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NOWNEXT is a voyage from the past to the future, from now to then, from what's behind us to what's waiting for us just around the next corner. In musical terms these are the gaps that appear when you drift between genres and take risks. Strolling far from the well travelled Zeitgeist path. The second album by the Sepalot Quartet floats through this timeless space and fills those cracks with a relaxed fusion of Jazz meets Indie meets Electronica, not once denying Sepalots hip hop roots.
This freedom of expression can also be considered a sign of our times, with a generation coming of age without rivalling youth phenomena. Where a jazz show is held in a techno club with no further explaination needed.
With their first release the Quartet still relied on remakes from the established Sepalot dicography, with their current work they laid the foundation for a truly solid form of musical self discovery.
NOWNEXT is enlivened by this spirit and offers a fascinating and confindent blend of varied sounds spanning time and space.
With all this being said, NOWNEXT is truly an up to date album of international format, feeding from the rich experience of its diverse members (Sepalot, Angela Aux, Fabian Füss, Matthias Lindermayr). Memories, associations and a well carved vision are melted into a masterpiece.
NOWNEXT is the latest offering by SEPALOT and his QUARTET and needs to experienced with all senses.

Celebrating a Decade of Dark Entries with a compilation titled ‘Tens Across The Board’. We revisit our roster and chose 10 songs from 10 bands from 10 different countries spanning the years 1981-1993. The songs flow in chronological order and have never appeared on vinyl, with 7 of the songs previously unreleased.

The compilation begins in 1981 with Parade Ground from Belgium, the duo of brothers Pierre and Jean-Marc Pauly with help from Patrick Codenys and Jean-Luc of Front 242. “The Light’s Gone” was one of their earliest experiments and employs a stark minimalism with modular synthesizers, guitar reverb and tape delay. Next we venture to Granada, Spain in 1982 to meet the trio of Diseño Corbusier. Influenced by Cabaret Voltaire and Dadaism, “La Esperanza está en Antenas” was the band’s take on melancholic pop fueled by a robotic DR-55 bass-line. Sailing the Mediterranean Sea to Athens to meet Greek electronic goddess Lena Platonos who shares a demo from 1983. “Μια Γάτα Σασ Περιμένει Στη Γωνία” translates to “A Cat Is Waiting On The Corner” and is possibly the witchiest sounds we’ve shared yet, ending with a blood curdling scream. Frozen in 1983 we cross Ionian Sea to Messina, Italy and visit Victrola, the duo of Antonino “Eze” Cuscinà and Carlo Smeriglio. They’ve unearthed a melodic instrumental version of “Luca” fueled by a Korg Polysix and TB-303. Traveling across the Adriatic to Slovenia circa 1984, where Borghesia are working on their album ‘Ljubav Je Hladnija Od Smrti’. “Magla” translates to “Fog” fitting for the thick, somber electronics of Aldo Ivancic providing a dense atmosphere for the baritone vocals of Dario Seraval.

On Side B we go down under to Sydney and excavate a hidden Tom Ellard song recorded in 1984 under the alias Lord Metal, an anagram of his name for copyright reasons. “Ga Duum Blitzfonika” is a slow-motion, unadulterated dance groove originally released on the cassette compilation "Independent World”. Skipping ahead to 1986 in Tours, France we salute X-Ray Pop the minimum new wave duo of Didier "Doc" Pilot and Zouka Dzaza. They contribute the hypnotically fragile “Corto Maltese” that originally appeared on the cassette compilation ‘Plop’. Crossing the German boarder we arrive in Dortmund at the apartment of Andreas Sippel of Second Decay who recorded the instrumental demo “Lübeckerstrasse” in 1988 with partner Christian Purwien. Utilizing an TR-808, SH-101 and Arp Odyssey this cold slice of futurism was named after the street Andreas lived on. Traveling westward to England, specifically Basildon, Essex to the teenage bedroom of From Nursery To Misery, the trio of identical twin sister vocalists Gina and Tina Fear and keyboard player Lee Stevens. “Contentment” is an introspective, ethereal pop song with child-like vocals that originally appeared on the Belgian tape compilation ‘Heartbeat Vol.4’ in 1989. Finally, we return home to San Francisco and close out the compilation with Cyrnai the moniker of multi-instrumentalist Carolyn Fok. “Digital Grit Box (Demo)” was an outtake from the ‘Transfiguration’ album sessions recorded in 1993, utilizing dark dance drum beats made with MIDI sequencer programs Studio Vision and Sample Cell.

All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The vinyl is housed in a custom designed jacket by Eloise Leigh featuring our label’s colors black-white-red with connect-the-dots pattern linking the 10 songs via maps/timeline/location, all relating to the reissue process, plus source images from San Francisco, our hometown. For this landmark release we've also printed a 2-sided fold-out wall poster that includes every artist we've released in our first 10 years 2009-2019 in black, red and silver metallic ink, plus an 8x11 insert with lyrics, notes and photos.

Julien Chaptal is an electronic assembly — part French electronics, part Detroit synth machine, and part Dutch minimal robot (as part of MFD, Le Clic and Amsterdam661). Purpose built with a modular brain, Julien’s performances are switched on, live, utterly groovy, and while pulsating with machine wiring, undeniably human.
Chaptal's newest record, The Way, was conceived after a few too many knobs were turned on his Octatrack, sending Julien tumbling through time and space to capture decades worth of dance floor musical influence before returning home. Recorded live along the journey — on stage, by boat, and in a camper van — The Way’s hypnotic tracks are an intimate look at the intricate circuitry composing the logic behind electronic music, showcasing where it has come, where it is now, and where it will travel to in the future.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS RELEASE WILL BE DISTRIBUTED IN THE 'US BY FAT BEATS' & 'BENELUX BY V2 RECORDS'. PLEASE EXCLUDE ALL PARTNERS IN THOSE TERRITORIES. NO SALES TO JAPAN

Kraak & Smaak's 6th studio album - 'Pleasure Centre' is the culmination of two years hard work since their critically acclaimed 'Juicy Fruit' LP and their first Kraak & Smaak LP released on their own label – Boogie Angst. As expected it's a glorious record packed with future classics, flitting between funky dancefloor focused jams and more relaxed downtempo affairs.

The album has a definite US West Coast vibe to it and sees them fuse classic 70's and 80's yacht rock, dream pop, and indie influences in with their signature electronic funk sound. And this result is no mere accident or emulation… Working on the demos in their own studio before travelling to LA for a month last year to meet and work with featured artists, they stayed in Echo Park and recorded in local studios and sometimes even in the homes or backyards garages of their collaborators.

Hand- picking the best of the local talent: dance diva - Gavin Turek, indie upstarts - The Palms and dream pop dealer – Satchmode all contribute their talents to the cause.

