Search:the new sounds

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.

Swedish composer and multi-instrumentalist Gustaf Ljunggren invites listeners into the quiet, reflective world of Along the Low Road , an ambitious solo album that balances delicacy with depth. Following the success of Ljunggren s 2022 release Floreana , this new release offers a gentle, dream dream-like musical journey, shaped by two of the Nordic scene s most imaginative and intuitive musicians. Balancing sparse acoustic instrumentation with sprawling affected soundscapes, the album moves with patience and clarity. Ljunggren s compositions provide a foundation for subtle interplay, where every note and gesture is attentive to the music s unfolding. Featured guest Icelandic bassist Skúli Sverrisson s bass provides warmth and grounding, supporting Ljunggren s guitar, ukulele, and multi multi-instrumental textures. The result is a sound that is at once intimate and expansive, inviting reflection and connection. The tracks draw inspiration from nature, landscapes, and personal experience. Lille Skotland " evokes the rocky coast of Bornholm with gentle, melancholic flow, while Stevelen " captures the quiet power of cliffs and open skies. The title track, Along the Low Road," traces a contemplative path, its cyclical melodies and ambient layers offering perspective and calm. Letters Melting " twists a classical chord progression into a reflective polska, while Summer Passing Letting Go " balances warmth and transition. Brief, hymn hymn-like pieces such as Tillfrisknandet " provide moments of repose, and playful minimalism in Nine Again " captures the wonder of childhood at the cusp of youth. The album closes with Here And Not Here," a meditative reflection on perception and presence, leaving the listener in a quiet, suspended space. Ljunggren and Sverrisson have long been celebrated for their generosity, sensitivity, and courage as collaborators. Their work together on Along the Low Road continues this partnership, offering music that listens as much as it plays. Drawing from jazz, minimalism, Nordic folk, and early music, the duo s sound combines melodic clarity with a sense of freedom, revealing subtle emotional depths in each composition. In concert, Ljunggren and Sverrisson reimagine these pieces in the moment, allowing the music to unfold with a sense of shared discovery. Whether recorded or live, the album is a testament to the duo s enduring musical dialogue and the quiet, immersive beauty of their Nordic sensibility.

Santamaria Brothers are the latest incarnation of a lifelong musical journey rooted in rhythm, rebellion, and reinvention. The children of Peruvian and Ecuadorian immigrants to Australia, brothers Pat and Andrew Santamaria grew up steeped in the sounds and culture of Latin America - a deep inheritance that coloured everything they did, even as they moved through scenes and styles far from home.

In their youth, the brothers sharpened their first musical swords playing in globally touring indie bands. As the rhythm section of cult outfit Lost Valentinos, they had the opportunity to see the world and learn from the best; touring with, working alongside, and releasing music through the likes of Soulwax, Ewan Pearson, and Kitsuné. Taking those experiences home, they dove deep into the rave underground, co-founding of the crucial Sydney-centric techno label, warehouse party collective, and long-running radio show Motorik! In that guise,they helped shape the city’s electronic music scene over the past decade from the booth, the studio, the airwaves, and the street.

Now, after years behind the decks and on both sides of the mixing board, Santamaria Brothers return to their roots - releasing music under the family name for the first time. With We Got Latin Soul, they bring it all together on a 4-track EP of club-ready edits (via Sosilly Records). Reworking four towering figures of Latin soul; Mongo Santamaria, Ray Barretto, Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers, and Joe Bataan — the brothers inject each cut with tasteful touches of Balearic haze and chugging acid house pressure, honouring the originals while making them sing on today’s dancefloors.

This is Latin soul filtered through a unique blend of antipodean rave culture, crate-digging, and relentless reinvention. It’s joyful, percussive, and made for the club - a full-circle moment from two lifers forever finding new ways to move bodies.

The Portcullis draws on dungeon-synth textures, medieval ambience, and the imaginative pull of folklore. Taking the listener on a focused journey through shifting eras, symbols, and atmospheres. It plays like a lost fantasy soundtrack, inviting the listener into an adventure that feels both ancient and newly invented.
Released on Fire Records, ‘The Portcullis’ sees composer Graham Reynolds on an ancestral journey back to Launceston Castle.
"For The Portcullis, I took a deep dive into the history of my family’s patrilineal side. Starting with my grandfather, an ironworker who built the Hartford Cathedral, to my great great great Grandmother, who was a galley cook on a Welsh sailing ship, to the enlightenment era celebrity portrait painter, Joshua Reynolds, and finally to twelfth century know Richard Reynell (before the Reynolds spelling was standardized). Reynell was the Sheriff of Devon and the custodian of Lauceston Castle. While King Richard I was away on the crusades, Reynell made his name defending the castle from the usurper Prince John. I started making sketches of the scenes and stories I imagined. The Portcullis follows Reynell from castle to castle, sequentially as they were built after the Norman invasion. On Reynell’s chest and shield is the symbol and crest of the Reynolds family: The Portcullis."
Graham Reynolds creates an “ominous, stark environment that rumbles with sounds evocative of the natural world, in both its beauty and despair” New York Times.
Known for his wide-ranging versatility, from film and television scores to classical ballet, Graham has scored over seventy films and TV episodes to date. His ongoing collaboration with Richard Linklater the most notable.

Introducing Whoman, a Brussels trio formed by Mira and Ambroos De Schepper and Lou Wery, after several years of concerts and sonic explorations between electronic and acoustic formats. Born from travels, rehearsals, and fragments accumulated in various living spaces, About Honey has patiently taken shape, like a collection of soundscapes and intimatenarratives. The richnessof the textures and the fluidity of the arrangements are striking. Acoustic guitars, mandolin, and tenor guitar converse with synth pads and delicate vocal harmonies, sketching a shifting sonic universe where pop energy and introspective folk atmospheres intersect. Finalized at Studio Ledeberg in Ghent, the album bears the mark of these years of concerts, particularly the tours in mountain refuges that refocused the band"s attention on the essence of the songs: voices, harmonies, and collective breath. Like the honey from which it borrows its metaphor, About Honey concentrates multiple influences to reveal a singular color: the textured expanse of Animal Collective and Panda Bear, the luminous melancholy of Fleet Foxes, and the abundant songwriting of Dirty Projectors. In ten tracks, Whoman delivers a dense and luminous debut album, both organic and inventive, where the delicacy of the vocals and the richness of the arrangements combine to create a warm and vibrant record, revealing a unique new voice on the Belgian indie scene.

Blending Afro-Uruguayan traditions with rock, soul, jazz, and funk, Ruben Rada has shaped the music scenes of Uruguay and Argentina from the 1960s to the present. Alongside Eduardo Mateo, he pioneered candombe-beat during his time with the legendary band El Kinto. In the early 1970s, he fused Afrobeat with rock in the trailblazing group Totem and later helped define the distinctive jazz fusion sound of Opa-collaborating with the Fattoruso brothers and Airto Moreira during his years in the United States. In the 1980s, Rada settled in Buenos Aires and assembled a powerhouse band featuring top talent from both Uruguay and Argentina. Together, they created a series of unforgettable albums that fused candombe with jazz and rock-marking one of the most celebrated periods of his career. Adar Nebur, originally released in 1984, captures Rada and his band at their peak. Backed by a stunning horn section, they blend Latin rhythms with jazz, soul, and the new wave sounds of the '80s. Now, more than forty years later, this hidden gem is being released internationally for the first time.

