan Fogarty, who reimagines "Aim Without Mercy" through a deep and psychedelic lens, layering textural collages over surging, jacking
909s.
Viiv / Sister Zo / Snad / Titonton Duvante
The Way Of The Rave Vol 3
Windy City label Identity Spectrum is back with a third volume in its The Way Of The Rave series, and again it offers authentic techno from across the US East coast, the Midwest and Mexico. ViiV opens with a dubby, low-key groove packed with suspense and muttered vocals on Dollar Shake. Sister Zo's 'Diamond Hands' then cuts a rugged groove with razor sharp percussion and jungle breaks just about contained in a moody techno framework, then Snad strips things back to an abstract minimal groove with loopy rhythms and broken glass before Titonton Duvante serves up his smooth signature tech house cruiser, 'Unrequited.'
Stay True Sounds presents a vinyl-focused celebration of a modern dance music classic.
Jazzanova need no introduction. For over two decades, the Berlin collective has shaped the sound of soulful electronic music — timeless, refined, and rooted in pure musicality. Their collaboration with the ever-smooth Vikter Duplaix produced That Night, a track that has since lived many lives on dancefloors across the world.
Central to its legacy is the Wahoo Remix by Dixon and Georg Levin — a cult favourite that continues to resonate from Berlin to Johannesburg. This vinyl release brings together key reinterpretations of that remix, spotlighting South African artists who have added new dimensions to an already iconic recording.
Hate Love Trio made a low-key debut last year on this label with the slow, dreamy, dance-pop charms of 'Chan-O-Rama'. We have found out little more about the producer or producers behind it but here they or he or she returns with a full-length album of elegant and inventive downtempo and Balearic that starts off with those singles. Elsewhere, slow, mournful rhythms and melodies encourage inward reflection. 'Loosey Goosey' is a funky dancer for grown-ups, 'Billie Brownie' merges dub pacing with sunny guitar echo and 'Sunday I Don't Know' is a shimmering, jazz-flecked neo-classical warmer for intimate moments. An accomplished and adventurous album that is as good for the mind as it is body and soul.
- A1: Key To Life Featuring Kathleen Murphy ‘Find Our Way (Breakaway)’ (Marc Cotterell Plastik Factory Vox)
- A2: Lee Genesis ‘Ya Can’t Separate Me (I’m Determined)’ (Sean Mccabe Vocal Mix)
- B1: Next Phase & Helen Bruner & Terry Jones ‘I Ain’t Got Time’ (Grant's Euphoric Club Mix)
- B2: Deep Zone Featuring Ceybil Jefferies ‘Praise Him (Lift Your Hands Up)’ (The Deepzone Club Mix)
Four classic US house vocals. Four club-ready remixes. One essential Sub-Urban EP.
Sub-Urban returns with Volume 3 in its much-loved vinyl series, a four-track, vocal-driven house EP built for DJs who want real vocals, real soul and real dancefloor impact.
Featuring iconic voices including Kathleen Murphy, Helen Bruner & Terry Jones and Ceybil Jefferies, this release delivers timeless house songwriting reworked into modern, club-ready cuts by respected underground producers.
This is a no-filler DJ tool, every track works in warm-ups, sunset sessions, peak-time soulful moments and late-night deep floors.
The label suggests these sounds are something akin to if Tim Hecker met Hudson Mohawke "in a 16-bit video arcade," and we're not going to disagree. Dead Fader is now based in Berlin, but his sound remains out of this world with vapourware trails, glossy synth textures and skeletal rhythms all drenched in trippy colours and low-key melancholy. Ambient, minimal and suspensory synthscapes all drift by with far-sighted reverie encouraged before more weighty rhythms like 'Clowning' and 'fade Out' driving things with extra momentum.
Sushitech continues its expertly curated mission of uncovering hidden gems adding to its ever-green catalogue with another immersive, rare house classic from the West Coast of the late '90s.
Tim Buna and Eric James (RIP), who produced as E.T.I. and formed part of the solid bedrock of the West Coast sound alongside DJ Garth (together as Rocket) and the Wicked crew, join forces with Tony Hewitt, another titan of the era.
This rare genre-crossing underground record has been treasured by collectors for years, earning support from key players and featuring in the infamous Tyrant mix of Craig Richards and Lee Burridge.
Carefully restored and recut, this monster of a record is now available once again on Sushitech in its full form. Three decades on from its original release, its raw, dirty, high-energy vibe remains hard to match, with authentic, magical sound that stands second to none. Late '90s acid house at its finest.
Boogie Back Records proudly reissues BBR008 on 7-inch vinyl — a timeless slice of soulful innovation from Max Beesley, whose deep roots in the UK’s acid jazz and soul scene have influenced generations of musicians and listeners alike. A multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer, Beesley has collaborated with some of the most iconic artists of our time — Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Earth, Wind & Fire, James Brown, Incognito, Jamiroquai, and many more — contributing his signature touch on drums, percussion, keyboards, and vibraphone.
Originally released as part of Boogie Back’s 12” series, BBR008 captures Beesley’s unmistakable sound: rich harmonies, heavy grooves, and that soulful energy that bridges classic street soul and contemporary jazz-funk. This 7” reissue distills the essence of his acclaimed Boogie Back Records impacting era — a period defined by vibrant musicianship and cosmic jazz grooves ready for both the dancefloor and the deep listener. These two tracks showcase the full range of Beesley’s musical vision. “Night Daze” rides a hypnotic groove of cosmic Rhodes chords, tight percussion, and lush vibraphone lines, creating a cinematic, late-night atmosphere. On the flip, “Painful Truth” features the unmistakable voice of Omar, one of the UK’s most iconic soul vocalists — delivering a deep, heartfelt performance over Beesley’s rich, jazz-funk arrangements. This is another special and exclusive 45/7“ release via Soulkitchen Distribution…
Damian Dalla Torre returns with People Pleaser, a record shaped by movement, collaboration and an ever-deepening relationship with sound as environment.
The Leipzig-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer first found wide attention with his 2022 debut Happy Floating, and his subsequent album I Can Feel My Dreams was named the #1 Contemporary Album of 2024 by The Guardian, an accolade that broadened his audience and deepened confidence in his evolving voice. That second album, written between Europe and South America, opened unexpected doors and took Dalla Torre to stages across New York, Japan and Italy. “When you release music, it’s very intimate,” he reflects. “You show your emotions pretty raw. I was kind of scared. But getting so much positive feedback gave me a lot of self-confidence to try out more.”
People Pleaser begins in that quiet shift of confidence.
The title stayed with him for months before he committed to it. “It was a working title for a long time,” he says. “I didn’t actually think I would use it. But this term also felt somehow relevant in connection with the phase of self-negotiation during the development process. Some aspects are related to pressure, others are positive.” The ambiguity felt right. Rather than presenting it as a statement, Dalla Torre leaves it open, an invitation rather than a confession.
At the centre of People Pleaser is collaboration. Guitarist Bertram Burkert, whose playing stretches from classical delicacy to electric abstraction, joined Dalla Torre in the studio for an intensive three-day session, recording a wide palette of textures that would become the backbone of the album. Vocalist Laura Zöschg, a key live collaborator, harpist Babett Niclas, organist Felix Römer, tape experimentalist Markus Rom, marimba and vibraphonist Volker Heuken and Japanese artist Manami Kakudo also contribute, creating a sound that feels intimate yet expansive.
Jazz-fusion, disco-funk, Latin jazz and batucada rhythms get the Filipino treatment onAfter Midnight, the sublime second album from keyboardist Boy Katindig. Originally released in 1980, After Midnight draws heavy influence from soul and funk contemporaries in the US as well as Latin America, in particular the famed Brazilian percussionist Paulinho da Costa.
It’s a testament to his musical prowess that Katindig weaves effortlessly between styles and tempos. His reverence for Paulinho da Costa extends far, with covers of several songs from the latter’s 1979 Happy People album. This includes slow-burner ‘Déjà Vu’ written by Isaac Hayes originally for Dionne Warwick; on the Filipino instrumental version, local legends Jun Regalado and Roger Herrera (from Regalado’s ‘Pinoy Funk’ single) are reunited on drums and bass respectively.
But Katindig’s original compositions hold just as much weight and unique personality: title track ‘After Midnight’ opens with a sultry funk serenade reminiscent of The Isley Brothers, and quickly transforms into a catchy, blistering, saxophone chorus that brims with swagger. Hidden B-side gem ‘Got The Need’ is an uptempo tribute to batucada that would not be out of place in a jazzy house set, and boasts increasingly elaborate and psychedelic solos from Katindig on keys and Ben Concepcion on soprano sax.
Meanwhile, ‘Love Till the End of Time’ is a masterclass in instrumental disco funk, penned by the prolific Greg Phillanganes who at that same time was writing for many of the greats including Chaka Khan, George Benson, Stevie Wonder, The Jacksons and Cheryl Lynn.
This album is lovingly reissued by Sama Sama Records, a boutique label from DJ and collector Norsicaa, who ran the esteemed Soundway Records for 8 years and released the compilation Ayo Ke Disco in late 2024.