The Dutchmen have earned a deserved reputation in particular for the A&R side of the industry, with both the discovery and collaboration of new rising acts high on their agenda. Previous successes include working with Parcels, Alxndr London (championed by Annie Mac) Eric Biddines (6Music playlisted) and Cleopold (signed to Nick Murphy fka Chet Faker's own label). And they continue to uncover hidden gems outside of LA on this record too...

Moon Boots collaborator – Nic Hanson, Jalapeno Records' gospel/soul powerhouse - Izo FitzRoy and soul man Wolfgang Valbrun (Ephemerals/Kungs), New Zealand's imugi이무기and previous collaborator and soul songstress - Sanguita are accompanied by regular members of the Kraak & Smaak live band - IVAR and Berenice Van Leer across 15 fantastic new tracks.

'Pleasure Centre' is everything you'd want in an album and everything we've come to expect from these dance stalwarts – innovative, relevant, and modern tracks with great production and exciting guest features that are guaranteed to fire up your own pleasure centre!

After the creation of his own label and four EPs (Intuitive, Blend, Exil, Singles), here is Thylacine with a first album called Transsiberian, named after a recent trip to the other side of the world.

In the spring of 2015, William left for Russia with a video crew. The goal: to get carried away by the famous Trans-Siberian, which connects Moscow to Vladivostok, and stop at the option of fixed and impromptu meetings with local personalities. Time is divided between intense encounters and long train journeys where William locks himself in his cabin to compose. At the option of these stops which, over the days, nourish William's inspiration, he has the right to a concert offered as a welcome by the old ladies of the native village of the graffiti artist Artemiy, polyphonies in Irkutsk, a bell ringer of bells, a traditional musical trio in Kazan, surfers in Vladivostok. A shaman welcomes him in his yurt on the shores of Lake Baikal, with his two little daughters, Aikhai and Mandukhaï. All can be found on Transsiberian, a concept album that places the taste for travel and his curiosity about others at the heart of his contemplative songs. Evolving in the world of contemporary art, for which he composes regularly, William sees an album as a work where performance counts but also emotion and, above all, manner of doing things. "The process of creation matters as much as the end," he says.

The sixth release of Form and Function, is the second one of the Function series. This time it's Qindek who provides his debut EP on the label. 'Reach For The Cosmica' is a lovely journey through Qindek's world. It's the perfect combination of both abstract and functional. The weird meets the wonderful. The package is topped of by Setaoc Mass who does an incredible job remixing Takes A pad.

On the A-side, the first track is 'Climate Shift'. A track that tells a story through dubby elements and chords, backed by a powerful and thumping low end. A movement of continuous energy and subtle but noticeable changes which have an impact on the track as a whole can be seen as the precursor for cosmic endeavors.

Next up is 'Reach For The Cosmica', the second track of this release. It's an epitome of the soundtrack of traveling through space. The minimalist build up tells us about how the journey just started outside of the atmosphere, transitioning into more depth that has been inaugurated by a sound that is the sonic equal of the rocket engine. As the beginning journey develops, there are few sudden bursts of power, together with the presence of the perpetual powers that cause the final move to outer space.

The arrival in outer space brings us to the 3rd part of the release and the first track of the B-side. Setaoc Mass gives the EP it's the concluding boost that gives us that last drop of power before the arrival. Elements of the original are still to be found, whilst given a little twist and a lot more of dancefloor energy. All while keeping the pace up to enter the final chapter of the journey.

'Take A Pad' exactly asks us what we need to do. Finding the ultimate balance between speed while preserving the right amount of power, is how sub-bass is working in harmony with the percussive elements.

Space is calling upon us with delicate voices. A beautiful ending of a classy and well crafted EP by Qindek.

2x180g vinyl plus download code!
We are very happy to present our first album on Ilian Tape. At the beginning of 2014 we moved our two separate bedroom studios into one and soon after started working on the album. All the tracks were made in about 6 months in our new Ilian Tape Space Studio in Munich. The time felt right to focus on this adventure, but without any pressure. Therefore the process became very natural and we felt free to go wherever the vibe led us. Our intention was to create a very personal and honest sound without any limitations or guidelines. It's a reflection of all the years we've been growing up, working, traveling and playing together and it means a lot to us. But enough said music is not supposed to be described with words, so sit back, close your eyes, light one up and turn up the speakers!

After their stunning 2012 debut single "Wish" (FM X / Wish 001) and last year's "Diggin' On You" (D.O.C. 001), the incredibly gifted ELEKFANTZ return to the fore with what can only called a brilliant full-length premiere. The duo of Daniel and Leo first met 20 years ago, when they played together in a blues band. Leo continued his carreer as a professional musician while Daniel started to discover a new musical path.

The latter was born and bred at the electronic music temple in South America, later becoming a resident DJ and local hero, known as the right guy to prepare the dance floor and set up the right mood. He's one of the finest DJs of the Brazilian new wave of electronic aficionados. Leo is a professional drummer, singer and composer since the age of 15. He played and recorded with some of the greatest artists in Brazil.

Their debut album DARK TALES AND LOVE SONGS sports all the intimate melodies, lush harmonies and organic undertones that the duo has become know for and then some: from pop-infused songwriter house to highly emotive prime time anthems, you'll find lots to love about this expertly crafted collection of melodic gems. Engineered to perfection by label head GUI BORATTO, it's an exciting step for the imprint and the project alike - we can't wait hearing where they'll go next.

If you are into techno, Svreca needs no introduction. This Spanish DJ and producer has been travelling around the world for a while and his label Semantica has earned its place amongst the best cult labels thanks to their support of the vinyl format and investment on incredible artworks. They also have one of the best artists rosters.

Oscar Mulero has released some tracks on Semantica and now it's time for Semantica's boss to release in Warm up... So we are really excited about this!

This release comes in two versions: a four-track EP and a six-track digital release with two
bonus edits by Oscar Mulero.

'Disorder' opens side A. A bleepy, repetitive exercise, with a solid kick and extra high-
frequency analogue percussions and sweeps.
Oscar Mulero's version follows as track A2, adding more pressure to the rhythm, more
atmospheres and some FM synth details, while preserving the original bleep.

The B side starts with 'Overgang'. Once again, an obsessing high-pitched sequence as the
absolute star, plus Svreca's traditionally insane high frequency noises, a concrete kick and
repetition as a formula.

OM's version of 'Overgang': more complex than the original, with 909 hats, more synth lines,
extra bleeps and a dynamic and constantly changing arrangement.

Closing the vinyl release is OM's version of 'Overgang': more complex than the original, with 909 hats, more synth lines, extra bleeps and a dynamic and constantly changing arrangement.

The digital version is completed with two extra versions of 'Overgang': by Oscar Mulero. The
first one, on a more straight techno vibe and trademark sound. The second one has a more
mental approach.

Every coastline develops its own rhythm. The Adriatic is no exception.

