Cerca:time to build

Mia Moretti makes her Crosstown Rebels debut with ‘Safe With Me’, featuring Irma Thomas. The soulful new single, backed by a remix from Sweden’s Tiger Stripes.

Los Angeles-based DJ and producer Mia Moretti heads to Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels with ‘Safe With Me’, a disco-house celebration featuring New Orleans soul legend Irma Thomas, the Grammy-winning Soul Queen of New Orleans. Co-produced by award-winning producer Mark “Blakkat” Bell, a longtime figure in house and electronic music whose work spans from M People to King Britt, the release marks a full-circle moment for Moretti, who draws on her years of crate digging, gospel house expertise, and deep love for vocal-driven grooves.

‘Safe With Me’ pairs Moretti’s richly textured production with Thomas’ commanding vocal presence, creating a track that balances heartfelt emotion with dancefloor energy. Similar to Moretti's DJ sets, the track blends gospel, disco, and house sensibilities with storytelling. Swedish mainstay Tiger Stripes reinterprets the track with his own forward-thinking production. Known for his house and techno grooves that have energised clubs from Panorama Bar to Ministry of Sound, he injects ‘Safe With Me’ with shimmering synth layers and driving percussion, making it a perfect complement to the original production.Mia Moretti has established herself with vocal and gospel-driven house sets and productions. Her debut EP ‘Tambor’ (2023) marked a confident step as a producer sampling female bullerengue artists from Colombia, including Petrona Martinez and Toto La Momposina, followed by ‘Best I Can’ (2024) alongside gospel icon Vonita White and remixes from house music pioneers. In 2025, Mia has continued to build momentum with appearances from Ibiza to Paris Fashion Week alongside the launch of her Chef’s Kiss radio show on Diplo’s Revolution. ‘Safe With Me’ continues that trajectory, highlighting her instinct for timeless grooves and soulful storytelling.

The seventh release in the Punctuality canon lands hot with a peak-time four-tracker from Persian-Swedish DJ and producer Mohajer based in Berlin. All In is a bold statement of intent—the music glistens with sleek, modern production aesthetics, drawing from UK-tinged breaks, pumping ’90s house, and sultry, timeless trance moods, perfect for big rigs and intimate dancefloors alike. Like her DJ sets, the tracks are scintillating and high-throttle, twisting and turning through unexpected paths while maintaining a steady dancefloor focus throughout.
“Intake” sets the tone for the EP. The A1 is a high-octane collage of lustrous, contemporary house, where playful, bouncy low-end slips and skips around glitched-out atmospherics, sleazy tech synths, and earworm organs. The arrangement careens and veers without relenting, driven by pumping amens and provocative vox chops fluttering in and around the bass.

A2, “i c u” keeps things heated with rolling breaks and ultrabright melodies that ignite the track with dazzling intensity. A sultry take on UK soundsystem music, its undulating wubs and flirtatious vocals are anchored by a dub sensibility that keeps the groove low, slung, and sexy. Think smoke machines, red lights, and smoldering sexual tension.
Luscious, trancey, and dripping with percussive sensuality, “You Wannabe” carries the sensuous mood to the flip. The track unfolds like the arc of a DJ set, teasing moments of magic amid layers of atmospheric pads, FX, and a pulsing bassline that grounds the arrangement from start to finish. The vibe is sweltering, cosmic, and irresistibly sultry—drawing from many directions but always locked into the groove, built for DJs and dancers alike.
The EP closes with “Backseat,” a hypnotic journey through swirling synthetic flourishes, rumbling subs, and psyched-up lead lines. It expertly builds tension and release, flipping halfway into bright flashes of euphoria and light. The result: a mysterious, sensual number that captures the ephemeral magic of the dancefloor and showcases the expert production skills of Mohajer.

This is buy-on-sight material from start to finish—don’t sleep.

Dok & Martin return to the brand, this time to DCLTD imprint with their 3-track EP 'Impulse'. 'Impulse' brings delicious chaos, mixing up rattling bass-driven energy, with the mayhem of peak house traffic, as a barrage of horns and jutting synths coalesce to create a fierce wall of sound. 'Reaktor' begins as a streamlined roller, marked by tightly woven drums before building like a skyscraper with thrilling intent. Later it drops down into punchy percussive territory, never losing any momentum. 'Believe' gallops with slick swagger, a late-night jam heavy on atmosphere and crisp sound design.

Second Circle is very excited to announce ‘In Dream’, the eight-track debut album from Tokyo-born, Berlin-based producer and DJ Courtney Bailey.

Sonically, 'In Dream' unfolds as a rich, lush soundscape, woven together with expansive digital synth pads, Fairlight-esque stabs, and vibrant acid bass lines. At times the EP leans back horizontally to evoke the balearic spirit of Yello ('Burnt Moon'), at other times it leans more upright towards to dancefloor ('In Heaven'), but what remains throughout is a sense of intimacy, gracefully guided by Bailey’s whisper soft spoken vocals and gentle melodic vocal lines.

Building on an initial spark of inspiration that arose when listening to the work of Japanese artist Dream Dolphin aka Noriko Kodera, ‘In Dream' is Bailey’s direct creative response to new feelings, energy and emotions. Time spent in the outdoors, specifically in the natural landscapes of Australia also had a profound influence on the making of the record; opener ‘Kodou’ was directly inspired by a moment in Melbourne watching rainbow-colored parrots in a pink-flowering tree. Similarly, 'Burnt Moon' captures the essence of watching moonlight shimmer on ocean waters. At its core, 'In Dream' embraces a child-like wonder for the beauty of nature, an act which infuses the music with a radiant, luminous sense of positivity.

Capturing the essence of stepping into the unknown and more importantly, doing it with curiosity and optimism, ‘In Dream’ paints a vibrant, multi-colour vision of life, with Bailey inviting us all to immerse ourselves in it’s wonders.

