For more than 20 years, every CASPIAN album has been driven by a desire to stretch boundaries — a relentless ambition that's resulted in one of post-rock's most revered catalogs and established the Massachusetts quintet as an enduring, global force in the genre's modern era. On CASPIAN, the band’s first album in six years and debut for Wax Bodega, the more unexpected way forward was to stop searching for what they hadn’t yet done and instead trust what had defined them from the beginning.
The six-song, 39-minute effort draws freely from the musical vocabulary the band have spent their career writing: evocative melodic themes, dense textures, swelling crescendos and crushing heaviness that rolls in like a slow-moving storm on the horizon. But they still find new possibilities within those familiar contours, allowing patient development and repetition to carry as much weight as surprise. The nine-minute “Remain” turns a recurring melody into a sweeping study in tension and release, while “No One Left to Tell” layers subtle shifts around a hypnotic tremolo figure and “A Great Fire” sends serpentine guitars crashing into buzzsaw riffs. Even the graceful 3/4-time closer “Waltz for the End,” completed in a half-hour burst of inspiration, reflects the quiet confidence of five musicians comfortable enough in their skin to resist tearing everything down for the sake of reinvention, even as the circumstances surrounding them change dramatically.
"Things are looking better than ever for GENERATION STEEL! The quintet from Wetzlar/Germany, has reinvented itself on all fronts and is set to take the music world by storm with its upcoming third studio album, Steelmachine.
With the addition of guitar wizard and songwriter Thilo Herrmann - who made his debut in 1985 on the FAITHFUL BREATH classic “Skol” and has written heavy metal history throughout his career with RISK (including “Ratman”), RUNNING WILD (including “Black Hand Inn”, “Masquerade”), and GRAVE DIGGER (including “Ballads of a Hangman”) - bandleader and guitarist Jack the Riffer now has a living legend by his side.
There has also been a change behind the mic: from now on, Swedish vocalist Mike Stark - who currently sings for the Argentinian band FEANOR and the Swedish group STORMBURNER - is setting the tone. His powerful, high-pitched yet dynamic voice gives the new tracks an absolute seal of quality.
GENERATION STEEL stands for authentic, traditional, '80s-influenced heavy metal, combining the styles of ACCEPT and JUDAS PRIEST.
The ten neck-breaking tracks on the band's third full-length album were produced by Piet Sielck (IRON SAVIOR), who has previously refined classics by GAMMA RAY, GRAVE DIGGER, HEADHUNTER, STORMWARRIOR and BLIND GUARDIAN.
The cover artwork, designed by Gyula Havancsak (who has also created artworks for POWERWOLF, ACCEPT and BLIND GUARDIAN, among others), is equally eye-catching.
Anyone who loves honest, traditional German metal will quickly embrace “Steelmachine”, because the quintet not only takes us back to the '80s, but also shows just how timeless true metal is. Ten home runs, including the four singles “Steelmachine”, “Witches Cross”, “Wings of Fire” and “Fields of Pain”.
Stay Metal – Stay Steel!"
SIGNUM REGIS was founded in 2007 and stands for finest melodic Power Metal with both progressive and symphonic elements. Their upcoming new and eighth studio album „Beyond Spacetime“ will be released on October 9th through Fireflash Records and will feature different vocalists. Among them their current singer Mayo Petranen, who just returned to the band, his successor Jota Fortinho as well as top class names, such as Ripper Owens (ex-JUDAS PRIEST), Matt Smith (THEOCRACY), Ralf Scheepers (PRIMAL FEAR), Johnny Gioeli (HARDLINE, AXEL RUDI PELL), Tasos Lazaris (STEEL ARCTUS, WHITE WIZZARD), David Åkesson (SYMPHONITY; QUANTICE), but also Victor Smolski (ALMANAC, ex-RAGE), with a guitar solo on the first single-release „Throne Of Gold“.
„We are so satisfied and proud of it! Even though the last 3 years were not easy for the band, this is definitely not just a ""next"" Signum Regis"" album, we are a band, we are always aiming to create something special - for us and for fans“, comments guitarist Filip Koluš, who also mixed and produced the album.
„Beyond Spacetime“ is rounded up by an excellent artwork from Uwe Jarling, known for his work for acts like HEAVEN’S GATE, GRAVE DIGGER or recently FRONT ROW WARRIORS. „The result is awesome! We are definitely a band that considers the artwork a very important part of our artistic vision. Over the years this approach has only grown stronger, so having a real cover artist has become an absolute must for us“, comments Tommy.
SIGNUM REGIS will celebrate their 20th anniversary next year. „Beyond Spacetime“ already feels like kind of a best-of journey through their past, present and future. „We grew up on the values of traditional melodic metal - this focus will most probably never change“, says Filip Koluš and explains: „At the same time, we are also a group of great friends, who have a common goal - to make the best quality metal music together.“
Produced by François Tétaz and Luke Howard and recorded primarily at Melbourne's Synth Temple, Tina Arena's Way Of The World reimagines “True Faith” (New Order), “Way of the World” (Max Q / Michael Hutchence), “Enjoy the Silence” (Depeche Mode), “Ordinary World” (Duran Duran), “Torno Bambina” (Ada Mori) and “Cayendo” (Frank Ocean) through stunning orchestral arrangements, prepared piano, analogue synthesis and electronic textures.
Rather than traditional cover versions, these are complete artistic reimaginings that reaffirm Tina Arena as one of Australia's most expressive and enduring vocalists. Of first single “True Faith”, Tina says: “Making the deliberate choice to focus on the lyric of true faith was musically revelatory for me. It presented a blank musical canvas with endless vulnerability and space for me to explore.”
François Tétaz, a Grammy and ARIA-winning producer known for his work with Gotye, Kimbra and Architecture in Helsinki, contributes synthesisers, Rhodes, prepared piano and drum machines throughout, while pianist and composer Luke Howard shapes the EP's restrained, cinematic language. The pair are joined by an ensemble including the Budapest Art Orchestra, Peter Knight, James Rushford, Mindy Meng Wang and orchestrator Felix Watson, giving the collection its rich, orchestral backbone.
The EP announcement lands amid a landmark 50-year career anniversary for Tina — one of Australia's highest-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 10 million albums worldwide.
Colorize presents Echoes, the highly anticipated debut album from Massachusetts songwriter, producer and musician Jack Willard, a richly melodic body of work.
Jack Willard blends organic songwriting with modern electronic production, cinematic storytelling and immersive sound design, an emotionally driven style that has earned support from Above & Beyond, Tritonal, Yotto, Nora En Pure and Bob Moses since debut single Celsius, alongside airplay on SiriusXM Chill and BBC Radio 1 and millions of streams worldwide. The Massachusetts native made his Colorize debut in 2023 with Big Sky, an instrumental favourite still in regular SiriusXM Chill rotation, before expanding his sound on the Patterns EP with his first larger scale vocal collaborations, including fan favourites Everything All At Once and Wanna Know. Following performances across both U.S. coasts, Echoes arrives as Willard’s most ambitious project to date.
Of course everyone knows Kurt Hauenstein aka Supermax. He was one of the few Austrians to shape the sound of late-1970s disco, performing and selling records around the world. Not many know his daughters Judy and Nicola, however, and the fact that they in 1987 wrote a song that they recorded together with their father. Well, here it is: Cracy Coconuts, “Rubberdub Dance” – a true Hauenstein family affair. We are proud to re-release this super rare 7” that proves, once and for all, that Austrians can excel at digi-dub. Timelessly tropical and beautifully bouncy, its vibe is quite different from the iconic Supermax productions. Here, Judy and Nicola’s sweet yet confident vocals replace the moustache-driven sotto voce singing that we love Supermax for. The result is oh-so-catchy and bound to be a hit.
Drawn From Life, originally released on Virgin Records in 2001, was a full collaboration between Brian Eno and J. Peter Schwalm, the two having met through Eno’s longtime friend Rolf Engel. It will carry that joint billing for the first time. The album featured Holger Czukay, Laurie Anderson, Nell Catchpole and Leo Abrahams, and was supported by a tour taking in Porto and Lanzarote before a headline appearance at Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival. The rights to Drawn From Life reverted to Opal when Citigroup acquired EMI and the album has not been available since. The 2026 reissue will be available across all formats and includes the bonus track ‘Bloom (Instrumental)’.
BAUGRUPPE90 return to their MONTAGE imprint with a four-track release built around different shades of peak-time functionality, moving between emotional warehouse pressure, stripped-back bounce and rolling club mechanics. A1 “Crowd Can’t Sit Down” sets the tone with an emotional big-room charge: a warehouse stomper driven by scale, tension and a sense of release without losing its physical weight. “The Bell” follows with a cleaner, more direct approach, pairing old-school energy with a bouncy, forward-pushing groove and a distinct FM-driven sound that gives the track its sharp, instantly recognizable character. On the flip, “Gummy Cluster” moves into more unconventional territory. Built around inventive sound design, shifting textures and an unusual rhythmic vocabulary, the track functions as a club tool while maintaining a character of its own. Closing track “Roller” is exactly what its title suggests: a locked-in, propulsive groove designed to keep moving without unnecessary detours. Across four tracks, BAUGRUPPE90 balance personality with utility, keeping MONTAGE firmly focused on music made for the floor.
For more than 20 years, every CASPIAN album has been driven by a desire to stretch boundaries — a relentless ambition that's resulted in one of post-rock's most revered catalogs and established the Massachusetts quintet as an enduring, global force in the genre's modern era. On CASPIAN, the band’s first album in six years and debut for Wax Bodega, the more unexpected way forward was to stop searching for what they hadn’t yet done and instead trust what had defined them from the beginning.
The six-song, 39-minute effort draws freely from the musical vocabulary the band have spent their career writing: evocative melodic themes, dense textures, swelling crescendos and crushing heaviness that rolls in like a slow-moving storm on the horizon. But they still find new possibilities within those familiar contours, allowing patient development and repetition to carry as much weight as surprise. The nine-minute “Remain” turns a recurring melody into a sweeping study in tension and release, while “No One Left to Tell” layers subtle shifts around a hypnotic tremolo figure and “A Great Fire” sends serpentine guitars crashing into buzzsaw riffs. Even the graceful 3/4-time closer “Waltz for the End,” completed in a half-hour burst of inspiration, reflects the quiet confidence of five musicians comfortable enough in their skin to resist tearing everything down for the sake of reinvention, even as the circumstances surrounding them change dramatically.
Marcos Valle is one of those artists you simply can't overlook if you have even a passing interest in Brazilian music. Whether your taste leans toward bossa jazz, samba, psychedelic folk, or modern soul, Valle has surely recorded a great album for you. By the late 1960s he had already released enough outstanding records to secure a place among the greatest Brazilian artists of all time, but fortunately his career didn't stop there. He has continued recording fabulous albums over the following decades, right up to the present day. Widely regarded as one of the finest recordings in Marcos Valle's catalog, Vento Sul (1972) represents a pivotal moment in his artistic evolution, revealing a composer unafraid to reinvent himself and push the boundaries of Brazilian popular music. From the hypnotic title track to highlights such as "Democústico," "Revolução Orgânica," "Paisagem de Mariana," and "Pista O2," the album remains a breathtaking achievement whose influence continues to resonate more than five decades later. This reissue shines a well-deserved spotlight on a landmark recording -- an essential chapter in Brazilian music and an indispensable addition to any collection of psychedelic, progressive, jazz, or MPB classics. Pressed on 180g vinyl.