"Water Ritual" is the second jam we did during a five-hour session in Joshua Tree on April 20th, 2024, at Gatos Trail Studios. I had just picked up a new pedal called "The Fable," and it's all over this track. It's a delay with all kinds of crazy repeat options. When we mixed it, I wanted portions of the song to have a '70s dub reggae feel. So Dan at Gatos hooked up his Echoplex to the board and nailed that sound. Jamming with the dudes from Yawning Man is always a blast, and I'm stoked they invited me. Thanks, Gary, Bill, and Mario! Bob Balch

Green vinyl, limited to 300 copies. "Water Ritual" is the second jam we did during a five-hour session in Joshua Tree on April 20th, 2024, at Gatos Trail Studios. I had just picked up a new pedal called "The Fable," and it's all over this track. It's a delay with all kinds of crazy repeat options. When we mixed it, I wanted portions of the song to have a '70s dub reggae feel. So Dan at Gatos hooked up his Echoplex to the board and nailed that sound. Jamming with the dudes from Yawning Man is always a blast, and I'm stoked they invited me. Thanks, Gary, Bill, and Mario! Bob Balch

Just as you were getting your head straight coming off the 21st Trip … Brown Acid dose # 22 drops, continuing to fry your mind in a revolving trap-door Twilight Zone alternate world of early hard rock… populated by real life characters so far out they can look like a cheesy wedding band but sound like Blue Cheer! Uncanny! This music comes at you from many angles. Teens in a garage colliding with booze, drugs and girls for the first time, lounge lizard hustlers with snazzy stage clothes and fuzz boxes… gnarly backwoods troublemakers meet blow dried glam rock wannabes here, seamlessly clobbering your head with sound rather than each other! An electric post-psychedelic bar brawl for your mind awaits, unfasten your seat belt, crank it up and fly! Sounds Synonymous "Babylon" out of Flint, Michigan 1969 rip the devastating Blue Cheer classic a new one, immediately swarming you with organ swells and distortion before collapsing into a tuff funk groove, a psychedelic James Brown vibe shot through with dirty howling fuzz guitar, vocals nailing the messed up but confident relaxed sneering attitude of the original Cheer eruption. The Bumps "Shining" from Seattle 1969 resides right at the transition of ‘60s psych into early prog, well constructed, no diluting things artsy fartsy style, a compelling heavy riff, spacious vocal harmony hook floating above a turbulent take on getting your shit together and shining like a star. Fat chance, but you can dream, the band did and their dreams kick ass across time to right now or you wouldn’t be here.

Coulda been a hit back then, definitely a hit now. Riverside "Farmer" explodes out of Austin, Texas 1974, economical but brilliantly structured riffs and power chords, intense dynamic tension/release, fantastic screaming leads over shifting angles of attack during the middle break… it’s all here with a detached confidence in the vocal that swaggers back in time to the late ‘60s in its proto-heavy psych adjacent assault. Cincinnati Joe & Mad Lydia "Get It Together" for real in Cincinnati, Ohio 1970. The song says everything you need to know: “You may think that you’re the very best, miles and miles ahead of the rest, but be sure when you’re put to the test you get it together!” These words are deployed in a manner similar to Peter Green’s “Oh Well”, intermittently stated between killer gnarly guitar and gushy organ attacks. Bar band heaven and hell rolled up into one big ball, the vocals get all the way out there! Straight Up "Fire" takes the monster 1968 Crazy World Of Arthur Brown hit into faithfully executed but surreally minimalist territory, Minneapolis, Minnesota 1974. Genius version of a key song that presciently cuts to the chase regarding Brown Acid’s incinerations of psychedelic idealism, you’re gonna burn, burn, burn… as that moment climaxes you can gawk at their preposterous flashy lounge band stage outfits and realize side one must end because everything is totally scorched into eternity. Scrap Iron "Poopsie" is a primitive two chord stomper with spiraling fuzz and organ riffs, singer marking his territory caveman style. “Poopsie, you’re my woman” he commands, but gets weirdly insecure she’ll blow him off at the altar by the end of each verse. Snarly wah-wah ices this toxic cake out of Carteret, New Jersey 1973. Focused delivery so single-mindedly crude it creates an inescapable instant brain-worm. Lady "Live Show Tigers" is amongst the most potently life affirming trash rockers you’ll ever hear, one outrageously triumphant but fiercely sloppy anthem about living it up like a star, strutting the stage glammed up New York Dolls drag style but with a Dictators sense of humor. Tasty slightly off kilter guitar leads all through, going serendipitously berserk on the fade. Picture disc single out of L.A. 1980. Fantastic fun rock star rock at a very raw local street level where any time is party time.

Killer Frog "Hard Times" on Masochist Records from Chicago, Illinois 1972 takes less than two minutes, an action packed James Gang style bar band rocker with a bit of punky sneer in the face of misfortune. These guys never even heard of flower power. They are killer frogs. Good Humore "Killer" does kill in stripped down hard rock trio style, Warren, Michigan 1976. No frills guitar, bass and drums groove tight, snaky primordial riff, snarly licks. “She’s a killer of a woman, knows just what she’s doing…” The singer knows she’s a femme-fatale roadhouse predator but she’s so hot the inevitable wreckage seems a bargain. Ride it out like the extended jam on the fade knowing she’ll be back for more! Sarawest "Space Rider" winds up the 22nd Trip lost in a twisted two chord space adventure from the point of view of an alien visiting our planet seeking knowledge but finding out we are stupidly destroying ourselves, so he gotta split sneering back at us like we wasted his time “I got no time for loving… I wanna be a space rider, space rider”. Toronto, Canada 1974, a vibe lurking in some strange but funny void between late ‘60s outsider garage psychedelic rock complete with reverb-y acid guitar leads and late ‘70s retro-futuristic D.I.Y wisecracking from inner space… taking the piss out of outer space!

Just as you were getting your head straight coming off the 21st Trip … Brown Acid dose # 22 drops, continuing to fry your mind in a revolving trap-door Twilight Zone alternate world of early hard rock… populated by real life characters so far out they can look like a cheesy wedding band but sound like Blue Cheer! Uncanny! This music comes at you from many angles. Teens in a garage colliding with booze, drugs and girls for the first time, lounge lizard hustlers with snazzy stage clothes and fuzz boxes… gnarly backwoods troublemakers meet blow dried glam rock wannabes here, seamlessly clobbering your head with sound rather than each other! An electric post-psychedelic bar brawl for your mind awaits, unfasten your seat belt, crank it up and fly! Sounds Synonymous "Babylon" out of Flint, Michigan 1969 rip the devastating Blue Cheer classic a new one, immediately swarming you with organ swells and distortion before collapsing into a tuff funk groove, a psychedelic James Brown vibe shot through with dirty howling fuzz guitar, vocals nailing the messed up but confident relaxed sneering attitude of the original Cheer eruption. The Bumps "Shining" from Seattle 1969 resides right at the transition of ‘60s psych into early prog, well constructed, no diluting things artsy fartsy style, a compelling heavy riff, spacious vocal harmony hook floating above a turbulent take on getting your shit together and shining like a star. Fat chance, but you can dream, the band did and their dreams kick ass across time to right now or you wouldn’t be here.

Coulda been a hit back then, definitely a hit now. Riverside "Farmer" explodes out of Austin, Texas 1974, economical but brilliantly structured riffs and power chords, intense dynamic tension/release, fantastic screaming leads over shifting angles of attack during the middle break… it’s all here with a detached confidence in the vocal that swaggers back in time to the late ‘60s in its proto-heavy psych adjacent assault. Cincinnati Joe & Mad Lydia "Get It Together" for real in Cincinnati, Ohio 1970. The song says everything you need to know: “You may think that you’re the very best, miles and miles ahead of the rest, but be sure when you’re put to the test you get it together!” These words are deployed in a manner similar to Peter Green’s “Oh Well”, intermittently stated between killer gnarly guitar and gushy organ attacks. Bar band heaven and hell rolled up into one big ball, the vocals get all the way out there! Straight Up "Fire" takes the monster 1968 Crazy World Of Arthur Brown hit into faithfully executed but surreally minimalist territory, Minneapolis, Minnesota 1974. Genius version of a key song that presciently cuts to the chase regarding Brown Acid’s incinerations of psychedelic idealism, you’re gonna burn, burn, burn… as that moment climaxes you can gawk at their preposterous flashy lounge band stage outfits and realize side one must end because everything is totally scorched into eternity. Scrap Iron "Poopsie" is a primitive two chord stomper with spiraling fuzz and organ riffs, singer marking his territory caveman style. “Poopsie, you’re my woman” he commands, but gets weirdly insecure she’ll blow him off at the altar by the end of each verse. Snarly wah-wah ices this toxic cake out of Carteret, New Jersey 1973. Focused delivery so single-mindedly crude it creates an inescapable instant brain-worm. Lady "Live Show Tigers" is amongst the most potently life affirming trash rockers you’ll ever hear, one outrageously triumphant but fiercely sloppy anthem about living it up like a star, strutting the stage glammed up New York Dolls drag style but with a Dictators sense of humor. Tasty slightly off kilter guitar leads all through, going serendipitously berserk on the fade. Picture disc single out of L.A. 1980. Fantastic fun rock star rock at a very raw local street level where any time is party time.