Sleeve art and design by Michael Willis.

Early support from Timo Maas, Paco Osuna, Ilario Alicante, Just Her, Adriatique, and more. Igor Vicente joins forces with Dka for the ‘Ecstatic’ EP this November, released via Belgian imprint Move Recordings, including a remix from Gregor Tresher.



Move Recordings is a Belgian electronic music label founded and helmed by veteran DJ/producer End-Jy (Jérôme Naujoks), known for his roots in the 1990s techno scene of Tournai and major collaborations with acts like Marco Bailey. Now reborn in 2025, the label returns with more powerful electronic music for the modern-day discerning listener. This time, it welcomes fellow Belgian DJ and producer Igor Vicente, renowned for his genre-blending style and releases on labels such as Mobilee, Hot Creations, and Visionquest, once again in collaboration with fellow Belgian DkA, who’s racked up releases on labels like Get Physical, Constant State, and Mau5trap Recordings—a striking sign of his ability to explore a variety of genres and styles.



The original version of ‘Ecstatic’ leads, featuring subtly blooming atmospherics, a nuanced synth hook, oscillating percussion, and raw drums, all building towards a climatic breakdown and a powerful drop in the latter stages. Gregor Tresher reshapes the original with his signature twist, extracting fragments of the track and fusing them with elongated bass grooves, heavily shuffled, crunchy drums, and intricately intertwined melodious elements.



‘Planets’ opens the B-side, a nine-minute excursion through squelchy acid bass notes, cinematic pads, robust drums, and chuggy arpeggio synth lines. The ‘Ecstatic (Dub Mix)’ then concludes the EP, shifting focus solely onto the raw groove and hypnotic melody of the original composition, as the name suggests.

Techno stalwart Mike Vinyl from Austria returns with Bloodline – a timeless, high-energy techno track that masterfully blends warmth and raw power. It’s a track that breathes – deep, rolling, and relentless – fusing emotional depth with a driving, physical intensity. With RDL, the pressure builds even further, a no-compromise peak-time tool that keeps the heat on. The release closes with Fading Lights, a slow-burning downtempo piece that drifts into atmospheric, introspective terrain.

Evelyne/Masao bring TESTPATTERN to Dark Entries for the label’s first foray into vintage Japanese electronics. Masao Hiruma and Fumio Ichimura’s project Testpattern is known for their release Apres-Midi, a cult slab of synthpop perfection released by Yukihiro Takahashi and Haruomi Hosono’s legendary Yen Records in 1982. While Hiruma and Ichimura parted ways following Apres-Midi, Hiruma’s musical endeavors would continue after meeting French/American model and vocalist Evelyne Bennu in 1984 at a café bar where she would sit and write poetry. Their collaborative efforts as Evelyne/Masao were fruitful, and the duo first performed together in June 1984 on a television program called TOKYO ROCK TV. The album TESTPATTERN comprises seventeen songs recorded in Hiruma’s home studio, which have never been released previously. The Evelyne/Masao duo continues building on the soundworld of Apres-Midi: lush, sophisticated electronics with intricate yet minimalist production. Tracks like “Sakuramochi” and “Bird Island” bear influence from Hosono most clearly, their soaring melodies revealing a subtly ironic redeployment of East Asian musical tropes. But TESTPATTERN is more than homage to Yellow Magic Orchestra. “Tabac” and “Le Soleil Se Leve” display oddball sensibilities closer to Sky Records icons Asmus Tietchens or Cluster. Elsewhere, the project shows affinity for the punkier ethos of continental DIY electronics, like on the quirky “Alien Go Home” and a positively skewed cover of “Singin’ in the Rain.” Bennu’s vocals provide a common thread through these explorations, as she alternates deftly between New Wave deadpan and unhinged chanson singer—check her waxing maximally Francophone on “Au Clair de Lune,” based on an 18th century French song. TESTPATTERN will be available on both double LP as well as CD, and includes a fold-out poster with liner notes with lyrics. This album is dedicated to Masao Hiruma, who passed away in 2011.

Latest record off the Kalahari production line comes courtesy of a real one. Klon Dump in the building, moving like a madman across four barrelling tech house scorchers.

Part-producer, part-engineer and a long time co-conspirator of A Colourful Storm’s Moopie. Better known to some under the alias Mark, but always surefire for some serious dancefloor potency. Doubters, look no further-this is another demonstration of his mastery.

Big with the radiant stabs, even bigger on the earworm groove. Ploughing the furrow of tough, direct but deft as the Klon Dump faithful will have come to expect by now. Proper belters.

Always flexing outstanding rhythmic ingenuity, whether it’s hardcore hybridity as Mark or the tech house innovation shown here. If anything in life is certain, it’s that a KD record will lay down some serious torque.

There’s also an off-kilter playfulness that kinda feels reminiscent of T+++’s ‘Space Pong’ or Fiedel and Errorsmith’s MMM project. Another ace in the hole from the Antipodean shapeshifter.

Bringing together the elder statesman of the Zulu guitar Madala Kunene and internationally acclaimed Sibusile Xaba, kwaNTU pulls two generations of South African guitar mastery into a single point of focus. Under-represented on recordings outside of South Africa, Madala Kunene (b. 1951), the ‘King of the Zulu Guitar’, is revered as the greatest living master of the Zulu guitar tradition. Sibusile Xaba, whose collaboration with Mushroom Hour Half Hour reaches back to his first recording in 2017 (Open Letter To Adoniah/Unlearning), has garnered international acclaim for his unique voice and virtuoso guitar stylings, which bring together multiple South African guitar lineages in an original, spiritualised fusion. Collaborating with Mushroom Hour and New Soil for kwaNTU, the two players come together to weave a filigree sonic fabric which reaches down to the heartwood of Zulu guitar music but moves resolutely outward, building on the past to create a deeply rooted statement about present conditions and future travels. kwaNTU – which can be roughly translated ‘the place of the life-spirit’ – is also conclave of teacher and student, as Xaba has been taught by Kunene for the last decade. Meditative, rich and sonically sui generis, kwaNTU finds these two musicians linking up within the inimitable space of sound and spirit that they share through Kunene’s teaching.

