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Back on the machines once again, Image Recordings returns with its fourth release — a 4-track EP that stays true to the label’s stripped-back ethos.

Raw and hypnotic techno, rooted in the spirit of that 90s UK sound, but with eyes fixed firmly on the future.

Limited run. No repress!

Corrosiv, the sophomore album from Orchestroll, reveals the duo at their most mature and vulnerable. Originally conceived as a reflection on hybridity and bastardization, the album deploys New Age and ambient compositional tropes as a launchpad, exposing their trite sanctity to the realities of corrosion. Having come of age in the 1970s and 1980s, the New Age movement perdures today as a domain of contradictions; its promise of transcendence riddled with the very commercialized dogma from which its adherents claim to flee. Healing modalities such as reiki, crystal therapy, and sound baths are simultaneously pathways to solace and sites of exploitation; their sonic counterparts—ethereal synth pads, shimmering textures, celestial drones—claim to facilitate meditation and enlightenment while devolving into empty signifiers of vitality. With Corrosiv, Orchestroll displays neither reverence nor disdain toward New Age: they exhume it instead, revealing the saccharine effervescence and commodified murk undergirding its aesthetics. The result is intoxicating—disquieting.

Born from a two-week residency at EMS Studios and expanded through a performance at MUTEK Montreal’s 25th anniversary, Corrosiv has since outgrown its original conceptual nucleus, taking on a broader scope. Its inquiry into New Age ideology’s voided rhetoric and aesthetic mysticism now informs a broader interrogation of cultural mediocrity, anti-authoritarianism, gatekeeping, music industry toxicity, and the crumbling edifice of late capitalism and techno-feudalism—all the mechanisms by which meaning is stripped from ceremony, and once-potent forms of knowledge are subsumed into the machinery of economic extraction, severed from their original essence, and transformed into hollow simulacra. Corrosiv distills these themes through a loose narrative: a soul, fixated on wellness as dictated by cosmetic economism, becomes ensnared in an endless afterlife, unable to transcend and shed its dilapidated consciousness.

Framed as an act of audio dissolution, the album thus engages in an alchemical process, whereby complex waveshaping, morphing synthesis, and distortion enact a ritual of fragmentation. There is also friction: between the rigid, mechanical imposition of systematized order and the untamed, chaotic force of organic metamorphosis. Here corrosion and confinement are not solely conceptual motifs; they are enacted in real time, sculpting the album’s terrain. Scraping, tarnishing, degradation—the languid wear of form and substance—become instruments in their own right: buffing as abrasion, entrapment as transformation, corrosion as a means of reconfiguration. The ‘protagonist,’ if there must be one, is the listener, caught within the throes of structural determinism and the potential for emancipation, unable to pass into something greater as the specters of collapsed futures accumulate in the margins.

Corrosiv extends its reach through collaborations with familiar voices: Heith (PAN), VISIO (Haunter), Femminielli (Drowned by Locals), Habib Bardi (Interzone), and Jiyoung Wi (Enmossed, Psychic Liberation, Doyenne) each leave their imprint on its sprawling landscape. At 1h16m, it is a procession, dense with earworms that burrow into the listener’s unconscious.

Misshapen, broken-down metals leach copper into blood, acid reflux burning through the core. Psyche disaggregates into cosmic turmoil, drifting between planes—tongue on rustline, gullet laced with solvent hymns, molars unlatching, bitcrushed to marrowspill. A spasm of brine, ferrous scripture, venomtext blooming in leaden rivulets, cartilage smoldering in phosphor decomposition, synapses drowning in a quicksilver choir. Crest of bile, churning ore, breath clotting into arsenic mist, vein-thread cinched, a corrosive gospel, limb by limb, oxidized to silence.

Ultimately, as the music exhales its final breath, its residue refuses to dissipate—and stillness alone remains. There are no conclusions here—no resolution, no collapse—only the slow drift outward of a vessel unmoored, lost in the sea of symbolic souring. Corrosiv sings the song of a world barren of prophecy, littered with aesthetic detritus. Whether this magic has been transfigured or simply worn away is unclear: the last breath dissipates, but the oxidation does not stop. The silence, too, will decay.

Conceptualized, composed, performed, recorded, mixed, engineered and produced by Jesse Osborne-Lanthier, and Asaël Richard-Robitaille in 2023 and 2024 at Elektron Musik Studion (EMS) - Stockholm, Sweden and Landsc8pe Studio - Montréal, QC, Canada.
Artwork by Jesse Osborne-Lanthier.
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu @ Schwebung Mastering.

Fit for Consequences: Original Recordings, 1984–1987 is the first ever archival release from Repetition Repetition, the “two-man electric minimalist band” consisting of Ruben Garcia and Steve Caton hailing from Los Angeles in the mid 1980’s. Repetition Repetition’s unique blend of cosmic art-rock minimalism / maximalism was self-released across a series of cassettes produced in micro editions, and while garnering the attention and participation of luminaries such as Harold Budd, remained under the radar during the band’s existence. Fit for Consequences: Original Recordings, 1984–1987 collects select material from across the duo’s catalog.

It was over a plate of Mexican breakfast food when Ruben Garcia and Steve Caton first told Harold Budd of Repetition Repetition and the worlds they intended to explore by respective way of synthesizers and guitars --- a rendezvous instigated by the former’s fan mail to the legendary composer. If the upstarts entered this restaurant from a one-way street of admiration, they would leave with not only Budd’s interest but, sometime later, a blessing in the wake of many hours shared by the three in Garcia’s Los Angeles home recording studio: “This is going to be difficult, but God help them, I think they’re great,” noted Budd in a USC lecture in 1985. Now several degrees removed from prior rock music aspirations, the real game was afoot.

Between 1984 and 1988, Repetition Repetition operated within something akin to the underground of the experimental underground, although even that designation perhaps overstates the case. The duo’s sparse output consisted of three cassettes self-released on Garcia’s Third Stone Music label: Repetition Repetition (1985), Lakeland (1987), and The Machinist (1987). Their songs would also be included during this period on Trance Port Tapes’ vital scene-scanning compilations assembled by A Produce. Live performances occurred with similar infrequency, but Garcia and Caton counted converts in quality over quantity, numbering among them the aforementioned Budd, a Chambers Brother, and, judging by a memorably drop-jawed reaction following a rare Repetition Repetition gig, Jackson Browne.

Likewise, critical support materialized in the form of KCRW deejays Brent Wilcox and Dean Suzuki, whose steady airplay positioned Repetition Repetition’s music amidst fearless company like Jon Hassell, Hiroshi Yoshimura, and Richard Horowitz. Yet, to hear fellow Trance Port featured players like Tom Recchion and Bruce Licher of Savage Republic tell it, Garcia and Caton moved as ghosts --- a notion more vexingly endorsed by the silence of record companies that failed to come knocking --- and therein lies an overarching truth to the work itself.

Journey to the heart of Repetition Repetition and one discovers a collective ear impossibly attuned to the hypnotic possibilities of stylistic convergence, the resulting music possessed of seamless multimodalities which beckon to a glimmering plane of the disembodied. Where Caton sought his artistic fixes at an intersection of popular genres, Garcia zoned in on the sonically spare, drawing from the same wellspring as the Enos and Rileys of his personal avant-garde pantheon, and in their coming together the two tapped into a deeper cosmic source. Synthetic walls of keyboard sound in forever states of reprise met waves of shimmering --- and at times even punishing --- guitar in reply, their soundscapes hovering convincingly between, as suggested in fittingly dualistic fashion in a press kit assembled by Garcia, such disparate sensations as bird flight in one song and oil drilling in the next.

But don’t call it a push-pull dynamic, as this was a creative partnership founded upon fluidity and organicism by way of, naturally, repetition. In contrast to, say, the Bressonian ideal of repetitive motion as a great stripping away, the concept in the hands of Garcia and Caton equated to ascendancy via continuous unfolding, a maximal route to minimalism. To be sure, their recording philosophy morphed over the course of the act’s short history, and what started as a process defined by consistent in-person interplay developed into a more isolated method formulated by Garcia, who eventually took to his own one-man bedroom-studio sessions in order to fully chart any and all potential ostinato-loaded paths which he could travel down, the Tascam-captured resonances subsequently provided to Caton as blueprints from which to take flight himself, adding layer upon layer of steel to the proceedings.

If the practice and execution changed, however, the evidence certainly didn’t rest in the results: The seamlessness remained, and, despite the brevity of their time together, so has Repetition Repetition. With this finely calibrated collection of songs in Fit for Consequences: Original Recordings, 1984–1987, Freedom To Spend sees to it that the private worlds of Garcia and Caton can now be visited by all rather than just the count-‘em-on-both-hands lucky few whose musical endeavors or collector vocations carried them into this once-distant dimension.

Repetition Repetition’s Fit for Consequences: Original Recordings, 1984–1987 will be released on Freedom To Spend in vinyl and digital editions on May 30, 2025. The collection includes extensive liner notes from Bill Perrine, and wil be offered alongside Over & Over, a supplemental collection of music available exclusively as a mail order cassette from Freedom To Spend and RVNG Intl.