For decades, Italy’s eastern coast has been shaped by funk, Cosmic Disco, Balearic sounds, Italo Disco, House, Latin rhythms, Brazilian music and countless other influences. Rather than blending into a single style, these musical worlds have lived side by side, constantly inspiring new generations of DJs, musicians and dancers. For more than fifteen years, Soul Fingers and Funk Rimini have explored that landscape from different perspectives. Founded by Claudio Cavallaro in 2013, Soul Fingers grew into a vinyl-driven community where groove matters more than genre. Its philosophy has always been simple: if the groove is right, genres stop mattering. Brothers Ricky and Francesco Cardelli developed Funk Rimini into a project rooted in funk, disco, live performance and electronic production. Anima Adriatica is where these two journeys meet.

The project didn’t begin with the ambition of making an album. It began behind the turntables. As DJs, Claudio Cavallaro and Ricky Cardelli found themselves constantly searching for records capable of connecting distant musical worlds inside their sets; from Afrobeat into disco, from hip hop into Latin, from Brazilian grooves into boogie, from cosmic electronics into deep funk. Sometimes those records existed. More often, they didn’t. So they stopped searching and started writing them. Not records designed to belong to one genre, but records designed to travel between genres. That space between musical worlds became Anima Adriatica.

The music grew through spontaneous jam sessions with Ricky and Francesco Cardelli, drummer Enrico Mao Bocchini and, gradually, a wider circle of musicians, singers and longtime friends, making Anima Adriatica less a traditional band than the beginning of an open collective. Recorded at SynthPosio Studio, founded by Ricky and Francesco Cardelli inside Rimini’s iconic skyscraper, the project also carries a symbolic connection to the building itself, where many Italo Disco classics (including records by Betty Miranda, The Creatures and many others) were recorded decades earlier.

Betty Miranda returns not as a nostalgic guest, but as a bridge between generations. On the title track she performs a spoken-word text written by Claudio Cavallaro, reflecting on the invisible thread connecting the Adriatic dancefloor across time. From Baia degli Angeli to Cocoricò, from the legendary clubs of Riccione to today’s independent communities gathered around projects such as Soul Fingers and Funk Rimini, the places have changed, but the dancefloor continues to tell the same story. Much like Pier Vittorio Tondelli’s Rimini captured the Adriatic through literature, Anima Adriatica imagines its soundtrack.

Brazilian musician Daniel Plentz (Selton) expands that vision on Açúcar and Alegria, bringing another coastline into the story. Across its four tracks, the EP moves naturally between analogue funk, boogie, Brazilian music, underground disco, cosmic textures and the wider Black musical tradition, with All Down The Line paying tribute to the Paradise Garage era.

Released by Bordello A Parigi, the project found its natural home through a shared love of adventurous dance music, records and club culture. More than the title of an EP, Anima Adriatica marks the beginning of an open collective; a meeting point where musicians, DJs, producers and friends continue building bridges between genres, generations and communities.

Because Anima Adriatica doesn’t live inside a genre. It lives between genres. If soul music has always reflected the places where it was born, Anima Adriatica is simply our own Adriatic Soul.

The unconscious element to the conscious process.

The practice of dub techno and its tendrils is a fundamental for me, both aesthetically and from an engineering perspective.

I start every recording session with a dub inspired jam, the first piece I ever recorded in 1996 was an effort to recreate Phylyps Trak with only a Korg X3 and an Ibanez PUE5 (borrowed from Gary Howell). It was an awesome introduction to jamming, and the footing stones of noise, delay and saturation were explored with my foot hard on the enthusiasm pedal.

These practice jams are in some sense cathartic, the first step taken again & again, which helps me move forwards each session and additionally helps to 'warm the circuits' both of myself and the machines.

After realising the genius of Basic Channel is akin to the genius of peasant food, using every ingredient with nothing left to waste, (up to and including the oft maligned working noise of the machines themselves), this was a watershed moment for my own subjective progression. No longer tied to just emulation of something inspiring, but taking these learned tools into other areas of music helped to break free from a strong current of influence and also to progress into other areas with the new toolbox.

Dub:

The importance of the dub pioneers should never be understated, in modern music and my own practice. Yet with my initial inspiration being two german dudes issuing extreme techno variants with obscured label designs, who then signposted their listeners to their own inspirations (via their Wackies re-issues or nodded to on their Rhythm & Sound/Burial Mix sub-labels), meant that I started late and travelled backwards.

Learning to notice the live mixing of Mikey Dread or Lee Perry when the faders are bleeding through even when turned down, (echoed in BC's Quadrant Dub), or the brash send effects literally thrown into the mix also taught me that 'rough' mixing can inject a recording with life, uniqueness and the most right wrongness. Looking back Basic Channels very few elements helped me realise that the rules to be understood, are also the best ones to be broken.

Push the mixer into the red.

Amp that noise up from the tape delay cos it sounds sick.

Pseudo side-chain effects cos the kicks are way too loud and the mixer can't sum it nicely.

Spam the send knob into the delay units now, now and now.

Carelessness.

Noise:

Once I wrapped my head around the intrinsic 'noise' element that set those records apart, this became a torchlight into the alt noise movements which I was tentatively exploring at the time, and also is evidently a connection or thread into them.

Whether the Industrial/Post Punk UK scene (This Heat, TG, A Tent, F.E.) or the prolific output of the US Noise scene (Wolf Eyes, Live & Shave in LA, and subsequently following the lineage all the way back to Chrome's Alien Soundtracks), I had finally discovered a connection from techno to this 'free for all' corner of music.

This input from the Noise arena of sound is, in my experience, an all important step for a sonic artist, taking it's roots and extending out from Stockhausen/Pierre Henry and utilised/warped/mangled by thousands of adventurous pioneers ever since, I now see the line separating the high brow and the low brow is actually an artery carrying information from the head to the heart.

Vault is a selection of these jams that precede each of my solo recording sessions, for 30 years I've recorded hundreds of these 'workouts'. They are never intended as serious statements, just moments of naive enjoyment, yet most importantly they are time & space captured as practice.

The objective is always a warm up exercise, but sometimes those exercises turn a different corner, with a certain focus or direction dependent on what random samples are left in my machines from the previous session, instead of conscious choices, these unconscious elements can facilitate those 'positive mistakes' that make a piece of sound retain a different feel or colour and thus become special, or at least special to the creator.

I am quite conscious that the 'record everything' aspect of my ethos has been invaluable in cataloguing and saving these jams, while the attitude of carelessness during this process (after all, it's only a warm up jam) invites more enjoyment than seriousness ever could. Even if you don't feel the piece at the time, record it, because some years later it may well fit, or become relevant in a way you never intended.

-Miles

Sweet Apricots presents its first vinyl release: Daniel Masson – Baul Dimension EP.

In the early 2000s, French composer and producer Daniel Masson travelled to Dhaka to record musicians and singers from Bangladesh’s Baul tradition, a mystical musical culture centred on freedom, inner exploration and universal love.