The “Kisses at Midnight” remix is an explosion of pure energy, designed for those who experience music directly on their skin. The track stands out for its rich sound design of open, sharp, and percussive sounds, capable of filling the room and creating a magnetic atmosphere from the very first seconds—thanks in no small part to the high-quality original sounds that define its sonic texture.
The real driving force of the track is its driving, arpeggiated rhythm: a continuous, hypnotic flow that doesn’t let you go for a single second, sweeping the listener into a non-stop journey from start to finish.
A physical and overwhelming track that hits you straight in the chest, giving no respite to anyone who wants to feel like an active part of the dancefloor.
– INCOGNITO
There are sounds that transcend time, capable of evoking entire worlds without needing any introduction. “Incognito” is exactly that: a visceral and modern tribute to the golden years of Italian progressive techno—an era that rewrote the rules of global clubbing.
The beating heart of the track lies in its hypnotic power. From the very first beats, you are captured by a perfect interplay of tight percussive rhythms and magnetic arpeggios, elements engineered to lock the listener to the groove and never let go. It is a continuous evolution, a sonic flow that destabilizes and fascinates, carrying us on a unique, mental journey.
Angelo Bass is an Italian DJ and producer known for his seamless blend of sophisticated electronica, house, and techno. After rising as a resident for the Push collective, he has graced the decks of top-tier clubs like Cocoricò, Sankeys Ibiza, and Veniceberg Verona. His production footprint is equally strong, featuring the highly supported “Drawn to the Floor EP” (Trend Records), his latest “Raw Luv EP” (Sengiley Wax), and key releases on Less Is More and Blackboard. Currently based in Ibiza, Angelo balances international club gigs with his role as an instructor at Accademia Italiana DJ.
Kito Jempere has spent more than two decades building a universe of his own, with releases on Mule Musiq, DFA and other influential labels, alongside remixes from Ewan Pearson and others. With Other People’s Aesthetics, that universe finally opens outward. After years of protecting his own musical language, Kito lets the outside world in—embracing the sounds, artists and scenes that have shaped him, from house and techno to Aphex Twin, Warp, Ninja Tune and Omar-S. The result is a personal universe merging with the world beyond it. The album opens with “Change For Now,” a collaboration with longtime friend Lipelis (L.I.E.S., Public Possession, Running Back), marking a friendship that has grown over the past decade. “Teaser,” originally released on Mule Musiq, returns in a new album “Dub” version, with fewer vocals and a stronger garage-house feel—a direct statement of love for David Lynch. “OPA” looks back to Kito’s original half-jazz, half-drum’n’bass sound and the Uniquetunes era of the early 2000s, alongside the music he absorbed from CDs by Amon Tobin, Squarepusher, Skalpel and The Cinematic Orchestra. “Listens To Selected Ambient Works Once” is a direct homage to Aphex Twin, given a Warehouse-style treatment for bigger dancefloors. “I’m Not A Doctor, Either,” featuring mishinuki—previously heard on Green Monster in its Moloko homage—builds towards an epic, euphoric string finale. “Kobayashi Porcelain” closes the record by combining memories of Usual Suspects with Moby-like atmosphere and an Omar-S-type beat. The release of Other People’s Aesthetics will be followed by a Japan tour in December 2026 and Kito Jempere’s ongoing residency at Honeycomb Hi-Fi in Dubai. Early support from: Ata, Reznik, Horse Meat Disco, Vladimir Ivkovic, Tim Sweeney, Max Pask, Rich Thair of Red Snapper, Ame, Ellen Allien, Benji B, John Tejada, The Blessed Madonna, Hard Ton
Fontaines D.C. announce their fifth studio album, Dopamine Chamber, released on 16th October via XL Recordings. Produced by James Ford, it is the follow-up to 2024’s UK platinum-certified Romance – and the sound of a band moving decisively away from the guitar language of their early records into something colder, stranger and more synthetic. It arrives today alongside lead single “Marianne” and its accompanying video, directed by Dave Meyers.
Dopamine Chamber arrives like a constellation behind undulating sighs of smog: potent balladry, anthemic melodies glinting through the murk. In a world tipping towards collapse, it asks how pleasure mutates amid peril—and what our pursuit of it reveals about us. Across the album, Fontaines D.C. – Grian Chatten, Carlos O’Connell, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan and Tom Coll – move between gratification and dread until the two meld together, reflecting the overwhelm of artificial intelligence, environmental collapse and political violence all riding the same algorithms as memes, jokes and celebrity culture. “The album itself is a dopamine chamber,” says Chatten. “You step inside and we test these different mind- or mood-altering pieces of music on you.”
Where Romance held its tension in balance, this record tips it. “I think Romance was maybe 60 per cent human and 40 per cent corrupted by automation, and a loss of feeling,” says Chatten, who spent time among the faded grandeur of Venice, Vienna and Sicily in search of lyrical inspiration. “This one feels more like 60 per cent corrupted — the mask is wearing the face a little more.” He resisted any pull towards easy optimism: “I felt it would be more powerful to leave the hope out and reflect the ugliness honestly. This one needed to feel more like a catastrophic warning.”
“Our albums have always questioned a sense of place,” says bassist Conor Deegan. “First Dublin, then being away from Dublin, and then trying to find the romance elsewhere. On this record, the question became: where do you escape to?” Into the self, perhaps – or hedonism, fantasy, cosmetic perfection, eternal youth or the endless refresh of a screen.
Fontaines D.C. have spent five albums refusing to repeat themselves – from Dogrel (2019) through A Hero’s Death (2020), the No. 1 Skinty Fia (2022) and the anarchic, kaleidoscopic Romance (2024). Dopamine Chamber is their most radical turn yet: cold synthesiser tones, marching drums, samples and triggers, several songs with no guitars at all, and the swooning strings of 1960s Italian pop pulled into something synthetic. For guitarist Conor Curley, the aim was to break from the band’s own reference points: “I was trying to find stuff that pointed into the future.” It was made with James Ford between London, the English countryside and Palermo, where Chatten recorded vocals in a makeshift booth built from mattresses and cushions.
“There’s a poignant sense of us being on the brink of some other kind of form of humanity, or non-humanity,” says Chatten. For their fifth album, Fontaines D.C. have built the chamber. What happens to the listener inside it will be the experiment.
Fontaines D.C. announce their fifth studio album, Dopamine Chamber, released on 16th October via XL Recordings. Produced by James Ford, it is the follow-up to 2024’s UK platinum-certified Romance – and the sound of a band moving decisively away from the guitar language of their early records into something colder, stranger and more synthetic. It arrives today alongside lead single “Marianne” and its accompanying video, directed by Dave Meyers.
Dopamine Chamber arrives like a constellation behind undulating sighs of smog: potent balladry, anthemic melodies glinting through the murk. In a world tipping towards collapse, it asks how pleasure mutates amid peril—and what our pursuit of it reveals about us. Across the album, Fontaines D.C. – Grian Chatten, Carlos O’Connell, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan and Tom Coll – move between gratification and dread until the two meld together, reflecting the overwhelm of artificial intelligence, environmental collapse and political violence all riding the same algorithms as memes, jokes and celebrity culture. “The album itself is a dopamine chamber,” says Chatten. “You step inside and we test these different mind- or mood-altering pieces of music on you.”
Where Romance held its tension in balance, this record tips it. “I think Romance was maybe 60 per cent human and 40 per cent corrupted by automation, and a loss of feeling,” says Chatten, who spent time among the faded grandeur of Venice, Vienna and Sicily in search of lyrical inspiration. “This one feels more like 60 per cent corrupted — the mask is wearing the face a little more.” He resisted any pull towards easy optimism: “I felt it would be more powerful to leave the hope out and reflect the ugliness honestly. This one needed to feel more like a catastrophic warning.”
“Our albums have always questioned a sense of place,” says bassist Conor Deegan. “First Dublin, then being away from Dublin, and then trying to find the romance elsewhere. On this record, the question became: where do you escape to?” Into the self, perhaps – or hedonism, fantasy, cosmetic perfection, eternal youth or the endless refresh of a screen.
Fontaines D.C. have spent five albums refusing to repeat themselves – from Dogrel (2019) through A Hero’s Death (2020), the No. 1 Skinty Fia (2022) and the anarchic, kaleidoscopic Romance (2024). Dopamine Chamber is their most radical turn yet: cold synthesiser tones, marching drums, samples and triggers, several songs with no guitars at all, and the swooning strings of 1960s Italian pop pulled into something synthetic. For guitarist Conor Curley, the aim was to break from the band’s own reference points: “I was trying to find stuff that pointed into the future.” It was made with James Ford between London, the English countryside and Palermo, where Chatten recorded vocals in a makeshift booth built from mattresses and cushions.
“There’s a poignant sense of us being on the brink of some other kind of form of humanity, or non-humanity,” says Chatten. For their fifth album, Fontaines D.C. have built the chamber. What happens to the listener inside it will be the experiment.
Label head Len Faki joins forces with Icelandic dub techno pioneer Exos for Infinity In Loop, a joint exploration into cavernous depths and shifting tonal landscapes.
Two versions of the title track fill the entire A-side, each unfolding with patient intent. Drifting across icy atmospheres and static hums, Infinity In Loop’s first incarnation slowly builds into a mesmerizing, minimalistic loop—punctuated by delicate percussion and a faint, comforting sprinkle of melodic warmth amidst the arctic chill. The second iteration leans more into a classic 90s dub techno framework, launching straight into a steady pulse anchored by echoing chord pairs and crisp, high-energy percussion.
On the B-side, the duo shifts towards raw, dancefloor-driven territory. Aurora delivers impressive tension with dry, jacking rhythms, snappy percussion, and haunting vocal fragments cut up to drive the groove forward. Closing out the EP, Circuit Flux pairs sub-heavy low-end with unpredictable rave energy. Nostalgic 90s vocal cues, pitched-up hooks, and fidgety FX swell and recede over staunch synths—creating a dynamic, deeply layered track that constantly shifts between space and peak-time momentum.
The Lemonheads release a strictly limited edition 12” single on 21st September featuring three classic tracks on white vinyl. Lead cut is ‘Roky’, Evan Dando’s homage to the late, great outsider genius Roky Erickson (of garage psyche legends 13th Floor Elevator and much solo strangeness).