Finally available following strong support from Antal and Hunee, including soundtracking the closing of Rainbow Disco Club Festival in Japan: Cabo Verde Show's 1984 showstopper “Bem Danca” revisited in its original form alongside a perfectly stripped-back, synth-focused edit by The Square Sun. Now on a 12” pressed loud at 45 RPM, with the edit on the A-side and the original version on the flip!

“Bem Danca” was a B-side cut from a 1983 release, featuring lead vocals from Luis Da Silva. The original is a party-ready Funaná jam with intricate horn and guitar work. The Square Sun’s edit takes the track deeper, extending some instrumental parts to build tension before the culmination of synths and horns that truly sparkle in this version. An essential for your bag as we begin to enjoy those open-air dancefloors once again!

Originally released in 1996 on Quarterstick Records, Music for Egon Schiele is the soundtrack to a piece of dance and theater that was debuted by the Itinerant Theater Guild, May 18, 1995, in Chicago. Based on the life of the romantic and controversial Viennese painter, Egon Schiele was written and directed by Stephan Mazurek, who headed the group of performing artists. Rachel Grimes composed this music and performed it with two string musicians during the run of the performance. The Rachel's began recording in April of 1991 in Baltimore, MD, under the direction of Christian Frederickson and Jason Noble (Rodan, Shipping News). Subsequently, they met and became close friends with Rachel Grimes. In September of 1994 after a few more city moves, band break-ups, and general melancholy they decided to become a full time band and complete their first record for Quarterstick Records, Handwriting. Music for Egon Schiele is their second LP and contains a more stripped down and immediate musical focus. These songs are not sparse, they're beautiful. They build, they crash, and they make you wish you knew more about life and they mysteries its holds.

Album "My Life - Preisner's Music is a live recording from a concert held in November 2024 in Bielsko-Bia?a, marking the occasion of Zbigniew Preisner receiving Honorary Citizenship of his hometown, Bielsko-Bia?a.
This year, on May 20th, Zbigniew Preisner will celebrate his 70th birthday, and the album is a his gift he made to himself.

The album includes 17 iconic themes composed by Zbigniew Preisner among others from Three Colours, Decalogue, The Secret garden, The double life of Veronique, Damage, When a man loves a woman, Eminent Domain, Aberdeen, Mouvements du desir, Lost and Love, but also Lacrimosa from Requiem for my Friend in the interpretation of Dominik Wania.

Few words from Zbigniew Preisner:
"For years, I've been thinking about reducing my orchestral themes to a single instrument. As a composer, I pay special attention to melody-each of my compositions always has melodic themes.
Ten years ago, I met Dominik Wania, now a jazz star and a brilliant pianist who records albums for ECM. I knew he was the perfect person to bring my idea to life.
The concert you are about to listen to is the result of our collaboration, which has given me great satisfaction. Dominik Wania's interpretation went beyond my wildest expectations. I hope you will enjoy the album."

Reviews of the album:

"When I teach the films of Krzysztof Kieslowski at Columbia University, I always mention that Zbigniew Preisner is one of the world's greatest film composers. He has many fans among my students. And now there is a new album, a haunting distillation of his movie scores into solo piano performances. It demonstrates how he is the master composer of the tritone, trill and tremolo. Listening to his compositions in their own terms - separate from the cinema screen - foregrounds his distinctive and often plaintive melodies.
Because orchestration, lyrics and narrative function are absent, the listener can focus on the richness of the "standalone" music, beautifully performed by Dominik Wania. For example, the memorable score from Kieslowski's "Double Life of Veronique" now feels more ominous than lyrical. From "Mouvements du desir," the tinkling piano sounds grow into cascading notes that envelop the listener. Whether classical (as in "When a Man Loves a Woman" and "The Waltz from The Funeral") or jazz ("The Secret Garden"), the music reigns when there is no movie screen to distract us. This is equally true of the minor-key gems like "Dekalog" and the briskly upbeat "Transient from Twilight" (which invokes for me the joy of Jon Baptiste's compositions).
In addition to Preisner's scores, the mournful "Lacrimosa" is stripped down from a public performance - which included a choir - to a more personal evocation of grief via solo piano. Finally, listening to "Lost and Love" suggests that if Frederic Chopin and Keith Jarrett had an heir together, it would be Zbigniew Preisner".
Annette Insdorf, Film Professor Columbia University

"Irrepressible, off-the-wall and utterly unique - the late 70s/early 80s Latin jazz-funk and leftfield electronic boogie of Japanese composer and pianist Izumi ‘Mimi’ Kobayashi collected for the first time.

A star in Japan, she moved to Europe to record global hits with Depeche Mode and Swing Out Sister, toured the world with the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra and made beats with Attica Blues’ Tony Nwachukwu. Now based in London, Mimi currently fronts Tokyo Riddim Band - the intergenerational live Japanese Reggae outfit born from Time Capsule’s acclaimed 2023 compilation of the same name - playing live shows and releasing a trio of recordings.

Choice Cuts 1978-1983 collects eight recordings from four of Mimi’s first five albums – Sea Flight (1978) recorded with her group Flying Mimi Band, and Coconuts High (1981), Nuts Nuts Nuts (1982) and Tropicana (1983) under her own name.

The compilation opens with a syncopated electro-funk cover of Sergio Mendes’ ‘Mas Que Nada’ (Tropicana) and the crisp and stripped back techno-pop of ‘Coffee Rumba’ (Nuts Nuts Nuts) with a keyboard bass line that would have made Stevie Wonder weep.

Alongside the off-beat synth jam ‘Quiet Explosion’ (Nuts Nuts Nuts) and piano samba of ‘Espresso’ (Tropicana), there’s two low slung soul-jazz numbers, ‘Naze’ and ‘Angel Sky’, from Sea Flight (1978) that recall the collaborations between Herbie Hancock and Kimiko Kasai. But it is around the two tracks from Mimi’s 1981 album Coconuts High that this compilation revolves (and from whose cover shoot it borrows).

Released on legendary guitarist Takanaka’s Kitty Records label, Coconuts High was recorded in LA with a jazz fusion backing band, including Alex Acuña, Abraham Laborial, Harvey Mason and the Tower of Power horns. A riot of playful Latin-tinged jazz, funk and fusion with the off-beat spirit of Kid Creole & and the Coconuts, the album became a cult hit. Here it’s the sultry, Minnie Riperton-esque ‘Crazy Love’, with its addictive groove and bittersweet melodies that makes the cut, alongside the steel drum-infused carnivalesque bounce of ‘Palm St’.

Choice Cuts 1978-1983 will introduce the idiosyncratic energy and playful verve of this under-the-radar pioneer to a wider audience for the first time. Welcome to the world of Izumi ‘Mimi’ Kobayashi."

Drone legends Earth, the Seattle group led by Dylan Carlson, ready their first release on Fire Records. Deluxe Ltd edition 'Dark Star' effect vinyl with matte and spot UV sleeve, DL card. Unreleased live recording taken from their show at London's KOKO in 2016. Includes live renditions of fan favourites 'The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull' and 'High Command'. For fans of: Sunn O))), Sleep, Boris, OM, Spacemen 3, Witch, Hawkwind, Boris, Melvins. Seattle drone-rock titans Earth release their latest live document, WEM Dominator (Live in London NW1, 2016), an unrelenting display of the band's seismic force, recorded during their performance at London's KOKO in 2016. Sharing the bill with legendary heavyweights Neurosis, Earth delivered a set of hypnotic intensity, crushing volume, and towering, glacial beauty. For over three decades, Dylan Carlson and his ever-evolving ensemble have been crafting tectonic soundscapes that defy convention, forging a path between meditative drone and colossal doom-laden riffs. WEM Dominator is an album of mesmeric modal patterns, it's a recording that captures the trio's intricate, slowly evolving euphoria in a period when their experimentation swerved through endless possibilities. From the creeping grandeur of "The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull" to the ominous crawl of "Even Hell Has Its Heroes," the album presents Earth at their most immersive and powerful. This record reasserts Earth's mastery of atmosphere and weight, where every note feels tectonic, and silence itself becomes an instrument of crushing tension. It is a hypnotic, stripped down sonic symphony embracing influences as wide ranging as the Velvet Underground, Terry Riley and La Monte Young, a visceral slow-motion reading of the original sound that inspired Sun O))) and the generation that followed. The lineup of this performance was Dylan Carson (guitar), Jodie Cox (baritone guitar) and Adrienne Davis (drums), it was recorded live at KOKO, London on November 7th 2016 and is mixed and mastered by Mell Dettmer at Studio Soli in Seattle.