The great masters of South African music have not all had equal exposure. For many years the generation of musicians who were exiled during apartheid took centre stage, as the regime made it very difficult for those at home to be heard. More recently, a new cohort of important voices, especially in jazz, has broken through to international consciousness. But for the generation of musicians in between – those who shone like beacons in the most difficult final years of apartheid and immediately afterward – international recognition has been slow in coming.

Madala Kunene, ‘the King of the Zulu Guitar’, is among this number. A revered figure for current generations of South African musicians, Kunene began his recording career in 1990, at the bitter end of apartheid, with a now classic self-titled LP for David Marks’ storied Third Ear imprint. Born in 1951 in Cato Manor, near Durban, he had determined to be a musician from early childhood, and by the time he first entered a recording studio he had already had a long career as a popular performer. His virtuoso absorption and transformation of the venerable Zulu maskanda guitar tradition and his richly spiritualised approach to music immediately marked him out as someone special, and in the years that followed, Kunene cemented his position as one of South Africa’s musical elders. He is without doubt the grand master of the Zulu guitar tradition, but his sound and sensibility ranges far beyond it into varied sonic terrain, and he has collaborated with a wide range of musicians both at home and abroad. Now in his mid-seventies, he remains a shining light for those that are making music in contemporary South Africa.

‘He is really an amazing person,’ says the guitarist Sibusile Xaba, who has been mentored by Kunene for over a decade, and now invites a collaboration with him on kwaNTU. ‘As a mentor, he's really powerful in showing us the way. For us to have this opportunity to make music together and have a project together is really a blessing to me.’

Xaba himself grew up in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, where his mother had been in a band and his father sang in a church choir, and from early childhood Xaba played homemade tin guitars. He only later realised that music was his calling. ‘I just loved music. I was fortunate. My parents loved music. And when it was time for me to leave home and go to study outside Newcastle, I knew that music was what I wanted to do. There was no second option. It was just music.’ Moving to Pretoria to study music formally, Xaba committed himself to his craft, developing a unique style that draws on both US jazz masters such as Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall, and the rich and varied heritage of the South African guitar, from inspirational jazz players such as Allen Kwela and Enoch Mthalane, to the music of the Malombo groups and Dr. Philip Tabane (Xaba has previously collaborated with Dr. Tabane’s late son, Thabang), and the Zulu guitar tradition embodied by Kunene.

‘I was really in love with the jazz guitar, I really admired it, and I was digging a lot in that direction,’ says Xaba, recalling his first encounter with Kunene’s music, over a decade ago. ‘And then one day on my timeline, Kunene popped up, and I was like – “What's this sound?” I was so connected to it. It really touched me deep. I started checking out his records, and then I found out he's from the same region as I am, which is Zululand.’ After Kunene played a show at the Afrikan Freedom Station in Johannesburg, Xaba make contact with him, and visited him at home in Durban. They struck up a friendship, and Xaba became the elder’s student, as Kunene began to pass on his knowledge and his inimitable way of playing.

kwaNTU is a tribute to this relationship and the deep learning that has defined it. The album was recorded in Zululand in the town of Utrecht, at a cultural centre called Kwantu Village, which gives its name to the album. ‘It's such a broad word,’ Xaba says, ‘but the elders teach us that Ntu is basically an energy, almost chi, an energy, a force that all living beings have within them. It's a living energy, so kwaNTU is like, almost the place of this energy.’ The two men sequestered themselves for five days of jamming, improvising and planning, and then the session was recorded in one take over a single night, with Gontse Makhene joining on percussion and backing vocals and Fakazile on vocals. Other voices and overdubs were later added in the studio in Johannesburg.

The result is a rich and meditative recording that finds two generations in a deeply engaged dialogue. Teaching and passing on his knowledge, the elder Kunene has brought Xaba into a space of sound and knowledge that they now share; Xaba’s own practice of deep communion with nature and his dedication to his musical craft make him the perfect interlocutor for Kunene. The result is an album that foregrounds the two musicians engaged at the highest levels of responsive listening, sympathetic unity, and collaborative concentration. Bringing an elder statesman of South African music to an international listening audience for the first time in decades by pairing him with one of South Africa’s most important new voices, kwaNTU is a meeting of generations and a powerful demonstration of musical lineage and continuity.

‘Before music, there is sound,’ Xaba observes, speaking of Kunene’s unique approach to music. ‘And sound is like a common compartment…it's not restricted to particular people or particular geographic places, you know what I mean? It's sound. Everybody can hear it. So when he constructs that sound into music, I think everybody resonates with the energy behind his construction of sound into song. Here at home, we really love him for preserving our history through the guitar, through his stories as well the music, the songs that he writes. We really, really admire him.’

The prolific, party-starting Det Gode Selskab collective continues to strengthen its wax artillery with another spaced-out exploration from label affiliate A:G. Based in Oslo, the label and artist have built a strong affinity over the years, with DGS regularly releasing his music and inviting him to perform at a host of events. His “Time Factor” EP is essential electro listening, wandering between rippling shades of acid and tripped-out minimalistic movements, synonymous with the Norwegian beatmaker’s sound. It’s a hazy quest through four original cuts, packed with raw and gritty attitude.

The slinky first outing of the EP goes by the name “Crash.” Anticipation builds as the winding bassline and quirky drum patterns create a sense of retro gaming exploration. “Sleepwalking” is another diverse entry from the talented producer—a pensive yet driven motion propels the track’s energy, laced with slick hi-hats and acid-laden beats.