Originally released as a 13-track album, Baul Dimension appears here on vinyl for the first time through a carefully selected four-track EP. The record brings together the original version, Daniel Masson’s hypnotic Anniversary Version, and two remixes by Lucas Desmottes, aka Roy Vision.

A regular guest at Sweet Apricots parties, Roy Vision translates the spirit of the dancefloor into two deep, percussive and jazz-informed versions: the uplifting Higher Self Mix and its spacious, powerful dub counterpart.

Between organic voices, traditional instrumentation, electronic textures and hypnotic rhythms, Baul Dimension EP is a journey made for attentive listening as much as for adventurous dancefloors.

Cut at The Carvery, London and pressed with particular care by Disques Garcia

»Cosmogonical Ears« is Amosphère's first album for Hallow Ground. Following her contribution to the Swiss label’s »Epiphanies« compilation and her 2021 full-length debut »More Die of Heartbreak« on 33-33, it features three expansive pieces. The Paris-based composer and multidisciplinary artist delves deeper into themes of time, space, cosmology, human perception, and psycho-physical effects, crafting profound sonic meditations. Drawing on a minimalist approach while blending electronic and acoustic elements, Amosphère’s long-form compositions are living, breathing entities whose sonic richness and evocative power unfold gradually over time, putting »Cosmogonical Ears« in direct kinship with previous Hallow Ground releases by artists such as Kali Malone and FUJI|||||||||||TA.

The album opens with its longest piece, »Land of eternal delight,« composed for the Buddha10 exhibition at the Museo d'Arte Orientale in Turin. Written during three years of isolation—a period in which Amosphère explored meditation practices and diverse belief systems—it merges mythology with personal transcendental experiences, reflecting on a challenging time for humanity. »By blending Buddhist philosophy and sculpture with my own meditation practices, I sought to explore a way for people to transcend the boundaries of space and time—not as a believer, but as an observer,« she explains. Featuring handmade ceramic instruments and recorded by Thomas Lefevre, the piece combines Amosphère’s electronic organ with Marc Lochner’s flute contributions, creating a sound that is simultaneously minimalist and expansive.

The concept of teleportation and how it challenges traditional notions of time and space serves as the foundation for the second piece. »Recent advances in quantum physics suggest that teleportation might be possible through quantum entanglement,« Amosphère notes. »What if science fiction is becoming reality—or has already existed in ancient times?« Drawing inspiration from theories proposed by physicists such as Roger Penrose, Amosphère again worked together with flutist Lochner, this time using her VCS 3 synthesizer. »Teleportation« weaves single notes into intricate, non-linear patterns that defy conventional logic, creating a complex auditory tapestry. The last piece »Black hole in, white hole out« was recorded on Corsica and features Miao Zhao’s bass clarinet drones alongside Amosphère’s church organ. It imagines the possible sound of crossing a black hole while also suggesting the study of its theoretical exit and its potential applications for large-scale time and space travel.

The questions posed by »Cosmogonical Ears« do not yield straightforward answers. Instead, Amosphère’s restrained yet intricately layered compositions require full immersion and concentration from the listener. As expressed by the album’s title—which envisions the birth of a new universe through listening—»Cosmogonical Ears« offers an experimental approach to auditory perception as a tool for seeking truth, freedom, and harmony between the outer world and the inner self.

Japanese acid pop outfit Cho Co Pa Co Cho Co Quin Quin channel the globe-trotting spirit of Haruomi Hosono’s 1970s tropical boogie on their debut album, Tradition.

Named after one of the basic rhythms of Cuban folk music and drawing on influences from across the globe, Cho Co Pa Co Cho Co Quin Quin are quite simply a world unto itself.

Comprised of three childhood friends, Daido, Yuta and So, who reconnected during the coronavirus pandemic, Cho Co Pa initially emerged as a playful way for the three 23-year-olds to pass the time. Tapping into their youthful connection, they created a sound that exudes confidence and curiosity, a homage to the masterful world of YMO’s and Happy End’s Haruomi Hosono, rooted in the trio’s own idiosyncratic experience of the present.

Recorded at home and promoted on hugely popular DIY TikTok videos, their debut album Tradition is a technicolour exercise in armchair travelling – a kind of lockdown exotica for the housebound whose nostalgic flights of fancy are laced with a sense of whimsical melancholy for the lost freedoms of youth.

Referencing everything from Afro-Cuban percussion to lo-fi beats, Buddhist spirituality to trap, each member of the band brings different musical inspirations to the table. Latin American and Middle Eastern styles sit adjacent to a fascination for the electronic music of Aphex Twin, Dorian Concept, Underworld and Daft Punk. At times, the music verges on acid pop bliss, at others, it grooves with the instrumental funk sensibility of BADBADNOTGOOD.

“In the first place, when I create a song, my goal is to transport the listener to a mysterious place,” vocalist Daido explained in a recent magazine interview. Using lyrics as another sonic texture in the composition of ideas, Cho Co Pa paint beguiling sonic postcards of far-flung moods across 12 highly original tracks.

Marrying the organic and the electronic on rhythmically sophisticated compositions like ‘Chichibu’ and ‘Watatsumi’, it is on the album’s standout track ‘Gandhara’ that the experimental sound of Cho Co Pa comes to the fore. Referencing the ancient city of Gandhara through which Buddhism made its way from India to China, the track is a vocoder-trap-inspired, Udu drum-driven pop jam that lilts with unmistakable Balearic flair. If that’s difficult to imagine, then know simply that ‘Gandhara’ sounds like nothing else on this side of Saturn. Even Daido seemed surprised by the outcome: “I feel like we were able to create something that exceeded our abilities. That was huge!”

Hugely popular in Japan, with festival appearances lined up alongside BADBADNOTGOOD at Asagiri Jam in October, it's safe to say the success of Tradition has taken Cho Co Pa by surprise. You won’t have heard anything like it."

Children of Zeus return with their third studio album ‘As The World Burns…’

Five years on from their highly-acclaimed sophomore album ‘Balance’, Manchester’s kings of hip hop soul, Tyler Daley and Konny Kon, bring us a brand new 16-track opus.

Sonically the duo continue their story where they left off; crafting an amalgamation of street soul, alternative r&b and boom bap hip hop, with a sprinkle of flavours taken from their original multi-genre pirate radio influences, and a dash of forward-thinking new sounds, ensuring all tracks are destined to become future classics.

The features are sparing but powerful, enlisting the talents of revered UK rapper Knucks (‘Before We Drown’), Colorado-native Young Old Soul (‘Dopamine’), MCR family K S R (‘Do You Want To Get High’, & Australian/Mauritian up & comer Anieszka (‘Water & Vibes’).

As with previous projects, this album is largely produced by the duo themselves, though there are guest productions from previous collaborators too, including Grammy Award-winner Beat Butcha, Grammy-nominated Teo, and broken beat pioneer K15, along with an assortment of new players making moves in the underground neo-soul & beats circuit.