In 2005, Headphones arrived as a seismic shift in David Bazan's already formidable canon- a collection of synth-driven confessions that push the boundaries of narrative songwriting. Stripped down to its barest essentials, the album finds Bazan and collaborators Tim Walsh and Frank Lenz constructing an audaciously raw soundscape: no guitars, just synthesizers, live drums, and Bazan's unmistakable vocals. Twenty years later, it remains a masterwork of emotional excavation and geopolitical reckoning, as relevant today as the day it was released. This 20th Anniversary edition, remastered by Christopher Colbert at National Freedom (The Walkmen, Richard Swift, Pedro the Lion), is housed in a gatefold jacket with expanded artwork by Grammy-nominated designer Jesse LeDoux, plus liner notes by writer and Belmont University Associate Professor David Dark. The self-titled album threads a delicate needle, simultaneously personal and prophetic. Songs like "Major Cities" tackle the macrocosm of American imperialism with clarity and anger, while tracks like "I Never Wanted You" unearth the raw wounds of interpersonal defeat. These are stories of inner and outer collapse, of bullies (both personal and political) wreaking havoc, yet rendered with humanity. Even in its darkest moments, though, Headphones pulses with the hope that honesty might light a way forward if only we'll bear witness to the truth. On its twentieth anniversary, Headphones feels more vital than ever. For those who've lived with it since 2005, this reissue is a chance to revisit an old wound, to press on it and see what's healed and what still aches. For new listeners, it's a chance to sit with something audacious and true an album that invites us to reckon with the ways we fail each other-and the ways we might still be good. Twenty years on, Headphones remains a rare album that doesn't just speak to you, but asks you to listen harder. + PROJECT FROM DAVID BAZAN OF PEDRO THE LION + DELUXE 20TH-ANNIVESARY REMASTERED REISSUE WITH BONUS TRACKS + DELUXE FIRST PRESSING ON LIMITED EDITION OPAQUE YELLOW VINYL LIMITED TO 750 COPIES + EXPANDED GATEFOLD ARTWORK BY GRAMMY-NOMINATED ARTIST JESSE LEDOUX + LINER NOTES BY DAVID DARK + REMASTERED BY CHRISTOPHER COLBERT (THE WALKMEN, RICHARD SWIFT, PEDRO THE LION) + LP INCLUDES BONUS 7" ON BLACK VINYL WITH TWO BONUS TRACKS

Stripping away all expectations, constraints, pressures, and limitations, there’s a certain purity and allure to art crafted simply for the sake of genuine expression. The desire to unleash one’s unencumbered ingenuity and unique vision into the world is an attitude embraced by those often celebrated for pushing boundaries, and it’s under this same premise that German newcomers SENNA were formed.
Drawing their name from the Arabic word for brightness, shine, or glow, bandmates Simon Masdjedi (vocals), Tobias Stulz (guitar/ vocals), Marcel Dürr (guitar), Fabian Cattarius (bass), and Leon Dorn(drums), never intended for SENNA–a musical outlet originally established as a studio side project–to come into its own as a fully-fledged unit. Yet, tackling a luminous blend of playful but technical instrumentation and edgy hard rock meets progressive post-hardcore styling, it’s only fitting that both the innovative outfit and their introductory work have entered the limelight for all to enjoy.
“It was really liberating,” guitarist Marcel Dürr recalls the group’s mindset leading up to their SharpTone debut. “Because we weren’t pursuing SENNA as a proper band at first, we had a lot of time to experiment with our sound. Our goal was to simply write the music that we enjoyed, without being boxed into any one genre.

Stripping away all expectations, constraints, pressures, and limitations, there’s a certain purity and allure to art crafted simply for the sake of genuine expression. The desire to unleash one’s unencumbered ingenuity and unique vision into the world is an attitude embraced by those often celebrated for pushing boundaries, and it’s under this same premise that German newcomers SENNA were formed.
Drawing their name from the Arabic word for brightness, shine, or glow, bandmates Simon Masdjedi (vocals), Tobias Stulz (guitar/ vocals), Marcel Dürr (guitar), Fabian Cattarius (bass), and Leon Dorn(drums), never intended for SENNA–a musical outlet originally established as a studio side project–to come into its own as a fully-fledged unit. Yet, tackling a luminous blend of playful but technical instrumentation and edgy hard rock meets progressive post-hardcore styling, it’s only fitting that both the innovative outfit and their introductory work have entered the limelight for all to enjoy.
“It was really liberating,” guitarist Marcel Dürr recalls the group’s mindset leading up to their SharpTone debut. “Because we weren’t pursuing SENNA as a proper band at first, we had a lot of time to experiment with our sound. Our goal was to simply write the music that we enjoyed, without being boxed into any one genre.

2023, past and future merge into one. Stripped of temporal markers, today's artists unabashedly draw from the past while boldly gazing into the future. Amid revivals and

innovations, trends and undercurrents, the game is intricate, the nuances abundant. Orphia's music is no exception. Behind the synthesizers, the Genevan weaves a musical tapestry on a tightrope. Cold wave, synth-pop, post-punk, eurodance, Indochine, Depeche Mode, Boards of Canada, Eurythmics... it all blends in a grand synthetic ritual where the festivities happily don't stop at the first light of dawn. Charging forward, swiftly, strongly, into an uncertain future, no questions asked but with a quick glance in the rearview mirror, just to be sure.

"L'Aventure des Gens Modernes" resides in this retro-futuristic melancholy, between nostalgia and a thirst for tomorrow. Without ever falling into foolish nostalgia or soulless revival, the EP reflects an absolute urgency. Urgency to produce, first and foremost, as studio work has become a true raison d'être for Orphia. Urgency to also shout out a certain rage against a world devoid of hope, and this on stage where the artist performs alone, synths in hand and sharp beats for the dancefloor. In an era where the past enables facing the future, the 5 tracks of "L'Aventure des Gens Modernes" breathe a breath of fresh air into a scene in ruins. Cyberpunk or punk in general, Orphia wants to go fast and take everything in its path.

DOUBLE-DISC EDITION OF DARKTHRONE'S 1993 PURE NORWEGIAN BLACK
METAL MASTERPIECE, INCLUDING THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY MASTER, PLUS
ADDITIONAL DISC WITH COMMENTARY FROM FENRIZ
Darkthrone began life in the late 80's as a thrash/ death metal act & progressed
through technical death/doom metal experimentation to become legends of the black
metal world & one of the original leading bands of the Norwegian scene, as well as
inspiring a whole generation of metal bands, as they continue as strong as ever to this
day.
'Under A Funeral Moon', Darkthrone's third album, was originally released by Peaceville
in 1993. The album is a bleak reflection of contemporary times, featuring harsh guitar
riffage & hateful vocals in what was the band's first 100% pure black metal opus; a
work completely stripped of the death metal traces of former releases & in its place, a
stark & primitive execution. This was aided by an intentionally lo- fi sound that is
powerfully cold & entirely unconcerned with any modern- day aesthetics. 'Under A
Funeral Moon' is the album that many Darkthrone fans hail as the ultimate manifesto
for Black Metal.
This edition of 'Under A Funeral Moon' is presented on double- disc CD format &
includes an audio master created for the album's 30th anniversary in line with the
original 1993 version, plus the 2013 commentary disc from Fenriz with his
recollections on the tracks & the time period.

Inspired by the Zamrock movement of the 1970s, Immy Owusu & Sensible J’s swirling psych/afro/funk EP ‘Spiritual War’ is a rowdy, boisterous selection of songs about injustice, insanity, and the inanity of modern life in the burning house that is late capitalism. Owusu, a Ghanaian Australian singer and multi-instrumentalist, bonded with South African Australian drummer, beatmaker, and producer Sensible J (Sampa The Great, Cool Out Sun, Remi) over a shared love of the raw sounds of 70s African music, in particular Zamrock artists like Witch and Amanaz, and cooked up the EP in J’s iconic House Of Beige studio. Immy played guitar, percussion, and miscellaneous instruments, including the recorder, as well as vocals, while J provided drums, bass, and keys, and a roster of guests added vocals.

This latest Unxpozd release has taken a hot minute to arrive but it's been worth the wait, because once again DJ Aakmael shows off his deep house class. '6minutes' kicks off with the sort of whimsical late-night chords that soon get you dreaming as the loveably lazy grooves slouch on. 'Just A Track pt. 8' shows Aakmael's sample skills as he chops up the sounds with some nice jazzy keys. You won't find a groove more lush and smooth than the gently cosmic 'Track 123' while 'Autumn' is perfectly stripped back to chunky kicks, slowly ascending chords and a hint of Kerri Chandler soul with a gospel vocal hook.

Proudly presenting our reissue of the sought-after 1978 album 'Ritmo Y Sabor' from Cuban, master bongo player, Manteca. A deep, hypnotic, sonic excursion of Afro-Cuban/mambo rhythms to get lost within. Released in 1978, there are a number of different pressings of the album coming out on labels including GRC, Desca Records and Sound Triangle Records. Stripped-back and low-fi, this is a pulsating hit of instrumental Latin-jazz dance magic.

Predominantly made up of just percussion and bass, the album comes courtesy of Carlos "Rico" Ramirez on bass, Carlos Patato on congas, timbales by Nelson Padron and Lazaro Pla aka Manteca as band leader. A Cuban legend, Manteca rose to fame playing with Ernesto Lecuona and the Cuban Boys. Although he featured on numerous recordings in his home of Cuba, only a handful exist of his as featured soloist or band leader.