Killer Frog "Hard Times" on Masochist Records from Chicago, Illinois 1972 takes less than two minutes, an action packed James Gang style bar band rocker with a bit of punky sneer in the face of misfortune. These guys never even heard of flower power. They are killer frogs. Good Humore "Killer" does kill in stripped down hard rock trio style, Warren, Michigan 1976. No frills guitar, bass and drums groove tight, snaky primordial riff, snarly licks. “She’s a killer of a woman, knows just what she’s doing…” The singer knows she’s a femme-fatale roadhouse predator but she’s so hot the inevitable wreckage seems a bargain. Ride it out like the extended jam on the fade knowing she’ll be back for more! Sarawest "Space Rider" winds up the 22nd Trip lost in a twisted two chord space adventure from the point of view of an alien visiting our planet seeking knowledge but finding out we are stupidly destroying ourselves, so he gotta split sneering back at us like we wasted his time “I got no time for loving… I wanna be a space rider, space rider”. Toronto, Canada 1974, a vibe lurking in some strange but funny void between late ‘60s outsider garage psychedelic rock complete with reverb-y acid guitar leads and late ‘70s retro-futuristic D.I.Y wisecracking from inner space… taking the piss out of outer space!

**RED VINYL**Bookending “This Is My Blood “ are two cinematic hypnotist slide lute pieces that evoke contemporary deserted landscapes. They were improvised and made for “ Maquina”, a film shot in the Colorado desert during a psychedelic trip by film maker Joaquim Pujol. The works on here, like the ecstatic second piece invite a return to long form listening. They explore contemporary darkness and contemplate personal loss. There is solely one vocal piece, “ Remission”. A worldwide concert tour of this material is slated for 2026/2027. Since studying the lute in New York with Patrick O'Brien in the 1990s, Van Wissem has gone on to create works equally as rooted in classical Renaissance and Baroque forms of lute music, as contemporary sounds spanning drones, electronics and field recordings. Throw in some of his formative influences from the no wave and industrial scenes, alongside a dedicated approach to minimalism and this has resulted in Van Wissem producing distinct and singular work whose sound is often a marriage of opposites; meditative and intense, forward thinking but with a sense of the arcane. The Quietus has called him "probably the most famous lutenist in the world”. Jozef Van Wissem is an avant-garde composer and lutenist who plays a unique all-black baroque lute. His timeless music is often described as hypnotic, minimal, and hauntingly atmospheric, merging beauty with a dark, meditative edge. His lyrics have a mythical Christian appeal, incorporating themes of love, faith, and the afterlife, often with a repetitive, mantra-like quality. Bridging classical traditions with modern sounds like drones, electronics, field recordings and voice. He collaborates with filmmaker and musician Jim Jarmusch, including the award-winning soundtrack for Only Lovers Left Alive, for which Van Wissem won the Cannes Soundtrack Award in 2013. He also scored the Sims Medieval Video game ( 2011), Uncle Howard ( 2016) Land (2018), Irma Vep (2022), Queens (2023) and Un Prince (2024). He did a world tour in duo with Jarmusch in 2025 and their 5th record “ The Day The Angels Cried” was released. Van Wissem tours extensively, performing in diverse venues from rock festivals to churches, and has worked with artists like Tilda Swinton and Zola Jesus. In 2019 he was commissioned by Cinematheque Francaise to score the silent horror film Nosferatu (1922). He released the soundtrack in 2022 on his own Incunabulum label. The New York Times wrote: Beginning with a solo played on the lute, his performance will incorporate electric guitar and distorted recordings of extinct birds, graduating from subtlety to gothic horror. “My soundtrack goes from silence to noise over the course of 90 minutes,” he said, culminating in “dense, slow death metal.” In 2024 Van Wissem did a sold out nationwide American tour with the film. A worldwide tour is slated for 2026/2027

Mysticisms’ returns to the music of the Conscious Sounds label and their short-lived but highly prized Dub meets Funk project, Dub Specialists. Created by label head Dougie Waldrop and Chris Petter (Love Grocer) to explore their interest in samplers and a love of Funk and Jazz.

A hugely respected “Digital” and “Roots Reggae” label, Conscious Sounds has been a mainstay of the East London digidub sound for over 30 years. Dub Specialists released 3 albums on the Crispy Music sub label, they have recently gained considerable interest in digger circles, with rising prices to match.

As with their first Dubplate outing, the release features extended re-edits by the label and friends, this time featuring versions by Lexx, Miles J Paralysis, Chuggy and Vanity Project. Working with the simplicity and skill of his studio craft, Dougie utilised the Atari 1040, Cubase and Soundcraft mixer to effect. Petters’ chords sit atop reggae basslines, funk samples, loops and this time, a heavy dose of cut up vocals in to the mix.

While the first EP came from their debut album, Breat To Break, here the source material for the re-edits comes, in the main, from their second outing “Dub To Dub Beat To Beat”. A more expansive album that also dipped in to 4/4 rhythms and touches of House / Techno.

Opening track Dynamic Duo is a 4/4 stepper bomb – with samples from Adam West’s iconic interpretation of Batman – expertly extended by long-standing DJ, producer and edit master, Zurich’s own Alex Storrer aka Lexx, who dials things to max for a club stop. A new name on many lips, Miles J Paralysis takes it all back down with a beautifully drawn out, acid-tinged tripper. Bumpin’, the mid-tempo groove sucks you in, psychedelic and mind expanding.

The flip returns to the more traditional Dub Specialist vibes of Breaks’n’Funk’ cut ups, first with (co-)label head Chuggy’s faithful extension of Heavy Dub. Featuring the classic Ijahman Levi’s vocal, the breaks flow and piano / horns stab, a dance floor shaker for the discerning. To close, secret studio fixer to many, Matt Bruce again dons his Vanity Project moniker to perfectly tease and live dub (out) the half-stepper, Reality Dub and close this latest in the Dubplate series.

Beat The Mystery.

Amulets is the solo project of Portland-based audio and visual artist Randall Taylor. Amulets employs handmade cassette tape loops and live processed guitar loops to create live, lush soundscapes and immersive drones. Through the recontextualisation of cassettes, sampling, field recording, and looping, these long-form compositions blur the genres of ambient, drone, noise, and electronic music. Amulets has steadily built a catalog defined by tactile intimacy and patient exploration. Deeply immersive, the album navigates the dreamy boundaries between the tangible and the ethereal, where sound behaves as memory itself: unstable, layered, and quietly transformative. Known for his ability to weave soundscapes that evoke powerful emotions with minimalistic instrumentation, Taylor's newest project is a masterful exploration of mood, atmosphere, and texture.Throughout the ambient soundscapes is introspection, melancholy, and an almost hypnotic calm. The album resists forward motion, instead inviting the listener to linger inside its evolving textures, to sit with what's left behind rather than rush toward resolution. Central to Amulets' identity is Taylor's insistence on working, quite literally, outside the box. While many contemporary experimental artists rely heavily on software, Taylor's process remains rooted in physical interaction with sound. "This album differs from previous albums because it's a lot of found sounds, song fragments, and other samples that I have that I wanted to fuse together. I also heavily relied on a lot of ambient guitar and live guitar recording to marry all the sounds together." (Randall Taylor) FOR FANS OF Tim Hecker * Ben Frost * Lawrence English * Alessandro Cortini * This Will Destroy You * Mono * Windy & Carl The single colour edition comes as Lavender vinyl!