On the B-side, outer-galaxy transmissions go full steam ahead with the title track “Time Factor”, animated grooves and continuous evolution, climaxing with bright, uplifting synths. Plucky, tight drums lead the way in the final frontier, “Cognitive Resonance”—another classy dance floor outing from A:G, once again showcasing why he’s a producer to keep close tabs on.

Striking while it’s hot, A:G delivers another heater on a label that shows no signs of slowing down in the years to come, and if their previous releases are anything to go by, this one will be moving fast!

Utter presents Marshall Jefferson's previously unreleased meditation opus 'Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation' alongside two remixes from French production maestro Joakim.

Marshall Jefferson: Chicago House music pioneer, creator of the anthemic ‘Move My Body’, an original collaborator of Adonis, Ce Ce Rogers and Roy Davis Jr., production mastermind of countless dancefloor classics such as Phuture’s ‘Acid Tracks’, Sterling Void’s ’It’s All Right’, Hercules’ ‘7 Ways’… and the soothing voice behind a 36 minute healing meditation guide. Yes, really.

But let’s rewind, slightly.

In 2017, Marshall was approached and encouraged by Ian ‘Snowy’ Snowball to write his autobiography and the pair set about putting Marshall’s account of the history of House music together. The book, ‘Marshall Jefferson: Diary of a DJ’ was published in 2019.

Following the book’s release, Ian and Marshall's collaboration continued and during the pandemic an outlandish idea arose to create a piece of music combining Ian's interest in meditation (he runs Club Chi specialising in Shibashi Qigong - a form of Tai Chi Qigong - which is a gentle form of movement therapy/exercise) and Marshall's willingness to experiment musically to see what might be possible.



The result is ‘Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation’, where Marshall vocalises Ian’s lyrics in his instantly recognisable voice. The keen-eared out there may also recognise aspects of the music itself as a stripped back, lengthened and far mellower version of Marshall’s 1985 obscurity ‘Vibe’:

“I would take tapes to the Music Box and Ron Hardy would play my music. ‘Vibe’ was one of those tracks. I recorded ‘Vibe’ in 1985, but it became one of my tracks that I just forgot about until some guy on Facebook sent me a recording of it that was taken from a club. The only person who I ever gave a recording of ‘Vibe’ to was Ron Hardy. The other people I know who had copies of the track were Gene Hunt and Emanuel Pippin (DJ Spookie).

"The original version of ‘Vibe’ was made using a Roland 707, Roland JX-8P keyboard and a Roland 727 drum machine. I was still working at the Post Office at the time, and this was pre-‘Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem)’. ‘Vibe’ has the building blocks for ‘Move Your Body’ because it was using the instruments on the track that I discovered what I could do with the bass sound, to make a track like ‘Move Your Body’.”



Still, Ian’s initial intention for ‘Yellow Meditation’ was function and it was designed to be a ‘Sequential Relaxation Exercise’ focusing on the Solar Plexus. Bearing this in mind, Marshall took a bare-bones and hypnotic approach to this particular re-recording of ‘Vibe’ so that the voice takes centre stage and listeners (hopefully) find themselves on a meditative journey. In fact, this long-form track was always intended as a private tool purely for meditation at Club Chi rather than released to the public - after all, Marshall had also created and released a more drum heavy, ’traditional’ club-focused 'Vibe Three' instrumental version for that very purpose - but a chance airing of the full 36 minute version changed its path.



Much like those 1985 ‘Vibe’ cassettes, Marshall had sent the track to a few close contacts, one of whom was Kieran at Phonica Records who aired it over the shop’s basement soundsystem. Its unorthodox nature caught the ear of colleague Alex (of Utter) and the seeds of a physical release were planted.

Eventually, with the full-version carefully whittled down to a vinyl friendly length of 24 minutes, full track parts in hand and a b-side to fill, Alex sought out one of his favourite producers to take up the remix reigns: Joakim. The Tigersushi co-founder and Crowdspacer boss has a long history of boundary-pushing remixes that straddle both dancefloor functionality and experimentation. This time the original material resulted in Joakim coming up with a number of ideas and he finally delivered two versions - one club focused (‘Vertical’), the other more introspective and meditative (‘Horizontal’), both of which appear on the final 12”.

The limited edition 12” also includes a download code giving buyers access to all of the vinyl tracks plus an 18 minute extended version of Joakim’s ‘Horizontal’ remix, its instrumental counterpart (for those who can live without Marshall's voice) and full 12 minute acapella (for those who can't!)


Alex

a A1. Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation (Edit) 24:00
b B1. Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation (Joakim's Vertical Remix) 9:09
9:05

DJ Support: CamelPhat, Blond:ish, Eli & Fur, David Penn, Arielle Free, Bibi Seck Sam Divine

Armada Music and King Street Sounds team up again to celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Most Precious Love” by Blaze presents UDAUFL feat. Barbara Tucker. This release is a timeless classic captivating anyone who encounters it.

This 20th anniversary special includes the Bonafide classic remix by Dennis Ferrer, Michael Gray’s take and two brand new remixes for 2025 all presented in a beautifully designed record sleeve featuring the star herself on the cover.

Kicking things off on the A side is the “DF’s Future 3000 Mix” that has been championed time and time again by DJ’s from across the world. Next up is Michael Gray, a DJ and producer who needs little to no introduction his version breathes new life into the original by taking it down a couple notches and giving it more of a mellow feel. The first of the two brand new remixes is Nico de Andrea, an Afro-house maestro who sports his signature sound once again by bringing his rhythms and melancholic pop melodies presenting the classic in a whole new way. Rounding off is Sam Divine the first lady of Defected who has held residencies at clubs such as Pacha, Amnesia, Sankeys, Ushuaïa, Eden, among others. She sinks her teeth into this remix by building up the vocal into a drop which is sure to keep the dancefloor going for the late nights that need that boost of energy.