Conceptually, this project continues on with the story to date. An eternal search for sunsets and soulfood, as a respite to the anxieties of the modern world; personally, professionally and globally. Assertive swagger is matched with brutal but sincere candidity. As ever, it encapsulates the rough with the smooth, with reflections on where they’ve been, where they’re at and where they’re headed. There’s no preaching to be found here; just an acceptance of things as they are, an embrace of the environment and people they were nurtured by, and a celebration of some of the finer things in life; slow jams, weed & rum, water & vibes. Raps for listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners. All packaged together as another perfect sonic love letter to sound system culture. 50 minutes of big people music.

Since the release of their anthemic debut single ‘Still Standing’ a decade ago, to the subsequent EP ‘The Story So Far’, and their critically-lauded debut album ‘Travel Light’, the duo have received numerous accolades, including nominations for AIM Awards & Worldwide Awards both, along with tons of ‘Album of the Year’ nods care of Clash Magazine, Bandcamp, Complex, Wordplay and many more. This along with huge swathes of support from DJs, radio stations, press outlets, tastemakers, luminaries & fellow artists across the globe.

Children of Zeus have performed sessions for COLORS, Soulection (Apple Music), DJ AG, Boiler Room, BBC 6 Music and at the infamous Maida Vale studios for BBC 1Xtra as well as touring across Europe, Australia and South Africa. This is in addition to collaborating & touring with Mercury Award Winner’s Ezra Collective, including a Wembley Arena show. Other collaborations over the years have included Shy FX, Juls, Goldie, Black Milk, Kofi Stone and the late great Lenzman.

From the Broke ’n’ English / Hoodman-era, to the present day, Children of Zeus have been omnipresent in the fabric of British black music. Proud ambassadors of Manchester music, and of UK soul, it really is “Zeus to the world”.

Children of Zeus have been adorned with plenty of flowers over their career. The unbridled quality and poignance of the music and the message on display throughout this project will see the algorithmic needle move some more. It’s undoubtedly set to be a Zeus Summer. As the world burns…

Available on all digital platforms and physical formats, Friday September 4th 2026.







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t 07: Do You Want To Get High? (feat. [ K S R ]) - Children of Zeus03:26







[t] 07: Do You Want To Get High? (feat. [ K S R ]) - Children of Zeus03:26







[g] B3 | Do You Want To Get High? (feat [ K S R ]) - Children of Zeus03:26

Stone Music returns with Into the Cosmic Forest, a deep and patient journey into open-air improvisation. The group was founded in 2022 by Tokio Hasegawa, a core member of the legendary Taj Mahal Travellers, and brings together a wide circle of musicians from Japan’s ambient and experimental scenes.

While the name is new, the spirit continues. Stone Music extends the free-form, site-responsive approach that defined Taj Mahal Travellers — music shaped by environment, duration, and collective awareness rather than fixed structure.

Into the Cosmic Forest consists of two long-form pieces, each exceeding 20 minutes, both recorded live outdoors. Side A was captured at Japan’s Off-Tone Festival. It unfolds slowly and organically — layers of voice, strings, electronics, wind instruments, and percussive textures gradually forming a shifting sonic landscape.

Side B was recorded on the grounds of Mithila Museum in the mountains of Niigata, an art space managed by Hasegawa himself. More intimate in atmosphere yet equally immersive, the piece centers on voice and subtle interplay, allowing space and silence to become part of the composition.

What you hear is direct and unpolished: air moving, sound resonating, musicians responding to each other and to their surroundings in real time.

Following tours in India during 2023–24, with performances in national museums and universities, Stone Music continues to explore music as shared space rather than spectacle.

Into the Cosmic Forest invites listeners into that space — unedited, unhurried, and fully alive.

Houston’s premier street griot is stepping into his most profound chapter yet with his highly anticipated upcoming album, O.Y.N. Throughout a decorated career that spans over 1.2 billion global streams and a fiercely loyal fanbase, Maxo Kream—born Emekwane Ogugua Biosah, Jr.—has established himself as one of rap’s most authentic, uncompromising storytellers. From the raw trenches of Alief to the critically acclaimed triumphs of Punken, Brandon Banks, Weight of the World, and his triumphant 2024 independent pivot Personification, Maxo has long been celebrated by Pitchfork, NPR, and Complex for his cinematic, hyper-detailed world-building. Now, O.Y.N. finds the Houston icon turning his gaze inward, pairing his signature Texas grit with an expansive, global perspective that redefines his artistic boundaries.

If his previous work was about Maxo taking full creative control as an independent force, O.Y.N. is about him uncovering who he is at his core. Following the passing of his father, Maxo found himself searching deeper for his family origins, leading to a pivotal moment of artistic and personal rebirth. For the first time in his life, Maxo traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, anchoring his new music in a profound celebration of his Nigerian heritage. The emotional centerpiece of this journey is the JPEGMAFIA-produced single “Time Out,” an introspective track that moves away from the frantic energy of his past releases to offer a stripped-back look at love, loss, and legacy. Featuring a heavy, resonant drum presence on the outro, the song’s accompanying music video was filmed on location in Lagos, capturing Maxo navigating his ancestral roots in real-time.

While O.Y.N. reaches new emotional depths, it doesn't sacrifice the hard-hitting, volatile street persona that made Maxo a star. The album expertly balances soul-baring vulnerability with cutting-edge hip-hop experimentation, showcasing elite chemistry with some of the genre's most forward-thinking visionaries. Look no further than “Fake Jeezy,” a collaborative explosion featuring Denzel Curry and masterminded by JPEGMAFIA. The track is a masterclass in industrial chaos, combining sharp lyricism and early-2000s trap imagery with cold, surreal visual aesthetics. This duality highlights Maxo's unique positioning in the culture as a trusted street general who can effortlessly trade bars with rap's avant-garde elite.

From his early days flipping Kendrick Lamar's “Rigamortis” to sharing marquee tracks with the likes of A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott, and Tyler, The Creator on hits like “Big Persona,” “Cracc Era,” and “Cracc At 15,” Maxo Kream has always been a rapper's rapper. O.Y.N. represents the ultimate synthesis of this incredible journey. It is an album born from the soil of Alief but elevated by the spirit of Lagos—a raw, beautiful, and heavy-hitting testament to an artist who has survived his past, honored his losses, and fully embraced his destiny.

Pioneering Ghanaian musician King Ayisobareturns September 4, 2026 with his forthcoming seventh album Pure Confusion, recorded and produced by On-U-Sound’s Adrian Sherwood.

Ayisoba is one of Ghana’s most distinctive musical voices. The world’s foremost player of the kologo - a homemade two-string lute fashioned from a calabash and covered in goatskin - he delivers fiercely political and socially observant songs using three different voices, including the voice of his grandfather that possessed him as a child. Sherwood meanwhile is the pioneering British producer and founder of On-U Sound whose hugely influential career has connected dub, post-punk, industrial, hip hop and experimental music through collaborations with artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Mark Stewart, Horace Andy, Sinéad O’Connor, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode.