An EP of the darker side of electronic dance music is always a welcome addition to Especial. Up and coming producer / DJ Miles J Paralysis steps away from releasing on his own Crying Outcast label to explore left of centre, new wave and cosmic sounds; songs woven from his own vocals and samples.

A love of Dub, Hip Hop and Electro-Funk led into electronic music. Sampling TV shows, making beats, jamming. Exposed to Leeds and Manchester club cultures, seeking the more experimental. African Head Charge, Muslimgauze, The Rootsman and Weatherall were early influences in forming a no rules philosophy.

Born and raised around West Yorkshire, the beauty and bleakness of the moors have a strong bond on Miles Henry aka Miles J Paralysis and his music. Folklore and the occult link and connect an interest in Northern Hauntology. Unresolved histories, stuck between past glory and phantoms of possible futures.

The EP starts with It’s Only Shadows Talking. A play on the Paralysis persona, the spectral dub house groove meets industrial overtures, encasing his own eerie and unsettling vocals to begin the narrative.

Don’t Forget The Ritual takes a direct link from British folk traditions. Sacred and ceremonial; the laid-back breakbeat, samples and delays are the transition to the evocative embrace of melancholia.

Come On Fleet, the hypnotic Latin (vocal) sample creates a lurking murmuration, rimshot percussion meets gothic sound design for the EPs’ most straight forward and direct club cut.

Surreal and dreamlike soundscape, closing track The Delicate Fairytale is the perfect platform for Miles own phantasm. Inspired by the stories of Dorothy K Haynes and Robert Hickman, the pervading sense of a David Lynch aesthetic, exploring the nostalgic nature of memory.

Dam Swindle tap Kerri Chandler, Louie Vega, Folamour, Cinthie & more on 100th Heist release.

The ‘House of House’ V/a takes in nineteen all-new tracks from some of house music’s most revered names and new-school talent.

Dam Swindle present ‘House of House’, a triple vinyl V/a compilation marking the one-hundredth release milestone on Heist Recordings, landing on 8th May 2026. Across nineteen all-new tracks, ‘House of House’ reads like a roll call of modern house royalty.
The compilation features contributions from scene legends and contemporary torchbearers alike, including Kerri Chandler, Two Soul Fusion (AKA Louie Vega & Josh Milan), Folamour, Cinthie, Kolter, DJ Sneak, and Supershy, the dance music alias of Tom Misch, alongside rising talents like Papa Nugs, Lolu Menayed, and many more.

From the old-school magic of tracks like Dam Swindle’s ‘Back to the Old School’ feat. DJ Minx and Kolter’s ‘Need U, Want U’, to the jazzy, soulful depths of Kerri Chandler’s ‘Kerriousity’ and Superhy’s ‘Pyrenees’, to the peak-time energy of Papa Nugs & Mixolydian’s ‘Let Go’ and Elisa Elisa’s ‘Coco Coco’, the compilation captures the full spectrum of house sounds that have shaped the world of Heist Recordings over the past 13 years.

Launched in 2013, Heist Recordings has become a high benchmark for quality house music – a home for legendary artists like Cinthie and DJ Sneak, and a breeding ground for new talent from Kassian to Make`z. Dam Swindle have cemented their place among the upper echelons of modern house, with three critically acclaimed LPs, collaborations with the likes of Kerri Chandler, Tom Misch, and a relentless tour diary.

‘House of House’ reflects the ethos that has defined our label since day one: a home for house heads who bring genuine soul to club music, whether they’re legendary originators or new-school up-and-comers. Heist’s one-hundredth release is more than just a number – it’s a testament to the community, creativity, and legacy we’ve built, release after release.

As always enjoy the music and play it loud.

Much love, Heist HQ

Camera Obscura feiern das 25-jährige Jubiläum ihres Debütalbums ,Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi" mit einer Vinyl-Neuauflage bei Merge Records. Seit der ursprünglichen Veröffentlichung in Großbritannien bei Andmoresound im Jahr 2001 ist das Album in diesem Format vergriffen. Die Jubiläumsausgabe kommt als die definitivste Version von ,Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi", die je auf Vinyl gepresst wurde, und enthält beide B-Seiten der Single ,Eighties Fan" - ,Shine Like a New Pin" und ,Let's Go Bowling" -, die später den erweiterten CD-Neuauflagen des Albums hinzugefügt wurden. ,Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi" wurde nach seinem Erscheinen wiederholt von John Peel in seinen BBC-Radiosendungen gespielt. Das Album ist ein bemerkenswert selbstbewusstes Debüt, ein voll ausgereifter Ausdruck eines Sounds, der die Fans der Band seit ihrem ersten Durchlauf des von Stuart Murdoch (Belle & Sebastian) produzierten ,Eighties Fan" bis zum letzten Hören des 2024 erschienenen Studio-Comebacks von Camera Obscura ,Look to the East, Look to the West" in seinen Bann gezogen hat. Diese Fans haben lautstark gefordert, dass ,Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi" die Vinyl-Neuauflage erhält, die es schon lange verdient hat. Wenn man die Nadel auf Tracks wie ,Swimming Pool", ,Pen and Notebook" und ,Happy New Year" setzt, ist leicht zu hören, warum: Jeder der 12 Songs des Albums ist ein perfekt beobachteter Ausschnitt aus dem Leben, der durch opulent detaillierte Arrangements filmisch inszeniert wird. Es ist zeitlose, grundsolide Popmusik, wie sie nur Camera Obscura machen kann, geeignet für die Hi-Fi-Anlagen von 1966 und 2026 gleichermaßen.

Tha God Fahim's timeless creative instincts have been evident from the moment his art began to circulate. Emerging unexpectedly from the epicenter of trap music, the Atlanta emcee quickly distinguished himself with sharp wordplay and atmospheric production that couldn't be further from the monotonous sounds echoing Around Him. With Just A Few Projects To His Name, Tha God Fahim Was Still A Hungry Young Talent On The Rise when he unleashed Tha Dark Shogunn Saga in late 2016. Among his most memorable early releases, the album kicked off an unprecedented creative explosion, as Fahim cemented his status with more than 50 projects released over the next two years. Followed by an equally compelling sequel released just a few
months later, the overall saga became an important moment in Tha God Fahim's rise, evoking shadowy street corners and smoke-filled hallways. Nearly a decade later, Fahim is expanding this series into a full trilogy with Tha Dark Shogunn Saga, Vol. 3. Reviving the unmistakable vibe of the original projects, the new collection finds our hero back in warrior mode, sharpening his lyrical blade over rich production from Cookin Soul, Nicholas Craven, Fortes, and Fahim himself.

SACRIVERSUM were formed in 1992 in Łódź (Poland), playing old school Death Metal with progressive elements and atmospheric sounds, making their complex mixture special and unique. Their debut album „The Shadow Of The Golden Fire“ was released in 1994, at a time when a lot of Death Metal bands started to push their boundaries and became more experimental. Their music was a perfect fit along with legendary bands like PESTILENCE, DEATH, GOREFEST & ATHEIST. And this counts for SACRIVERSUM and their upcoming new album „Before The Birth Of Light“ even more. „Before The Birth Of Light“ will be released on May 8th, by their new label FIREFLASH RECORDS (HOLY MOSES, WOLF, RUTHLESS a.o.) and is available on CD, limited vinyl and digital. The album stands for raw Death Metal, with those incomparable Hammond organs. Death meets Deep Purple. Their sound is a mixture of the above mentioned acts and is not too far apart from the latest BLOOD INCANTATION album. Both combine tradition with fiction. You have to hear and experience this Death Metal gem. Since 2022, SACRIVERSUM are back and continue, where they ended up with their debut album. Those nine new tracks on „Before The Birth Of Light“ are possibly the best songs SACRIVERSUM ever composed – once you got into it, they don’t let you go. It is a dark ride into another dimension, another time and another space. You are captured in their own world, in a time before the birth of light.