Whether this is the first time you’re hearing this anthem or the one hundredth, here’s your chance to own a slice of house music history.

Steve Moore reprises his beloved Lovelock guise by presenting his unique riff on the library breaks genre. Business And Pleasure contains grimy groove and sleazy, funk-laden lounge music.

This vinyl release is hyper-limited, with just 500 pressed for the world.

The LP is ushered in by the spacey synth-funk of the sleazy, woozy title track. This is that serious slo-mo cosmic-balearic head-nod shit. Laidback bass, heavy funk with dreamy synth and electric guitars. An outstanding opener. Up next, the dynamic, swaggering "Last Call" is a sophisticated, elegant stroll - sweeping, mellow strings, a smooth bassline and gorgeous percussion with urgent keys and swelling synths.

"Slinky Strut" is another spaced-out, sleazy funk groove with jazz rock by way of a heavy, heavy guitar riff, mellotron and bass breakdowns which build to brass crescendos. Gigantic. "First Class" closes out the side, and, like classic Hawkshaw / Bennett noir, it's got that mysterious and murky stretched out sleuth / detective soul with a great bassline and percussive elements, with swelling strings, ace synths and smooth Rhodes piano melodies entering the mix halfway through. Dramatic guitars and groovy percussion add extra intrigue. It's 7 minutes of funk!

Side B opens with the stretched-out psychedelic funk and jazz groove of "Stank 49". It takes its sweet time to unfurl, creating enormous - almost sensual - anticipation for the ensuing beauty but, as it does, we're left beguiled and straight-up hypnotised. Heaven-sent synth flourishes and a laidback bassline over smooth drums cement its simple, vivacious grace. "Dangerous Man" is that creeping crime funk we all love; heavy bass and fuzzy guitar riffs, mellow strings and sumptuous piano/synths. It's irresistible, it's ominous and it's pretty gargantuan. It's basically like an El-P hip-hop instrumental. We need to get some rappers over this stuff, stat!

"Stinkbug" is a dazzling and funky groove-fuelled jazz-rock workout with fizzing synth riffs joined by full percussion and drum breaks, building with strings to a strong swagger. Vigour! To close out this remarkable set, the breezy "Win Or Lose" is laidback soul-inflected funk, utilising urgent, skipping drums and galloping basslines. Just stunning.

This collection was written and recorded in Spring and Summer of ’24. Everything was tracked at Steve's home studio in Albany, NY except the drums and percussion, which were recorded by Jeff Gretz at his space in NYC. The whole collection is basically a rhythm section feature, so Steve's Rickenbacker 4003 and Fender Jazz Bass play very prominently. The bass guitar serves as lead instrument in a lot of these tracks. Also, lots of Rhodes and stringers (Solina, Logan etc) and guitar (Strat and Les Paul). He even dusted off my sax for this one, which he doesn’t do as often as he’d like!

This type of groove-oriented library music has been a steady part of Steve's diet since the late 90’s. In heavy rotation while writing this collection were the following classics: “Time Signals” by Klaus Weiss, “Tilsley Orchestral No. 10” by Reg Tilsley, and “Heavy Truckin’” by Simon Haseley. “Voyage” by Brian Bennett was also a big one.

Lovelock started as a dedicated Italo-disco project, but over the years Steve expanded it to include anything directly informed by the commercial/pop side of the music of his childhood (70s/80s). Writing and recording this album was, like a lot of Steve's music these days, basically a test to see whether or not he could do it.

The song titles, like the music, are meant to be evocative yet vague. But there is a bit of a travel theme. Steve imagined this record being the soundtrack to a sleazy salesman’s business trip. The kind of guy who, when asked if he’s traveling for business or pleasure, responds “both.” Beyond the traveling salesman comparison, the title directly relates to the creation of this album. This was something he wanted to do just for his own enjoyment. Yet, like our sleazy salesman, he still found a way to get paid.

The album’s cover was designed by Chris Stevenson, with no little direction from Steve. He knew that he wanted to go with something photography-based for this cover so, in true DIY/cheapskate spirit, Steve started by looking through his own photos. He found the cover image on his phone, taken through an almost empty bottle of beer, and it clicked. The whole album has a very boozy vibe (especially with titles like “Last Call”) so this shot seemed appropriate. We, hic, agree.

Mastering for this vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis, and it was cut by the esteemed Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios to be pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry.

Wally Badarou is a synth pioneer and musical polymath. But rarely does he sing over his sumptuous tracks. The 6 songs that comprise new record Simple Things finally realise Wally's vision for select backing tracks from his beloved Colors Of Silence.

The tracks were originally developed back in 2001 for the release of the original CD; here, Wally has “simply" added overdubs and vocals to their mastered mixes with some discerning edits. Simply put, Simple Things is another slice of simply stunning Wally Badarou genius.

Simple Things has been decades in the making. Indeed, Wally struggled not only with the idea of singing these wonderful songs himself but singing them in English and writing his own lyrics, while wrestling with the sensational backing tracks, which themselves seemed to have taken on a life of their own.

As Wally explained to us: "In addition to the instrumental artist I have been known as, so far, there has always been a singer who simply was not sure he was, up until now. Even though “Back To Scales Tonight”, my very first album, was, indeed, a song album."

Opener "It Couldn't Be You" embellishes the uptempo groove of soca-funk gem "The Lights Of Kinshasa". As Wally explained to us, it's about “a simple love story somewhere, one rainy night, under the lights of Kinshasa. A woman, a man, online dating, quite usual in our times. Then they meet, almost missing each other." The guide vocal Wally had laid for Colors Of Silence - with an organ sound - seemed striving for words in Linguala, a Congolese language he could not speak. Therefore the decision to do it himself was not an easy one, for it had to be in English to fit his singing. We think it turned out pretty good!