- A1: Independent Woman (Part 1)
- B1: Independent Woman (Part 2)
Back on Celestial Echo Records with a true modern soul classic — Jan Jones “Independent Woman”, finally given the treatment it deserves.
A record that’s been circulating in DJ sets and collector circles for years, often via bootlegged pressings as the originals are incredibly rare, this is the first fully licensed reissue, presented properly and with both sides intact - something the bootleggers didn’t do.
A-side Part 1 delivers the track in its purest form — tight, uplifting, and driven by that unmistakable modern soul groove. On the flip, Part 2 stretches things out into a longer, more open version, letting the arrangement breathe and giving the dancefloor the 6 minutes it deserves.
Musically, it sits right in that sweet spot for us — rich vocals, warm keys, and a rhythm section that just grooves. It’s one of the ultimate modern soul tracks.
Licensed officially, as always. Celestial Echo is here to put proper soul records back into circulation — respectfully cut, properly pressed, and ready to play.
PARKWAY returns with three beatin’ cuts on the HOUSE BREAKIN’ Ep.
Leading the charge is TRU LOVE, where house and freestyle combine in a love that lasts forever. Infectious keys and vocal hooks over snappy drum programming - the kind of house music that united warehouse crowds.
On the flip DUM DUM and EGYPTIAN GROOVE take the same melting pot of influences, electro meets freestyle and house, it’s music to run down your beatbox batteries.
All in all, it’s unmistakable PARKWAY. Don’t miss out
Trinidadian Deep is back with yet another deeply rooted house vibes EP entitled “Dub Nasty” EP!
This powerful collection of three independent tracks starts with the title track, Dub Nasty a seriously deep house excursion with captivating harmonies sonics complimented with a guitar solo which washes over you as you loose yourself to the music.
Track 2 “Sonics and Steel Drums” think sun sea and beach as this one brings up the tempo induced with a groovy bass line and heavily played steel pans that immediately uplifts the vibes which progress into a Caribbean crescendo!!
Head to side b, where Trini brings it back to Native African roots to loose yourself on the dance floor with it’s layered percussion, deep stabs & chords, captivating keys. Along with enchanting and soothing African vocals of serenity that will surely keep you mesmerised !
As always, Trini’s production is infectious, and this EP is no exception! Take a deep breath, listen and enjoy !!
As we celebrate 30 years of Ten Lovers Music our first offering of the year is a Various Artist selection called Frisson EP Part 1. Frisson is a medical term for the response you get from listening to music, often referred to as goosebumps or a skin orgasm which is caused by the dopamine released in the brain’s reward centres.
Kicking off the A side we have Sound Signals featuring flautist Han Litz, a superb opener. Following on are Future Jazz Ensemble and Don’t Be Afraid, another track from them oozing quality. Onto side AA and Mike Perras is back with another live track featuring keys, drums, bass and a battling flute and sax on Sweet One. Rounding off side AA is Stefano De Santis with Simple Things, an aptly named track for this music that gives us Frisson.
Inner Creatures was the sophomore album from Irish producer and bass player Peter Vogelaar and now some of its key cuts have been remixed. The seasoned Charles Webster flips 'Mindless Youth' into a simmering piece of deep and organic house with wintery melodies that have already been getting support from big names like Black Coffee and Kolsch. As well as his dub, the Get Down Edits crew offer up some lush, gentle disco delights on their rework of 'Stole' and 'Inpulses' brings more layered harmonics and elegant strings before a new edit of 'Fantasy Lines' ends on a warm, cuddly vibe.
Dennis Huddleston is 36, a prolific ambient producer who releases albums on a prolific basis but never lets the quality levels dip. He often roams around different labels and for this one lands on Pure Life with six more sublime and subversive sounds. 'Pre-Dream Condition' is a slow awakening that sharpens your senses then 'Manual Dream Transmission' continues the heavenly ascent with lush arps shimmering across an infinite horizon. 'A Bright & Tranquil Light' is soft focus and beautiful and 'Night Language' brings sharper melodic focus with 80s nostalgia ripping through the keys. Two more long-form and unhurried but dense ambient soundscapes close out a pure escape.
Musical maverick Mark de Clive-Lowe returns to his roots with a new electro-acoustic record ‘Dreamweavers', displaying his talent as a pianist and composer in partnership with creative collaborators bass player Andrea Lombardini and drummer Tommaso Cappellato.
De Clive-Lowe’s stylistic signature is usually found in his role as conductor, producer and manipulator of sounds behind his highly customized, mind-boggling setup of intertwining synths, drum machines and live-remixing technology. With all but a grand piano and a few keyboards stripped away from him, and the production in Lombardini and Cappellato’s hands, ‘Dreamweavers’ is the first non-self-produced MdCL album in 25 years.
Shep is back on his People Pleaser's label with a fourth transmission of groovy tech house that blends drive, cosmic atmospheres and just the right amount of vocal and melodic hookiness. 'Reach For The Tongs' is warm and dubby, one to get the head down and lock into. 'Pulver Zimmer' has warped synths and glassy percussion, bringing the early Terry Francis style drums to life and 'Rave Gravel Drive' gets more unhinged. The synths are wonky, the sound designs more trippy and abstract and the groove is minimal and synthetic. 'Mutzki' closes with a subtle, warming rush of low-key joy thanks to the muted chords that ride a slick groove.
A limited edition collector’s piece to mark 10 years of Girlz B Like - the vinyl-only, female-led London-based party.
Side A unleashes ‘Love Echoes’, a genre bending underground heater from GBL founder Marcia DaVinylMC with additional keys from Uschi Classen. Afrobeat rhythms, lush keys, drum-pad grit, and a hypnotic bassline collide under a vibrant vocal hook - an irresistible, raw catalyst for freestyle dancers and left-field club devotees.
Side B delivers ‘Joy’ from Bristol’s DJ Emma - a bouncy, gospel-fired house stomper built to ignite any floor. Infectious energy, uplifting vocals, and classic vinyl flair collide in a radiant
celebration of rhythm and spirit, guaranteed to move feet, and supercharge the dance.
Limited Pressing Act Fast!
Suburban Architecture continue their series of sought after 4 track EP releases with their 8th offering, 'Purpose'. This latest release is the most stylistically varied of the duo's releases to date, drawing on inspiration from a multitude of styles which emerged during Drum & Bass's mid to late 90s golden years.
The E.P opens with title track 'Purpose', clashing Jazz influenced instrumentation with deep atmospherics and sharp, angular drum programming, not to forget a tone-setting vocal sample. 'Tones' meanwhile puts the drums at the forefront: Lush keys, melancholy horns and subtle, shifting synth lines underpin an unconventional drum track, packed with rattling percussion and raw energy.
Over on the flip 'Focus' goes harder and darker. Eery synths, atmospherics and a driving drum track set the scene for an explosive second half drum switch. 'Stairways' closes out the EP, marrying uplifting atmosphere with live instrumentation in a style which will appeal to fans of 4hero and the like.
Daybreakers keep it moving in 2026 with another essential drop from Chicago’s Vick Lavender. Following on from Vol. 1, Essential Traxx Vol. 2 digs even deeper into that soulful, live house sound that Vick’s been perfecting for decades on his label Sophisticado.
A musician, producer and DJ whose work bridges house, jazz and soul, Vick’s music has always carried that feeling — spiritual, rhythmic, and full of life. Part of Glenn Underground’s Strictly Jaz Unit back in the 90s, he helped carve out a sound that still resonates through clubs today. Sophisticado is his world now — real musicians, real instruments, and real emotion.
On the A side, Consequences featuring Spike Rebel rolls with organic percussion, warm keys and that signature Lavender groove — fluid, human, alive. Music built for the dance.
Flip it for Thanks I Get featuring Cei Bei — straight deep house from the source. Soulful vocals, deep chords, and that unmistakable Chicago energy that hits right where it should. Essential Traxx Vol. 2 continues the story. Real house music, deeper than deep.
Buy or cry.
Following her debut album, I’ll Look for You in Others (Past Inside the Present), earlier this year, Patricia Wolf joins Spain’s Balmat label with See-Through, her second album. See Through finds the Portland, Oregon musician and field recordist continuing to develop her signature style of ambient, balancing radiant soundscaping with a carefully expressive sensibility. But the new album is also marked by an important difference. Where I’ll Look for You in Others was largely written in response to the death of a loved one, See-Through represents a kind of rebirth.
“After a long period of grief, I had been hoping to find my way to a place of lightness, peace, playfulness, curiosity, and sensuality again,” Wolf says. “What I was surprised and pleased to find is that for the most part, I had.”
She wrote and recorded many of the album’s songs quickly, in preparation for an August 2021 broadcast on the online radio platform 9128 Live. Excited for the opportunity to play live after more than a year of the pandemic, Wolf decided to write all new material for the event, working with a lean setup of Octatrack, Roland Synth Plus 10, Make Noise 0-Coast, and Novation Summit. (In fact, Wolf was the first sound designer invited to create patches for the Summit.) She also picked up an acoustic guitar that her brother had loaned her. “I decided to take the surrealist approach of ‘pure psychic automatism’ to see what poured out of me,” she recalls. “Woodland Encounter,” “Under a Glass Bell,” “The Grotto,” “The Mechanical Age,” “The Flaneur,” and “Psychic Sweeping” are all products of those sessions; the through line holding them together is their exploratory spirit and clarity
of vision.