A new EP by Extrawelt is always something special, as they continually manage to reinvent themselves while remaining unmistakably true to their sound. The a-side „Moonster“ of their latest record forms a subtle and almost magical bridge to early musical influences such as Immortal Coil, Chris & Cosey, The Cure, and Throbbing Gristle.
In doing so, they reclaim, or rather reintroduce, a powerful, mystical element into their music, one that is integrated so naturally it feels as if it has always been an essential part of Extrawelt’s sonic DNA. Beyond that, the track unfolds through numerous facets, constantly shifting and evolving. Just when you think it is settling into a familiar direction, small variations emerge, keeping the piece remarkably alive and unpredictable.
You can clearly sense how much fun Extrawelt had working on this track. It is bursting with ideas, energy, and vitality, radiating a playful confidence that makes it endlessly engaging.

The b1 track „Bettermaker“ takes a different route, dedicating itself entirely to a single mood. Through subtle pitch bending and a carefully shaped tonal palette, the track unfolds with a slightly eerie, enchanted atmosphere.
From beginning to end, „Bettermaker“ remains focused and unwavering. There are no breaks or dramatic shifts in direction, instead, the piece commits fully to its initial setting. A monolithic, almost mantra like motif forms the core, creating a distinctive ambience, mystical, shadowy and faintly oriental in character.
This atmosphere is carried and reinforced by percussive, ethno inspired drums, which add an organic, ritualistic pulse. The result is a hypnotic soundscape that draws its strength from consistency and depth rather than contrast, inviting the listener into a secluded, otherworldly space.

The final piece of the EP „Popcorn Forever“ reveals another side of Extrawelt’s thinking. The track unfolds like a curious experiment in motion. Instead of building toward a predictable climax, sounds are gradually tossed into an ever running loop fragments, textures and small rhythmic ideas appearing almost casually, as if the piece were assembling itself in real time.
At first the elements seem loosely connected, sometimes abstract, sometimes slightly mischievous in the way they twist and bend. It almost feels like an impossible construction task. But Extrawelt’s experience quietly guides the process. Bit by bit the scattered parts begin to communicate with each other.
Repetition becomes the hidden engine. With every return of the loop new details slip into the structure, and what once appeared random slowly starts forming relationships inside the listener’s mind. The track never forces a clear explanation, yet the brain begins to tie the loose ends together almost automatically.
Popcorn Forever therefore works beautifully as a kind of transit piece within the EP. It moves between ideas, linking moods rather than closing them off. In typical Extrawelt fashion, the result is playful, slightly surreal and full of subtle discoveries that reveal themselves over time.

When Elder Island went into the studio to record the followup to their critically acclaimed 2021 album, Swimming Static, they were determined to "turn everything on its head". The trio are celebrated for their brooding indie-electronica that draws on their Bristol roots, creating vastly detailed and immersive soundscapes. But Hello Baby Okay marks a new era for the band, fuelled by a longing for transcendence and euphoria. An effervescent counterpoint to the current times, their new Music is threaded through with a liberated energy, lilting funk-Pop guitars, danceable beats and a renewed sense of play.

Originally released on Ezekiel Honig's Anticipate label in 2007, Standing on a Hummingbird is the debut album by Canadian sound artist Mark Templeton, now appearing for the first time on vinyl, newly remastered by Giuseppe Ielasi and cut by LUPO. Working at the intersection of post-glitch, electroacoustic ambient, and textural minimalism, Templeton composes through restraint and erosion, building patient and richly tactile pieces primarily from acoustic sources - fingerpicked guitar, plaintive banjo, muted accordion tones - subjected to careful processes of granulation, filtering, and environmental masking. These gestures never overwhelm the source material; instead, they wonderfully destabilize it. Melodies appear briefly, only to dissolve into dense atmospheres of field recordings: distant streets, birds, water, air. Sounds hover, vibrate, and vanish, much like the wing beating latent in the album’s title.

Tracks such as “Pattern For a Pillow” and “Amidst Things Uncontrolled” articulate this approach with particular clarity, setting languid acoustic figures against churning granular backdrops that feel at once sheltering and unstable. Elsewhere, moments of fragile clarity - fluttering guitar lines, reedy accordion tones - briefly break the surface before being absorbed back into the field.

Heard today, the record offers a clarion, almost spartan strain of textural ambient music: intricate yet unforced, shaped by human touch rather than automated excess. Its refusal of spectacle feels especially vital in a landscape saturated with maximalist digitalia - a reminder that electronic music’s most enduring gestures often occur where sound is allowed to tremble and hold itself just long enough to be felt before disappearing once again. (Alex Cobb, 2026)

Ultra Clear Vinyl. ‘*FLUTTERS AWAY*’ follows last year's debut EP, ‘Handwriting Practice No. 1’, which established Operelly as one of the most exciting new voices in music. Thupcoming EP tells the story of a relationship breaking down
amidst miscommunication. Delicate electro-acoustic arrangements (dubbed "tiptoe music" by Operelly) intersperse
with the static sounds of radio interference, as if the interrupted communication recounted in the lyrics has punctured the songs
themselves. Operelly executive produced the entire record and mixed four of the five songs. Additional production work was provided by Hudson Pollock, Al Carlson, Stephen Willard, and Kali Flanagan. Cover art was designed by Leo Horton in collaboration with Operelly. The music video for "under my bed" was directed and shot by Sarah Elise Bauman

Blanche Biau, the enigmatic solo project blending 80s wave, post-punk, and shoegaze into a dreamy yet melancholic soundscape, is set to release a remix album of her sophomore record ‘Heartcore’. The new album, titled ‘Heartcore (Remixes)’, will be released via the Zurich based label Subject To Restrictions Discs.

Following the success of ‘Heartcore’, released in July 2025, the remix album brings together a group of artists to reimagine Blanche Biau’s hauntingly beautiful tracks. The remixers include Danzinger99, Donna Haringwey, Lumpex, Lust For Youth, Spear Flower and Milan STHC.

Blanche Biau on the remix album: «Heartcore is deeply personal to me, but I also imagined it as a living, breathing entity that could evolve. Collaborating with these incredible artists has been a dream – they’ve taken my songs to places I never thought possible. This remix album is a celebration of reinterpretation and connection.»

Blanche Biau is a solo project hailing from Zurich, Switzerland. Known for her DIY approach and ability to channel influences from 80s wave, post-punk, and shoegaze into a sound that is both nostalgic and forward-thinking, Blanche Biau has quickly established herself as a rising star in the alternative music scene. Her music combines raw emotion with dreamy atmospheres, resonating deeply with audiences worldwide.

The Family Men return with their second full-length effort “Co/de/termination”. Since the release of their debut “No Sound Forever”, they have played countless shows, both in their native Sweden and abroad, garnering a reputation as one of the most intense and uncompromising live bands around. A natural progression of their sound, “Co/de/termination” is a crystallized evolution of The Family Men’s sonic identity, pushing their intensity and precision to new extremes. “Co/de/termination” stands as a concise and deliberate statement, shaped by both urgency and restraint.

BRA (Big Room Ambient) is a new label dedicated to ambient and experimental sound, a space for open sonic exploration where electronics and distant musical traditions converge to create evolving soundscapes.

The label’s first release is Harmograph by Matteo Scaioli, a hypnotic and deeply organic work shaped by self-built synthesizers, experimental electronics and masterfully performed tablas. The album, with a run time over 35 minutes, unfolds as a fluid sonic journey, where rhythm and texture interact in a subtle balance between structure and improvisation.

With Harmograph, BRA begins its catalogue by looking toward unexplored territories of contemporary sound.

Budapest-based concept label, Blue Sun is launching their new line of vinyl focused releases, aimed primarily on DJs and collectors: the Blue Series. A counterpart to the Orange Series launched last year that showcases a more upbeat side of the label, the new collection presents a darker, more experimental, and introspective musical vision.

The first release in the Blue Series is a six-track EP by Budapest based multimedia artist, Virág Réti. Choosing her legal name as her artist persona (“Flower of the Meadow" in Hungarian) also with the track titles capturing the folk names of local fauna, Peremidő evokes the artist's innate connection to nature as a place of refuge from the noise of Eastern European urban life.