"If Roky Erickson had vanished from the face of the earth after The 13th Floor Elevators released their epochal debut single, ‘You're Gonna Miss Me’, in early 1966, in all likelihood he'd still be regarded as a legend among garage rock fanatics for his primal vocal wailing and feral harmonica work." AllMusic
‘Roky’ is Evan's incisive take on the songwriter’s struggles and features a searing guitar break from the song's co-writer Nick Saloman (The Bevis Frond)
The Bevis Frond toured with The Lemonheads in support of the latter’s much-praised ‘Love Chant’ album of 2025 from where ‘Roky’ originally comes. And, to complete this unique package, the Frond cover two Lemonheads’ songs, ‘The Great Big No’ and ‘My Drug Buddy’; both sounding like the kind of UK-based left field power pop that inspired Kurt Cobain in the formative days of grunge – indeed, they could have snook out on the original Rough Trade or 53rd & 3rd labels at any time.
Fact fans looking for Roky-styled curveball ley line between events, might note that The Lemonheads covered The Bevis Frond’s ‘Old Man Blank’ on 2019’s ‘Varshons II’, the same year that Roky sadly passed.
Stars & Quotes:
“One of the most distinctive voices of the ‘90s” The New York Times
“The Lemonheads are one of my favorite bands” Jimmy Fallon
“Gloriously euphoric melancholy” MOJO (on Roky)
Featuring Defected's very first UK No.1 chart single; the Ibiza classic 'Another Chance' from Roger Sanchez, Dennis Ferrer's anthemic mix of Fish Go Deep's 'The Cure & The Cause', Blaze & Barbara Tucker's huge 'Most Precious Love' and Kings of Tomorrow's 'Fall For You'. Those vocal hits sit perfectly alongside underground cuts from Maya Jane Coles who takes on MK's '4 You', Osunlade's 'Envision', Mr V's NYC classic 'Jus Dance' and the Karizma & DJ Spen's '4 The Love'. For the first time in its 27- year history , Defected compiles its greatest hits, underground anthems and bonafide house music classics into a 5 volume triple vinyl collectors series.
After two highly praised singles on consecutive Razor-N-Tape Family Affair compilations, Dennis Liber brings his signature tropical disco sound to the Astro Danza EP, his first solo outing on the label. Inspired by years living in and creating community in the Caribbean, the EP brings together an international crew of musical cohorts to take listeners on a journey through different shades of paradise. From the hypnotic night time energy of the title track, to the tropical joy of Être Heureux (with a standout remix from French producer Anoraak), and the dreamy celebration of feminine freedom in Femme Papillon, the Astro Danza EP is the cosmic and sensual sound of endless summer!
Last year Dave Charlesworth sent me loads of his DAT's and I spent days recording them. On one DAT the tracks were saved as TTR004 A and B. But I knew that Time Travel Records only had 3 releases. What were these mystery tunes??? Dave couldn't remember if they had been released or not, I was confident that they weren't but sought the help of The Oracle - Dave Birch. He said they hadn't been released on vinyl and that H20 appeared 20 years ago as an MP3 on a CDR Dave was selling.
The tracks were so good that I had to share them with you all - so check these out - originally made in 1993 and finally released in 2026! Enjoy :)
Orbe Records presents its most ambitious release to date: a special edition vinyl signed by its founder and main catalyst, Orbe. Comprising 4 meticulously crafted tracks, this record stands as the Andalusian artist's most mature work since his beginnings in the electronic music scene.
Far from looking back, this EP is a definitive statement of intent—a sonic manifesto that clearly outlines the artistic direction and evolution towards which Orbe is driving his sound. The record is a total immersion into hypnotic, deep techno, engineered for both physical trance on the dancefloor and mental introspection.
Through cyclical sequences, organic textures, and flawless rhythmic architecture, every cut on this vinyl shuns passing trends to reclaim a techno with a truly timeless vocation. An essential collector's item capturing an artist at the absolute peak of his creative maturity.
Overleaf is the new album by Paris-based musician Théo Martin, following Anti Atlas, released on LAAPS two years ago.
Overleaf was recorded over the course of a few intense months in 2026. Every recording made during this period eventually found its place within the album, transformed, fragmented and reassembled, sometimes far removed from its original form. The process gradually became a kind of puzzle, built from accumulated sounds, accidents and imperfections.
Tape remains at the heart of the album, but this time it is intertwined with a more extensive use of digital tools, opening new paths for transformation and layering.
Overleaf is about carrying what remains into what is yet to come.
On January 17th, 2026, Grammy Award-winning hip-hop icon Lupe Fiasco joined Miami’s Nu Deco Ensemble, a hybrid orchestra dedicated to reimagining music from all genres, for a special concert at Miami Bandshell. This Juneteenth, Lupe and Nu Deco will release the recording for the whole world to hear, presenting Lupe Fiasco’s hits and new classics as they have never been heard before. Invigorated by the backing of the 33-person full orchestra, led by conductor Jacomo Bairos, Lupe forcefully rhymes every word of career highlights like “Daydreamin’,” “Kick, Push,” and “Paris, Tokyo,” emphasizing the musicality innate to Lupe’s tongue-twisting bars. In addition, Lupe presents unique live versions of new hits, including “Samurai,” from his critically acclaimed 2024 album of the same title, and “SOS,” an outtake released for the first time on 2025’s Samurai DX. The Nu Deco version of 2015’s “Dots & Lines” begins with a solo guitar exhibition from Aaron Lebos, while songs like “Daydreamin’” and thrilling closer “Superstar” benefit from the powerful pipes of backing vocalist Kelley Kessell and J Howard. The 9-track set is a scorcher, reaffirming Lupe’s status as one of the most proficient and electrifying live performers in hip-hop today.
Richly progressive folk-informed heavy post-rock and a sick burn to boot. - The Obelisk Rebecca Vernon (SubRosa), the driving creative force behind THE KEENING returns with her second album, Devotion. The new album sees Vernon and company releasing one of the year's most evocative albums; a truly compelling mix of slow burning, ethereal post-rock, folk, goth, and soaring doom. For Vernon, the writing process for Devotion took place in two starkly different environments. It ranged from the contemplative solitude of a friend’s cabin in a deserted Idaho ski resort, to the hectic reality of a 55+ senior living community in Spokane, Washington, where she was staying with her father. This shift resulted in an explosive album with a subtle duality that resonates throughout its most poignant moments. Take the lead single, "A Little Bit of Blood," for example. Quiet, acoustic guitar strums give way for Vernon's haunting vocals, before the backing instrumentation explodes into a soaring chorus reminding the listener that sometimes the best paths taken are the most difficult. "You drew a little bit of blood to show me Just a little bit of blood to make me see It took a little bit of blood to wake me Just a little wound in the night to free me" In a 2024 interview with Decibel Magazine, Vernon discussed the drastic shift in heavy music's themes in recent years, highlighting a willingness to convey raw emotion: "Metal is beginning to share more vulnerable things, more confessional things. Metal has almost become a safe place to talk about those things. People are being open with their struggles. Twenty years ago, they wouldn't have." Devotion lays these emotional confessions bare and showcases a truly bright burn. Devotion was recorded in April 2022, again at Hallowed Halls in Portland, with Billy Anderson and Nathan Carson featured in their same roles as heard on Little Bird. Once again, Vernon showcases her writing prowess, having a heavy hand on all the instrumentation for Devotion; Vernon played drums, guitar, piano, organ, and hammered dulcimer, and provided most of the vocals on both albums, with a few guest vocalists added to the mix.
John Diva & The Rockets of Love make a triumphant return with their explosive new album “Your Favorite Drug”, set for release via Frontiers Records. Bursting with attitude, swagger, and unapologetic energy, the band delivers a full-throttle hard rock experience that feels both timeless and electrifyingly fresh. Packed with massive hooks, soaring choruses, and razor-sharp riffs, “Your Favorite Drug” showcases the band at the peak of their songwriting power. Standout tracks like “Bigger Than America” and “The Devil’s Got My Back” emerge as true anthems, destined to ignite stages and thrill every hard rock fan with their infectious energy and sing-along choruses. Produced by Hannes Braun, the album captures a polished yet gritty sound that perfectly amplifies the band’s larger-than-life personality. This is more than a comeback — it’s a statement. John Diva & The Rockets of Love are back, louder, bolder, and more addictive than ever. One of the best hard rock releases of the year!
With over 26 years, 8 full-length albums and performances in 40+ countries, GOTHMINISTER is regarded as “one of the most iconic gothic/industrial acts” (Terra Relicta). For the first time, the entire album is fully recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Bjørn Alexander Brem himself – delivering the raw and uncompromising sound he always envisioned. Gothminister, an acclaimed icon in the gothic industrial metal scene, delivers a monumental masterpiece with “We are all Demons.” This 11-track album plunges into the depths of our inner darkness, revealing that we all carry demons beneath the surface. Through its bold thematic arc, the album urges listeners to confront their darkness, embrace strength within it, and emerge fearless. Musically, it’s a powerful fusion of gothic industrial metal and modern EDM elements. Expect ferocious synths, thunderous drums, and industrial guitars that cut like steel. Screaming vocals intertwine with female duets, soaring operatic moments, and grand choral sections. All of this creates a dark yet beautiful atmosphere—one that culminates in unity and completion. This is not just an album; it’s a legendary sonic journey, cementing Gothminister’s iconic status.
Two dancefloor bombs, recorded in Peru in the mid-'70s by bandleader, producer, and keyboardist Otto de Rojas. It's no coincidence that "Choca las caderas" was originally released as a single backed with "Al ritmo del Bump-Bump," a clear tribute to the classic "Soulful Strut," making the artist's affinity for the soul and funk sounds coming out of the States unmistakable. "Choca las caderas" is made for dancing and partying hard, with irresistible horn arrangements and an incredibly groovy rhythm section. "El tema de Coco" is another superb instrumental recorded by Otto de Rojas, who plays the electric pianos and Moog on this track.
These two tracks are now reissued together on a 45 for the first time.
Celebrating Rekids’ 300th release and 20th anniversary, Detroit legend Robert Hood and Rekids boss Matt Edwards aka Radio Slave collaborate for the first time on the double-A side ‘Radio Hood’.
First appearing on Rekids with iconic remixes of Radio Slave’s ‘Don’t Stop No Sleep’ in 2015, followed by Floorplan remixes of ‘Feel The Same’ in 2017, Hood went on to drop two EPs and the critically acclaimed ‘Mirror Man’ LP between 2020 and 2021. Now, a long-gestated collaboration between the two producers arrives as ‘Radio Hood’ complete with an alternative ‘Version’ mix.
While Radio Slave and Robert Hood are best known for a minimalist approach, ‘Radio Hood’ and ‘Radio Hood’ (Version) flip the script with rich, maximalist textures and sweeping synths. The lead track is spacious, with unmistakable and persistent stabs pulsing from start to finish, whilst Version is an indulgent, nine-minute-fifty-two stunner with sweeping, emotive strings, a subtly growling Reece bassline and serious emotional impact.