Other songs, like “A Conversation With My Innocence,” “Recalibration,” and “Psychic Sweeping,” wrestle with the traumas of the preceding year. Though they may linger on the heaviness of loss, Wolf says, “What I discovered is that a stronger archetype had grown inside me to steer my emotions and thoughts to a better place.” Likewise, “Wistfulness” and “Upward Swimming Fish”—her first experiments with VST synthesizers—balance the bittersweet embrace of melancholy with the freedom to choose happiness.
“Pacific Coast Highway,” the album’s lone song with drums, might at first seem like an outlier. But it also signals Wolf’s interest in finding a fusion between the introspection of ambient and the togetherness of beat-oriented music. “Experiencing loss and isolation is what drove me into gentler territories of sound,” she says, “but I want to start making more beat-oriented music. After an extended period of loss and isolation, I’m ready to experience more joyous and social things.”
Listeners with keen ears might recognize the album’s closing song, “Springtime in Croatia”: A different mix of the song originally appeared on the 2021 digital compilation secondnature & friends Vol. II, from the Seattle label secondnature. This marks its first appearance on vinyl, however, and its spiritual home is undoubtedly here, at the close of See-Through. As the bookending answer to the opening “Woodland Encounter”—another song in which field recordings play a crucial role—it closes the circle of an album that is itself keyed to the steadily turning cycles of life.
For the first time EVER on 7" single come two of Don Blackman's most classic tracks from the 1982 album "Don Blackman" for GRP. multi-keyboard wizard Blackman played with the biggest names in fusion music including Lenny White & "Twenny-nine". As a leader and featured recording artist Don's keyboard, vocal and composing talents all came to shine on the debut LP from which these two songs are taken.
Don has toured the world with his band and "The Marcus Miller Band", "The World Saxophone Quartet", with jazz and bassist Tuero Nakamura.. His work on the acoustic piano and other keyboards was recorded on Mary J. Blidge's, "Feel Like A Natural Woman" and Janet Jackson's "That's The Way Love Goes"
FELT enter 2026 with a newly established sub label for reissues, retrospectives and oddball adjacent non-FELT material under the anagram catch-all LEFT. First on the agenda is a vinyl issue of a modern classical tape by Danish post-hardcore/late 2000s rock guitarist Johan Surrballe Wieth, founding member of the band Iceage (Escho/Dais/Mexican Summer/Matador).
Initially released on a limited cassette edition and plucked from the vast catalogue of the Copenhagen label Posh Isolation, the solo project Health & Safety can be read as composers meditation on anxiety, depression, insomnia and all the damned things they entangle. Wieth moves across the spectrum with dour, deliberate keys, mangled drone fx, barely-there violin scrapes, erratic chimes and whistles and with a knowing pace that feels akin to a guiding hand. We’re unsure if the form of each piece is meant to directly correlate to the drug so referenced but the quiet fever dream atmosphere of the 25 minutes also blurs each piece into a whole.
This quote from Wieth certainly rings true for the highly introspective nature of Health & Safety - “You should be very careful listening to too much music when you're writing an album. It has a tendency to become a little too explicit”
- A1: Can't Help Myself (Extended Intro Version)
- A2: Turn Da Music Up (Radio Version)
- A3: Never Alone (Euro Radio Mix)
- A4: Dreams (Will Come Alive)
- A5: Let Me Be Free
- B1: Fly (Through The Starry Night)
- B2: Come Take My Hand
- B3: Fairytales
- B4: Mirror Of Love
- B5: There's A Key
- C1: One Day
- C2: I'm Thinkin' Of U
- C3: Do You Know?
- C4: The Sun Will Be Shining
- C5: Heaven Is Here
- D1: Living In Cyberspace
- D2: Wonderful Feeling
- D3: Stand Up And Live (Dj Jose Vs. G-Spott Remix)
- D4: Dreams (Will Come Alive) (Fragiel Acoustic Version)
Bobby and Martin Boer started experimenting with music in a small bedroom in their parental house in an apartment building on the 4th floor.
The brothers brought together rapper Da Smooth Baron MC and singer Peggy “The Duchess” to form their stage act. The first single “Can’t Help Myself” was released in 1990 and became an international hit in 1991.
multiple international hits were produced as 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor. Gradually changing the style from Eurodance into happy hardcore.
Singles like “Fly (Through the Starry Night)”, “Come Take My Hand” and “Fairytales” were international bestsellers and topped charts all over Europe.
The Very Best Of 2 Brothers On The 4th Floor is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on crystal clear vinyl and includes an insert.
2026 Repress
We feel like Frank & Tony and Smallville have been on the same musical wave-length since forever. Our musical paths have crossed back and forth over the years and we have always shared a lot of the same values- steadily putting out quality music, that stands the test of time - growing consistently - never stop following our very own way - always not-following trends forever..
Frank & Tony is the collaborative guise of Scissor & Thread co-founders Francis Harris and Anthony Collins aka Grant. Both have long been staples of the underground with material under their own names and numerous other guises shaping the musical landscape of House Techno and beyond since the turn of the millennium. Both lived together in New York and as Frank & Tony the pair have delivered multiple albums and many EP’s on their own label, Tokyo’s Mule Musiq and Pacific Rhythm- now they are warmly welcomed onto the Smallville Records roster with their latest collection of works.
‘Ways Of Mine’ leads on the A-Side and showcases the pairs signature deep hypnotic house style via soft billowing pads cascading metallic chimes psychedelic spoken word and dreamy dubbed out keys floating atop a robust bouncy rhythm
section.To open the flip-side title-track ‘After All’ lays down a subtly blooming chord sequence shuffled drums and bumpy bass stabs at its core all subtly nuanced while the latter half introduces more dynamic rhythmic elements and intertwined melodic touches. ‘Dimension’ then concludes the release diving deeper with saturated ethereal pads and bubbling resonant arpeggio lines alongside heavily swung crisp drums jazzy keys and delayed vocal chants.
After All comes with a full cover artwork by Stefan Marx.
All tracks written & produced by Francis Harris & Anthony Collins
Mastering and Vinyl cut by Helmut Erler at Lathesville
- Rainbow Summer
- One Summer's Adventure
- Solramimi
- Clear Silver Sound
- Bashfully Across The Ledge
- Bluegrass Beneath The Sky
- Days Of Ocean Colors
- Before The Second Star Lights Up
- Ordinary Days
- Secret Hideout
- Hometown Island
- End Of Hibernation
- Southern White Wind
- Grain Rain, Wheat Wind
- Won't Forget, Can't Regret
- Look Inside Yourself. You Are More Than What You Have Become
- Crocus
- A Miracle That We Met
- Somewhen Somewhere
- A New Experience Summer Adventures
- Adventures Into The Unknown Soaring Meaning
- Timbre Of Light And Wind Silver Sound
- Okay Let's Start
- Base Of A New Adventure
- Skipping Along The Cobblestones
- Shimmering Streetlight
- Balmy Summer Breeze
- It's All Uphill From Here
- Clouds Upon The Moon Soaring Meaning
- Swallowed By The Forest
- White Dew Windswept Grass
- Hands
- That Summer Hideout
- Okay, Let's Go! ~From One Summer's Adventure~
- Because I Still Want To Watch The Sky ~From Soaring Meaning~
- Silver Harmony ~From Silver Sound~
- Day Out
- Scented Breeze And Chilly Wind
- The Summer View ~From The Secret Hideout~
- Summer Dawn
- Say That Again!
- Flick Of Reverse Water
- When We Laugh About Forgetting To Buy Something
- I'll Take You Down
- Lark Ascending Into Ultramarine
- Epoché
LEMON, RED & LIGHT BLUE VINYL[64,50 €]
Clear Vinyl mit blauer Marmorierung. Das luxuriöse Atelier Ryza (Original Soundtrack Trilogy)-Vinyl-Boxset enthält 45 Songs auf drei LPs, darunter die beliebtesten musikalischen Highlights aller drei Spiele. Jede Vinyl-Schallplatte steckt in einer polylined Innenhülle und befindet sich in vollständig illustrierten Covern mit Rücken. Das Set beinhaltet außerdem ein 24-seitiges Booklet mit Konzeptzeichnungen, Charakter-Artworks, Liedtexten sowie Liner Notes auf Englisch und Japanisch. Alles ist in einer hochwertigen, schweren Box verpackt, die diese Sammlung zu einem echten Must-have für jeden Fan des Spiels, seiner Kunst und natürlich der Musik macht, die immer ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Erfolgs der Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy war.Die Atelier-Serie ist ein JRPG-Franchise mit dem Thema Alchemie, entwickelt von GUST und seit 1997 laufend. Die ,Secret Trilogy" umfasst die Videospiele Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout (2019), Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (2020) und Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (2023). Sie ist die erste Reihe innerhalb der Atelier-Serie, die über mehrere Titel hinweg dieselbe Protagonistin zeigt. Die Geschichte folgt einem gewöhnlichen Mädchen, Reisalin ,Ryza" Stout, die die Alchemie entdeckt und gemeinsam mit ihren Freunden ein Sommerabenteuer erlebt, welches ihr persönliches Wachstum durch diese Erfahrungen widerspiegelt. Alle drei Titel im neu veröffentlichten Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack bieten Verbesserungen hinsichtlich Bedienkomforts sowie zusätzliche Inhalte, um die ,Secret"-Reise weiter aufzuwerten.