"You Can't Hide Always" vocalises Wally's deep concerns set to the propulsive "Smiles By The Millions": "Populism, ostracism, radicalism, ethics and values all turned upside down worldwide, are they all inevitably exacerbated by our social networks? It could all melt down one day, like a house of cards in the ocean of fake news and false prophecies”. Wally wanted to keep the track as bare as possible but, inevitably, the backing vocals and the synth-brass arrive ultimately to present a welcome 70s flavour, with no snare-drum added.

The bright and breezy "We'll Make It Again" adds vocals to "Where Were We", a tropical, reggae-tinged bounce through the islands. Here's Waly: "Where were we when we last said: "I love you"? Simple words to express something quite common, but never quite simple to deal with. A simple song about the resilience of the broken hearts.” The reggae came from it being conceived when Wally was scoring for “Third World Cop”, a 1999 Jamaican action movie.

"Walk Straight Ahead" provides Wally's gorgeous, contemplative and idiosyncratic vocals to the deep serenity of Colors Of Silence highlight, "Amber Whispers". It's a gliding, divine, mini melodic masterpiece. It'll make you swoon in its extreme beauty. As Wally describes, "it started as just whispers, sweet amber whispers. Then the colour turned darker, as darker skies seemed to fall upon us while the whole world keeps on walking ahead, straight ahead, regardless of the blatant warnings, feeling much too comfortable in conformity. Initially, the verses were to be spoken only. I realised they could be sung all the while, without overshadowing the ethereal atmosphere." Amen.

The serene, celestial "Painting My Life Blue" presents the vocal version of "Days To Wonder". Says Wally, "how does it feel when your second half is gone after decades of riding life together? Past the temporary loss of your bearings, you come to realise you've been blind to the essential, and suddenly you can see...For this most intimate song of mine, I had tried to come up with a melody on top of the existing backing track, long before realising the melody was in the keyboard part already. It just needed to be properly mixed with it."

The profoundly emotional "Just Two Lovers" works up the formerly-too-brief and glorious "Crystal Falls" into a much fuller masterpiece and features acoustic guitar sparkle before fully glistening with some gentle head-nod percussion. Waly explains further: "Dear little green men, please tell me, what is it about us that makes you want to come and visit us so often (contrary to Fermi's assertion)? And here is the reply I believe I heard them sing: "You've got the key you've been searching for: Love”. I reverted to the initial backing track I had made around 1985, which already bore the melody, and which I added acoustic guitars to, before singing it." An astounding closer.

A synth specialist, there can be few artists more under-appreciated given their vast influence than Wally Badarou. His solo work practically defined the sound of the Balearic DJs of the 1980s, and thus the more sophisticated sound of dance culture thereafter. He was one of the Compass Point All Stars (with Sly and Robbie, Barry Reynolds, Mikey Chung and Uziah "Sticky" Thompson), the in-house recording team of Compass Point Studios responsible for a series of albums in the 1980s recorded by Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, Mick Jagger, Black Uhuru, Gwen Guthrie, Jimmy Cliff and Gregory Isaacs. Badarou's keyboard playing could also be heard on albums by Robert Palmer, Marianne Faithfull, Herbie Hancock, M (Pop Muzik), Talking Heads, Manu Dibango and Miriam Makeba. He also produced Fela Kuti. Phew!

When we asked Wally about the significance of this collection's title, he explained: "These are "Simple things” that everyday’s life seems to build upon. The simplest are the harder to describe, but when satisfactorily described i.e. with simple words, they are the more genuine and authentic to express and share. I’ve immersed myself in other classic song lyrics, something I hardly did before, just to appreciate the genius behind the simple words they were made of, and had a great time studying how powerful they were in expressing complex ideas such as love."

Recording was twofold: first, most of the backing tracks were recorded in 2001, in Wally's studio in Normandy, mostly using hardware synths and Yamaha digital consoles. Then, he fine-tuned the melodies and wrote the lyrics in late 2023, then added some overdubs and sang them all during summer 2024. States Wally, "Digital Performer was and remains the DAW I’ve been using throughout, ever since the 80s."

Wally's sophisticated synth textures and expressive keyboard runs are so full of character, so full of life, that this work of art transcends any easy genre categorisation. Meticulously remastered and cut by both Simon Francis and Cicely Balston respectively, it has been pressed to the highest possibly quality at Record Industry in Holland. Sometimes, the simple things are the most extraordinary.

'Transplant Rejection’ is the work of Estonian artist and IDA Radio co-founder Robert Nikolajev, this collection of seven ‘almost’ dark ambient tracks embody the melancholy of autumn whilst hinting at the forthcoming eternal winter. A man with many hats, Nikolajev operates on the fringes of the leftfield house underground for labels such as Incienso, Collect-Call and Sad Fun as well as being one half of the sporadic DIMA DISK act with Ragnar Rahouja. Eschewing the more rhythmic side of his productions for this Muscut tape, Nikolajev taps into the fictional soundtrack atmospheres the label is known for and brings his own brand of wistful, introspective world-building by way of machine harmony to the now Tallinn based imprint.

There’s a lo-fi, grainy quality running throughout the collection, a kind of sepia-toned nostalgia that envelops the listener and disorientates any perception of time or place. Buried vocal fragments sit in the mix on ‘Stifled’ alongside decaying synthesiser drones whilst ‘DDM’ channels an edgy post-rock dirge with its use of sagged bass guitar. Overall, an inspired look into the more ‘at home’ side of this increasingly prolific Estonian artist.