Folksongs and Ballads by Tia Blake & Her Folk-Group, is more than just a “lost classic”. As clear and honest as can be, Folksongs and Ballads is a magnetic record, a refuge like only Nick Drake, Nico, and a few others have been able to create. A graceful, delicately minimalist approach to classic Appalachian and British folk songs.The perfect balance between melancholy and daydream. Originally released only in France in 1971, Ici Bientôt is very pleased to present the first-ever reissue on vinyl.
When she recorded her only album, Tia Blake was nineteen years old and had just arrived in Paris a year and a half beforehand. She spent most of her time at Disco’Thé, a record shop in the Latin Quarter, a free space, peaceful and inspiring, a hub for students as well as the local artistic community.
There, Tia would occasionally sing—when she managed to overcome her shyness. Two young guitarists who were passionate fans of folk music and regulars at the shop began to accompany her, forming “Her Folk Group.” One year later, they cut 11 tracks at Pierre Barouh’s Studios Saravah.
Folksongs and Ballads is composed of traditional tunes that have been covered many times, but they’re not the best-known folk standards. A collection of stories ranging from the Middle Ages to the 1960s, bringing together sublimely doleful ballads, lamentations for a lost lover, and an unexpected, brilliant version of the road anthem “Plastic Jesus.”
Tia Blake's haunting, unaffected voice captivates and comforts us, wrapping us in its cool embrace. Meanwhile, the tasteful, stripped-down, mellow acoustic arrangements provided by the guitarists, reminiscent of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, occasionally supported by a kena flute, have created the space Tia Blake needed to reinvent these traditional songs.
Folksongs and Ballads is a timeless record, deep and unique, a longtime companion for repeated listening, in the vein of works by Sibylle Baier, Bridget St. John and Vashti Bunyan.
Discrepant presents Fantarombo, a new album by Giovanni Lami.
While his previous works often moved through memory, residue, degradation, and dialogue with existing materials, Fantarombo takes shape as an unstable, bodily gesture.
Sound is not recalled or reconstructed, but triggered, pushed, and set in motion as an active force. Lami approaches modular synthesis as a physical, hands-on practice rather than a technical exercise or display of system mastery. The modular setup becomes a responsive body: something to be nudged, listened to, and occasionally resisted.
The pieces unfold through slow accumulations, unstable feedback paths, and carefully misaligned sequences. Rather than driving toward resolution, the music lingers in states of suspension, allowing small shifts in voltage, timing, and texture to reshape the whole. Chance and duration play a central role, with structure emerging gradually from repetition and drift.
There is an unmistakably organic quality to the sound: porous, tactile, and quietly resonant. A sensitivity to space, grain, and micro-movement, where subtle changes carry as much weight as overt gestures. On Fantarombo, process takes precedence over control, and the circuitry is allowed to speak back, resulting in music that feels intimate, unstable, and quietly insistent, revealing itself slowly through sustained attention.
A music of unresolved behaviours, suspended somewhere between obsolete digital optimism, imaginary systems and malfunctioning computational folklore.
“High Spirits” zeigt eine ungewöhnliche, nicht minder faszinierende Seite des jamaikanisch-britischen Altsaxophonisten Joe Harriott, eines der großen Originale des britischen Jazz. Nach seinen bahnbrechenden
Free-Form-Experimenten widmete sich Harriott hier acht Songs aus dem gleichnamigen Musical von Hugh
Martin und Timothy Gray. Mit Shake Keane an Trompete und Flügelhorn, Coleridge Goode am Bass
und Bobby Orr am Schlagzeug ist Harriotts klassisches Quintett in Bestform zu hören. Aufgenommen
im September 1964 und 1965 als Teil der von Denis Preston betreuten Lansdowne Series veröffentlicht,
verbindet das Album melodische Zugänglichkeit mit souveränem Post-Bop und brillanten Improvisationen.
The voraciously prolific Brit producer Four Tet returns to his untypeable-but-highly-listenable windings alias for this surprise new album on his own Text label. Remaining as a vinyl-only LP for now, and currently limited to 2000 copies, it was announced just a week or so ahead of the release. No track titles or details and a bucket load of vibes and strange ideas. Opening softly with gentle eastern instrumentation, he gradually pulls us deeper and deeper into his unique universe with every bendy frequency and strange accent. By the time we're three tracks in, we're bopping away to big bodied dubstep/garage mutations laced with chimes and all kinds of textures that only Keiran Hebden would choose to use. The B-side bares a similar varied, opened-hearted soul as we move from bumping club grooves to slo-mo ethereal shuffles that wouldn't sound out of place in a cathedral. Textbook Text. Grab this if you can, it won't hang around
Following two 7” releases, Silsila Dubs presents its first 12”: Redemption / Memories. Two rhythms, each with a main cut and a dub version.
Drawing on the UK roots sound of the 90's, Redemption leads the A-side with a warrior-style rhythm and meditative melodica played by Silsila Dubs’ Govind Singh. On the B-side, Memories picks up the pace. Inspired by the tunes we grew up listening to, it brings a more lively, jumpy energy to the sound system.
Following the release, you can catch Silsila Dubs with the Mya Hi-Fi crew as they string up for the first time on 23rd October at Brook House in Hayes.
To kick off our 5th year party celebrations the label begins its new set of releases starting with the joined forces of Regal86 and IMOGEN. The artists contribute two tracks each to the four track vinyl alongside remixes of each other's work, meeting at sonic crossroads.
The EP journeys through rave nostalgia filled with warmth and hope for the future, recollecting some favourite memories of the dance floor.
The A side is fast, driving with a sense of longing for the Halcyon Days and the offline times of partying when things felt easier. The release opens with ‘One Night In 1992’, IMOGEN’s nostalgic ode to an earlier rave era, built around a vocal recollection of her mother’s experiences on the dancefloor in the 90’s. Raw, hazy and deeply personal, it sets the tone for a record rooted in memory while remaining firmly in the present. Regal86 follows with ‘Rush’, bringing a different energy to the record. Driven by rolling rhythms, playful movement and a strong sense of groove.
The B side takes a more optimistic turn looking into the future with dubby aquatic pads and euphoric breakdowns, carrying a feeling of forward motion. There is a lightness to the tracks, a sense of joy running beneath NC Station and keeping the momentum locked whilst turning inwards on the final track, IMOGEN’s ‘Midnight At Bret’ rounds out a release that moves naturally between nostalgia, propulsion and the shared language of the dance floor.
As the next release launches, IMOGEN takes wigs on tour for a five year special run of shows starting on release at Tresor for a two club take over following with further cities: London, Milan, Dublin and more.
In The Dark Again continues to stand for timeless electronic music at its finest. Release No. 14 is yet another testament to that.
The journey begins with the stunning anthem «Tomb of Ligeia» by Scottish artist Sebastian Swarm.
Next up is synth master Heinrich Dressel, delivering the beautifully melancholic and effortlessly cool «Elka Snow Cat.»
Electro hero Konerytmi rounds off Side A with a deep and bleepy cut.
The flip side opens with the massive, brooding «Ruined Horizons» by Be Dellow, a project by Violet Poison, whom the label fans will also know as Bakunin Commando.
Another familiar face brings the record to a close: Igors Vorobjovs, whose unmistakable sci-fi electro never fails to captivate.
On its latest album »Music For Air«, the Berlin-based interdisciplinary duo Gamut Inc explores new possibilities of the computer-controlled pipe organ — from hypervirtuoso excess to nuanced automation and rhythms beyond the fixed grid. Composed and recorded during a two-week residency in Toulouse, the pieces move between harmony and noise, conjuring a euphorically intoxicating maelstrom of overlapping, accelerating sound.
Gamut Inc’s work with the computer-controlled organ actually began in 2009 with a commission from ON – Neue Musik Köln for the Kunst-Station Sankt Peter — at a time when few congregations were ready to open their instruments to this kind of work. When the duo of Marion Wörle and Maciej Śledziecki officially founded the ensemble in 2013 as an interdisciplinary project, they first developed their own music machines with instrument builder Gerhard Kern, returning to the organ in 2018 when more churches and venues had opened their doors … and Gamut Inc carried their practice across Europe and beyond, developing AGGREGATE (first a concert series and then an annual festival) into a platform dedicated to organ music of the 21st century.
Sharpening a critique of mechanisation, digitality, and the human in between, the project is conceived around the construction of pre-modern instruments and the control of these instruments by contemporary technologies, resulting in an aesthetic that bridges the very old and the very new. Recent works include the human-machine trilogy »Over The Edge Club« (2021), »Rossum’s Universal Robots« (2022), and »Zeroth Law« (2023, performed at Deutsche Oper Berlin with the RIAS Chamber Choir and the Logos Robot Orchestra), and »Black Square« (2025), a wind-dynamic modular organ built by Tony Decap, inaugurated at CTM Festival and broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur and SWR Kultur. Their organ installation AGGREGAT#10, commissioned by Sónar Festival, was acquired for the permanent collection of Palau Güell Barcelona in 2022.
Gamut Inc’s latest album »Music For Air« was composed and recorded during a two-week residency in Toulouse on the wind-dynamic organ »L’Explorateur«, with individually computer-controlled wind pressure per pipe. The seven pieces move between harmony and noise, conjuring a euphorically intoxicating maelstrom of overlapping, accelerating sound and again exploring new possibilities of the computer-controlled pipe organ — from hypervirtuoso excess to nuanced automation and rhythms beyond the fixed grid. Sensual and ecstatic.
Great new Klakson release! Sneakthief rocks it with some 80's New York disco Funk with a twist (Think D-train, Kano, Putsch 79). File under House and Disco. Klakson brings back the good times
Artlab continues the celebration of its 10th anniversary with the highly anticipated second installment of its commemorative vinyl series. Building on the momentum of the inaugural release, this follow-up collection further cements the cultural center’s status as a beacon for cutting-edge sound, bringing together a refined selection of artists who perfectly embody the club’s forward-thinking electronic spirit.
The journey begins on the A-Side with the legendary Voigtmann, who steps up to deliver "Casual," an electro-tinged, hypnotic bomer designed to lock the dancefloor into a steady, driving trance. Following this peak-time intensity, Mateo Dufour—undoubtedly a man of the moment—takes the reins with "Space Child." Infused with classy, mysterious house vibes, the track offers a sophisticated sonic texture that bridges the gap between deep atmosphere and rhythmic precision.
Turning the record over, Franco Cinelli commands the B1 slot with "Ecos Perdidos." A master of his craft, Cinelli presents a dub-infused, hypnotic number that explores deep, resonant soundscapes, perfectly showcasing the label’s commitment to underground innovation. To close out this second anniversary chapter, Revivis brings us "L.T.F.U." A classy, driving production that captures an infectious energy, making it an essential anthem for the summer season and beyond.
With this second installment, Artlab reaffirms its dedication to its multidisciplinary roots, providing a diverse yet cohesive listening experience that continues to define the next decade of its artistic journey.
For the last decade and change, Lazarusman has steadily worked his way towards becoming a seminal voice in electronic music. In that time, he has left no genre untouched, bringing his brand of metaphysical, pun-heavy, imagery-driven, uplifting poetry to audiences across the globe.