A whirlwind of percussive brilliance, ‘Ritmo Y Sabor’ is brimming with energy regardless of the tempo of the track. An instantaneous ability to make you move, the grooves come alive with each new rhythm introduced. Take for instance, the track 'Afro Funky' that more than lives up to its name. A breakbeat Latin-funk workout, with a mighty fine walking bass line that provides the basis for the drummers to vibe off. Elsewhere, 'Rumbon En Casa De Cando' is fast and furious perfect for the jazz dance specialist, whilst 'Sabor A Mantecado' keeps you on your toes with its trance-like repetitive bassline and percussive interplay. 'Cosa De Manteca' is another heavy-Latin funk gem with a rough and raw feeling of relentless yet groove-driven percussion.

A must-have Afro-Cuban, rhythmic funk triumph, that shows Manteca and his band in full flight

Philadelphia's THE WONDER YEARS are set to release Burst & Decay Vol. III on May 9 via Hopeless Records. This third installment of their stripped-back series introduces a new track, "Junebug," written by vocalist Dan Campbell about his younger son and produced by Steve Evetts (SAVES THE DAY, LIFETIME). On the record, Campbell's personal narrative continues with "Wyatt's Song (Your Name)," a piece crafted for his older son that employs the actual recording of Wyatt's in-utero heartbeat as its metronome. Closing the album, "Doors I Painted Shut" delivers cinematic intensity through vibrant vocals and production led by guitarist Nick Steinborn, signaling a confident exploration into new sonic territory. Burst & Decay Vol. III also features collaborative reinterpretations of signature tracks. On "Came Out Swinging," Joe Taylor of KNUCKLE PUCK lends dynamic vocals, while Zayna Youssef of SWEET PILL amplifies the raw vulnerability on "Oldest Daughter." Ryland Heagy of ORIGAMI ANGEL offers a tender performance on "I Don't Like Who I Was Then." Over a career spanning more than a decade, THE WONDER YEARS have toured extensively_sharing stages with MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, PARAMORE, DESCENDANTS, THURSDAY, BLEACHERS, and others_and built a community through their own label and the annual Loneliest Place On Earth festival, which has showcased acts such as HOT MULLIGAN, ORIGAMI ANGEL, and LAURA STEVENSON. Their previous album, The Hum Goes On Forever, debuted at #3 on the US Alternative Album Chart and earned recognition from Paste Magazine as one of the best records of the 2020s, while the track "Year of The Vulture" was chosen as the theme for WWE NXT's Stand and Deliver event.

The compositions of Miłosz Kędra (b. 2001) explore synthetic sound, electroacoustic music, and self-built acoustic instruments, seeking diverse timbres, tunings, and textures. His main field of work is the pipe organ. Through minimalist motifs, he has transported the instrument’s sound beyond the church space by synthetically processing its tones. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in New Media Music at the Academy of Music in Poznań and recently completed a Bachelor’s degree in Electroacoustic Composition, during which he built his own pipe organ from scavenged pipes.

~ Liner notes ~

Miłosz Kędra - "their internal diapasons"

The pipes that Miłosz Kędra used to craft his own organ emulator have lived many lives. They come from churches scattered across Greater Poland—some trimmed for a more presentable façade, others left to gather dust in parish houses until, stripped of purpose, they were cast away. Their first voices have faded, their inner resonance unsettled, yet with patience, one can teach them to sound again—to sing in their altered state, to be gently coaxed out of silence.

Audiomancy—the conjuring of lost sounds—is the word that lingers when I try to grasp the lore crystallizing with Kędra’s second album.

The resolve with which the musician and composer has inhabited his self-built instrument recalls Witold Szalonek and his search for “unexploited properties of wind instruments in classical music.” Szalonek sought to map these hidden voices into a system of multiphonics, revealing over 160 on the oboe alone by 1968. Some sound eerily alike, yet emerge through distinct gestures—“a particular breath, a precise choreography of levers and apertures, the seamless fusion of the two.”

The splitting of a single note into its spectral fragments—allowing a melodic instrument to speak in two, three, even four voices at once—enabled Szalonek to bend the rigid structures of Western music. "their internal diapasons" follows a similar path: an aesthetic bypass through which Kędra taps into the sacred gravity of the church organ, only to reveal it as a domesticated echo of something far older—the primal theater of transformation. To listen closely to an instrument is to learn its flaws, to turn its imperfections into a new way of speaking.

Each of the nine compositions on "their Internal diapasons" is an invitation—to approach the material world with the intent of letting it speak beyond expectation. An instrument that is at once a sculpture, a performance, and a manifesto of voicing the discarded suggests that its creator—following the path of Didier Eribon (Returning to Reims)—might take as his motto, a principle of asceticism, Sartre’s words: “What matters is not what is made of us, but what we ourselves make of what is made of us.”

Filip Szałasek

Following Sydenham, Njai and Punchard’s fresh take on Kraftwerk’s classic earlier this year, which picked up support from the likes of Optimo, India Jordan, DJ Bone, and more, Radio Slave recruits a pair of all-star remixers in Ricardo Villalobos and Gerd Janson to deliver a scintillating set of interpretations for his Rekids imprint.

Running Back’s Gerd Janson injects slap bass, funk-laden guitars, and twinkling synths over the original’s vocals for the ‘Dance’ mix, followed by a stripped-back instrumental version to kick off the A side. On the flip, Villalobos delivers a typically trippy affair, bringing constantly evolving strokes of modular mayhem and zapping percussion for over ten minutes, nervously settling into a chugging and deeply satisfying halftime groove.

Wallis is back with a very heartfelt EP. Her goodbyes to the city she called home for the better part of the last decade. Many people move to Berlin, many people get stuck there and wonder where the time went. This EP talks about the unhealthy relationship she had with the city. It's about being stuck somewhere you no longer want to be but somehow cannot leave. The music is stripped down to its bare elements with moody vocals, unique drums patterns and intertwined baseline and melodies that somehow feel familiar. It's melancholic. It feels grey. Sad yet hopeful. Berlin. But tomorrow is another day.

Following his appearance on _NRV001, Dragomir returns with his solo debut for the label—a deep and driving four-tracker, backed by two standout remixes from Lizz. ‘Elisabeth’ sets the tone with a tense, stripped groove that slowly uncoils across the A1, while ‘Freaks’ rides a more playful, shifty rhythm laced with micro stabs and broken vocal hints. On the flip, Lizz reshapes ‘Elisabeth’ into two distinct versions—first with the ‘Straight Remix,’ a sharp and focused reinterpretation made for the peak hours, then closing out with the ‘Disconnected Remix,’ which takes a moodier, more deconstructed approach.

Tuskegee returns with serious intent and a fresh club weapon from a recognised statesman of house music, Junior Sanchez. Having written and collaborated with artists including Daft Punk, Armand Van Helden, Todd Terry, and Roger Sanchez, ‘Bitch U Could Neva’ pairs Sanchez with vocalist and songwriter Dave Giles II, riding high himself following link-ups with Honey Dijon, Mike Dunn, and a producer on Beyonce’s anthemic ‘Cozy’.

‘Bitch U Could Neva’ is a powerful, instantaneous trip back into the underground style and attitude shared between both artists, reflecting the vibe of Sanchez’s rise to success in the halcyon days of New York nineties clubbing, alongside Giles II’s own youth in the Chicago creative scene. Living up to the attitude of its title, ‘Bitch U Could Neva’ bumps with peak-time energy, jackhammer drums and chopped-up vocals never undermining its fundamental sensuality, an increasingly rare link between true, authentic dancefloors past and present.

The pair then look to London for a confident, stripped-back take from prestigious record collector and curator GIDEON. The founder of dance music institutions Adonis and Glastonbury’s infamous Block 9 goes deep to find the track’s potential as a minimal, vogue-adjacent house workout, scattered with telephone dial tones and an upfront disclosure; “Bitch, I’m serving.”

Back across the Atlantic, Physical Therapy and Michael Mangan team up under their Fatherhood project to give ‘Bitch U Could Neva’ a seriously bouncy redress, winding tight drums atop a rubbery bassline and paying their own Twilo and Tunnel-era tributes with cut-up vocals and an ecstatic onslaught of rave stabs.

Electro music heroes DJ Di'jital, Microthol, Alex Cortex and Luxus Varta step up to the plate for the TRUST XY recombination series, recreating classic tracks from the Austrian label's history in their unique styles. Volume 4 of the series has Detroit veteran DJ Di'jital cut up DJ Glow's 'Whoami' from 2002 in ghetto bass MPC fashion. Vienna electro scientists Microthol remake J/V/N Machine's 'Somewhere Tonight' in one of their rare transmissions. Alex Cortex bares his soul as a pioneering minimalist in stripping down 'Honokida' by /DL/MS/ to its harmonic core, and electro virtuoso Luxus Varta brings out the melancholy funk in Populist's 'Psychometric Profiling'.