Ayisoba and Sherwood first collaborated during a BBC Radio 3 Late Junction session at Maida Vale in 2017, organised by Ayisoba’s long-time collaborator Arnold de Boer/Zea of The Ex. The pair immediately connected, and during the pandemic, when Adrian’s long-time African Head Charge collaborator Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah was in Ghana looking for musicians to collaborate with Sherwood suggested Ayisoba, who eventually featured on two tracks on African Head Charge’s 2023 album A Trip To Bolgatanga (Bolgantanga is the region Ayisoba is from). Ayisoba then returned to the UK in late 2024 and travelled to Sherwood’s Ramsgate studio where the pair laid down the songs that would become Pure Confusion: “All the songs were already in my head,” says Ayisoba. “This album is all recorded live, over one afternoon. Adrian only plays live, and I like that. And he works hard - he doesn’t sleep. I woke up in the night and he was still working.”

“In my role producing it, I just let it roll to make a good vibe,” says Sherwood. “We recorded it completely live, did some programming and processing on some tracks, using dub techniques live on the mixing desk and adding some slick touches. We wanted the colours on the album to swing off what Ayisoba was doing, so we invited some friends to participate. Doug Wimbish (Sugar Hill Gang) arrived from America and lent his services playing bass on a couple of tracks; the wonderful Ivan Hussey (Celloman) played bass, keyboards and cello - cello is not really featured on African recordings so we thought it would be really cool to try it. I'd been working with Alex White (Fat White Family/Primal Scream) on my album (The Collapse of Everything) and so he added sax to a few tracks and I brought Alan Glenn down especially - Alan was in Little Axe but also Nine Below Zero and played in the Yardbirds – to add some mouth organ; Mark Bandola added a bit of flavour with his Juno, Ayisoba’s long-time Ghanian collaborator Ayuune Sule added some percussion and vocals and Matt Smith did some programming.”

“King Ayisoba is quite amazing, so unique,” Sherwood continues. “He’s got his own handmade instrument and three different voices - when you’re listening you think it’s three different people. He’s a breath of fresh air, full of love for the music which he wants to share with everybody. Some tracks we kept very straight and others we experimented with - adding dubby psychedelic little touches to trip you out a bit. The added production we did at On-U has given it a shine while still keeping it vibrant, live and spontaneous. I’m really proud of this record”.

On Pure Confusion, Ayisoba documents the anxieties, contradictions and changing social realities of contemporary Ghana. “Land is a problem for everyone,” says Ayisoba of the opening track “Property”. “If you don’t build on your land they will take it away. Plenty corruption in Ghana, plenty confusion. They sell the land to two, three, four people and then everybody fights.”

Elsewhere Ayisoba explores illness, spirituality and social stigma on “Bemba”, warning against hiding sickness out of shame or fear of “bad juju”: “People hide their sickness and the sickness kills them.” “Tewigiloge” reflects on cultural difference and open-mindedness encountered through world travel: “We will tour the whole world and we will see many things we may not like or understand… your eyes will see, but don’t talk - you have to be open-minded.”

Spirituality runs deeply throughout the album. Ayisoba’s grandfather was a respected spiritual healer whose presence the musician says still guides him today. “The grandparents’ spirits are the ones you can contact,” he explains of the spiritual chant “Nkaase”. “This song talks about the forefathers.” The closing track “Leeda-Mampanga (It’s Not My Strength)” acts as a statement of humility and gratitude: “You have to be humble, even if you have talent. God gives you the power.”

For more than two decades, King Ayisoba has been one of Africa’s most distinctive musical innovators, transforming northern Ghanaian kologo traditions into a bold contemporary sound rooted in hypnotic rhythms, social commentary and spiritual intensity. Since the breakthrough success of 2006’s Modern Ghanaians, Ayisoba has built an international following through acclaimed albums, relentless touring and collaborations with artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Orlando Julius and African Head Charge. Performances at Roskilde, WOMAD, Le Guess Who? and the Barbican have further cemented his reputation as a singular live performer and cultural force.

Proudly partnering with the globally acclaimed Forza Horizon gaming series for the fifth time, Hospital Records once again bring their D&B A-game to the world of racing & gaming with a whopping 24-track soundtrack that's getting pressed to a pristine 3x12 triple gatefold vinyl product. For both Forza & Hospital fans alike, this is a physical piece of both D&B and gaming history.

The story of each re-release begins with the original. In the late 90s, Uwe Zahn (Arovane), along with Robert Henke (Monolake) and Stefan Betke (Pole), began releasing music on Torsten Pröfrock’s (Dynamo) newly launched DIN label. This was a very inconspicuous undertaking, but fans of the flourishing IDM, glitch, and constantly evolving abstract techno genres quickly picked up on the quality of sound coming out of Germany. After a few successful EPs, Zahn began working on his debut full-length, Atol Scrap. The release was a success, at least in the underground circles, where followers of the melodic harmonies, stuttering off-beat rhythms, and, most importantly, advanced sound design feverishly consumed the imprint’s output. There was only one thing missing – the album was never pressed on vinyl, and for decades remained in the digital domain. The fans, of course, inquired. There were multiple offers on the table, but Zahn retained control until he was assured that it was properly attained. “I thought of taking everything into my own hands and releasing the record myself,” says Zahn, “but at the end of last year, Matthias from Keplar asked me to re-release Atol Scrap on vinyl.” The label and its owner revolve in the Morr Music universe, and so it made sense for Zahn to trust the platform to treat the record right.

Listening to Atol Scrap over twenty years later it is inane not to admit how well it has held up. Where other genres clearly aged, becoming stale, bland, and dull, the music on eleven tasty tracks still keeps the neurons tickled with each note. More than an echo of the past, the bottled sound truly has matured. Many of the newly evolving techniques are recognizable on the album. “I created the digital artifacts with a digital multi-track recorder, the Fostex D80,” recalls Zahn. “The thing had a scrub wheel with which I could achieve wonderful glitch effects by winding through the audio data. I have sampled and further processed these artifacts.” And this approach is still embedded in Zahn’s sound design. “I still use my 24-track analog desk from Tascam to mix my audio. I love to use hardware synths and samplers. I’ve definitely built upon my studio experience in the 90s.” From this debut to the most recent output, Arovane’s sound has evolved to become more intricate, detailed, and pronounced. “My music has become much quieter and much slower. But that’s probably also due to the noise in the world.” And just as Atol Scrap reminds Zahn of the past, retaining charm preserved in a container traveling through time, it also jitters memories of long ago, when we were twenty years younger, less experienced, and bold. For me, among the many records of the time, this album held a special place in life, my heart, and many CD boxes moved across the world. And now I’m only happy to restock the vinyl space, where Atol Scrap belongs among the beloved records. Welcome home. - Mike Lazarev

Remastered and cut to vinyl by Kassian Troyer @ D&M. Cover art by Jim Kühnel based on a photograph by Uwe Zahn.