- Rainbow Summer
- One Summer's Adventure
- Solramimi
- Clear Silver Sound
- Bashfully Across The Ledge
- Bluegrass Beneath The Sky
- Days Of Ocean Colors
- Before The Second Star Lights Up
- Ordinary Days
- Secret Hideout
- Hometown Island
- End Of Hibernation
- Southern White Wind
- Grain Rain, Wheat Wind
- Won't Forget, Can't Regret
- Look Inside Yourself. You Are More Than What You Have Become
- Crocus
- A Miracle That We Met
- Somewhen Somewhere
- A New Experience Summer Adventures
- Adventures Into The Unknown Soaring Meaning
- Timbre Of Light And Wind Silver Sound
- Okay Let's Start
- Base Of A New Adventure
- Balmy Summer Breeze
- It's All Uphill From Here
- Clouds Upon The Moon Soaring Meaning
- Swallowed By The Forest
- White Dew Windswept Grass
- Hands
- That Summer Hideout
- Okay, Let's Go! ~From One Summer's Adventure~
- Because I Still Want To Watch The Sky ~From Soaring Meaning~
- Silver Harmony ~From Silver Sound~
- Day Out
- Scented Breeze And Chilly Wind
- The Summer View ~From The Secret Hideout~
- Summer Dawn
- Say That Again!
- Flick Of Reverse Water
- When We Laugh About Forgetting To Buy Something
- I'll Take You Down
- Lark Ascending Into Ultramarine
- Epoché
- Skipping Along The Cobblestones
- Shimmering Streetlight
CLEAR W/ SKY BLUE MARBLES VINYL[64,50 €]
Clear Vinyl mit blauer Marmorierung. Das luxuriöse Atelier Ryza (Original Soundtrack Trilogy)-Vinyl-Boxset enthält 45 Songs auf drei LPs, darunter die beliebtesten musikalischen Highlights aller drei Spiele. Jede Vinyl-Schallplatte steckt in einer polylined Innenhülle und befindet sich in vollständig illustrierten Covern mit Rücken. Das Set beinhaltet außerdem ein 24-seitiges Booklet mit Konzeptzeichnungen, Charakter-Artworks, Liedtexten sowie Liner Notes auf Englisch und Japanisch. Alles ist in einer hochwertigen, schweren Box verpackt, die diese Sammlung zu einem echten Must-have für jeden Fan des Spiels, seiner Kunst und natürlich der Musik macht, die immer ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Erfolgs der Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy war.Die Atelier-Serie ist ein JRPG-Franchise mit dem Thema Alchemie, entwickelt von GUST und seit 1997 laufend. Die ,Secret Trilogy" umfasst die Videospiele Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout (2019), Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (2020) und Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (2023). Sie ist die erste Reihe innerhalb der Atelier-Serie, die über mehrere Titel hinweg dieselbe Protagonistin zeigt. Die Geschichte folgt einem gewöhnlichen Mädchen, Reisalin ,Ryza" Stout, die die Alchemie entdeckt und gemeinsam mit ihren Freunden ein Sommerabenteuer erlebt, welches ihr persönliches Wachstum durch diese Erfahrungen widerspiegelt. Alle drei Titel im neu veröffentlichten Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack bieten Verbesserungen hinsichtlich Bedienkomforts sowie zusätzliche Inhalte, um die ,Secret"-Reise weiter aufzuwerten.
Behind the name Pouf Pouf Pantoufle lie six musicians from Nancy, graduates of the Lillebonne music school: Vincent Petit on double bass, Gabriel Lambert on bass, Guillaume Schwab on keyboards, Tom Colombain on trombone, Gaspard Petitnicolas on flute, and Solal Piquand on drums.
In 2022, they founded the APC (Appellation Pantouflarde Contrôlée) association and started organizing concerts at the legendary MJC Lillebonne, often alongside BMM and RPT. Thanks to their eclectic and avant-garde line-ups, these events have become unmissable for fans of hybrid music, electronic curiosities, and off-format performances.
Through a form of free, improvised, and chaotic jazz, the band Pouf Pouf Pantoufle echoes the local scene that they federate. The sextet now presents its first eponymous studio album, a genuine laboratory of improvisation and experimentation with different materials and sound textures, mixing acoustic and electronic elements in an intense and exhilarating jumble.
Polished and forward-looking even 40-odd years on from its initial release, Bourbon Suite captures Japanese female keyboard trio Cosmos at a time when fusion leaned into pop accessibility without losing technical finesse. Built around layered keys and crisp studio musicianship, the album moves with a sleek, late-night feel. 'Midnight Shuffle' stands out for reworking earlier material into a smoother, instrumental-led groove, while 'Cosmic Cosmos' drifts into more spacey territory and is driven by elastic bass and shimmering synth lines. There's a clarity to the arrangements that keeps things light on their feet and means this remains a refined example of early 80s crossover fusion.
A great name. A great cover. And - of course - outstanding library music.
Soul City Orchestra's Meal Ticket houses titanic funk, mellow groove and symphonic disco-soul.
Released in 1977 on Rouge, a subsidiary of the prestigious and long-established British library label Music De Wolfe, Meal Ticket was crafted by the studio band Soul City Orchestra (a pseudonym for the De Wolfe in-house composers Chris Rae & Franck McDonald).
The driving instrumental funk-rock of the A Side is enhanced with strings and no little drama. However, it's undoubtedly the peerless flipside that makes this record an essential part of any collection.
Head straight to highlight "Chamber Maid"; insistent, conga-driven funky rock with lashings of string-heightened drama. It's sophisticated, classical and deeply classy.
The majestic, powerfully emotive "Sore Head" contains an excellent intro drum break and sultry slo-mo disco breaks throughout. It's low-key stunning. With a few melodic switch-ups, it's symphonic soul heaven and is comfortably the best and most beautifully crucial track on Side A.
The breezy, Philly soul-tinged "Short Change", its intense strings reminiscent of the Salsoul Orchestra and TSOP, presents an easy-glide funk that's just irresistible.
The funky, cool and slick AF "Wheeling And Dealing" is laconic flute and string-propelled sophisticated mid-tempo disco soul. It's worth the price of admission alone.
The breezy, mellowed out disco-funk workout "The Jam" is a deliciously slinky and sophisticated soul strut. Try not swaggering into the club with this in your head next time you venture into the murky world of "the night". Just ace.
The crowning glory is the sweeping, sublime symphonic disco breaks of horn-infused "Soul City Drive", an absolute monster of radiant heavy soul-funk à la Barry White with great string & brass arrangement.
Basically, this is essential for all groove-aficionados.
The audio for Meal Ticket has been meticulously remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.
“Echoes of the Earth – Episode 1: Central Africa” is the new EP by Railway Movement, the project of Stefano Cattivera with Ettore Vozza (keyboards) and Alessandro Gizzi (percussion). Blending ambient electronics, organic rhythms, and archival sounds from a 1980s cassette of Central African field recordings, it creates a sonic journey through nature, ritual, and memory.
The third release on Pan Records comes from BRS (British Rhythm Services), a UK deep house production collective active since 2000. They first appeared on the Parisian label Cyclo Records and quickly followed up with releases on Imperial Dub (San Francisco) and Leeds-based 20/20 Vision.
Throughout the 2000s, BRS — originally formed by Ben Vacara, Robert Evans and Mr. Mulatto — built a strong reputation for quality deep house. In 2001 they launched their own imprint, Friends & Families, while their music also appeared on major labels and compilations including Café del Mar, Ministry of Sound, Paper Recordings, Peng, Late Night Tales and React.
Over the years the project evolved, with core members Ben Vacara (also known as Frank Situation) and Mr. Mulatto continuing at the forefront, joined by musicians such as Dom Thompson, Phil “Dr. Keys” Campbell and James Payne. In 2019, BRS saw a new wave of reissues and fresh material on Cyclo, Wolf Music, Pressed For Time and their own label, Situationism.
Still active as producers and DJs, BRS have now been shaping UK deep house for over 25 years.
Between electronic shadows and cinematic textures, this new album from QUENUM draws its influences from the likes of Massive Attack, Archive, and Burial. Started and produced in London, it reflects a change of time — both in the climate and within.
This project represents a personal and artistic turning point for QUENUM. He wanted to experiment with new ideas, not necessarily music for the club. The album was created in close collaboration with his son Zac, a talented musician who contributed both as a singer and instrumentalist on several tracks. They shared wonderful moments creating this album together.
He also worked hand in hand with his long-time friend Christophe Calpini, who played a key role in mixing and in developing the textures and atmospheres that shape the album’s sound. The result is an intimate, personal, and timeless journey, deeply rooted in the now.