"""Disguise In Love"" released in 1978, is the debut album of British punk poet John Cooper Clarke. Renowned for his quick-witted delivery and sharp humor, Clarke fuses punk rock with spoken word, resulting in a one-of-a-kind sonic experience. The album includes tracks such as ""I Don't Want To Be Nice,"" ""Valley of the Lost Women,"" and ""(I Married a) Monster from Outer Space,"" highlighting Clarke's talent for social commentary and dark comedy. Produced by Martin Hannett, known as (one of) the creator(s) of the ‘Manchester sound’, the album captures the unrefined energy of the late '70s punk scene. Other notable artists produced by Hannett include Joy Division, Magazine, New Order, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Happy Mondays. ""Disguise In Love"" stands out not only for its incisive, observational poetry but also for its stripped-down and edgy musical accompaniment, solidifying its status as a pivotal work in Clarke's career and a significant contribution to the punk genre. The album comes as a limited edition of 500 copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl."

This year, Youth Fountain embarks on a new chapter with this acoustic EP, Together in Lonesome. Like previous Youth Fountain acoustic EP’s, the release reimagines their signature sound, stripping down the intensity to reveal raw, poignant renditions of their songs. Alongside this, fans will be able to dive deeper into the band’s catalog with the release of a limited-edition vinyl LP, ‘Stuck in My Own Hell’, which is released 25th April 2025 and brings together all three of their acoustic EPs into one stunning package. These projects highlight the band’s ability to connect through vulnerability, offering listeners an intimate experience that resonates deeply. "Getting to have all 3 acoustic EP's in one whole collective compilation for Youth Fountain is really exciting. Super nice way to tie everything together. I’m sure a lot of super fans of Youth Fountain will also be stoked to have the songs all on vinyl for the first time ever. " says Tyler Zanon

Carrying on their longstanding dedication to the seminal output of Merzbow, Urashima returns with what is unquestionably their most ambitious release to date: “Collection 001-010”, a deluxe, 10 LP vinyl box set limited to 299 copies, gathering together the entirety of the project’s first ten releases, originally released in 1981. Encountering the band in its early incarnation of the duo of Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani, raw, exposed and bristling with energy, foreshadowing numerous trajectories they would follow over the coming years, these astounding full lengths - the majority of which have never been released on vinyl - come housed in a beautifully produced, deluxe wooden box, with each LP in its own individual sleeve reproducing the original artwork, and a LP-sized 32-page book containing reproductions of artworls and collages by Masami Akita, an interview conducted by Jim O'Rourke, and liner notes penned by Lasse Marhaug, Thurston Moore, and Akita himself, amounting to what is unquestionably one of the most historically significant releases we’re likely to encounter in 2025.

Deluxe Edition of 299 copies, remastered from the original analog tapes by Masami Akita, each LP comes in its individual sleeve reproducing the original artwork, also includes a LP-sized 32-page book. ** Since its founding during the late 2000s, the Italian imprint, Urashima, has become a definitive voice in the landscape of noise. Bringing forth beautiful limited edition releases, they’ve sculpted a singular vision of one of the most vibrant and revolutionary bodies of experimental sound to have graced the globe. Among the many projects that they have supported over the decades, there has been an undeniable dedication to the output of the seminal Japanese noise outfit, Merzbow, making a significant amount of the project’s out of print back catalog available across a range of formats. Now they return with what is arguably their most stunning and ambitious release dedicated to the project to date: “Collection 001-010”, gathering the entirety of Merzbow’s first ten releases, largely privately released by the band on cassette across 1981, in a deluxe, 10 LP vinyl box set. Representing what is effectively ground zero in Japanese noise and collectively amounting to some of the most sought after releases ever produced within that movement, Urashima’s truly beautiful collection comes fully remastered by Masami Akita himself from the original tapes, presenting all but a small number in their first ever vinyl pressings, with each LP housed in its own individual sleeve reproducing the original artwork, alongside a LP-sized 32-page book containing reproductions of artworks and collages by Masami Akita, an interview conducted by Jim O'Rourke, and liner notes penned by Lasse Marhaug, Thurston Moore and Akita himself. Towering with energy and groundbreaking creative vision, within the realms of noise and experimental music, releases don’t get more monumental or historically important than this!

Merzbow came roaring onto the Tokyo scene in 1979, and remains, to this day, one of the most prolific and aggressively forward-thinking projects in experimental music. Eventually becoming the solo vehicle for the efforts of Masami Akita, in its earliest incarnation the project was the duo of Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani, taking their name from German artist Kurt Schwitters' pre-war architectural assemblage, The Cathedral of Erotic Misery or Merzbau, and quickly set out to challenge entrenched notions of what music could be. Embracing technology and the machine, even in its earliest iterations, Merzbow pushed toward new territories of the extreme, arriving at a space of pure, unadulterated sonic onslaught that has continued, for over 40 years, to set the pace for the entire genre of noise, and has remained one of the movement’s most important, definitive voices, continuously laying the groundwork for countless artists who have followed in its wake.

When dealing with historical gestures, there’s an invertible aura surrounding original line-ups and early statements, and rightfully so. It is often within a band’s debut that we catch the purest glimpse of the raw energy and creative ferment that made them what they are. This is certainly the case when regarding the coveted early releases of Merzbow, capturing the emergence of the project in its form as the duo of Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani as they helped set the blue print from the then emerging movement of Japanese noise. Over the course of its nearly five decades of activity, Merzbow has always been noted for how prolific and ambitious the project is. This was no less the case in the very beginning. While they were active for roughly two years prior, in 1981 alone they issued ten self-released cassettes numerically titled “Collection 001-010”, albums which have both individually and collectively become holy grails in the realms of noise, with only two - “Collection 007” and “Collection 009” - ever receiving vinyl reissues prior to now.

As Lasse Marhaug deftly articulates in the newly commissioned liner notes for “Collection 001-010”, despite having been recorded in different location across a span of time, the sum total of Merzbow’s first ten releases might be best regarded as a single release to be listened to in the same, durational sitting, with the material standing well apart from what most came to expect from Merzbow, while foreshadowing numerous trajectories the project would take over the coming years. Not only do these recordings feature a vast array of instrumentation - tapes, acoustic and electric guitar, violin, drums, voice, recorder, organ, found sounds, clarinet, homemade and prepared instruments, a vast arsenal of effects and electronics, and piano, to only begin to scratch the surface - the majority of which would disappear from the project’s active sources of sound generation over the subsequent years, but there is a slow pacing and raw sense of openness and exposure that reveals strong connections to the avant-garde improvisations of groups like AMM, Musica Elettronica Viva, and Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, the psychedelia of groups like Taj Mahal Travellers and Flower Traveling band (both of whom Akita mentions having seen in youth within his interview with Jim O’Rourke), and rock in general - albeit in fully abstracted forms - unspooling as brittle, pointillistic, textural, raw and abrasive forms, that occasionally flirts with unexpected tonal sensibilities. As Marhaug describes it in his excellent liner notes: «Sonically, “Collection” sounds more sparse and stripped. It’s dry sounding, up-front, no reverb, and there’s less heavy low-end grime and thin on the signature frequency sweeps. Viewed in a 1981 context, musically, it’s more akin to what the LAFMS (Los Angeles Free Music Society) pool of artists were doing at that time than what was happening in industrial music... There’s a strong playfulness throughout, like the sound objects are being explored for the first time, without neither restraint nor hurry. Events are allowed to be fully examined before the music moves on, or simply cuts off. To a large degree, the music on “Collection” feels acoustic in nature, although a Electro-Harmonix ring-modulator features prominently throughout.»

Easily described as a rarely encountered revelation into the original and earlier documented studio sound of Merzbow, “Collection 001-010” collectively amounts to an engrossing sonic journey in its own right, while also allowing for important, often overlooked connections drawn from numerous other creative wellsprings, notably free jazz, underground rock, the output of European and Japanese avant-garde music, as well as Dada, Fluxus, and Mail Art, much of which, beyond the illumination made possible by the sounds, Jim O’Rourke’s fantastic interview with Akita, published in the booklet, further explores, offering great insights into the origins of Merzbow and the thinking behind the project, as well as aspects of the earliest days of Japanese noise.