The EP’s motifs point back to early memories of sitting by a river, simply observing time flowing by. The arc of the songs follow the passage of a day, beginning with the hesitant sounds of early morning, gradually moving on toward more defined, rhythm-driven forms. As the airy textures slowly give way to structure and percussion comes to the forefront, the sense of direction becomes clearer, letting moments of gentle disorder and unexpected sounds to surface.

Virág previously appeared on the label’s Blue Sun VA II compilation with her track Bíbic. Since launching her ambient music project in the fall of 2024, she has become one of the promising newcomers in the Hungarian experimental electronic music scene. Her debut EP, Minden Ami Megmaradt (All That Remains), was released last November as the final offering of temporary nites label (2023–2025). She is also the founder and organizer of the Budapest-based experimental electronic event series Still Places.

In 2023, Wood secretly worked with producer Kevin Antreassian on a new mix of his top-selling release "The Normal Album." Digging into the original 2019 recordings for more muscular takes, smoother edits, and a more nuanced and balanced mix, Antreassian and Wood created a version of the fan favorite that is one of the rare cases where a new mix is widely considered to improve on the original noticeably. "The Normal Album" is yet another turn in Wood's discography, sardonically playing with Americana and doo-wop sounds, strategically restrained but still highly emotive vocals, and lyrics densely packed with scientific and philosophical references. The dark mania of Wood's prior 2016 release, "SELF-iSH," continues on some tracks but is arranged with greater precision with a new band at his command. Like his 2015 debut "Everything is a Lot," the songs whiplash tonally but are brought together through intertwined themes and recurrent musical motifs and an undercurrent of simultaneous obtuseness and vulnerability. After the original mix of "The Normal Album" was released, a live version of the 4th track on the LP, "I/Me/Myself," had an unexpected viral moment, which brought attention to many other songs on the LP. Songs like "2econd 2ight 2eer" and "Laplace's Angel" continued to attract new fans with their dense wordplay and high-energy attitude, and the album became Wood's first major break into larger notoriety, proving that his sudden burst of popularity was not just a fleeting trend. After taking some time away from the public, Wood began to revisit the album with the intent of giving it the production that he had originally envisioned for it. Wood's top-selling album re-edited for a fuller sound and clearer instrumentation, bringing the album to a new level: new Modern Stereo Mix - 2023 Edit

Continuing Blueprint's 30th anniversary celebrations, James Ruskin welcomes the return of Oliver Ho, whose relationship with the label is deep-rooted.

Oliver Ho has spent the last 30 years devoting his life to creating some of the most intense and compelling electronic music out there. Debuting his signature raw sound in 1996 on Blueprint Records, he cemented himself in the underground of the '90s UK techno scene. With a plethora of aliases, he has navigated his way through many different genres. From the frenetic tribal sounds of his own Meta imprint, the off the wall house music made as Birdland and Raudive, the grinding industrial of Broken English Club and the heavily textured ambient of his Slow White Fall and Zov Zov projects. While pushing and pulling at the fringes of electronic music, at the very centre has always been the beating heart of hypnotic techno, an art form that is both brutal and bewitching; techno as ritual magic. Oliver's live shows and DJ sets showcase this expression of music as shamanic experience, metallic and relentless, pure and direct.

An integral figure in shaping Blueprint's early sound, Oliver Ho returned in 2016 for their 20th anniversary with the "Burning Heretics EP", which was followed by a remastered reissue of 1999's "Awakening The Sentient". So it's fitting that he's now back for this latest milestone with a new EP, "Our Secret Religion" dropping in May.

Tip on sleeve.

Latin Grammy-Winning Producer Pupillo Unites Global
Artists on his new album

Co-produced by Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys), featuring collaborations with Rodrigo
Amarante, Carminho, Adrian Younge, Gaslamp Killer, Cut Chemist, Hervé Salters, and more
Drummer, percussionist and producer Pupillo, one of the most influential figures in Brazilian
music and a four-time Latin Grammy winner, releases his first original album through the Los
Angeles–based label Amor in Sound. The record brings together an impressive and diverse
group of collaborators from Brazil and abroad. Amor in Sound is run by Samantha Caldato,
the project’s executive producer and creative director, and Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys),
who co-produced the album alongside Pupillo. The project was developed in a free,
experimental environment, allowing the artist to explore the many rhythmic and sonic
territories that have shaped his career — from Northeastern Brazilian traditions to jazz, hip
hop, and cinematic soundscapes. Listen here.

The album features special appearances by Brazilian artists such as Céu, Rodrigo Amarante,
Agnes Nunes, Amaro Freitas, Davi Moraes, Alberto Continentino and Pedro Martins,
alongside a strong roster of international collaborators, including Carminho, Gaslamp Killer,
Loren Oden, Adrian Younge, Cut Chemist and Hervé Salters (known for his work with
General Elektriks). The album’s 12 tracks were further enriched by contributions from
Jeremy Gustin, Roberto Schilling, and other musicians who make Amor in Sound Studios in
Los Angeles a place of creative exchange.

Beyond his work as the drummer of Nação Zumbi, Pupillo has built a prolific career as a
producer and collaborator with some of the most important names in Brazilian music,
including Gal Costa, Nando Reis, Erasmo Carlos, Céu, and Otto, helping to shape the sound
of multiple generations. This trajectory has earned him four Latin Grammy Awards.
From Pernambuco, Pupillo is also an acclaimed composer for cinema, having written
soundtracks for films such as Arido Movie and Blue Blood (directed by Lirio Ferreira), The
Assailant (directed by João Daniel Tikhomiroff), among others. This cinematic sensibility
permeates the album, which unfolds like a film, moving through richly textured soundscapes
that cross continents and musical traditions.

Double 12" release

The Story — From the Streets of Rome to the Male Productions Label
In the early 1990s, Rome lived in a kind of suspended moment. The city was still tied to its historic clubs, yet in the outskirts—inside abandoned warehouses, quarries along the coastline, and the wooded parks north of the capital—something new was beginning to stir. A nocturnal, constantly shifting movement fuelled by a hunger for freedom and a sonic curiosity that reached far beyond the mainstream.

Moving through this ferment was Francesco “Chicco” Furlotti. First an organizer of unconventional parties and underground nights, he soon became one of the driving forces behind Rome’s itinerant rave scene. Furlotti sensed that a wave of change was about to sweep across the city. It wasn’t just about parties: it was the rise of a culture, a new way of thinking about music, community, and belonging.

It was within those nights—later held with official permits, properly built sound systems, and an ever-growing crowd—that Furlotti recognized the existence of a distinctly Roman sound, and the need to capture it, preserve it, and give it tangible form.
So, in 1991, he decided to take a bolder step: to found an independent record label—small, determined, and far removed from the commercial logic that dominated at the time.
That was the birth of Male Productions.

Male was not a label like any other: it was a workshop, a gathering point, a creative hub where DJs, producers, friends, and wanderers converged. Within that environment, an artistic core took shape—Stefano Di Carlo, Leo Young, and Mauro Tannino, along with other collaborators orbiting around Furlotti. From their synergy emerged a project whose very name declared its mission:

The True Underground Sound of Rome.

The collective did not simply aim to release music; it sought to tell a story of Rome through sounds that defied categorization: house, techno, ambient, electronic mysticism, psychedelic visions… a unique blend, instantly recognizable, emotional, and experimental. The sessions unfolded using essential yet razor-sharp gear: Roland drum machines, analogue synthesizers, Akai samplers, stripped-down mixers. Few tools, endless imagination.
The first result of this work was the 12” Secret Doctrine, released in 1991 in an extremely limited run—around 500 promotional copies, according to accounts. The record captured something that until then had floated only in the air of Roman raves: enveloping atmospheres, deep rhythms, melodies built to make the mind travel far beyond the dancefloor. A sound that did not imitate what was happening in Detroit, London, or Berlin, but absorbed those influences and re-sculpted them with a distinctly Roman sensibility.
Yet, precisely because it was independent and detached from commercial circuits, Male’s output remained sparse: few EPs, few copies, irregular distribution. Over time, those records became rare artifacts—almost mythical objects within the Italian electronic scene. The legacy of Male Productions seemed destined to survive only in the memories of those early years, in the stories told after raves, and in the private archives of a handful of collectors.
Many years later, thanks to the almost accidental rediscovery of a few original copies of the first two releases issued by Male Productions, it became possible to undertake a meticulous process of recovery and restoration of the audio etched into those grooves, with the aim of preserving as fully as possible the quality and character of that unrepeatable sound.