A record born of insurmountable joy and simultaneous profound loss; World Maker marks a time of great change for Psychonaut, both personally and musically, as the band burn away the philosophical narrative complexities of previous offerings with a searing, panoramic clarity that implores us to savour the beauty of the now as a means of leaving a legacy for the future. The traditional, three-piece line up of Belgian, psychedelic post-metal collective Psychonaut has long belied the compositional prowess, captivating narrative depth and crushing live presence of a band now operating at the forefront of forward-thinking, contemporary heavy music. Having sent a shockwave through the post-metal and prog scenes with their three times repressed Pelagic Records debut Unfold The God Man in 2020 before following it up with the transformative metaphysical complexities of 2022's Violate Consensus Reality, Psychonaut have played prestigious Belgian open-air festivals like Alcatraz, Rock Herk and Boomtown Festival as well as boutique events such as Soulcrusher, Roadburn Redux and A Colossal Weekend whilst sharing stages across Europe with the likes of Amenra, Brutus and Pelagic labelmates The Ocean and PG.Lost. The seed of World Maker took shape just as the campaign for Violate Consensus Reality came to a close, with the news that guitarist/vocalist Stefan De Graef was to become a father. This tilting of life's axis led De Graef, like most fathers-to-be, to re-assess what was really important. As such, the music he was inspired to write felt free of the band's previous philosophical and spiritual foundations and instead took the form of life lessons for his unborn son, a legacy of love in case something were ever to happen. This hopeful euphoria shines keenly throughout World Maker as an uncharacteristically optimistic warmth; from the reverberating Rhodes organ on the titular opening track and the meandering, free-jazz inspired guitar solo that introduces `Everything Else is Just The Weather' to elements of world music, electronica and the otherworldly voice of Dutch multi-instrumentalist and old friend Anthe Huybrechts (Anthe/Helion Creek) most notably on tracks like `Origins' which also features tabla, a pair of indian hand drums, as its propulsive heartbeat. Whilst Psychonaut's giant riffs, punishing polyrhythms and guttural vocal rage are more resplendent than ever, there is a wider dynamic spectrum to World Maker that sees the band proudly exploring their more delicate, intimate extremes as well as their most aggressive and abrasive. Not long after the birth of De Graef's son came the devastating news that both his own father and Psychonaut bassist/vocalist Thomas Michiels' father had been diagnosed with advanced cancers. Living day-to-day and torn between joy and grief, the band found themselves shedding the grand scope and world-shattering agenda of Violate Consensus Reality to focus on the here and now. Lead single `Endless Currents', the first full track on the album, explodes in a barrage of staccato guitar tapping but mellows to let the powerful, newly pared back lyrics ring out as a call to embrace the flow and follow joy. The song's final few words `Lead the way. / Soar. / Everlong.' double as both a greeting and a goodbye as the trio build their formidable post-metal might to a thunderous breaking point. Similarly, the pulsing, propellant `Stargazer', named so for De Graef's son being born in stargazer position, pairs delicate guitar motifs and folk-inflected optimism with huge and sprawling breakdowns as some of the band's most genre-pushing work to date; asking difficult but important questions of what happens next. It is `And You Came With Searing Light' though that most immediately exemplifies Psychonaut's redirected ambition on World Maker, as euphoria collides with blinding fury. The first track written for the album, `_Searing Light' is easily the most complex and initially wouldn't sound out of place on Violate Consensus Reality. Originally meant to be the new album's opening track; the decision to defer its impact, not to mention its compositional and dynamic gravity, speaks of a fundamental change to the band's very core. The words "Discover the world with wide eyes" recurring throughout speak as much to those having lost a part of their world as they do to those seeing it for the first time. Amidst such turbulent times, the band found strength and support within their Post-Metal community. The album was recorded and produced by the band alongside their longtime collaborator and close friend Chiaran Verheyden (Hippotraktor) with help and advice from Psychonaut's live engineer Victor, who will no doubt make this album sound just as awesome on stage. Even the artwork for World Maker was a family affair, being designed by close friend Sam Coussens of Belgian cosmic sludge metallers Pothamus. In the face of life's soaring highs and desolate lows, World Maker is direct and brave without sacrificing any of Psychonaut's raw power, creative innovation or inimitable musical depth. Where their previous full-length offerings have charted grand introspective courses through time and space, World Maker is breathtaking in its uncompromising clarity: a father singing to his newborn son as a son bids his own father farewell. FOR FANS OF Mastodon, Russian Circles, Tool, Gojira, The Ocean, Pelican, Hypno5e, Cult Of Luna, Amenra

In the heart of a post-apocalyptic city, Spacelunch was making his way through the ruins, wearing a heavy armour of metal plates and flickering circuitry. Cat settled on his shoulder, listening intently to every sound. This time, they weren't just looking for an artefact — their target was the Singularity Echo, a mysterious device created right before the catastrophe. Legend had it that the scientists of the past, sensing the impending collapse, had put all their accumulated experience and knowledge together to create it. It was said that one day “Echo” would awaken and allow descendants to touch the wisdom of the ancients, learn the secrets of forgotten technologies and, perhaps, avoid the fatal mistakes of the past.

— We’ve been wandering around for how long? — muttered Cat, looking around warily. — And nothing.

— Sitting up there complaining, aren’t you? — Spacelunch grinned, deftly bypassing the debris and intertwined roots that poked out from under the asphalt.



Suddenly, a glow flashed before them, gradually taking the form of a palm-sized transparent crystal. It floated in the air, surrounded by silver lining that wove into intricate patterns, like a network of ancient runes. The symbols on its facets, flickering, cast soft reflections on the debris around them. As the professor slowly reached out his hand, the crystal shone brighter, and the low whisper of distant voices cut through the silence. Their minds were enveloped by the echoes of past events, filling their minds with images of the vanished world.

The friends froze for a moment, overwhelmed by shock and a sense of profound change.

— Well, — said Cat, not hiding his surprise. — It seems we've gotten a little smarter.

— A little? Now we have what has been lost for an era.

— So, we have a new adventure ahead of us. Where do we start?