These exploits have earned him a 2021 Grammy nomination and countless chart-topping records with some of the most remarkable producers in the industry.
His debut album, Skin, is an exploration of identity. Lazarusman questions his place in the world, reflecting on growing up in a now-free South Africa. The album touches on colourism, racism, faith, love and the existential crisis of existing in a divided world.
The album is also a celebration of the many genres that inspire his poetry from deep, tech and Afro house to breakbeats and jazz. But it is equally a celebration of the word, and the power it carries.
“A man is only as good as his word.”This quote epitomises Lazarusman’s honest approach to an album that reflects the last 15 years of his career. With productions from FKA Mash, Stimming, Dwson, Boogie Vice, Zitow Mowa, Axone and Johannes Brecht, Lazarusman presents a kaleidoscope of sounds.
DJ support by Keinemusik, Stimming, Acid Pauli, Xinobi, Stavroz, Xique Xique, Paco Osuna, and many more.
Rich Oddie (Orphx) and Dave Foster (Huren/Teste) reunite for their electronic-industrial punk project, O/H.
NO CONTACT LP - is a live compilation that captures the raw energy of their performances between 2011 and 2019. This intense anthology distills the essence of their sound: noise driven electronic power, relentless rhythms, and obsessive vocals. For the first time, this fury is preserved on a double vinyl with a special edition.
Fosters gritty vocals clash with Oddies dark sound
manipulations, reflecting a world on the edge of collapse a bleak view of modern civilization embodied in their
uncompromising music.
Let's dive into the third act of the KR3 Fifth Anniversary
celebration
Love or its absence dominates the intimate songs on the new album from ARBORIST – the musical outlet of Mark McCambridge. Looking For Love, Arborist’s fourth album of exquisitely inventive Americana, places us firmly in his hometown of Belfast, allowing it to act as a microcosm of the wider-world, with all its foibles and charms. We find fictional protagonists scouring the dark corners of the city, wiling-away afternoons in strip clubs, wandering the streets in all weather and reflecting on the harsh reality of modern society, all in search of an elusive love – emphasising our need for it now more than ever.
Looking for Love is ARBORIST’s first album to be self-produced by McCambridge, largely from his home studio in Belfast – and at times it feels like we are in the room with him. It’s a different kind of record for him as previously he has always sought collaboration; whether it be with Kim Deal who chose to sing intertwined harmony on his debut single “Twisted Arrow”, or recording in The Curfew Tower owned by The KLF’s Bill Drummond who described Mark’s songwriting as being “riven with more loss than any record since Leonard Cohen quit this world”, and who Matthew E White and his Spacebomb band collaborated with to such astonishing effect on the previous Arborist LP, 2023’s An Endless Sequence of Dead Zeros, winner of the prestigious Northern Ireland Music Prize. This time, with no outside producer steering the way, McCambridge found that the quiet hours were where he felt most at ease, despite periods of trial and error, and, by his own admission, moments of feeling genuinely lost in it all.
Despite playing many of the parts himself, McCambridge still called upon old friends from the community around him; Spacebomb’s resident bassist Cameron Ralston (Bonnie Light Horseman, Hiss Golden Messenger) again features throughout the record, alongside Eamon Ferris (The Waterboys) on drums, with the great and the good from Belfast’s vibrant music scene. Grainne Meyer plays concert harp and Aga Olek plays violin for the quasi-title track “Looking 4 Love” – an off-kilter love-letter to Belfast. Meilana Gillard provides a sleazy saxophone on “Bye Bye Johnny Cash” – a seedy tale of a man obsessively visiting a dancer in a club, and The Larne Community Youth Choir provide backing vocals for “Go Kill The Fatted Calf” – a song Mark wrote about his son growing up, a take on the parable of the prodigal son, with Jonny Ashe’s blistering guitar solo adding an album highlight. The Errigal Ensemble String Quartet and Aisling Agnew’s breathtaking flute solo feature on “What Is It You’re Asking” – a song about love, or its absence, both personally and universally in these times.
McCambridge was recently honoured with a “Fellowship” by the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University Belfast where he collaborated with such illustrious names from the literary world as Nick Laird, Caoilinn Hughes and Conor McPherson. Through the University he was given access to the music department's Steinways and pipe organs, and decided to try one out for the album’s centrepiece “I’ve Been A Flaneur”. As Mark explains, "The drone on the pipe organ — and the sound of it starting and stopping — was so visceral that I decided to try a half-written song against it right there and then, and this came out in one take… The song was a breakthrough artistically - I don't think I'll ever record in the same way again after this."
The album was engineered by longtime collaborator Ben McAuley (Van Morrison) and mixed by Jimmy Robertson (Anna Calvi, Beth Gibbons, Fat Dog). The results are staggering, devastating and uplifting in equal measure, calling to mind albums such as Songs Ohia’s Magnolia Electric Co., The Divine Comedy’s Regeneration, The Blue Nile’s Hats and Wilco’s Ode to Joy, as well as early-70s records from John Cale, John Lennon and Bill Fay.
Belfast native Mark McCambridge played his first show as Arborist supporting James Yorkston. A solo tour followed, and impressive performances led to notable support slots alongside Low, Cat Power, Echo & The Bunnymen and Guy Garvey. Arborist's debut single, the Americana-tinged "Twisted Arrow," caught the attention of the critics with an astonishing duet with Kim Deal of The Breeders. The debut album Home Burial (2016) and its follow-up, A Northern View, both received glowing praise, from The Guardian ("instant classic" ----) to MOJO ("devastatingly bleak… upliftingly beautiful" ----) to Uncut (8/10), with BBC 6 Music play from Cerys Matthews, Cillian Murphy, Lauren Laverne, Radcliffe and Maconie and Gideon Coe — and Steve Lamacq calling single "Taxi" "one of those records that makes you immediately stop what you're doing." He went on to even greater success with the 2023 Northern Irish Music Prize winning third LP, An Endless Sequence of Dead Zeroes, which was recorded at SpaceBomb Studios in Virginia with musician and producer Matthew E White. For his fourth LP, Looking For Love, he has signed with Fika Recordings and with a tour approaching in November, 2026 looks set to be a seminal year for the Irish artist.
On Dummy’s new album, do you love the color of the sky?, the Los Angeles-based 5-piece deliver a breathtaking piece of work that introduces new textures and rhythms to their already varied and refined catalog. For the band’s third album, and first for new label home Polyvinyl, the group split time between self-recording at their home studio as well as Studio 22, linking up with frequent collaborator and engineer Joo-Joo Ashworth (Corridor, Automatic, Spiral XP). The band focused on intentionality and experimentation, exploring downtempo dance beats and electronic music while pushing the guitar as far as they could, using new self-sampling and processing techniques. Percussionist Alex Ewell’s overall sound design and production skills can be heard across the album, with layered drum sounds and rhythmic tremolo techniques shining throughout. Tracks like “Full Spectrum Dominance” and “Alluvial Fan” showcase the band’s tasteful pop sensibilities, while closing track “Heaven’s What You Make Of
It” features perhaps the strongest vocal delivery yet from vocalist/keyboardist
Emma Maatman. Additionally, the dynamic exchange between guitarists Joe Trainor and Nathan O’Dell is absolutely gorgeous, adding a new layer of immersion and directness that is unlike anything the band has done before. The result is Dummy’s most ethereal and sincere record to date, with more feminine and delicate undertones that sit beautifully alongside the gritty and noisy textures the band has become known for. Dummy has been praised in numerous outlets such as Paste, Stereogum, Aquarium Drunkard and Pitchfork, who described their second album, Free Energy, as “the
sound of a band turning all its potential energy into music that’s dazzlingly kinetic and powerful." The band has toured the US, UK, and EU extensively, with festival appearances at Austin Psych Fest, Treefort Music Festival, and others. In addition to larger outlets and festivals, the band’s strong ties to community and DIY ethos are ever-present, oftentimes preferring to play and connect with different local artists on tour, uplifting those around them while shining a light on the history of independent music.
On Dummy’s new album, do you love the color of the sky?, the Los Angeles-based 5-piece deliver a breathtaking piece of work that introduces new textures and rhythms to their already varied and refined catalog. For the band’s third album, and first for new label home Polyvinyl, the group split time between self-recording at their home studio as well as Studio 22, linking up with frequent collaborator and engineer Joo-Joo Ashworth (Corridor, Automatic, Spiral XP). The band focused on intentionality and experimentation, exploring downtempo dance beats and electronic music while pushing the guitar as far as they could, using new self-sampling and processing techniques. Percussionist Alex Ewell’s overall sound design and production skills can be heard across the album, with layered drum sounds and rhythmic tremolo techniques shining throughout. Tracks like “Full Spectrum Dominance” and “Alluvial Fan” showcase the band’s tasteful pop sensibilities, while closing track “Heaven’s What You Make Of
It” features perhaps the strongest vocal delivery yet from vocalist/keyboardist
Emma Maatman. Additionally, the dynamic exchange between guitarists Joe Trainor and Nathan O’Dell is absolutely gorgeous, adding a new layer of immersion and directness that is unlike anything the band has done before. The result is Dummy’s most ethereal and sincere record to date, with more feminine and delicate undertones that sit beautifully alongside the gritty and noisy textures the band has become known for. Dummy has been praised in numerous outlets such as Paste, Stereogum, Aquarium Drunkard and Pitchfork, who described their second album, Free Energy, as “the
sound of a band turning all its potential energy into music that’s dazzlingly kinetic and powerful." The band has toured the US, UK, and EU extensively, with festival appearances at Austin Psych Fest, Treefort Music Festival, and others. In addition to larger outlets and festivals, the band’s strong ties to community and DIY ethos are ever-present, oftentimes preferring to play and connect with different local artists on tour, uplifting those around them while shining a light on the history of independent music.
Over & Even was a breakout album for Joan Shelley. Originally released in 2015 and recorded in Louisville, Kentucky - with Shelley and her then neighbor Nathan Salsburg on guitar. The record was an album of the year at NPR Music and in The Los Angeles Times. Rolling Stone called it, "a masterfully turned set of folk reflections" in their 4 star review. This expanded edition features 8 never before heard demos, performed and recorded solo by Shelley who shared them only with Salsburg so he could learn the songs.
Tropical Fu*k Storm revisit the live album concept on ‘Inflatable Graveyard Vol. 2’, their second live album and the follow-up to the critically acclaimed ‘Fairyland Codex’. Recorded over three nights during a sold-out residency at New York venue TV Eye, the album finds the band at the height of their incendiary powers, turning already combustible songs into something even more ferocious and unpredictable.
Fine-tuned and road-tested through heavy touring, songs from ‘Fairyland Codex’ are stretched into new forms. Ballad “Stepping on a Rake” takes on heavier undertones, “Irukandji Syndrome” becomes a launchpad for a guitar solo worthy of the Velvets’ “I Heard Her Call My Name” and “Moscovium” sounds more urgent than ever.