If you’re as obsessed with unfairly unheralded bands as we are, bringing out a proper, well-deserved official re-release to change that course is always an honor. Case in point, Jackpot Records proudly announce GANDALF’s 1969 self-titled release as one of our proudest moments. Working alongside band member Peter Sando from the original master tapes, it is time for the rest of the uninitiated to catch up with this beautifully crafted haunting psych-pop record (fans of THE LEFT BANKE, KALEIDOSCOPE, THE MILLENNIUM, and THE ZOMBIES, take note!). Recorded at Century Sound in Manhattan with Grammy-winning producer Brooks Arthur (who engineered Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” and Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl”), the production of the album was created on the spot in the studio with arrangements being thrown about and the incredibly haunted vocals being recorded directly from the band’s PA using a Binson Echorec to make this innovative sound (Pink Floyd later used the same echo unit to great effect). Add to that sitars, vibes, B3 organs, harpsichord, minor tragic guitar chords, and bass drones aplenty, and you’ve got the recipe for an album that bears listening to with eyes closed, music cranked, mind open. So get in on the beauty of this record, and as Sando says on the liner notes: “Put the needle in the groove, sit back, and take the trip with GANDALF.” Enough said.

Héritage Mélodies is the meeting point between saxophonist and composer Jean Vernhères and Black Stamp Music, brought together by a shared passion for the warm colors of music, groove, and the beauty of sound.

Nurtured from an early age by jazz and African-American music—from blues and soul to hip-hop—Jean Vernhères also ventured into Highlife, Afrobeat, and Funk, exploring the fertile “Black Atlantic” that runs throughout his musical journey.

For his first album as a bandleader, he brings together Pierre Bauzerand on Steinway piano, Laurent Vanhée on double bass, Guillermo Roatta on drums, and, as a special guest, Alfio Origlio on Fender Rhodes and piano. Six original compositions where Soul Jazz, Latin Groove, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, spirituality, and intimate melodies come together.

Recorded at Bernard Estardy’s legendary Studio CBE and mastered in Berlin at East Side Mastering, Héritage Mélodies embraces a true audiophile aesthetic: from the breadth and spaciousness of Haumea City, a nod to CTI Records, to the delicacy of Marion.

More than a jazz record, Héritage Mélodies is a story of lineage, travel, and transmission: a personal tribute to all those who have carried forward a musical heritage that transcends time.

“The first three are innocent in a way, because we didn’t have an audience when we were making them,” Oberst says. “But from Lifted on, I was definitely aware of an audience. Lifted was well-received right away, and then everything happened with Wide Awake and Digital Ash.” Those two albums came out simultaneously. And their lead singles – “Take It Easy (Love Nothing),” from the austere, remote Digital Ash, and “Lua,” from the warm, folky Wide Awake – debuted in the top two slots on the Billboard Hot 100. “First Day of My Life,” also from Wide Awake, would later be voted the Number One love song of all time by NPR Music’s reader’s poll. Bright Eyes had officially broken through. It was a heady, exciting time, but also fraught and tense, both because of the band’s careening new fame, and because of the state of the world. When Bright Eyes made their Tonight Show debut in 2006, they chose to perform none of their shiny new hits, instead delivering a searing, harrowing rendition of their caustic anti-Bush anthem, “When The President Talks To God.” These days, Oberst is still amusing himself by messing with the extremes Bright Eyes baked into this era’s releases, extremes that reflected the polar, with-us-or-against-us, fractious feel of the times. The reworked Digital Ash tracks, originally so clean and elegant, are, on the companion EP, full of “harmonica and mandolins – folky vibes,” Oberst says. While the analogue sweetness of the Wide Awake songs have been put through a detached nihilism filter.

A beautifully observed baroque masterpiece, part dream pop, part futuristic psych-folk with ambient synths and Josephine Foster’s plaintive guitar. Godmother is a slowly unfolding song cycle that marries a myriad of previous musical escapades with electronic experiments. Exploring new horizons on this record, it sees Foster at her most expressive and hypnotic. Now back home in the mountains of Colorado, Josephine’s 20-year journey to this new nirvana becomes enthralled further with a symphony of synths that sound like they are played in some neighbouring netherworld, through cotton gauze. It’s music that’s devotional, spiritual, a fitting soundtrack for any journey within or without, a means to experience places and vibrations beyond the boundary of time and space. Discussing the record, Josephine explains “You may notice me travelling a bit further sonically from our precious earth, aspiring to rise into broader astral perspective, to contemplate the light and origins of it all, as I do believe there is a grand source that is the sum of it all, us all. Performing all the parts on this recording, you may sense me focussing gestures of my singing into the instrumentation, which is a very great relief indeed, as the voice has such grand dreams to be set free.” “With her haunted, theatrical delivery, Foster cuts an arresting figure.” Pitchfork // “Out of time yet timeless” The Wire

Kitsune No Yomeiri, which translates to the fox’s wedding, is an endearing expression used to describe sunshowers. Dawson returned home from a recent tour of Japan with a collection of field recordings documenting the spring rain he encountered throughout his travels. These curious sounds, stretching from peaceful shrines to clattering city streets, underpin the material.

Dawson also credits the wonderful folks he met on that tour with profoundly shaping the direction of the album. After each show he found himself immersed in inspiring conversations about the guitar. Through navigating the language barrier, he discovered he was communicating with an immense sincerity that he would ordinarily avoid at all costs. “I’ve always just made records at home in a vortex, but this time it felt like those conversations were there with me in the studio.”

Musically the album has a slight western slant. It’s not country, but it does see Dawson lean softly into his prairie past. Constellations of stray notes and rusted tones form nostalgic melodies, like chance encounters between old friends. Dawson allows phrases and gestures to repeat across the record, resulting in a collection that’s more akin to turning the pages of a novel than a series of vignettes vying for attention.

Manonmars’ 3rd album sees him at his most amorphous and psychedelic, at points sharper and laser focused, and at others more blurred and impressionistic than his previous records. Many of the core players remain the same, all of the production is once again handled by O$VMV$M (the duo of Neek and Amos Childs of Jabu) while Paulina Korobkiewicz (also of Young Echo) makes a return handling both the album’s cover artwork and contributing a series of diaristic field recordings and voice notes.

‘The project references movies, cartoons, fictional characters and video games, among other things. The album title is open to interpretation but all of these elements are forms of visual entertainment which have their own unique ability to transcend things like language barriers and cultural divides. The visual element is key because those details bridge the gap on a communicative level.’ - Manonmars

The album blends abstract, blurred braggadocio with more immediate personal details such as on ‘Volcanic Shield’ a posse cut of sorts featuring Bristol improv luminary Dali de Saint Paul and Franco Franco (½ of cyborg rap duo Kinlaw & Franco Franco) - where Mars recalls;

‘Memories of brighter days, happy meal hit the spot
Mum was spinning vinyl playing Super Ape or Pressure Drop
I would spend the weekend with the Turkish mandem on the block
single parent household, mum was studying or on the job
money came and went always was an on and off
made it back from school time to see what’s on the box’


The beat fades away to leave one of Korobkiewicz’s recordings of Mars’ mum talking about her life in London in the 80s, spending her money on reggae records as an ambient chord fades in like an echo of a jungle intro – stretching out as a link between generations of UK music.