Almost Like You Could ignites its art punk fire with Lucy Alexander proclaiming, “Everyone wants something to talk about / But not a minute to spare, so be brief.” Not surprising from a song that’s 1:54 (‘Higher’), but the raw honesty in her lyrics ring far after the music ends. Alexander, along with bandmate Luke Cartledge, place the propulsive power of their beliefs at the core of their debut full-length album, and their guiding motivation towards social justice is as fierce as it is welcoming. “Living as part of the queer community, and being queer myself, leads me towards supporting every person’s truth,” Alexander says. Scrounge’s songs skip to a fast beat, electrifying the entire album with a sense of empowerment. Their approach is OG punk: they make music for their peers and themselves. Only now, with a world of connections possible, they’re able to open arms wide for a far-reaching embrace. Alexander’s rich vocals give their sound its central force, anchoring the songs with confessional lines (“If this is the pinnacle, then I need a miracle/ Cause everyone’s laughing at me,” “There’s not much left/ this corpse I have to keep/ Above board.”). They sing about economic inequality, political corruption, environmental destruction, and collective change. “We’re inspired by those around us, and we write about what we care about. Art has always existed for us as a means of catharsis, a way of expressing something we might not be able to otherwise, and we hope our music can be that for other people too,” says Alexander. “I think I’ve actually written a filthy banger,” she states while re-listening to “Buzz/Cut”, a grunge-honoring hammer of a song that takes a journey from disappointment, to self-realization, to release. Alexander and Cartledge’s gratification in making an album they’re proud of mirrors the empowerment conveyed in their lyrics. A follow-up to debut mini-album Sugar, Daddy (Fierce Panda, 2022), Almost Like You Could came together over 18 months, in between “teaching, touring, graduation, and a wedding”, as Lucy explains, for the band always has a handful of shows coming up. It’s a strange outcome for a duo who first bonded over their mutual love of SOPHIE. “She radicalized the structure of sound, and revealed herself through it,” Cartledge explains. “That was a massive inspiration when we started playing together, stripping everything away to open up new possibilities as artists and as people." Having already toured Europe and the States, Scrounge is preparing to be on the road throughout 2025. In a world where the idea of true community is ephemeral, Lucy and Luke seek to foster it everywhere they play. And their belief in change is ultimately buoyed by hope. “I know that it’s never been this good,” they sing.

Black Loops is an endlessly creative producer who has brought constant invention to house music since his first release over a decade ago. His widescreen sounds take their cue from funk, soul and disco and are underpinned by a love of 90’s grooves. They appeal to DJs and dancers alike which explains his constant demand for DJ sets around the world as well as his music being played and supported by the biggest names in the scene. After many years of vital 12"s and remixes, he now draws on everything he has learned and raises his levels with a fully realised debut full length album dropping 9th May, 2025.

Ahead of the LP we present the Experience EP which sees Jimpster and Black Loops himself deliver Dub versions of two of the LP’s highlights; Electrical and Experience. Jimpster kicks off with a stripped back, rolling Italo-inspired groover with touches of modular synth sequences, string stabs and dubbed out vocals. Black Loops follows with his own version keeping the funk factor intact with guitar licks, synth blips and extra fat, moog bassline.

Flip over for the original of Experience featuring Marlena Dae with it’s distinctly 90’s, Vogue-era Madge mood. Black Loops then proceeds to take it to the club on his Dancefloor Dub, stripping out the vocals and working up a punchy, minimal groove for the dancers. Closing out the release we have an exclusive original, not included on the LP entitled Inmasoul. Jazzy, deep beats are the order of the day here, making for a perfect warm up track to set the mood.

Edinburgh-based three-piece funk band High Fade are set to release their debut album 'Life’s Too Fast'.

Capturing the raw, on-stage energy that has been the driving force behind High Fade’s meteoric rise was never going to be easy, but that’s exactly what Harry, Oli and Calvin set out to do with a clear creative vision to record their album live at the iconic RAK Studios in London.

'We recorded in RAK Studios, with the desk built for the Rolling Stones in ‘76, with the same cigarette burns still on the faders. It instantly had a vibe of raw energy and liveliness to it that matched the way we wanted to record - live.' – Calvin

The result? 'Life’s Too Fast' – a blistering 10-track debut from one of the UK’s most exciting bands that manages to deliver the same tight, groove-laden funk rock that has put the group on the radars of Jack Black, Cypress Hill and Rage Against the Machine’s Brad Wilk, has seen them tour with The Cat Empire, and tick off iconic venues including Glastonbury, Jazz Cafe, and Boomtown Festival.

'We decided to record the album live rather than through the normal single track overdubbed method – we felt this would help to fully convey the band’s power, sound and energy across to the listener! More like we’re playing a gig and having it recorded – it was a tough process, but we went about it in the best way for both us and the audience, to ensure they’re getting the most authentic High Fade sound and experience possible.' – Oli

Having spent much of the last three years on the road seeing to a punishing tour schedule, 'Life’s Too Fast' is a chance for the band to stop and take stock, to reflect on their whirlwind success, and create an artistic milestone that demonstrates who High Fade are today. 'It’s the most accurate representation of what High Fade is, what we sound like, and who we are' explains Harry. Telling a clear story that matches their own experiences over the last few years, the album is a snapshot taken by a band who are accelerating towards real success and recognition.

'I’m glad we finally have a body of work that we’re proud of and feels like a collection of songs that nicely represents where we are right now. It’s organised chaos and shows that we like to play, but can also write a catchy tune.' – Calvin

Launching into proceedings with the effortlessly uplifting 'Take Me To The Floor', every track is a demonstration of the band’s technical prowess and broad sonic palette. A forward-facing selection of completely original material, the album also gave the band the opportunity to re-imagine fan-favourite 'Sharpen Up' as a stripped-back cut that reflects the band’s current lineup.

'Honestly, I kinda feel like I could explode with excitement about getting it out for everyone in the world to hear because it has been a long time in the making! A culmination of what all the singles have been working towards! I guess the album represents us and the direction we’re taking the music, it represents us as a trio and the gel that is High Fade.' – Oli

This record marks not only the first-ever release of the This War of Mine original game soundtrack but also a milestone 10th anniversary of the game. With its bestselling status, cult following among players, educational usefulness and recognition as a poignant symbol of war's threat to human lives-underscored by honours such as the recent Special Award from Amnesty International-it has been a decade of remarkable success. Yet, we cannot truly celebrate while wars continue to claim lives, stripping away humanity with relentless and senseless cruelty. To mourn in silence, however, would be equally futile. Instead, we're once again using This War of Mine as a platform for change through the Forget Celebrations charity DLC, now available for the PC (Steam) version of the game. Composer Piotr Musia? is looking back at the creation process for the music of This War of Mine and points out the significance the soundtrack still has for him: "This War of Mine was one of those projects, where picking up an electric guitar and playing on it felt like a good idea, although I'd never done it before. It gave the music this unpolished character - it's rough around the edges to match the grim atmosphere of the game. Just like its characters, I felt lost at first and it took me a while to figure it all out. For this and many reasons, it was an emotional ride and the music still feels special to me."

Audio alchemist Damian Lazarus continues to redefine the boundaries of electronic music with his fifth studio album, ‘Magickal’.

Renowned for his unparalleled ability to craft transformative sonic journeys, Damian Lazarus is a master of rhythm, melody, and vibration—a true pioneer among his generation’s visionary artists. Damian’s broad depth of experience encompasses a variety of disciplines: tastemaker, selector, label owner, A&R and a Grammy-nominated artist in his own right - each informed by his unique ear for sound. He is chief wizard of the hugely influential and culture-defining Crosstown Rebels label, a globally renowned DJ with a penchant for exotic outdoor locations and a highly regarded recording artist with four albums and a plethora of solo cuts, collaborations and remixes in his sprawling discography.

With his fifth album, ‘Magickal’, Damian steps into his next evolutionary phase, combining his newly found sobriety with a more mature outlook while still pushing boundaries and creating unforgettable moments. At the root of it all is the magical power of togetherness and human connection that only music can facilitate. Driven by this core ethos, Damian continues on his mission to share his heartfelt music, taking the dance floor into unexplored realms of experience, facilitating moments of transcendence, bliss and pure, unadulterated magic.

Damian Lazarus, the avant-garde architect of spiritually nourishing sounds, is joined by a stellar lineup of collaborators on his latest excursion. It’s imaginative and mystical, rhythmically captivating and daring in its own way, as is typical of Damian’s approach. Taking consideration of his past, the album references his previous work to create a tapestry of compositions that tap into the energy of key moments from his discography. Drawing on his existing catalogue creates cohesive through lines and thematically serves as a continuation of previous stories. November’s single, ‘Sunrise Generation’, for instance, works as a companion to ‘Vermillion’, which was recorded by Damian with his band The Ancient Moons and vocalist Moses Sumney back in 2015. ‘Sunrise Generation’, featuring the beautiful vocals of Fink, was Damian’s first major release since his Grammy-nominated 2021 collaboration ‘Don’t Be Afraid’ with Diplo and Jungle, and continues to take inspiration from global gatherings at solstice and those moments of collective awe at sunrise.

Indeed, the album’s themes of mental elevation and psychedelic sonic journeys are evident throughout. Damian channels this energy through tracks like the soulful ‘So Low’, featuring the incredible Zoe Kypri, and the luminous ‘Searchin’, with Jem Cooke, whose collaboration with Damian dates back to ‘Flourish’ (2020) and lead single ‘Into The Sun’. Uplifting is the operative word here, as Damian aims straight for our hearts and inner selves, stripping away the layers to take us on a trip inwards, and out into the ether all at once. There’s a clear nod to Damian’s appreciation of amapiano when he teams up with Ghanaian interdisciplinary healer Jojo Abot on ‘Warrior Dance’. Old friend and inspirer Mathew Jonson brings his virtuoso touch to ‘Are You Dreaming?’, while TEED and A-Trak form an awesome alliance for ‘Falling Down’ with its heartrending vocals. ‘Alive’ features the Bloom Twins, and also additional production from acclaimed producer Mark Ralph, who incidentally worked on Damian’s debut album ‘Smoke The Monster Out’ in 2009 and forms another throughline to the past. ‘Alive’ blends pop sensibilities and song structure with Damian’s inimitable sound - and could become one of Damian’s biggest moments to date. ‘La Hija De Juan Simon’ delves into the Latin energy synonymous with vibrancy and self-expression as Damian teams up with acclaimed Spanish flamenco-influenced duo Mëstiza. On a solo tip, he rolls out with the eight-minute-plus soulful funk flex ‘Why Don’t U’.