Quenum elaborates: “The idea for my album was born during Covid in London, when concerts, museums, and social activities suddenly stopped. To cope, I started running daily and spending hours in the studio creating music. In our garden cabin I worked alongside my son Zac who was practicing piano, preparing for his entry into Trinity Laban Conservatoire. He listened to my tracks, and eventually contributed vocals with his ex-partner on two songs, ‘Blue Sky’ and ‘Never Like Before’. The album’s dark atmosphere reflects that period. Once it was complete, I asked my longtime friend Christophe Calpini to handle arrangements and mixing.”
A true pioneer of electronic music, QUENUM has been shaping the global techno and house scene for over two decades. One of his most celebrated tracks, “Orange Mistake”, co-produced with Luciano in 2001, became a turning point in his career. The success of this collaboration led them to launch the legendary Cadenza label, which rapidly grew into one of the most recognisable and respected imprints in the scene, known for its vital releases and unforgettable parties worldwide.
Over the years, QUENUM has continued to explore new creative paths and refine his artistic identity, constantly reinventing his sound while maintaining his unique musical signature. His insatiable curiosity and openness to new influences have kept him consistently in demand, from intimate underground venues to the world’s most respected festivals and clubs.
- 1: The Lone West
- 2: Shadows
- 3: Moonlight
- 4: Reverie
- 5: Romantic Strings
- 6: Devil’s Hour
- 7: The Lone West Ii
- 8: So Far Away
- 9: Rain
- 10: Calling
The album was inspired by the dislocation Kennan felt upon returning, after several years
away, to the rustic neighborhood northwest of L.A. where she’d grown up: “Wandering through a place where my life once existed but where everything had quietly shifted with time.”
The music conjures a mood of distance, dust, and dazed emotion, alternately lulling and unraveling. From shuffling tumbleweed vignettes (“The Lone West,” “Romantic Strings”) to sepia-tone torch songs (“Shadows,” “Reverie”) to oblique keyboard meditations (“Moonlight,” “Rain”) , Kennan’s soundworld moves with a muted, murky beauty, like alluring shapes seen through smudged glass. In her hands, haze is a transformative property, liberating melody and memory into landscapes still untraveled.
Chicago legend K. Alexi returns to Dark Entries with Warehouse Trax, an EP of previously unreleased acid and house mayhem. K’Alexi Shelby’s illustrious career has included releases on legendary labels such as Trax, DJ International, and Transmat, as well as collaborations with high-profile artists like Marshall Jefferson and Pet Shop Boys. But his musical journey began at the young age of 12, when he befriended Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles while frequenting the Music Box and Warehouse. In high school, he began writing songs and honing his poetic craft. “I recognized I had a gift to say what I was thinking. I would study Prince and Marvin Gaye, figure out what they meant and put my spin on it. The power of the word. I was writing love notes for all my boys in high school and making a killing. I would know what to say and what they should do.”
Dark Entries previously reissued Shelby’s debut record, Essence of a Dream, which was recorded under the name Risque III in 1987. Warehouse Trax follows with six tracks recorded in Chicago between 1991 and 1994. The material here has all the hallmarks of classic K’Alexi. Salsa-inflected rhythms, emotive basslines, and hip-house vibes are displayed on tracks like the high-octane “Jungle Line” or the low-key tearjerker “Protect and Survive.” There are also some unexpected surprises in store. “Aaaah” comes out of the gate swinging with hard-hitting beats and apocalyptic ravey vocal pads evocative of the edgier material on Saber Records or Djax Up Beats, and the surprisingly contemporary-sounding “Klub Dred” delivers half-time dub with stuttering vocal samples. Warehouse Trax comes in a retro-styled sleeve designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh. This is essential material for devotees of classic house sounds.
After a series of successful outings alongside sidekicks Ofofo and Zongamin, studio wizard MYTRON turns in his debut solo full-length for Multi Culti World Records. With contributions on Invisible Inc, Calypso, Bongo Joe, Kalahari Oyster Cult, LYO, Codek Records and Earthly Measures, Mytron has carved out a name for himself in a carefully-curated left-field quadrant of the indie-dance galaxy. Tuning his oscillators to myriad sounds — from dub and disco to krautrock — the London-based producer perhaps most notably channels the pristine compositional style of Kraftwerk. While most apparent in the use of vocoder, there’s a consistent efficiency of arrangement that recalls the man-machine in effervescent, idealistic fashion. Mytron manages to keep it simple, funky and musical — whimsical tunes that bop along with analog grit, wilderness, and wonk. There’s a warmth and wit that shine through every synth line, an understated confidence that speaks of years spent tangled in wires and waveforms, with an inclusive sonic eclecticism that flattens hierarchies between genres, geographies, and generations. Each influence is invited to the table, treated not as pastiche but invited to dine and dance in a space where kosmische dub disco and Afro rhythms can coexist without borders. The sleeve design echoes this philosophy: video-feedback patterns hinting at our modern screens, both portals and filters — coloured, distorted intermediaries through which we perceive the world. In the trippiest sense, the record is both reflection and refraction — a sonic mirror held up to an interconnected, glitchy reality. Tailored equally for DJ use and home-listening head trip, the album is meticulous, mischievous and merry.
BanBanTonTon review:
On Mytron’s debut long-player for Multi Culti groovy 21st Century leftfield house gear collides with Daniele Baldelli and Beppe Loda’s hugely influential `80s afro / cosmic. The 9 tracks are chunky, chugging and full of funky, funny noises. Old school B-lines mixing with eccentric electronics. Spinning, spiralling sounds.
Sugar is an electro-pop, vocoder confection, cut from the same sonic cloth as cult classics like Codek’s Tam Tam. Created from tough trap drums, splashing effects and a mutant Giorgio Moroder bass arpeggio. The title track, Propellor, pits Kraftwerk-esque hardware harmonised vocals against a bongo loop and a whistling hook. Playground has simian shrieks surround tumbling tom-toms. Highway Maintenance adds kosmische synths to a dance of woodblocks and buzzing bottom end. Keep On Dubbing is an organ-led, clip clopping percussive canter.
Tracks such as Speaker Can Talk, shot through with disco lasers blasts and recalling Curt Cress’ Dschung Tek, also lift the tempo up, but the bulk of the music here is a mid-tempo, techno drum circle. Squelchy sequences gurgling in and out of programmed percussion. On Quasar, spiky acid edges in and slowly takes over.
Key references that come to mind are Baldelli’s own turn-of-the-2000s Cosmic Sound Project productions, and Wolf Müller’s scene shaking sides on Themes For Great Cites, from around a decade later.
As far as disco bangers go, they don't come much better than 'To Be With You Again'. The shock is hits is actually a brand new tune on a new label rather than an unearthed old gem. It's a heart-swelling sound with symphonic strings and swooning energy all finished in magnificent style by the stunning vocals from the Choir of Angelic Disco Angels. Getaway Jones adds the tight bassline and some superb keys to make this a must-cop 12" this is guaranteed to fly off the shelves. An instrumental on the flip is just as moving, but it's the vocal-fuelled A-side that really soars.
This release documents the legacy of Ranil, the Amazonian singer and bandleader who shaped a distinctive regional style blending cumbia, psychedelic textures and local rhythmic traditions. Born Jorge Raul Llerena Vasquez in 1935, Ranil rose from rural beginnings to front Los Silver's in the early 1970s before founding his own label, Producciones Llerena, to independently record his imaginative, genre-blurring music. His catalogue, long scattered across mismatched pressings, remains a vivid record of Amazonian creativity. Following his later career as a radio voice in Iquitos, this collection preserves key recordings and supports archival efforts that continue to highlight his cultural impact. Check the frisky percussion and euphoric vocals of 'Pueblo', the scratchy guitar and bustling funk of 'Bahia' or the lilting 'Albores De Mi Selva' for proof of just how irresisitble it still sounds today.
Accepting the darkness can be a liberating experience. Realising, and struggling with just who we are and what world we live in requires it. By further complicating the fractured sense of beauty found on his droning 2022 release, ‘I dreamt we found a way’, Bristol-based composer, Rob Winstone creates a language that encapsulates the lifelong reach for our own personal heavens, along with the darkness and fear on which those foundations are built.
Winstone’s instrumental palette continues to reach out far from behind his keyboards, however the sound of ‘sifting through heaven’ is stripped back and pared down, putting melody front and centre. 'postcards and loose tea', a love song written for Winstone’s partner during a period coming to terms with health difficulties had previously self-released with heavy spectral and granular manipulation from the artist. Here Winstone re-presents the original: “the stripped back recording I made in my old damp and cold studio that was in a building that has since been demolished”. It reflects the composer’s own journey, doing away with veils and histrionics, and embracing emotional bliss wherever it can be found, warts and all. Even the rumbling dark ambience of ’hospital corridor’ - where distant chimings, groans, and droplets synthesized from field recordings made nervously in a hospital waiting for test results coalesce - harbours a sacred-seeming beauty and aseptic warmth within its very bleak sense of dread.
There’s no better way to describe Winstone’s method than ‘sifting through heaven’. The hymnal organ chords, sketched out acoustic guitar phrases, scattering drum thuds, and meditative field recordings may flit between tenebrous to incandescent, but his focus is always on the embrace of love; “a view of life that embraces positive growth, yet doesn't deny immense suffering,” as he puts it. The album is bookended by two of Winstone’s most outright peaceful moments, summarising his core message: 'in spite of it all...' '...love finds a way'.