We are therefore able today to present — at last in a complete and faithful form — the first two mixes created for Male Productions, now released on a double vinyl that brings back into the present the exact moment when it all began: the nomadic nights of the raves, Furlotti’s vision, the creativity of Di Carlo, Young and Tannino, and the sonic identity of a Rome in the midst of transformation.

This is not merely a reissue.
It is a historical document.
A fragment of a culture that changed the city.
The authentic sound of the Roman underground, finally returned to the world.

On the day of Eid al-Fitr (Sugar Feast), Sonhouse Records released Grond, a brand new record, produced by Faisal Chatar and 'Yong' Yello Staelens.

Grond (soil) tells the tragicomic story of a Moroccan brother and sister who take over their father's funeral business and want to modernise it. Instead of repatriating Belgian Muslims to their country of origin and burying them there according to Muslim traditions, they decide to import the holy soil.

Western and Arabic sounds, combined with hip-hop beats are mixed in a refined way. Faisal and Yello produced twenty songs that immediately make you long for summer. In Brussels, Tangier or simply elsewhere.

Faisal Chatar and Yello Staelens:
"Grond is about the clash between traditional Moroccan values and Brussels city culture. We tried to translate that by combining Moroccan instruments like Krakebs and Qanuns with thick hip-hop beats. It sounds as if Timbaland is eating a merguez sandwich in a Molenbeek snack bar while Aznavour sounds through a distorted FM radio."

""Neverland", the fourteenth studio album by ULVER is the sound of an escape. A journey into undiscovered lands.

Following three albums – "The Assassination of Julius Caesar" (2017), "Flowers of Evil" (2020), and "Liminal Animals" (2024) – rooted in more traditional song and production structures, "Neverland" marks a new chapter in the revered Oslo band's history.

"With 'Neverland' we embraced a more 'punk' spirit – more dreaming, less discipline – freer, quite simply", the band comments on the creative process behind the album.

Bursts of daybreak synths and whooshes of sound set the atmosphere, before the wolves start digging into the dynamics of ambient calm and anarchic mysticism. Dreamy and transportive textures develop into trippy percussive energies, and as the album unfolds, a lush and vibrant, and at times exotic space opens.

Apart from a few recurring distant voices and vocal chops, "Neverland" is a largely instrumental record, reminiscent of the mood and structure of that place where late '90s IDM sounds met the meandering structures of post-rock.

The ghost of premillennial sample culture surely haunts "Neverland", and some might even hear echoes from earlier acclaimed works like "Perdition City" (2000), or the "Silence" EPs (2001), or more recently "ATGCLVLSSCAP" (2016).

Still, "Neverland" sounds and feels like something else, something fresh in ULVER's continuous journey of perennial reinvention. Pop music from in-between worlds? A sonic hallucination? Or better: a collage of dreams. It's up to you."

Preston duo White Flowers announce new album, Dreams For Somebody Else - due for release 1st May 2026 via The state51 Conspiracy.
White Flowers, the long-running collaboration between Joey Cobb and Katie Drew, exists within what they call “the realm” – a shared creative space, wherein time, rather than being a restrictive force, is fluid and boundless, and music exists as an endless conversation with their past and present selves. Adopting what the band describe as a “sketchbook” approach to writing, White Flowers is the product of a decade’s worth of recordings - snippets nestled away on hard drives, only to truly make sense years later.
On Dreams For Somebody Else, the band expand upon the dark-hued dream pop of their debut, channeling the catharsis of dance music via repetitive structures and “sad, euphoric sounds”. Working alongside LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip’s Al Doyle on production, the album maps out a mosaic of soaring choruses that swirl around imposing arrays of synths, guitars, and percussion.
Through this new lens, the band explore themes of isolation, dissociation and identity - drawing inspiration from Annie Ernaux’s The Years. “Whilst recording the songs for ‘Dreams For Somebody Else’, we really connected with the concept of Annie Ernaux’s book, ‘The Years’ - a ‘collective autobiography’ pieced together from mismatched fragments from her past, conjuring the effect that she’s merely an observer of her own life. This concept merges into the White Flowers world, where time, rather than being restrictive, is fluid and boundless, with our music existing as an endless conversation with versions of ourselves at different stages of our lives.”
“The album has that same feeling of disassociating from your own life, because you’re just blending into everyone else”, the band explains. “There’s a sadness there, because it’s as if you’re looking back on things that happened to you, and they feel like they don’t belong to you anymore”. It’s the dull ache of nostalgia intertwined with a sense of wonder at what could lie ahead - the hopeful optimism and endless loss that defines the human experience. “It’s this idea of identity not being a fixed thing, but something that’s always changing. It’s a fluid thing, similar to time. Things aren’t really fixed, but rather in a constant state of change. It’s important to remember that we’re all going through that.”

After releasing their third album, Maintenant Jamais, and touring in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 2025, Population II now announces Gimmicks, a new synthedelic rock EP.
Blending vocal and instrumental tracks, Gimmicks is a companion piece to the Montreal band's latest full-length. It's an extension of the electronic sounds we explored on Maintenant Jamais, with tracks like “13 1 3 1” and “Poudreuse Blues, explains Pierre-Luc Gratton. Even though we added upright piano and fuzz bass to some of the songs, our number one rule for this project was: keyboards and synthesizers, first and foremost! This is why they decided to ditch the guitar completely on these new songs, once again demonstrating the extent of their versatility.
Rhythm-wise, the use of a drum machine allowed the musicians to push their own boundaries and take this exercise in style to a higher level. It made us rethink our rhythmic habits and add bursts of intensity by experimenting with timbres and sound dynamics. The result is an EP at times unsettling, at times dreamy, but perfectly calibrated, where constraint gives way to ingenuity, freedom, and friendship. Although prog and krautrock fans will recognize the influence of Syrinx, Tangerine Dream, and Cluster, Gimmicks is, above all, the affirmation of a band capable of looking back to move forward.

Barely six months after the debut, the paths of the label and the artist converge once more — at their intersection, TECH039 emerges. This work significantly expands the musical language of Andy Martin: evolution is audible within every single recording. Tonally, rhythmically, and accent-wise, the release becomes a deep exploration of how personal experience transforms artistic signature, turning it into a new legacy for the local and global scene.

We see the author in a moment of artistic self-determination, on his path to international recognition. This is the sound of a master who cares about context, yet fundamentally refuses to meet outside expectations. At the core of TECH039 lies the concept of techno-futurism — sound projected forward, yet anchored in the fundamental laws of nature.

On the record: a transit from atmospheric harmonies and complex percussive structures to near-ambient variations, followed by gripping, mind-piercing sounds set against a functional bassline. This is a story of five distinct states, conceptually unified by a shared relation to the outer world, rather than the rigid boundaries of style.

- Mechanical Vals — fully positions the spirit of the record, referencing the incomparable signature of Andy Martin.
- The Paths of Rhythm — creates a rhythmic hypnotic structure, inviting DJs to uncover additional layers.
- Toltequidad – serves as a reminder that even the darkest night has its limits, and lighter hours inevitably arrive.

The integrity of the statement is completed by two interpretations:
- Vardae Reinterpretation — a reinterpretation deepening the original's hypnotic component.- Feral Reshape — a structural transformation emphasizing natural, organic power.

A substantial record for the collector’s archive and home listening, as well as a functional tool for the club night.

Wasteland is a record that is unafraid to plunge into the darkness of the modern world and embrace the weirder, edgier and more unnerving moments that come from doing so. It is an album that captures all the enormity of life from the micro to the macro, zooming in on the personal as well reflecting on broader societal issues.