In a suitably aligned instance of serendipity, the arrival of ‘Magickal’ comes at a pivotal period in Damian’s life, just as it has been with previous album concepts. Albums made and released during big shifts in his life speak to the correlation between growth, personal evolution, creativity, catharsis and sharing that process musically. The last album ‘Flourish’, for instance, was recorded and released in the space of a few months during the first summer of the global pandemic. As a result, there’s a kind of vulnerability in the music, a subtle story that’s being told with emotional touchpoints that will be relevant to anyone listening. The universal human experience and spectrum of emotions are things almost everyone can relate to. With the enhanced clarity of his sobriety, Damian’s compositions embody the uplifting nature of simply being alive, connected and unified in our love for music and one another.

Day Zero, Damian’s iconic annual festival, is intrinsically linked to ‘Magickal’. It’s the setting for his imagination when producing the music, it’s the launchpad for each year’s kaleidoscopic adventures around the world, and this year’s edition will be the backdrop to the release of ‘Magickal’. As the pinnacle of Damian’s annual experiences, Day Zero marks a vital milestone for his artistry, an extension of his inner realm, carefully curated and created for his global family of lovers and dancers to revel in the awe-inspiring beauty of Mother Nature. Central to the ethos of Day Zero is its sustainability practices and deep consideration for the locality within which it is held. Connections with local elders embolden its depth, cultivating a strongly aligned purpose with the ritual, customs and energy of the land and its people.

‘Magickal’ will be released in the same week as Day Zero, tying the two projects together in a neat dovetail. 12 years since it started, Day Zero continues to play a significant role in the music Damian makes, curates and plays. For him, it’s the epitome of his vision: a stunning natural setting, the very best party people from around the world, an unparalleled lineup of friends and family, high production values, eco-centric policies and music from another dimension. With these interdimensional transmissions, Damian channels his inner alchemist, which, in turn, permeates into the vibrational framework of ‘Magickal’.

Never one to adhere to convention, Damian has opted for a disruptive album release. ‘Magickal’ is to be kept under wraps and then announced and released on Crosstown Rebels on 8th January 2025, bypassing the modern trend of prolonged single drops and ‘tombstone’ album releases. ‘Magickal’ is the embodiment of Damian and his intentional, against-the-grain approach and reinforces the album as a complete artistic statement, offering listeners the full cohesive experience from the very beginning. This is a return to the album as the pinnacle moment and not the afterthought. Singles, edits and remixes will follow the ‘Magickal album’ release, and, of course, there will be a world tour to promote the album (including Glastonbury and Coachella) and a chance to present the album in exciting, innovative and unique ways.

Forever dreaming, a sincere student of magic, new and old, social sorcerer, lover of nature and master of musical wizardry, Damian Lazarus is a potent force. With ‘Magickal’, he reaffirms his place as one of electronic music’s most influential figures, taking listeners on a profound journey into sound, spirit, and connection.

*180g virgin leaded vinyl in a deluxe textured heavy gatefold cover, with paste-on artwork and special anti-static innersleeve.* Note: The pressing is absolute on point!!!!

Vincent Gallo and Harper Simon with a beautifully recorded suite of songs and instrumentals.

" More than two decades since he blew minds with a suite of brilliant releases on Warp, Vincent Gallo returns to the world of music at long last in Butterfly, his duo with Harper Simon, with the project’s full-length debut, “The Music of Butterfly”. A gesture of gentle, DIY / bedroom left-field pop, falling within the rough territory for which Gallo became renowned during the late '90s and early 2000s, while interweaving fascinating flirtations with minimalism and experimentalism, it’s a truly captivating piece of work that’s hard to get off the turntable after the first needle drop.

In the arts, the lines between genius and madness, as well as fact and fiction, often blur. Such, it seems, has always been the life of the artist, filmmaker, actor, musician, and composer Vincent Gallo. A cult figure and a member of various creative undergrounds for the better part of half a century, Gallo has courted controversy, ruffled feathers, and made some of the most singular statements to flirt at the outer edges of popular culture that can be called to mind. Arguably most well known for his work in film, during the late '90s and early 2000s - notably with his soundtrack for “Buffalo 66” and a suite of releases on Warp - Gallo became something of a sensation in the world of independent music for a visionary, incredibly unique and sensitive approach to sonority. For a time, the world was abuzz, waiting on bated breath for more, and yet time passed. Bar a few fragments, appearing here and there, almost nothing has been heard from Gallo, within the world of music, for more than 20 years. That is, until now, with the release of “The Music of Butterfly”, the debut full-length of Butterfly, his duo with Harper Simon: beautifully produced and issued by Family Friend Records - Gallo’s own label, founded in 1981 - in a deluxe edition that simply left us speechless: 180g vinyl in textured heavy gatefold cover with paste-on artwork and thick anti-static innersleeve. More or less picking up from where we last encountered him, spinning captivating melodies and gentle song-craft within the quieter temperaments of DIY, left-field pop, once again, and at long last, Vincent Gallo, encountered in an incredibly successful collaboration with Harper Simon as Butterfly, reminds us that he’s as much a force within the realm of music as he is within film. Not to be missed. This one isn’t going to sit around for long.

Vincent Gallo’s biography reads like the stuff of blaring beauty: a figure of moderate fame in his own right, who has remained at the centre of cultural ferment as the decades have rolled by. Born in 1961, in Buffalo, New York, as the story goes he ran away to New York City at the age of 16 and fell into the brewing counterculture of the Downtown scene, William Burroughs and John Giorno, in addition to the cream of his own peers, and began making paintings, music, and experimenting with film. In addition to being a member of the now legendary band Gray, with the artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the filmmaker, Michael Holman, Gallo appeared in the cult 1981 film “Downtown 81”, before slowly beginning a career as an actor and catching the eye of Claire Denis, who brought his talents into the broader cultural gaze. Catapulted into the public by his own subsequent career as a filmmaker with “Buffalo '66” (1998) and “The Brown Bunny” (2003), both of which were marked by controversy and praise, Gallo further captivated the public with a partially brilliant, if not relatively brief, flurry of activity in the realms of music.

While Gallo had already been making music for roughly two decades at the time of his release of the “Brown Bunny” soundtrack, and the four release issued by Warp in rapid succession between 2001 and 2002 - “When”, “Honey Bunny”, “So Sad”, and “Recordings of Music for Film” - the almost fanatical fandom reached a fever pitch at the moment, allowing him, for some, to be regarded as much, if not more, as a musical artist than an actor and filmmaker. Anyway you cut it, in a few short years, he proved himself to be a polymath of rare talent. Somewhere along the way, while both were working as members of Yoko Ono's Plastic One Band, Gallo met the New York based, highly regarded singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer, Harper Simon, who also happens to be the son of Paul Simon. The pair fell into an incredibly fruitful duo collaboration, which came to be called Butterfly, and “The Music of Butterfly” being their debut full-length release.

Written, performed, and recorded by Vincent Gallo and Harper Simon in New York City between the winter of 2018 and the spring of 2019, the ten tracks comprising “The Music of Butterfly” are cumulatively a gesture of gentle, DIY / bedroom left-field pop, falling within the rough territory for which Gallo became renowned during the late '90s and early 2000s, making one feel like barely a moment had passed since we’d encountered his graceful hand at song-craft. Stripped back and raw, while retaining a sense of warmth and intimacy, across the length of “The Music of Butterfly” the duo of Gallo and Simon weave something completely captivating at the juncture of minimalism, experimentalism, and pop: meandering moments of texture and tone, slowly forming toward flirtations of melody that flower into song and back again. Somehow playful and light, while also remarkably emotive and personal, it’s almost as though each of these tracks crystallised out the air, unlabored and exactly as they should be without a note or beat more.

An engrossing immersion into both Gallo and Simon’s remarkably accomplished minds, having followed the path toward one another after radically different experiences and careers, “The Music of Butterfly” is one of those records that’ll be hard to get off the turntable after that first needle drop, and rarely leave the listening pile for some time to come. Issued by Family Friend Records in a beautiful deluxe edition that is unmatched even among the most stunning recent productions we can call to mind - 180g vinyl in textured heavy gatefold cover with paste-on artwork and thick anti-static innersleeve - it’s lovely to have Gallo back in the musical mix after so many years. "

Scientist's name will be found on many dub releases in peoples record collections.His connection to King Tubby's studio is inseparable and many say when the dub end of Reggae music had fallen on quieter times it was Scientist with his often stripped back style and at other times, wild off the wall remixes that breathed life back into the dub cannon.