Melbourne / Naarm stronghold Butter Sessionsclock 15 years in the game with a trilogy of 12"s, sustaining their uncompromising streak of peak-form electronics. The family-style V/A binds friends, collaborators, former studio neighbours and DJ booth allies, capturing a label that exists as community as much as catalogue.
Disc Two lifts off with recurring contributor Rory McPike's first label outing as Rings Around Saturn, a blissed-out cosmic floater skimming the periphery. Booked in the early days of the label's formative Mania residency, Japanese don Gonno twists freestyle, techno and breaks into pure ecstasy, before the unerringly bold Jennifer Loveless spikes the punch with a hallucinatory mix of drums, disembodied voice and jazz club keys.
On the flip, Boorloo's Guy Contact rolls out Dance In The Grey, a shadowy prog churn pitched between new-romantic vocal sheen and EBM muscle, with Kate Miller completely rewiring the script on Sub Series E - a masterfully minimal, double-time meditation. suki presents his Sniper1 alias to close with a demonic body-jacking groove loaded for the system.
Whether taken alone or folded into the three-disc triptych, each instalment stands as a bag-ready constant, charged with Butter Sessions' curatorial finesse.
BYAMM (pronounced 'bye-yam') is a retro soul studio project that was born during the 2021 lockdown. The focus is on soul music with strong themes, memorable melodies and catchy hooks layered with synthesizers, grooving bass lines and a hint of 1980s influences.
Central to BYAMM is a strong song-writing etiquette and a classic and timeless appeal to all ages.
BYAMM stands for Barima Yaw Asante Making Music. Barima is the songwriter, keyboard player and producer. Lead vocals are handled by the seasoned Ade Omotayo, whose credits including working with the late Amy Winehouse, the original members Amy Winehouse Band and the Gorillaz.
BYAMM is supported by a collective of professional session musicians recruited from around the world.
Also Playable Mono, the nom de guerre of Rafał Lachmirowicz, channels musical greats and the romance of Italy with the Firenze EP. “Neverland” reimagines Giorgio Moroder’s iconic introduction of “I Feel Love”, undulating arpeggios and clean kicks giving way to an addictive tongue-in-cheek melody of laser futurism and eastern influences. “Firenze” follows. Broad analogue bars call to mind the works of Patrick Cowley, disco funk flirting with a spoken word tribute to Florence in this bright and bold track. Our next stop off is “Bergamo.” Low-slung, this smoky number is primed for the night. Thick thrums of bass are punctured by piano keys and toms, robotic pulses and trills adding a 1970s sci-fi groove to the proceedings. Turning the tables is “Breakfast Date.” Slow and dreamy, this early morning lounge affair lowers the tempo. Considered and thoughtful, meandering melodies border the blurred lines of jazz and funk. The words of “Firenze” are left in the wings for the instrumental close, Lachmirowicz’s synthesizers taking the limelight in this uplifting finale. A 12” that encapsulates the expansive sound of Also Playable Mono.
The fledgling Supremus is back to roll out a second edition of the London-based Frenchman Giom's classics series with three more carefully chosen cuts that underline his club clout. His own remix of 'As Darkness Falls' returns with warming chords and bright keys over a rolling groove and Apple Rochez vocal that oozes r&b appeal. 'Summerized' resurfaces after years out of reach with a more tight, tense groove and diffuse synth work that washes over the mix. Closing track 'Play On' leans into warm days and outdoor dancing with a nu-disco vibe that's effortlessly lush and absorbing, so it will likely be big all over again this year, especially after a fine remaster for 2026.
Tilaye Gebre is one of Ethiopia’s most soulful saxophone giants, with a musical legacy that’s hard to surpass. A founding member of the Equators, later renamed the Dahlak Band, he was a key figure in Ethiopia’s vibrant hotel music scene and a sought-after musician and arranger for artists like Aster Aweke, Mahmoud Ahmed, Tilahun Gessesse, and Muluken Melesse.
Tilaye — still going strong — was at the epicenter of the Ethiopian music scene during one of the most turbulent periods in the country’s history. Tilaye’s musical trajectory, regardless of the forms it has taken over the decades, is simply ceaseless. The road to a musical career spanning six decades started out winding, and the first steps came almost as a fluke.
With the Dahlak Band, Tilaye had managed to secure a musical residency at the legendary Ghion Hotel, where they honed their skills and developed their musical expression to unparalleled levels. From the late sixties onwards, Dahlak Band lit up Addis Ababa with a mixture of James Brown and Wilson Pickett tunes, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and the sound of the disco era — mixed with modern Ethiopian styles — serving up majestic concoctions with full-range instrumentation, featuring trumpet, keyboard, saxophone, bass, drums, and guitar. Through their hotel sessions, Tilaye developed further as an arranger, arranging fellow band member Muluken Melesse’s first solo album, Muluken Melesse with the Dahlak Band (Kaifa Records – LPKF 39), recorded during the turbulent years of 1975–1976, following the fall of Haile Selassie. Everything was in flux in this transitional period, but a constant was how Tilaye stood in the spotlight. On that record, there’s a loose vibe to the soundscape that lets Tilaye’s skills shine, while all the other musical contributions coalesce into a slowly cooking atmosphere where the groove at times fluctuates into psychedelic territory, making the music stand out from most contemporaries.
Most of their recorded output came from one-take live cassette recordings at the Ghion, or from music shops at that time — one microphone at the front, hit record: no EQ, no reverb, just some delay. Some of the Dahlak Band’s releases featured Tilaye as frontman, such as Tilaye’s Saxophone with the Dahlak Band from the late 1970s — typical of a rare groove on the Ethiopian scene — with excursions into reggae territory, including the band’s characteristic sound featuring Tilaye Gebre (tenor and alto saxophone), Dawit Yifru (organ), David Kassa (electric guitar), Shimelis Beyene (trumpet), Moges Habte (tenor saxophone), Abera Feyissa (bass guitar), Tesfaye Tessema (drums), and Muluken Melesse (cowbell). The Dahlak Band’s output was so prodigious that they simply couldn’t be pigeonholed.
No saxophonist in Ethiopia influenced the sound of popular music more than Tilaye in the 1970s, yet his recordings have been hard to come by for ages, which has meant that newcomers to the scene have gems to uncover in retrospect. Arguably, Tilaye shifted gears when he relocated to the U.S. to such an extent that his musicianship became even more renowned, accompanying the greatest of his contemporaries internationally. Tilaye is one of Ethiopia’s all-time greats, with a musical legacy — both as musician and arranger — that’s hard to surpass. It’s a wonder to be able to enjoy a recording like this half a century later.
Combo Efectivo was formed in November 2024 in Bogota in a studio in the Teusaquillo district, at the invitation of Jazztropicante. It brings together an all-star cast from Bogota's neotropical movement and three iconic brass players from the current French jazz scene.
The chemistry was immediate and the energy palpable: a sound that was both playful and demanding, exuding groove, rich material rooted in contemporary jazz structures, and breathing the spirit of brass bands and the splendor of popular expression from the Colombian Caribbean.
A two-track EP was produced from this unique studio session, recorded and mixed at Mambo Negro Records, with the expertise of Daniel Michel. Mastered in Paris at Loom, this first 45 rpm single was released in February 2026 with The Pusher, officially marking the birth of the Casa Maguey Records label, which promotes the catalog resulting from Jazztropicante's encounters.
On the French side, three musicians who are making their mark on their generation: Stéphane Montigny on trombone, Antoine Berjeaut on trumpet, and saxophonist Léon Phal, the spearhead of a new generation of jazzmen. The Colombians are a cocktail of musicians from the most exciting groups on the current scene: Karen Nerak on vocals, rap, gaita, and percussion, Ruben Aragon on keyboards, Pelango on bass, and Kike Narvaez on drums.
Combo Efectivo magnifies the alchemy between the finesse of European jazz and the power of Colombian rhythms. A tropical trance fueled by improvisation, where the contemporary jazz scene and neo-tropicality meet in a spirit of openness and exploration.
Category 1 Music Sampler - Vol. 4 represents a unique blend of contemporary house music’s most influential and respected personalities. “What I Want” showcases the remixing wizardry of Eric Kupper, who has worked with numerous superstars including Usher, Alicia Keys, Donna Summer & Miley Cyrus; along with the producing genius of Chicago’s great house trailblazer, Ron Carroll. “Call Me” showcases a multi continent contingent of musical talent from the UK, South Africa and the U.S. combining to deliver a soulful house gem that’s highlighted by Stacy Kidd’s distinctive Chicago influenced vibe. Joe Smooth, another Chicago house legend, lends his deep house sound to the appropriately titled, “Soul Deep”, featuring the classic vocals of Ed Ramsey coupled with Sweet Georgie’s impeccable production.
Concluding this house music journey is Ron Carroll’s “Underground”, a Garage banger that’s the creative concept of Marc Cotterell, 1 of the leaders of the U.S./UK Garage genre. “Underground” is the perfect way to end another Category 1 Music house excursion.