The ghost town, once seemingly lifeless, now seemed to come to life: every collapsed building and every corner sparked with traces and clues as if the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for a sign.

TJM’s Small Circle of Friends is considered one of the masterpieces of the Golden Era of Disco. Moplen takes TJM’s Small Circle of Friends and stretches it into a deep, hypnotic disco odyssey. Built on a chunky, vinyl-warm groove, the remix layers hi-hats, funk-soaked bass, and crisp claps over lush, orchestral strings and soulful vocal refrains.

Moplen’s trademark touch is all over this one, extended breakdowns, patient builds, and EQ sweeps that make the dancefloor hang on every bar. It’s the kind of track that keeps the energy grooving and sophisticated. A timeless, vinyl-ready rework for true disco connoisseurs.

AnalyticTrail unveils the first chapter of its new series with Gems 0.1, a carefully curated snapshot of where the label's techno heart is today. Conceived by Markantonio and rooted in the Neapolitan school of groove, this collection focuses on functional power, hypnotic motion, and forward momentum across seven cuts split between vinyl and digital. On wax, the journey opens with Human Safari's Trap Door, mixing tight percussion with jazzy melodic touches. Lysander continues with Riot in Rio, bringing tribal rhythms and rolling basslines that push the dancefloor. KLBR's Thunder Drums hits hard with analog weight and crisp drums, while SYNDROM's Nikaia Nightfall closes the side with deep, hypnotic grooves and cinematic textures. The digital edition adds three more highlights: The Groove Room's Bloom delivers a dubby, pulsing journey; Cri Du Coeur's Safre builds raw warehouse tension with powerful hits and Omis (Italy) Collapse drives a stripped-back, high-intensity groove perfect for peak-time sets. With Gems 0.1, AnalyticTrail shows its formula in action: rooted in groove, focused on the dancefloor, and always looking toward the future.

Celebrated DJ, producer, and sonic explorer Auntie Flo (aka Brian d’Souza) — described by The Guardian as “one of global club culture’s most vital voices” — returns this autumn with ‘Birds of Paradise’: a rhythmically rich, emotionally resonant, and ecologically grounded new album, out 23 October via his A State of Flo imprint. The album will be launched with a special live show at London’s Jazz Caféon the same day.

‘Birds of Paradise’ draws on d’Souza’s global club experience while deepening his connection with the natural world. Built around classic Roland drum machines and iconic vintage synths, the record is a joyful, body-driven celebration of rhythm and movement, but one grounded in ecology and place. The album’s spiritual centre lies in Saligao, Goa, near d’Souza’s maternal homeland where his Auntie Florie (where the name is derived from) is buried. Where he found his ‘paradise’ nearby, staying in a converted fisherman’s hut and recorded dawn choruses from a riverside studio overlooking mangrove-lined waters. Environmental textures from Japan also make their way into the music, creating a sonic map rooted in lived experience.

“Birds of Paradise is about finding beauty and rhythm in a chaotic world. It’s about listening, to nature, to our bodies, to what’s real. It’s a reminder that dance music can be both joyful and grounded.” The album blends Afro-Latin polyrhythms with Western 4/4 patterns, fusing instinctive, dancefloor energy with field recordings that anchor the music in the earth. Described by d’Souza as “tropical with a few deeper edges, a balance of light and dark.”

The new record follows the acclaimed ‘In My Dreams, I’m A Bird and I’m Free’, which earned 4 stars and Global Album of the Month from The Guardian, featured in Disco Pogo’s Albums of the Year, and received support from Luke Una, Resident Advisor, Juno, Bandcamp, Mixmag, DJ Mag, Electronic Sound, The Skinny, Beatport, Ban Ban Ton Ton, and more. The album’s launch show at Omeara London sold out. Other recent projects include the ‘Outernational Dance’ EP on cult label Multi Culti, event series ‘Plants Can Dance (and Mushroom’s Sing)’ which explore plant and fungi bioelectricity as a means of live composition, and ‘Black Beacon’, a haunting cassette release and soundwalk series recorded on the abandoned military island of Orford Ness. There, d’Souza explored the eerie intersection of nature, decay, and deep time, gaining special access to restricted buildings to capture long-form soundscape compositions.

Alongside his production work, d’Souza has emerged as a leading voice at the intersection of sound and science. He curated music for Imperial College’s groundbreaking psychedelic therapy trials, developing six-phase playlists to guide participants through psilocybin-assisted sessions treating conditions such as fibromyalgia and gambling addiction. His five-hour ambient set at Watching Trees Festival, selected as Resident Advisor’s Mix of the Day, continued this exploration into the therapeutic potential of sound in altered states. He also spent six months collaborating with BBC producer Tom Raine on a documentary for BBC World Service, centred on a two-week journey through Kenya and Goa. There, he performed live, led plant music workshops, and joined a deep listening retreat rooted in field recording. “I realised my studio isn’t just four soundproofed walls filled with instruments — it’s the journey itself. It’s the people I meet, the natural world I listen to, and the connections I feel.”

This same commitment to deep listening fuels his live concept Plants Can Dance, a project that combines the biosonification of plants and fungi with modular synthesis. The next event, on 14 September at Hideout Hackney Wick, will feature performances by Stella Z and Lapalace, with d’Souza and resident Lamine playing live alongside responsive plants in collaboration with Repot Hackney Wick and the label Music To Watch Seeds Grow By. “I’ve spent years exploring how electronic music can connect us, not just to each other, but to the natural world. Whether it’s translating mushroom data into melody or capturing birdsong at dawn, it’s about finding resonance across bodies, ecosystems, and machines.”

Rooted in his Goan and Kenyan heritage and shaped by years of travel and collaboration, d’Souza’s creative mission is simple: to reconnect the electronic world with the natural one. Through A State of Flo, he continues to blur the boundaries between club culture, sound art, and ecological awareness.