Scientist (born Overton Brownie,1960, Jamaica) was in many ways King Tubby's apprentice. Having helped his own father out repairing televisions and such like, he would help Tubby on winding transformer coils, that the amps of the day all needed. His interest in recording grew as he watched the many sessions taking place at Tubby's Dromilly Avenue Studio, learning the ropes as the musicians came and went. His first break happened when King Jammy (then Prince Jammy) was too tired to work on a session booked for producer Errol 'Don' Mais. Scientist engineered the session to every one’s bewilderment and great satisfaction.

His first hit would be a mix of Barrington Levy's 'Collie Weed' and his reputation built on the many versions he cut at Tubby's where he would become the engineer of choice. His pared down mixing style suited the new Dancehall reggae sound that came at the tail end of the 1970's and rolled into the 1980's. Such was his stature that albums were now sold with his name on their jacket, 'Scientist Vs Prince Jammy, 'Scientist meets The Space Invaders' to name but two.

His time at King Tubby's was followed as chief engineer working for the Hookim Brothers at the mighty Channel 1 Studio's and on many of top producer Henry 'Junjo' Lawes tracks, that were hit after hit at the time.

We have compiled some tuff tracks from the late 70's / early 80's just before everything went digital. Some great dub versions to some killer tracks that rocked the dancehalls around this golden time.The mighty Tristan Palmer whose killer cuts 'BadBoys','Stop Spreading Rumours','Eveready' and 'The Greatest Lover’ alongside Michael Palmer's debut release 'Mr Landlord' and Robert Trench's 'Mr Babylon'. The songs stand back-to-back with Tony Tuff's timeless 'Never Trouble Trouble' and the biblical Rod Taylor's 'The Lord is My Light'. Sammy Dread's 'Wah Dah Wah' and the always respectful Dennis Brown's 'Time and Place' all benefited a touch of magic from The Scientist and his laboratory of effects.

Hope you enjoy the set.....

The Deep Series imprint operated as a sub-label of Diaphan Music, both of which released material between 2009 and 2014, as can often be the way for many artists family life and other responsibilities stepped up on the priority list and the label was put on hiatus.

Now back to reboot things with a fresh perspective and a focus on Georgios’ music and music from artists he admires, Deep Series begins its new chapter for 2022, bringing fresh deep and dynamic cuts and an uncompromising approach with its future direction. Leading the release and following on from his recent debut album on Dial is XDB with his ‘Back To The Roots Mix’, the title tells all as this Greek Techno aficionado delivers a classic groove fuelled by loose, bumpy drums, chugging synth stab sequences and twisted resonant loops.

‘Dark Path’ follows next, edging into dubby house territory with skippy percussion, expansive chords, choppy bass stabs and hypnotic vocal chants. Opening the b-side is ‘Distorted DRMS’, as the name suggest laying focus on raw, crunchy drums throughout while dreamy synth lines and heavy sub bass swells ebb and flow within. Lastly the original mix of ‘GR2’ rounds things out, stripping things back to hazy, ethereal textures, robust, low-slung drums and acid-tinged bass stabs.

Berlin based Greek artist Georgios Papamanoglou returns to his Deep Series imprint with the ‘Instan Bliss’ EP this March, accompanied by two remixes from Iron Curtis.

Georgios Papamanoglou has been been involved in the underground House and Techno scene since the turn of the millennium, making him mark through his multiple imprints Diaphan Music and Deep Series with releases from himself and other artists such as Nekes and Ekkohaus among others. After a few years hiatus 2023 saw Georgios return to relaunch his Deep Series label with the ‘Dark Path’ EP, featuring a remix from fellow Greek Techno stalwart, XDB. Here he returns with his new project ‘Instant Bliss’ made up of two originals and two remixes from the much loved Office Recordings and Hudd Traxx regular, Iron Curtis.

‘Millions Of Sounds’ opens the release and sees Georgios lay down a bubbling arpeggio lead line, shimmering analogue drums and intricately oscillating synth lines all dynamically evolving and unfolding throughout. Iron Curtis’ ‘Drama Mix’ of ‘Instant Bliss’ follows and sees the German artist employ hypnontic atmospherics, cinematics strings and a choppy bass sequence alongside stripped back drums.

Opening the b-side is Iron Curtis’ second remix the ‘Supersorry Mix’ of ‘Instant Bliss’, this time round laying focus on squelchy 303 licks, crisp breakbeats and an underlying textural tension. Papamanaglou’s original of ‘Instant Bliss’ then completes the package, a nine minune cinematic journey through enchanting strings, polyrhythms and robotic glithes.

"Jellywish" is the fifth record from NY based indie folk quartet Florist, out April 4th 2025 via Double Double Whammy. "Jellywish" sees a departure of Florist's former foray into meandering soundscapes and improvisational tendencies of their previous self-titled album, instead embracing shorter stripped back song structures and an emphasis on melody. The result is a succinct and focused 10 track album showcasing Florist's dynamic growth and Emily Sprague's gift of empathic songwriting.

Dua Lipa veröffentlicht zum bevorstehenden 5-jährigen Jubiläum ihres mit einem GRAMMY Award ausgezeichneten und mit Platin zertifizierten zweiten Studioalbum Future Nostalgia eine 3LP Special-Edition.
Gepresst auf einer gelben Splatter-Vinyl und zwei schwarzen Vinyl, enthält das 3-LP-Set die 11 OriginalTracks des Albums sowie die Deluxe Moonlight Edition und das Remix-Album Club Future Nostalgia.

Since its inception in 2020, Italo Moderni’s energy, spirit and inspiration has been the dancefloor. The darkened bunkers of Belgium, the trembling speakers of Valencia, the warming dawn of Rimini, these influences have been the lifeblood. Solidifying this tireless effort, Mellow Bangers Vol 2 is the label’s most ambitious collection to date.

In celebration of the imprint’s fifth anniversary, four artists gather with every single one united under a rallying cry. From across the globe, machinists have been drawn together to deliver a statement of acid and wave, of electro and synth with flourishes of italo. The shadowy fringes of the floor are well represented, audio artisans like Cyrk serving distorted drums and melodies dripping with menace in the twisted shape of “Double Crash.” The static haze remains with Fragedis’ “Disco Nicotina,” a lancing melody piercing the soaked speakers of this sweaty romp. Label boss, Adrian Marth leads the charge on the flip. “Modernism” is a stripped and playful two-stepper, a two-stepper that Marth beefs into bawdy proportions before balancing the track with crystalline chords. Amongst the litany of talent are musicians who have both inspired Italo Moderni as well as those who have appeared on the label. Antoni Maiovvi fits such a description, the sound sorcerer slicing beats through bittersweet bars in the immersive “Stopping Power.”

Mellow Bangers Vol 2 is a breathless expression of the floor. A contemporary imagining of the racing rhythms and addictive hooks of the 1980s and 1990s. Four works that summarise what Italo Moderni is and will continue to be

Freerange Sounds - which shouldn't be confused with Jimpster's deep house label Freerange - is reissuing its first release from back in May 2022 here. It's a dark garage outing from 9TRANE that kicks off with 'Keep It Moving' (feat Riko Dan) with edgy vocals, late-night urban menace and some crisp drum patterns. The fantastic Bakey dub mix brings more pruning basslines and withering pads while the instrumental is stripped back and more haunting. Last of all is 'Hear This' which leans on the Burial style of ghostly production but with a more fulsome low-end and prickly percussive brew riding the beats. Serious tackle for sure.

With their debut album Channels on !K7 Records, Kassian (Joe Danvers-McCabe and Warren Cummings) have come full circle, focusing on the warmer, sample-based, and house-inspired sonics that brought them together. Kassian periodically revisited these initial pieces throughout the last five years until they felt able to journey deeper, using their rapidly developing craft and refined production techniques to build a debut album that momentarily steps away from some of their more club-focused excursions. “As we were writing, we realized that all the tracks had the unique potential to tell a story,” reflects Cummings, with Channels leading the listener through a series of different atmospheres and emotional terrains.

Essential to Channels is Kassian’s focus on time’s ability to reorient human perspective. Kassian worked on the album over an extended period, with instrumentation, field recordings, and percussion first constructed and then subsequently stripped away and refined.

Channels contains their early love of tube warm, sample based sounds and live instrumentation as the foundation for this album. The working process for these rippling pieces used both sequenced workflow and improvisational arrangement, live instrumentation inspired by an array of deeper emotional content. Both members of Kassian experienced great personal loss during the period of making this album, and a tenderness is felt throughout the record.

This record is an earthy thing, its naturalistic track names evoking recognisable and cyclically familiar moments, Kassian have provided a map for the listener at the forefronts of their minds. Channels features Ezra Collective’s Joe Armon-Jones on keys, and Timothy Kraemer on cello distilling this body of work into a deep stream between the organic and improvised, and the sequenced and planned.