Ideologic Organ freut sich, die brandneuen Aufnahmen von The Necks zu präsentieren, dem legendären australischen Trio, das sich durch die Umgehung musikalischer Klischees auszeichnet und gleichzeitig die Praktiken der Improvisation, des Jazz, des Post-Rock, des Ambient, des Minimal und der texturierten, ,klangbasierten" Musik erforscht und erweitert. Das neueste Werk dieses langjährigen Ensembles, Unfold, präsentiert sich als Doppel-LP mit vier seitenlangen Tracks. Das bewusste Fehlen von nummerierten Seiten gibt dem Hörer viel Raum, sich einzubringen, und lässt ihn seinen eigenen Weg durch die Klanglandschaft finden. Die kürzere Länge des Vinylformats ist für die Mitglieder des Ensembles kein Hindernis, sondern bietet ihnen einen kompakteren Horizont zum Nachdenken, in dem die zurückgelegte Strecke auf unmittelbarere und dynamischere texturale Aspekte neu ausgerichtet wird. Die Unmittelbarkeit von ,Rise" bestätigt diesen neuen Weg, während die traurigen Töne von Lloyd Swantons Bass um Chris Abrahams' kristallklares Klaviermotiv wirbeln und Tony Bucks Percussion den Prozess in erleuchtende Free-Jazz-Gefilde lenkt. ,Blue Mountain" bahnt sich einen Weg durch das klangliche Unterholz, wobei Soul-Orgel, rasselnde Percussion, Pfeifen und hüpfende Schallwellen um den Vordergrund wetteifern. ,Overheard" behält eine erhabene melancholische Aura, während Percussion und Keyboards sich gleichzeitig umarmen und auseinanderfallen, während ,Timepiece" als sanfte Geste weiterer Möglichkeiten dahinspringt. Wie genau The Necks ihre besondere Magie entfalten - so einfach es auch scheinen mag -, während sie sich immer weiterentwickeln, kann nur vermutet werden, aber ,Unfold" beweist einmal mehr, dass Regeln und Schulen gebrochen und zu Mustern und Rahmenwerken umgestaltet werden müssen, die sich von denen unterscheiden, die wir kennen.
The new album by the collective that for
over 25 years has been among the most
representative names of the Italian dance
and electronic scene worldwide.
“BLOOOM”, this is the title of the new release,
will be available in all traditional stores and
on digital platforms starting January 16.
Set against the soundscapes that have become
the Planet Funk trademark, the lyrics by Dan
Black attempt to give voice to a fragile and
contradictory condition of our time: an
intensified sensitivity that, instead of
turning into openness and connection, often
becomes emotional overload. A generation
constantly overwhelmed by excessive stimuli,
relentless information, anxieties, and fears,
called upon to find its way in a world thaoffers neither pauses nor silence. In this paradox, sensitivity is no longer just a natural gift, but
a daily effort: staying open and receptive without being overwhelmed, trying to preserve a human and
vulnerable gaze in order, despite everything, to fully appreciate life and the present moment.
The single’s artwork—like that of the album—curated by Nationhood, visually conveys this tension: the
distant sirens of a city that amplifies feelings of disorientation and loneliness even when we are
surrounded by thousands of people.
“BLOOOM”, preceded by the single “FEEL EVERYTHING”, arrives at the end of an intense, creative year
full of music, which saw Alex Neri (DJ, keyboards, synthesizers), Marco Baroni (keyboards, piano,
programming), Dan Black (vocals and guitar), and Alex Uhlmann (vocals and guitar) engaged between
studio work, collaborations, and live performances in Italy and abroad. A journey that today
transforms into new energy, into an even more open vision oriented toward the future.
Exactly one year ago, PLANET FUNK released “Nights in White Satin”, a single that reached the top
positions of the radio charts and launched a season rich in concerts and DJ sets in Italy and around
the world. The subsequent “I Get a Rush”, the collaboration with Alfa and Manu Chao on the remix of
their hit “A me mi piace”, and the track “È Naturale” together with Francesca Michielin, confirmed
Planet Funk’s ability to renew themselves and engage with different musical worlds while always
remaining true to their own identity.
Throughout this journey, music has inevitably intertwined with life. The memory of Sergio Della Monica
and Domenico “Gigi” Canu, pillars and founding souls of the PLANET FUNK project, is a living part of
this new chapter. Their vision, creative spirit, and way of understanding music continue to be a
constant guide, a deep root from which new ideas and new directions can grow.
“BLOOOM” is also this: a personal and artistic blossoming that, starting from the legacy left by
Sergio and Gigi, transforms into a living process of growth, metamorphosis, and discovery. An album
that does not look back with nostalgia, but forward with awareness, momentum, and a desire for
renewal.
Founded in 1999, for over 25 years PLANET FUNK have represented one of the most important, solid, and
influential realities in the international electronic music scene. Born from the meeting of Souled
Out! (Domenico “GG” Canu and Sergio Della Monica) and Kamasutra (Marco Baroni and Alex Neri), and
following their debut with “Non Zero Sumness” in 2002 (a gold record and a turning point for the
band), PLANET FUNK have managed to reinvent themselves over time while maintaining a unique sonic
identity. This has led them to collaborate with internationally renowned artists, deliver iconic
performances around the world, create soundtracks and international advertising campaigns, and
continue to demonstrate constant creative vitality
- A1: Jestofunk - Say It Again (Original Club Mix)
- A2: Blender - Trouble Jazz (Jazz Club Mix)
- A3: Belladonna - Black Jazz
- A4: Bossa Nostra Feat Vicki Anderson - The Message From A Soul Sisters
- B1: Ltj Xperience - Conga Sax
- B2: Black & Brown - Tribal Boogaloo
- B3: Fusion Funk Foundation - Movin’ Down
- B4: Dj Rodriguez - Vibes And Tribes
- C1: Soul Etico - Two Hearts Together (Fatti Special Jazz)
- C2: Gazzara - Gotcha! Theme From Starsky & Utch
- C3: The Smoke Orchestra - Lenticular Galaxy
- C4: Yuts And Culture - Intermission
- C5: Italian Secret Service - Not The Same
- C6: The Sonic Family - Sonic Vibes
- D1: Sarah Jane Morris - Hold On To Love (Micky More & Andy Tee Remix
- D2: Key Tronics Ensemble - You X Me (Montuno Salsa)
- D3: Sicania Soul - Life Is A Tree (Truby Trio Treatment)
- D4: Low Fidelity Jet Set Orchestra - The Amplifer
- D5: Black Mighty Wax - Follow That Fellow
After the excellent response to the first volume, Acid Jazz Classics returns with the second volume.
The Acid Jazz sound born in the 1990s, which harked back to the Soul Funk of the 1970s, found in IRMA one of the labels most dedicated to
this world, and still releases music that can be categorized under this name.
From songs from the 1990s with artists like Jestofunk, Bossa Nostra, Black & Brown, Gazzara, Italian Secret Service, LTJ Xperience, Sarah
Jane Morris, to the present day with artists like The Smoke Orchestra, Yuts and Culture, Fusion Funk Foundation, Micky More & Andy Tee,
Belladonna, and many others.
19 tracks on a double vinyl, some of them never before released on vinyl, all rigorously perfect for both the club and listening.
In fact, some tracks are little club gems:
"Say It Again" by Jestofunk in its very first version from 1993;
Belladonna - Black Jazz, one of her most requested songs ever released on vinyl;
Key Tronics Ensemble - You For Me, the Montuno Salsa version performed for years by Little Louie Vega at many of his gigs;
the Micky More & Andy Tee remix of Sarah Jane Morris's Hold On To Love!
Luca Olivotto is back on Small Great Things sub-label At A Glance with new four-track EP, ‘Acquafun’.
Berlin-based DJ, producer, and label head Luca Olivotto continues to shape the underground house scene through his acclaimed imprint Small Great Things and its signature Small Great House events. Known for his warm, soulful House sound and meticulous curation, Luca now recently expanded his creative universe with the launch of At A Glance, a new sublabel under his direction.
Leading the charge is ‘I Got Nothing’ setting the mood with a buoyant bassline, bright piano lines, west coast funk style synth licks and jazzy undertones floating amongst a crisp, swinging drum groove. ‘Prosciutto’ follows in style a delectable sonic treat layered with organic percussion, airy chords, dubbed-out vocals, smooth strings, and a deep, rolling low-end that oozes warmth and character.
On ‘Half A Ever,’ hip-house vocal snippets and chanting hooks intertwine with sharp stabs and a driving rhythm section, showcasing a vibrant, club-ready energy. Concluding the EP, ‘Equalizer’ ties it all together with jazzy keys, soulful organ lines, marimba touches, choppy bass, and saturated drums, a masterful nod to the timeless essence of House.
Gothenburg-based Finnish pianist Joona Toivanen makes his We Jazz Records debut with his long-standing trio featuring Tapani Toivanen on bass and Olavi Louhivuori of Superposition on drums. Searching for new opportunities on the minimal side of acoustic groove-based free music, the trio introduces a single edit of a hard-driving album track to be, "Except For", and a fresh take on Terry Riley's "Keyboard Study No. 2" on the flip. Fans of introspective jazz piano plus minimalist modern composition take notice.
nagoyaka na kaze / 和やかな風 (quiet wind): a collection of forward-thinking electronic experiments sourced from central Japan - co-curated by Nagoya artist abentis for Facta & K-LONE’s Wisdom Teeth imprint.