The band also revisit back catalogue favourites including “Who’s My Eugene” and “You Let My Tyres Down”, alongside a cover of Australian punk heroes The Saints’ “This Perfect Day”.
Tropical Fu*k Storm have built a catalogue worth obsessing over, but their live show is where the band’s brilliance really breaks open, and ‘Inflatable Graveyard Vol. 2’ catches that chaos in the act.
Key Quotes:
“Tropical Fuck Storm are masters of tension and release.” The Guardian.
“If anyone's qualified to make music about all-encompassing terror, it ought to be Tropical Fuck Storm.” Pitchfork.
“Thrilling noise-rock pranksters” Uncut.
“End times chaos… A gloriously imperfect storm” MOJO.
“A galvanising opus of incredible political bite” The Line Of Best Fit.
“One of the most rewarding listens in rock music” Consequence Of Sound.
And they can't. Tiny things are important - This house could be anywhere, These things could happen to anyone." With this reflection, Charlie Parr introduces the characters of Rooming House, a conceptual folk opera that chronicles the lives of Upper Midwesterners through his quietly raucous, deeply rooted, and empathetic blues. These are songs of lost memories and hardship, but also of the improvised acts of kindness that help neighbors make do. Joined by celebrated drummer and fellow Minnesotan Dave King (The Bad Plus, Happy Apple), Parr cements his role as one of the great troubadours of our time with an album that becomes its own small yet profound offering of care. * "A gritty blend of Delta blues and Depression- era roots music soaked in his hardscrabble voice. It's a sacred realm of folk wisdom and sorrowful vulnerability." - Rolling Stone * "Expertly-picked resonator guitar and lyrics that puncture the soul" - NPR * "Arguably America's finest living troubadour." - Songlines (UK) * Compelling character-driven portraits on a folk opera concept album that chronicles the lives of Upper Midwesterners through his quietly raucous, deeply rooted, and empathetic blues. Driving, groove- driven resonator guitar pulls you in. Working through the material realities of our contemporary moment but also weaving that narrative with his hypnotic sound reveals the near-mythic scale importance of these stories
More than eighty years ago in southwestern Virginia, Carter and Ralph Stanley (The Stanley Brothers) - forged a sound that became a cornerstone of bluegrass and old-time music yet they remain far less known outside the genre than their influence warrants Where the Soul Never Dies sets out to change that. Producers Alison Brown and Garry West assembled an eclectic cast spanning bluegrass and Americana, pairing the genre's next generation with roots voices who grew up on these songs. Standout contributors include Billy Strings , Dolly Parton , Willie Nelson , Sierra Ferrell , Jamey Johnson, Steve Martin, and Ralph Stanley II, among others. The album arrives October 16th two days before The Stanley Brothers' induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame
Marcus Gad, one of France's top reggae artists, hailing from the Pacific island of New Caledonia, returns with a powerful new album, FOR ALL Produced with his longtime collaborator Tamal, along with instrumental backing from his band Tribe, the record brings 12 new songs that continue Gad's thoughtful and catchy approach to modern reggae. Lush production, killer musicanship, along with modern vibes and riddims all make the album one of his best yet. Lyrically, Gad tackles many of the topics that have concerned him for years - liberty, equality, fighting against injustice and the problems of the world today.
Tropical Fu*k Storm revisit the live album concept on ‘Inflatable Graveyard Vol. 2’, their second live album and the follow-up to the critically acclaimed ‘Fairyland Codex’. Recorded over three nights during a sold-out residency at New York venue TV Eye, the album finds the band at the height of their incendiary powers, turning already combustible songs into something even more ferocious and unpredictable.
Fine-tuned and road-tested through heavy touring, songs from ‘Fairyland Codex’ are stretched into new forms. Ballad “Stepping on a Rake” takes on heavier undertones, “Irukandji Syndrome” becomes a launchpad for a guitar solo worthy of the Velvets’ “I Heard Her Call My Name” and “Moscovium” sounds more urgent than ever.
The band also revisit back catalogue favourites including “Who’s My Eugene” and “You Let My Tyres Down”, alongside a cover of Australian punk heroes The Saints’ “This Perfect Day”.
Tropical Fu*k Storm have built a catalogue worth obsessing over, but their live show is where the band’s brilliance really breaks open, and ‘Inflatable Graveyard Vol. 2’ catches that chaos in the act.
Key Quotes:
“Tropical Fuck Storm are masters of tension and release.” The Guardian.
“If anyone's qualified to make music about all-encompassing terror, it ought to be Tropical Fuck Storm.” Pitchfork.
“Thrilling noise-rock pranksters” Uncut.
“End times chaos… A gloriously imperfect storm” MOJO.
“A galvanising opus of incredible political bite” The Line Of Best Fit.
“One of the most rewarding listens in rock music” Consequence Of Sound.
Standing up for joy and pain and all the messy, confusing, beautiful details that make life worth living. Soulful and timeless, her songs tell stories of the heart, finding universal truths in the honesty of personal experience. Released on UK label Mr Bongo and College of Knowledge in Australia and New Zealand, Triumph & Sadness is her most profound album yet - a powerful and unique record inspired by a classic sweet soul sound and rooted in the contemporary moment. Reaching out with vulnerability and poise, it is a plea for connection in a world gone numb. Recorded over four fruitful days at an all- analogue studio in the stunning natural surroundings of rural Victoria (with additional sessions for horns vocals and overdubs at Sound Park in Northcote), Triumph & Sadness was cut directto-tape with all the urgency and warmth of the iconic '60s and '70s sessions that first inspired her. Written alongside Liam McGorry (Temporary Blessings), featuring collaborators from bands Surprise Chef and Karate Boogaloo and mixed by Daptone and The Womack Sisters collaborator Wayne Gordon, it captures the live energy of a band at the top of their game.
Swivel inaugura su nuevo sello Swivel Traxx produciendo cinco tracks originales recién salidos del horno.
Swivel Traxx steps up with ‘Out of Circle EP’, a 5-track trip delivered by label head Swivel. Blending raw 90s vibes with modern hypnotic soundscapes, the EP shifts gears from tense ambient to direct, Birmingham-influenced techno and high-energy cosmic madness. Built for both deep head-trips and pure dancefloor mayhem:
A1. Out of Circle (Prelude): A beatless atmospheric opener setting a mystical vibe for the whole record. A hypnotic, bell-like arpeggio glides over a warm Moog bassline and thick tension, teasing the concept behind the EP.
A2. Out of Circle: The title track drops straight into club territory while keeping things dark and mysterious. Massive cavernous pads, a driving rhythmic base, and a relentless sequenced synth loop pay homage once again to classic Birmingham techno.
A3. The Black Knights: A dark, dystopian trip. Driven by a hypnotic groove and sharp triplet hi-hats, this one brings a combat-ready energy made for peak-time dancefloor moments.
B1. Starlight: The fastest joint on the record (140 BPM). Equal parts melodic and club-focused, it locks TR-909 drums, Moog bass, and lush pads together for an astral trip into the unknown.
B2. Roundtable: A heavy, mental, and dark closer. Packed with raw analog-filtered synths, broken beats, and a relentless interplay of open and closed hi-hats, it delivers pure energy for the floor.
To call this album important would be an understatement - Space Time Continuum is the culmination of everything ASC has been building with the Spatial family of record labels, comprising the very best of what atmospheric music can be, and showcasing what is to come. Label stalwarts and debutants combine to bring you the ultimate compilation of this music. ASC is proud to present to you Spatial’s magnum opus: Space Time Continuum - Chris Hayes" Featuring new original music from: ASC, Aural Imbalance, Chronicle, Eusebeia, Ghosts of MIDI, JLM Productions, KMC, Law, Probe-One, Reviver, Senses, and tdel. ● Deluxe Foldout Box Set with Full Artwork Print Inside and Out ● Marbled Vinyl 3x12" ● Each 12" has it’s own individual Full Artwork Sleeve
Repress 2026
Two years after releasing the acclaimed Crash Recoil, Anthony Child aka Surgeon returns to Tresor with new LP, Shell~Wave. Retaining the minimal equipment list and studio-version-of-live-show-sets approach of the previous album in order to focus on the work itself, Shell~Wave is a deeply personal document of both where Surgeon is and has been, converging three decades of experience with a continued curiosity in the untested.
“To make this project, I had to dig really deep in terms of what my relationship was to techno; I’ve been involved with it for a really long time and there’s a lot about it I feel dislocated from, so I had to really think hard about what techno is to me. I often get asked “what is techno to you?” but I can’t answer that with words; this album is the answer.” From the complex, twisting track Infinite Eye to the caustic Soul Fire, the eight tracks that make up the body of the album are single-take explorations of the vast, hard yet minimal techno Child is synonymous with.
Neatly dividing the record in two, the emotional centre of the record comes in the form of Dying, a vibrating, beatless piece that with a mantra-like vocal loop steeped in reverberating effects. Further echoes of dub production appear throughout the record as tracks like Divine Shadow, and Empty Cloud have an almost ever-present mist of reverberation, driven by the appearance of a new delay unit in the equipment list; while much of the philosophy of Crash Recoil’s creation is present, the process and the instruments have changed as Child again switches up his approach to studio work.
This insistence on trying novel techniques doesn’t preclude returning to old ones, as this use of modern digital machines with live, hands-on takes that are as inspired by 60s producer Joe Meek and 70s reggae as they are by this year’s synthesiser expos.
“For me, it’s an interesting experience returning to old techniques again after 30 years. I’m always exploring and finding myself back at the beginning. Connecting the present with the past.”
This philosophy of ‘time travel’ is inherent to the music itself as the synchronised loops repeat while the delay and effects branch out, forming unique eddies; distinct quantum moments within the circular whole; the future leaking through the spaces between the sounds. All of the concepts on the album are perfectly communicated through the painting by Taiwanese artist Jazz Szu-Ying Chen which suggests the movement of water, sound waves, and the chitinous shells of sea creatures.
Existentia! Flug channels his signature raw, hypnotic techno across four tracks on his home turf. The label founded by Argentine-born, Barcelona-based Flug, puts out a release from its own creator. A veteran of the scene since 2007 with a catalogue spanning CLR, SOMA, Drumcode LTD, Rekids and Mord.
90's techno legend Bryan Zentz, also known as Barada, is back on Sonic Groove with a killer mini LP release. Spanning a wide spectrum of classic techno sounds-from deep, dark, brooding acid, jacking techno, into beautiful, self-reflective Detroit techno-this record is a testament to his timeless artistry. If you're a purveyor of American techno and acid rooted in tradition but modernized to today's high-quality production standards, then this is a must-have release for your collection.
Circus Operandi is the project of Donatas Chipak and Tumosa, two figures of the Vilnius electronic music scene, and residents at legendary clubs Opium (RIP) and Gallery 1986, where Ivan Smagghe & Niv Arzi (who jointly run Customs & Faces) met them countless times at countless hours. We’re not keen at describing the music we release at C & F, no need for pigeonholing ourselves but this EP completely ticked our boxes : electro, techno and everything in between, punch and deepness included.