“Wasteland is about the idea of a place once known or familiar that is now broken down and unrecognisable,” says Ghedi. “It’s about exploring the process of watching someone’s surroundings and environment collapse.” And within that you have a lot going on. “It also explores death, personal loss, grief, mental health and how the natural world provides solace and meaning for that loss and how these worlds blur into one another.”
Ghedi has always been an artist that in many ways perfectly encompasses folk music in its purest form but he is also someone that frequently pushes the boundaries of that label and no more so is that apparent than on this record. As like previous albums, such as 2018’s A Hymn for Ancient Land and 2021’s In the Furrows of Common Place, Ghedi uses traditional folk songs as a means to explore contemporary issues via modern and experimentally-leaning music. “With the traditional material on this album I wanted to find songs with content that resonated with me,” says Ghedi. “But also that were based roughly around the north of England.” This is a central underlying theme to the album for Ghedi. The feelings of loss, erosion, and degradation are often most pronounced in working class communities and this was something he wanted to weave in. “It was important to voice and choose material that represented or expressed issues that correlated with things going on around me.”

However, as remarkable as some of the traditional material is, some of the most arresting work on the album is Ghedi’s entirely original compositions. Lead single ‘Wasteland’ is a stunning piece of work that while rooted in an environment being corrupted and broken – “there’s violence on these hills” Ghedi sorrowfully sings, before claiming this is no longer somewhere that can be called home – it is also a stirringly beautiful composition that soars and glides as it opens up, as sweeping strings swoop and in and out of Ghedi’s twangy electric guitar.

The decision to incorporate more fuller sounds, such as electric guitar and huge drums, results in a notable shift and evolution in tone for Ghedi. “The lyrical content needed something more band-driven and loud to deliver them,” he explains. “Incorporating the electric guitar in my songwriting was also a big part of opening the sound up, using drop tunings pushed me to use my voice in a wider range, which forced me to use falsetto a lot which I haven’t previously done before. That then opened the sound up and gave me creative ideas for bigger arrangements and to sonically really push things.”

What Ghedi has done in creating his masterpiece is construct a remarkable space where deeply intimate and personal feelings coexist with reflections on environment, place and society, while also interweaving historical context via traditional songs. Wasteland is as much of a world to explore and exist in as much as it is an album, with Ghedi carving out his distinctly unique sonic language and voice to explore that singular environment.

Wasteland is a record that is unafraid to plunge into the darkness of the modern world and embrace the weirder, edgier and more unnerving moments that come from doing so. It is an album that captures all the enormity of life from the micro to the macro, zooming in on the personal as well reflecting on broader societal issues.

“Wasteland is about the idea of a place once known or familiar that is now broken down and unrecognisable,” says Ghedi. “It’s about exploring the process of watching someone’s surroundings and environment collapse.” And within that you have a lot going on. “It also explores death, personal loss, grief, mental health and how the natural world provides solace and meaning for that loss and how these worlds blur into one another.”
Ghedi has always been an artist that in many ways perfectly encompasses folk music in its purest form but he is also someone that frequently pushes the boundaries of that label and no more so is that apparent than on this record. As like previous albums, such as 2018’s A Hymn for Ancient Land and 2021’s In the Furrows of Common Place, Ghedi uses traditional folk songs as a means to explore contemporary issues via modern and experimentally-leaning music. “With the traditional material on this album I wanted to find songs with content that resonated with me,” says Ghedi. “But also that were based roughly around the north of England.” This is a central underlying theme to the album for Ghedi. The feelings of loss, erosion, and degradation are often most pronounced in working class communities and this was something he wanted to weave in. “It was important to voice and choose material that represented or expressed issues that correlated with things going on around me.”

However, as remarkable as some of the traditional material is, some of the most arresting work on the album is Ghedi’s entirely original compositions. Lead single ‘Wasteland’ is a stunning piece of work that while rooted in an environment being corrupted and broken – “there’s violence on these hills” Ghedi sorrowfully sings, before claiming this is no longer somewhere that can be called home – it is also a stirringly beautiful composition that soars and glides as it opens up, as sweeping strings swoop and in and out of Ghedi’s twangy electric guitar.

The decision to incorporate more fuller sounds, such as electric guitar and huge drums, results in a notable shift and evolution in tone for Ghedi. “The lyrical content needed something more band-driven and loud to deliver them,” he explains. “Incorporating the electric guitar in my songwriting was also a big part of opening the sound up, using drop tunings pushed me to use my voice in a wider range, which forced me to use falsetto a lot which I haven’t previously done before. That then opened the sound up and gave me creative ideas for bigger arrangements and to sonically really push things.”

What Ghedi has done in creating his masterpiece is construct a remarkable space where deeply intimate and personal feelings coexist with reflections on environment, place and society, while also interweaving historical context via traditional songs. Wasteland is as much of a world to explore and exist in as much as it is an album, with Ghedi carving out his distinctly unique sonic language and voice to explore that singular environment.

Out now via 7 Mater, in collaboration with The Circle Music for worldwide distribution, this special edition of Stolen Season Pt. I captures both the essence of the project and the spirit of the upcoming full-length Stolen Season Pt. I. This first pressing is destined to become a collector's item: numbered and limited to 250 black vinyl copies and 250 gold vinyl copies, each edition comes housed in a deluxe sleeve with an exclusive 30x30 insert that perfectly frames the visual world of the band. It is a striking presentation that mirrors the richness of the music contained within. The creative force behind From The Land is Anatoly Pakhalenko, best known as the frontman of the acclaimed dark folk ensemble Nytt Land.

Conceived in 2025, this new project serves as an alter ego for Pakhalenko, allowing him to explore the darker edges of country, blues, and folk traditions while weaving them into a world described as "a black and white landscape, tired of all this s**t that's going on around and gradually sinking into an endless sleep". Together with Aleksandr Rosliakov, Pakhalenko composed Stolen Season Pt. I between January and May 2025 at Nytt Land Studio, handling recording, mixing, and production duties himself. The result is an album that resonates with uncompromising artistic vision and raw emotional depth. From The Land 's universe draws inspiration from the haunting literary realms of H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, as well as the surreal, unsettling imagery of David Lynch. This heady mixture of influences creates a soundscape that is equally cinematic and visceral, where ritual meets ruin, and folk traditions dissolve into the smoke of blues and country noir.

This is the age of post-factual lies, which is reflected in MESH's album title "The Truth Doesn't Matter" and a dark undertone that occasionally seeps into their new songs. What remains entirely true is the fact that the UK duo has a nearly uncanny knack for writing electronic hits that are as elegant as they are captivating. "The Truth Doesn't Matter" bursts out like a sparkling firework while subtly referencing three decades of electronic music spanning from GIORGIO MORODER, YAZOO, and DEPECHE MODE via GARBAGE and MASSIVE ATTACK to more contemporary artists. At the same time, MESH always maintain their easily recognisable and unique musical identity as well as the trademark sounds that they have cultivated since their beginnings in the early nineties. With "The Truth Doesn't Matter", MESH climb yet another rung on the ladder leading to electronic music heaven. Each song wriggles its way happily into the brain and sticks around leading to spontaneous whistling of melodies and the public singing of extremely catchy chorus lines. You have been warned: "The Truth Doesn't Matter" is highly infectious and leads to a happier life!"

Newly remastered from the original tape transfers, the album now sounds more dynamic and detailed than ever, reaffirming its place as one of UFO's most accomplished works. This deluxe edition also includes a brand-new mix of the previously unreleased Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, recorded on 29th January 1981, by Brian Kehew, offering an electrifying snapshot of UFO's energy on stage. Original 7" edits of the two singles released with this album are included as well as an alternative mix of album standout "It's Killing Me". The set is rounded out with newly written liner notes by Michael Hann, featuring fresh interviews with Phil Mogg and Andy Parker, alongside a collection of previously unseen photographs from the era -- making it an essential addition for fans and collectors alike.