The project profiles a close-knit community of music makers operating in and around the Japanese city of Nagoya: one of the country’s most populous and industrial cities, but one all too often overlooked in terms of its cultural significance.
Curated in close collaboration with local scene organiser Yuya Abe - aka abentis - the record seeks to capture the creative energy of a community of artists making hard-to-define, future-facing electronic music away from the clamour of the bigger cities. “In Nagoya, there’s a strong culture of supporting artists. Even if you pursue music in your own way, as long as it’s good, you’re encouraged to keep doing what you want”, explains abentis. “Within that environment, my generation has been able to freely bring in elements we like from all kinds of genres, combine them in our own way, and express ourselves individually. If you go to Tokyo or Osaka, that kind of freedom isn’t something you can take for granted.” Spiritually, Nagoya fits the mould of cultural hotbeds like Bristol, Detroit or Melbourne, showing that some of the most innovative creative communities form away from the glare of the capital cities. Like Detroit, Nagoya is principally known for being a major auto manufacturing hub, famous for being the home of Toyota Motors - but behind the scenes, it is quietly harbouring one of Japan’s most vibrant and forward-thinking electronic music scenes. “In a good way, Nagoya is a bit removed from the cutting edge, so you find people making all kinds of music”, explains Karnage. “If you’re making music, you feel like part of the crew, and people of different ages mix together without much hierarchy.” The city’s music scene is characterised by a freedom to mix genres and an open-door approach to creatives of all disciplines. The artists featured come from a diverse set of backgrounds, ranging from hip-hop to noise music, but have found a common collective identity in their omnivorous approach to genre. As such, the record moves fluidly between shimmering ambient and new age (Am Shhara, DHYAN, daiki hayakawa), psychedelic minimal house (Methodd, abentis), abstract, low-slung downtempo (baptisma, Nasty Soupman) and spaceage steppas (Karnage). “I’d say the way ambient, new age and that kind of sound design are blending nicely with dance music feels somewhat new”, says baptisma, the crew’s eldest member and de-facto scene leader. Responsible for bringing artists like Basic Channel, Mala and Jan Jelinek to the city, baptisma has been crucial in establishing underground electronic music in Nagoya since the 90s, and now helps cultivate the next generation of local talent. “Artists and DJs are seamlessly mixing ambient and new age with techno, house and bass music. I think that’s a really interesting development.” nagoyaka na kaze has its roots in a one-off event held in October 2024 as part of the 10 Years of Wisdom Teeth Japan tour. Curated by abentis in collaboration with Facta & K-LONE, the showcase featured live sets from eight artists based in and around Nagoya at one of the city’s key dance music hubs, Club JB’s. Each of the artists features again here, on record, presenting an original commission produced especially for the project. The record’s art direction was led by Yudai Osawa - in-house designer for Kankyō Records, the much-loved Tokyo record shop run by H. Takahashi - and features original photos by Hayato Watanabe.
I Never Knew Love sees Detroit house mainstay Chez Damier return to the iconic KMS catalogue with a timeless house classic, now available again on fresh 12” vinyl.
A staple of the deeper side of Detroit house, the release combines soulful vocals, warm grooves and refined production, reflecting the signature sound that has defined Chez Damier’s work across decades.
This edition features standout versions including the MK Extended Club Mix from Marc Kinchen, alongside additional extended mixes and a reconstructed version of Help Myself by Carl Craig, offering strong depth and versatility for DJs.
As a key release from the KMS catalogue, this record continues to hold lasting appeal across both classic house collectors and DJs seeking authentic Detroit-rooted material.
Back on fresh 12" vinyl, this repress brings an essential Chez Damier release back into circulation for a new generation of listeners.
An essential catalogue piece for stores supporting classic house and Detroit heritage releases.
Reissue 2026
"Call Me" is an electronic/house track by DJ Dino (Dino Lenny) on Nu-Tella Records, released in 2003.
It's praised for its deep, emotional, and melodic atmosphere, occasionally shifting from darker tones to uplifting major keys,
recalling classic electronic sounds with modern touches, though specific aggregate scores are scarce.
Official 2026 reissue includes, in addition to the original and remixes by Par-T-One and Santos, the previously unreleased version by Walterino.
Mixes completely remastered by Gianni Bini at HOG Studio.
Strut proudly presents the debut album from producer, songwriter and multiinstrumentalist, Momoko Gill. Fresh from her critically acclaimed collaboration Clay recorded with cult electronic artist Matthew Herbert, Momoko steps forward in her own right for the first time with her remarkable debut solo album. Momoko has long been one of the UK electronic and jazz scene’s best-kept secrets.
A self-taught drummer, producer, songwriter, and vocalist, she has brought her unique touch to collaborations with Alabaster DePlume, Matthew Herbert, Coby Sey, Tirzah, and Nadeem Din-Gabisi (her musical foil in An Alien Called Harmony). Extensive touring behind the drum kit, at the keys and in front of the mic have honed her compositional and production instincts. With Momoko, Gill emerges into the spotlight with an album that is entirely her own. Throughout, you can hear the stylistic flavours of jazz musicians as much as singer-songwriters, experimental artists and electronic producers. Though Gill rejects imitation, sculpting her sound through feel and expression rather than tradition. Based in London and having grown up in Japan and the US, Gill channels her breadth of perspective through her musical ideas and storytelling, with a unique voice developed through instinct, collaboration and solitary study.
The album’s eleven tracks take in a wide spectrum with the jazz-infused groove of ‘No Others’ and harmony-drenched, reflective ‘Heavy’ contrasting with the dark, confrontational sound of 'Shadowboxing' leading into an eerie left-field instrumental beat, ‘Test A Small Area' and the impressive 50-person choir on ‘When Palestine Is Free’ (which includes heavyweights Shabaka Hutchings, Soweto Kinch, Alabaster DePlume, Coby Sey, Marysia Osu and more). It is a deeply personal and poetic recording and showcases the full uncompromising range of Momoko’s vison, presented in her own voice. Momoko was produced by Momoko Gill, recorded at Total Refreshment Centre, mixed by Matthew Herbert and mastered by Alex Gordon at Abbey Road Studios.
Intriguing Siberian B-Boy roots informed Anton LTF's first solo album last year and its mix of funk, hip-hop and early turntablism influences really worked. He's back now with a tidy two-tracker on Soul Service Sabrosura that leans into Latin funk. It's raw, direct and charged up tackle for once again getting under the skin of b-boys and girls thanks to the killer breaks. 'Garra' is lit up with shuffling percussive keys and rhythms and big brass horns, while 'Aroma Sunset' is more pared back and loose. There's a celebratory vibe that's smoother and more languorous, with sunny flutes leading the way and irresistible Latin charm in the ways the keys dance.
DJ Normal 4 appears first time on the label with 10” record consisting different flavored genre tracks for the ears of the curious listeners, and die-hard music lovers. Tim has been creating electronic music for a long time and has appeared in some of the key music events around the globe. With a high level of skill and accuracy this artist is able to tackle music of many styles which also can be witnessed on this record. This is the second ten inch record the label has welcomed to its catalogue so you can imagine the level of excitement in the air. From the A side going into the electro approach right to the trance infused B side, this disc is guaranteed to feel absolutely correct in the record bag if these are the genres of music that resonates with you.
Data Music proudly presents Various Artists "Levitate EP" - the label's first-ever vinyl release!
Staying true to the core vision, we've carefully selected four deep and atmospheric drum & bass cuts from the label's key artists and close friends.
"Levitate EP" embodies the diverse identity of Data Music - a perfect soundtrack for home listening, long journeys, and dark, smoky dancefloors alike.
WOLF proudly welcomes the return of Tom Esselle to the label. Fresh from his latest release on Rhythm Section, Tom follows up his 2022 Praise Bes EP on WOLF with a new four-track collection of deep, dancefloor-ready cuts.
Opening track Livewire sets the tone immediately, pulling you in with a heads-down, UK garage influenced groove. A-side follow-up Don’t Have To is a strong contender for standout moment, pairing luscious keys with a sweet vocal for peak-time soulful impact.
On the flip, Small Talk delivers a quirky vocal sample over an undeniable groove, before EP closer Spaced Out dives deeper, unfolding beautiful, emotive chords. Another standout release that oozes quality from a producer hitting their stride and firmly establishing himself as one to watch.
Holy grail of Memphis Boogie Funk! Subway Featuring Wave is an absolute gem of a mini Lp and is reissued for the first time ever on Past Due Records. Original copies are known to fetch in the thousands...
Produced by Lee Moore with Stax musicians, including guitarist Michael Toles, keyboard player Lester Snell, and drummer Willie Hall, all members of the Isaac Hayes Movement. He also hired bassist Ray Griffin who recorded numerous sessions for both Stax and Malaco Records.


























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