Blah Blah has been played in every Ivan Smagghe set for the last 6 months and picked up by, amongst others, Shonky and Francesco Del Garda. Some kind of hit rambling about ordering a pizza is quite something. Fantast and Hints are slightly moodier pieces of emotional 4/4 electro while Denter subtly hits at non-cheesy trance. Expect much more from these two very soon.
Repress 2026
MP07 marks Rene Wise's return to Moving Pressure. Built on restraint and repetition, four recordings that draw focus inward through evolving texture, subtle psychedelia, and an unwavering sense of pressure.
Straight from the island of X-Coast, Riviera Records is back -
this time introducing Villa, an emerging duo from Frankfurt.
A side features their fast tribal infused techno killa beats
with ltered disco vocals. To spice things up even more, its
the Get On Up remixes by electro powerhouse DJ Mell G and
XL Traxx (Lag & X-Coast) on the ipside. This music is
meant to be played off of a record!
Man of the moment Tino makes a big splash landing on M.A.D Records.
Fun, playful and deadly this EP has it all and without a doubt our most requested ID’s every time we play. A 4 tracker of tried and tested weapons already picking up huge support from the likes of Eris Drew, Dr Banana and Moxie.
Electronic mainstays and longtime collaborators Steve Bug and Stefan Braatz return to cult NYC label Nu Groove with the vinyl edition of their four-track EP, Circles. Showcasing a refined blend of new deep house, acid and underground club sonics, the EP opens with ‘Circles’, featuring the Chicago legend Virgo Four whose vocals bring a timeless energy to the record. A driving Beat Mix follows, transforming the original into a tougher, more DJ-ready cut. On the flip, ‘Nu Acid’ dives into raw machine funk and hypnotic pressure, while ‘Thiz Mood’ closes the EP while highlighting the duo’s mastery of tension and rhythmic detail. Rooted in the spirit of classic house while sounding firmly contemporary, Circles EP is another essential addition to the Nu Groove catalogue.
We release our second record, COPPIES002. Another hand stamped white label EP, collecting tunes from thecommunity, for the community. This time with tracks by Kerr Wilson, Salomo, illousion and APRS. Kerr starts on A1 with his "The Key To My Heart". He showed the first version of the track to Robert around 4 years ago in a memorable summer spent together. We made the promise that this will be pressed on record one day and, here it is! Thanks Kerr! It's a melancholic late-summer tune that makes you tear up and feel like the warm euphoria won't last forever, but it will surely return if you're patient. Salomo follows with a similar moody approach on "Say less (on the DF)", even though we can argue about the meaning of the title ;). illousion builds more tension on the flipside with "Masc or Mask". Entering dubby, rolling terrains with more high intensity drum patterns for later moments of the night. APRS is closing the EP with "I Want to Speak" on B2, maybe the counter argument to Salomos desire of a less noisy dancefloor. He crafted a minimal, loopy trip that drags you down the rabbit hole and won't iet you go til the party is over. COPPIES002 is available on vinyl only with digi download option
With Picture About You, Recut opens a new chapter, blending the heritage of house music, acid textures and underground electronic culture into a contemporary vision for today’s dancefloors. Rooted in the essence of club culture, the EP explores hypnotic grooves, evolving patterns and the timeless dialogue between the DJ, the sound system and the crowd, where emotion, movement and energy become a universal language. The title track, “Picture About You”, reflects Recut’s artistic identity through the lens of his personal history and family roots. An important part of this story comes from his uncle, known as Mr. Steve, who in 1975 founded one of the pioneering independent radio stations in Southern Italy during the early years of independent broadcasting. His connection with radio, disco culture and the first generation of Italian clubs embodied a spirit of discovery, sharing and musical exploration that continues to shape Recut’s approach to music.
Musically, “Picture About You” unfolds through a hypnotic and emotional groove, blending old-school character with a contemporary perspective. A timeless club track where past and present come together in Recut’s own musical language. “Hey Jack” is a powerful dancefloor weapon driven by unstoppable grooves, hypnotic acid lines and captivating arpeggios. Built for peak-time moments, it pushes the energy forward with a relentless rhythm designed to ignite the crowd.
“Subwave” takes the journey into a deeper and more massive dimension. Driven by powerful low-end pressure, evolving dynamics and explosivetransitions, the track builds tension throughout its progression before releasing its full impact on the dancefloor. Closing the EP, “Neon Flux” delivers the final impact: fierce, electric and uncompromising, a track designed to push intensity beyond the limit and leave a lasting impression. Recut Music — Fun for DJing!
Introducing to EarToGround Records one of the leading lights in abstract techno, as we showcase work from the brilliant Argentinian producer Translate. Translate comes with a very well-defined discipline when it comes to techno; it demands your patience and full attention at all times.
Repress 2026
The Visions EP is the debut release from London based DJ/Producer duo Suburban Architecture. Drawing heavily on influences from one of Drum & Bass' most innovative and rapidly changing eras, the mid to late 90s, the duo's productions place a contemporary spin on sounds rooted in this golden era of dance music.
This 4 track EP explores a selection of sounds that meet at the intersection of nostalgia and modern production: "Visions '96" fuses atmospheric jazz samples and haunting horns with fractured drums in a manner reminiscent of Source Direct, Photek et al. "Equilibrium" meanwhile gives a modern take on the classic roller, complete with lush synth pads and rolling Amens. On the flip are a pair of jazzy steppers: "Cubic Nature" delivers more lush pads, this time paired with subtle vocals and deep atmospherics whilst "Pulses" brings some bounce to proceedings fusing 80s soul style keys and jazzy horn licks giving stylistic reference to material by the likes of Alex Reece.
DJ Support: Moodyman, Groove Armada, Folamour, Horsemeat Disco, DJ Deep, Art Of Tones, Sophie Lloyd, Terry Farley, Stuart Patterson and Seamus Haji
Al Kent needs no introduction when it comes to being one the most prolific kings of disco in the UK. He reimagines hidden treasure and takes inspiration from the glory days of 70’s dancefloor nuggets to create modern day classics. Come Back Home (Again) is probably his most popular track to date and here he re-works it with his Disco Love Orchestra updating this disco gem for a new generation. A Philly style musical sound-bed with hooks galore topped by one of the most rousing, soulful male vocals you’ll hear in a long time.
Pressed on a tasty 7 inch with dinked hole limited stock so act fast!
Tronic has a 20-30 year long history with releasing melodic house and techno. While we opted for the more raw sound in the past few years, Christian wanted to go back to his roots and produce more emotive, groovy, and melodic house and techno again. Lamour Toujours is a progressive groover that has a disco-influenced bassline and adds an emotive chord progression in the break. We asked Argentinean legend Hernan Cattaneo to make a remix. As a long time supporter of Tronic we felt that he would be a great candidate for this remix. Hernan Cattaneo and Kevin Di Serna teamed up and delivered a stunning remix focusing on the melodic chord progression of the original! Italian maestro Gai Barone mutates 'L'Amour Toujours' into a stunning, mind-bending interpretation that proves his insane ability to rewrite the rulebook. Meanwhile, Colombian powerhouse Kamilo Sanclemente stays closer to the original, injecting a massive, chord-driven progression built to elevate any room. Three classy, high-caliber remixes. We're absolutely buzzing with this drop.
Mr Bongo reissues, in full for the first time, a pioneering Trinidadian steelband album from 1979. Masterminded by the key and highly influential calypso / soca steelpan player, Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, Phase2 showcases Boogsie’s innovative fusion of jazz, funk and Caribbean rhythms in stunning style.
Dubbed ‘the Mozart of Pan’ by Wynton Marsalis, Boogsie began playing pan at the age of five and composed his own music by the age of nine years old. Across a long and illustrious career, he has won seven National Panorama Championships in Trinidad and Tobago with his compositions and band, a world Steelband Music Festival with his original compositions “In the Rainforest”, and two Notting Hill Panorama Championships with Mangrove Steel Orchestra. Over the years he has also played with Andre Tanker, Lord Shorty, Lord Kitchener, Leston Paul, Clive Zanda, and other amazing Caribbean greats. Len became an arranger for the National Steelband of Trinidad and Tobago and is a cultural ambassador for the country promoting the instrument.
Two of the most prolific remixers in the world of Disco,Dave 'Love' Lee and John Moraleshave teamed up for one of their biggest projects to date - 'Mixed To The Maxxx'. After gaining access from the legendary original artists, the pair take the multi-track tapes of many classic Disco, Funk & Soul tracks and re-work them...to the Maxxx!
Where Remixed With Love stands as Dave Lee's own gold-standard body of work, Mixed To The Maxxx sets that legacy alongside Morales' own decades-deep M+M body of work: Lee brings his musically dense, groove-first touch to the likes of Harold Melvin, Syreeta, Lenny Williams and The Brand New Heavies, while Morales applies his extended, dancefloor-built M+M treatment and crushes the likes of Barry White, The Temptations and Loleatta Holloway, plus Dennis Coffey's breakbeat classic "Scorpio" for the DJs and collectors alike. Both work from original tapes, surfacing parts barely audible or entirely unheard in the source mixes, and both know when to let a classic breathe rather than bury it under modern production. It's a pairing a long time in the making. Lee and Morales first talked about working together around a decade ago, and getting Mixed To The Maxxx off the ground took five years of patient work: tracking down usable stems, securing approvals, and navigating a licensing landscape where much of the best material is now tied up with major labels increasingly cautious about clearing remixes. What's landed here is the product of that graft as much as the pair's shared ear for a great record, the sound of two people who know exactly what they're looking for and are willing to put in the time to find it.
A double 12" sampler in summer 2025 previewed the record's range. A bass-driven overhaul ofThe Brothers Johnson's "The Real Thing" and an extended mix of Philly legends Bell & James' "Livin' It Up (Friday Night)" showcased Lee's side, while an anthemic take on Inner Life's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and a tempo-lifted Light Of The World"London Town" flew the flag for Morales. Both drew strong early support ahead of the full LP.
This Diggers Delights 09 is a LIMITED EDITION 45 - Hand numbered 45 !
Another Fun one from lads down under just in time for the sunshine and irie vibes in the south or penguin dancing in the north!!
Won't last!
Side A: J pulls out a rare Batucada sample and mashes it up into a Tropical party ting with a skank to match played on the keytar. Bringing a real party vibe to your crate. DD Drop it!
Side B: We bring back the badman! : The S-Man to release his classic mashup that is just so nice smooth and funky it will bring a vibe to any down moment.
Curated by ZSZS, ZF002 marks Zuflucht's return after a two-year pause in releases, this time with a physicalrecord made with the help of R.A.N.D. Muzik and Inch By Inch. It means a lot to bring together talented friends and their music for a shared cause. Across the record, the tracks move between early-hour warmth and late-night dancefloor weapons. All profits from ZF002 will be donated to Plan International, supporting their humanitarian work with children and families affected by the ongoing devestating crisis in Sudan.
180g Heavy double vinyl LP with liner notes by Tyran Grillo. Limited Japanese Obi for the first pressing. Original artwork by Russell Mills and photography by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
The third Time Capsule is a body of dub reinterpretations by celebrated producer Bill Laswell of Ethiopian singer Gigi. Curated by Tokyo record collector, music researcher and seasoned reissue supervisor Ken Hidaka, it is the first time Illuminated Audio is pressed to vinyl after its CD release in 2003.
Ejigayehu Shibabaw was born in 1974 in Chagni, northwestern Ethiopia and by pursuing a career as a singer, went against her father’s strict, traditional gender roles. As Gigi, she embraced the same musical freedom she had strived for in her personal life, incorporating the Ethiopian church, funk, hip-hop, West and South African music into her work. She first settled in Nairobi, then Addis Ababa, where she quickly established herself as one of the city’s leading singers. A move to San Francisco in 1998 led to a long and fruitful creative partnership with bassist and producer Bill Laswell.
Around the same time, Chris Blackwell had stepped away from Island Records to start the art house film company and label Palm Pictures. He took an interest in Gigi and together with Laswell, pulled together an all-star cast of musicians for her self-titled US debut album, including Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders and Wayne Shorter. It won international critical acclaim, not just for its musicianship but for making Gigi a “defining voice for the Ethiopian expatriate community”, as journalist Tyran Grillo praises in his Time Capsule liner notes. From the nation-defining 1896 victory over Italian invaders to the quiet revolutionaries who wear simple shemma garments, Grillo believes the themes in Gigi make it “a shower of sunlight on her homeland for those ignorant of its struggles.”
After its success, Blackwell encouraged them to go back into the studio to rethink the album and Illuminated Audio was born. “Anyone can make a voice sound worldly”, Grillo remarks, “but rare are those who can make one sound inner-worldly.” Gigi was clear with Laswell to give her vocals a minor role “because it’s already been done.” Instead her Amharic verse is fleeting, exhaling through the textures like ghostly fragments; soaring yet muted. Yet the album is still titled under her name, an assertion by Laswell of her central role in the album’s creation. Not only was it a fully endorsed project by Gigi, but she would be present throughout its development, giving feedback on half-finished ideas as Laswell played them back in the studio. “It works perfectly”, she reflected after the album’s release. “We wanted to capture the whole spirit of each track, and Bill’s remixes create a different music language that really puts you in a pleasant place”.
This new vocabulary takes its lead from a technical approach that Laswell had been perfecting during a furtive creative period at the turn of the millennium. Much like his ambient interpretations of Miles Davis (Panthalassa, 1998), Bob Marley (Dreams of Freedom, 1997), and Carlos Santana (Divine Light, 2001), Laswell approached Illuminated Audio by returning to the original multitrack masters. Gigi wasn’t just reworked, but recomposed into an expansive lattice of instruments, submerged in a watery ambience of dub and trance undercurrents.
Sonically, this new language that Gigi refers to, is manifested by the original album’s more understated parts being pushed to the fore. Explaining his contrasting methods, Laswell saw Gigi as being “put together in a way that fits”. Contrastingly, in Illuminated Audio, “a lot of things that I featured in the remix weren’t as audible in the original.” Instrumentation laying near-dormant, deep in the mix, are brought to the fore: the acid rock guitar and Wayne Shorter’s saxophone on ‘Tew Ante Sew’, Graham Haynes’ flugelhorn on ‘Nafekeñ’, Laswell’s bass on ‘Kahn’, the melodica in Mengedegna or the floating synths and talking drums in ‘Gud Fella’.
Brought to his attention by mentor DJ Nori, Hidaka describes Illuminated Audio as a “masterful sonic exploration into ethereal ambience and dub” and made sure this reissue also contained a full remaster to give its “deep musicality” much better dynamics and density in the overall sound. Hidaka admits that Laswell's music “is sometimes so out-there, it is often misunderstood” and, indeed, to dub album non-believers this might seem like a prolific producer imposing himself on another artist’s work; eternally developing rearrangements that never quite get to its destination. But that’s missing its true power and triumph. This is more than the reissue of a remix, but “a wholly unique musical entity”, as Hidaka describes. Illuminated Audio refers to the illuminated manuscripts that comprise the major part of Ethiopian art and its new compositions stand in proud solitude as a rare body of reworks that both informs and enhances their originals.
High Focus Records are proud to present the latest collaboration from Verb T & Illinformed. ‘Stranded in Foggy Times’ both continues and completes the trilogy that began back in 2015, with ‘The Man with the Foggy Eyes’, before broadening the horizons with last year’s release ‘The Land of the Foggy Skies’. This final chapter returns to the same conceptual landscape as its predecessors, but also sees Verb T & Illinformed returning to a more classic approach to album making. In spite of its concept, the Foggy Trilogy is something of a personal outpouring for Verb T, with the original aim being to vicariously discuss the trials and tribulations that play a part in his life, including his struggles with chronic illness and the feeling of alienation from leaving his hometown, while also reflecting on the state of the world as a whole. Their approach to making the album meant taking it back to the most natural form, where the idea for the track would be outlined, Illinformed would make the beat, Verb T would write to it and then they would tweak and adjust accordingly. The result is 19 of the most finely crafted tracks to emerge from the UK shores this year. As with the previous albums, ‘Stranded in Foggy Times’ finds Illinformed moving away from the more rugged sound that has shrouded the British scene over the last few months, thanks to his collaborations with the likes of Datkid and Wish Master, instead providing Verb T with an arguably more mellow backdrop. From the string and piano driven introduction on ‘Legacy’, to the blissful head-nod vibes of the closing track, ‘Blind Faith’, the union between beats and rhymes sits at the perfect level. The album also boasts one of the most impressive guestlists of the year, one that is very much a product of both players’ worlds. Thanks to Illinformed’s Bristol connection, there are features from the likes of Res One, Datkid, Leaf Dog, Smellington Piff and Chillman, as well as some locally sourced cuts from DJ Rogue. While on Verb T’s side of the fence, we have features from Rye Shabby and Moreone, along with a collaboration that reignites the same creative spark he found in his early days, as King Kashmere steps into the booth on Feeling Strange. All in all, ‘Stranded in Foggy Times’ does exactly what it sets out to do, by drawing the trilogy to a close while also providing insights into Verb T’s personal world and the world at large. The fact that it also happens to be one of the strongest rap albums of the year is the icing on the cake
Apex militant late '70s style here, if you think you are into steppers you should have this one firmly in your sights. One of Mr. Smart's hardest records, this originally appeared only as an album track, but also had some fame as a dubplate played at the time by Jah Shaka and others. We've long had that cut in our sights, and while some nice new re-mixes of this tune appeared in the last few years, here is the real thing from '79 steel. The A-side features the raw dubplate cut vocal, no horns or other adornment, HARD to the point stepping drum and bass style. The B-side features the original Gussie Clarke dub mix aptly titled "Hot Steppers", also previously released only on album. This cut as well was run on dubplate back at the time, a killer mix with full horns but no vocal. Leroy Smart is one of our all time favorite artists and we take pride in having re-released a handful of his all time best records, this one now added to that list.
"US funky drummer Les DeMerle who is one of the representations of rare groove scenes. hisA1st album which was released in 1968 is finally reissued as vinyl for the first time!AMany killer tracks for diggers are included, such as ""A Day In The Life"" which is also known as sampling material of HIP HOP classic OC ""Time's Up"" and the US No.1 hit great funk numberA ""Aquarius"" by Fifth Dimension.A
In addition, great musicians were joinedAfor this great funk album such as Frank Foster, Lew Tabackin,AArnie Lawrence, Charles Sullivan etc...you can find how young Les DeMerle was a talented drummer even though he was just around 20 years old at that time!"
RAWAX presents Bandulu on their own RAWAX series!
We will re-issue most of the Bands' timeless music.
Starting with "Running Time" from 1995.
Don't feed the Discogs Sharks!
Hackney based Hidden Sounds Records launches – with support from Emotional Recordings – it’s Dark Times label by diving in the the music of Alkahest, a short-lived project from Canadian brother-production duo Lex and Rew MacCrimmon.
For the second EP, the Twisted Up release is re-examined, with a tweaked track list to represent the times and how their sound continues in relevance today. Released in 2 years (1994-1996), Alkahest was the darker side of the MacCrimmon’s productions and allowed them to focus on twisted, psychedelic electronics, away from their main Legion Of Green Men project.
Self-described music obsessives from a young age – lying under a home-made harpsichord, with their heads in the resonator box was an early indication of a love outside the norm. Experiments with forks and pencils on strings – totally unaware of the likes John Cage – highlighted an interest in sound from unusual places.
Anything with a synth notably grabbed their attention, going to the public library to take out BBC Sound Effects and Morton Subotnick albums, sat alongside contacting European mail order catalogues, to grow their knowledge and record collections.
As early productions formed, working under the sound production name of Incarnate, their love of art was just as influential as music. The likes of M.C. Escher, Salvador Dali, Bridget Riley and the Op Art movement, was all part of brothers in their progression to form the Post Contemporary label in 1992.
Following the DIY ethos of the music they had long been buying, their “indie ethic” influences all coalesced in the label, not conforming to one sound or tempo, placed them within the electronic music coming from Canada, but also, out on their own.
Twisted Up expands the Alkahest sound, the title cut a stomping anthem, it’s unrelenting drums and lifting strings a call to arms. The compelling Shake arrives, acid techno rewiring synapsis, dub static between the beats.
On the flip, Twisted Another is just that, a reversion excursion, pushing the psychedelic synthesis to the forefront, stabs call and respond. Closing the EP with the perfectly titled, Kiss My Acid, a journey of industrial bang, reflexed, Alkahest showing their sound is pulsating, widescreen overtures.
Two decades after its original release, Herbert Boese’s “Charger“ / „Hypnotoad” returns to vinyl.
Originally released as the second record on Jaktronik, the label Herbert Boese ran together with Marc Romboy, the two-tracker captures a very particular moment in German electronic music: stripped back, physical and functional, yet deeply rooted in the sound of Detroit.
At the time Boese was a resident DJ at Düsseldorf’s legendary Harpune club and one of the people shaping the city’s underground electronic music scene. His Jaktronik productions became an extension of that world, music made by a DJ, for the dancefloor.
“Charger” was an immediate standout. Marc Romboy selected the record for his chart at the time, describing its combination of heavy bass and Detroit-influenced strings as a track that made dancefloors scream.
On the flip, “Hypnotoad” goes deeper and more hypnotic: reduced, trippy and relentlessly effective, built around repetition, tension and groove.
Twenty years later, neither track sounds like a museum piece. Quite the opposite. In a time when a new generation is rediscovering the raw, minimal and machine-driven sound of the mid-2000s, “Charger“ / „Hypnotoad” feels remarkably current again.
The original tracks, remastered and finally back on vinyl.