The production by and large is brighter and more kinetic than earlier Manonmars records – with O$VMV$M drawing on everything from modern underground rap and drill through to jazz and acid ambient passages.

London is also a central character here, bustling and constantly shifting, either when bleeding in through field recordings, or as an ever-present backdrop in the lyrics;

‘I’m a fusion of Tippa Irie and Topper Harley
Hit the target like the black Atari
I dropped a tab now shit’s A Scanner Darkly
Got the munchies, Imma yam a sarnie
Pour the Wray and Ting like man at Carni
Exit Peckham Rye and turn left, walk past Hannah Barry
Get your (w)raps up like its January’

‘I've always considered London my home, despite spending some time in the South West of England too. My mum had been living in London for 25 years (...) That was a pretty big deal in some ways because it removed us from multicultural society during the period which overlapped with my teenage years. (...) I never got used to how quiet it was in the countryside (...) Bristol was the closest city to where we lived and it was through travelling there and making connections that I became involved in making music and playing gigs.’ - Manonmars

Mars’ practice as a painter (under his given name Jack Martyn Richardson) and photographer also loom heavy over the album, he cites Paul Verhoeven, Abdul Mati Klariwein and H.R Giger as influences – as well as Miles Davis, Drakeo the Ruler and DJ Rashad.

As with much of Richardson’s work the raps at times feel blurred to a point of almost inscrutability, creating a distance between the audience and himself. A process that ties into his visual work and the way he experiences the world as mainly abstract colour without his glasses. He explores this further in an ongoing visual collaboration with Korobkiewicz, ‘Fun and Games’ which serves as a visual archive of one of London's largest and oldest travelling fairgrounds.

‘I was diagnosed with very severe short-sightedness at the age of seven. I remember my early formative years as visually blurred. Some of my photography reflects this experience of partial vision and uncertainty, referencing memory and perception rather than fixed representation.’

Manonmars’ first public outing as a rapper was at a Young Echo radio event, broadcast shambolically from a practice room just off Jamaica street, Bristol in 2011, as much as things have moved on both stylistically and in terms of focus - strong links back to the city remain a key foundation throughout the collaborations and guest appearances.

‘I have no problem with being an outsider looking in. One of the things I enjoy about London is the anonymity (...) it's easy to be a stranger here when so much is happening. I feel like thats more valuable than people may realise.’

In Walter Benjamin’s seminal essay “Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, he posits that the aura of art objects is destroyed by the ability to photographically reproduce them. When you had to make a pilgrimage to a work it remained elusive, charged, ever distant; but when you can easily see a reproduction, such aura dissipates. What Benjamin did not anticipate is that in the age of AI and the frictionless fount of digital content, we have imbued mechanical and analog means of media production with aura. Film cameras from the last 100 years are in high demand (the point and shoot Olympus Mju I featured in Wim Wenders film Perfect Days still sells for $200), vinyl sales continue to grow year by year, 35mm and 70mm film screenings have become aura-drenched events people travel across country for, and as to the world of vintage and analog synthesizers, when a friend asked for the price on the Yamaha CS-80 synth used on Toto’s “Africa”, the answer was a cool $60,000.

Despite the ability to simulate almost any synthesizer on a computer, the original physical units retain their mystique. Perhaps this lies in the physical process, many of these synths are temperamental and difficult to fully utilize, and the effort and ingenuity can be felt in ways that will always be absent from easy digital simulacra. Perhaps there is an aura in their imperfection, as Brian Eno wrote: “Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature. CD distortion, the jitteriness of digital video, the crap sound of 8-bit - all of these will be cherished and emulated as soon as they can be avoided.” Some may call this nostalgia, but such sonic imperfections are the sounds of humans interacting with the physical world, and it is understandable to feel a pang of emotion and attachment in a time of exponential alienation.

Marche 22 was recorded over a week at the Museo Del Synth Marchigiano in Macerata, Italy. The museum is filled with rare and obscure synths (especially CRB, GEM & Elka) as well as salvaged materials from a nearby shuttered Farfisa organ factory, including MARS, an unfinished realtime audio processing application developed by IRIS - similar to the now well known MAX/MSP. Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein play a suite of pieces that encompasses the last sixty years of synthesizer music—there are nods to Cluster, Tangerine Dream, Jean Michel Jarre, and Morton Subotnick. Dixon and Stein are like jazz masters playing the American songbook with their own riffs and quotations. What shines through in these varied works that are sometimes rhythmic, sometimes melancholic, and sometimes both, is a soul, a spirit, an emotion vibrating through the tones like the charge of coming rain or the thrum of a distant train on the tracks. - Neil Fauerso

London's Spearmint follow-up their acclaimed 2023 record `This Candle Is For You' with the ambitious new concept album `Chase Me' New single "1986" evokes a time when the world wasn't connected by technology, but there was still a strong connection across the globe: music. Specifically in the song, it's folk in Newcastle and Madrid who are dancing to the same music. The vinyl version also features an exclusive track "Is It Just Nostalgia?" which sees the band time-travelling past `The Tube' and `Soul Train` to Friday nights of the past. Standby for the follow-up single in July_ Spearmint have been making great records since debut `A Week Away' in 1999 (`Sweeping The Nation', `A Trip Into Space', `We're Going Out'). Still the same line-up: Shirley Lee (singing, guitar), Simon Calnan (singing, keyboards), James Parsons (guitar) and Ronan Larvor (drums). This will be their eleventh album proper and the 65th release on their own hitBACK label. Re-united with producer Rhodri Marsden (Scritti Politti, Cardiacs), the `Chase Me' album tells a story of success, disillusionment, disconnection, peril, and resurrection. Anchored by three chases across a city at night, book-ended by two out-of-body experiences, and working towards a suite of uplifting love songs, it's a thriller, it's a horror, it's an allegory. Song-writer Shirley explains "The story would make a good movie I think_ but we don't know how to do that, so we did this." `Chase Me' will be available digitally, and on limited edition CD and vinyl. The vinyl version will be released on WIAIWYA records, and will include an exclusive 24 page full-colour lyric book, including photos and illustrations. Spearmint will premiere songs from the album alongside tracks from their catalogue that haven't been played for years, or ever in one instance, live at Colours in Hoxton, London, on Tuesday 29th September 2026.

Re- Release in Transparent Blue Curacao Vinyl

With governments finally admitting that UFOs do in fact exist, and humanity attempting to heal from a state of recent crisis, the timing couldn’t be more appropriate for the newest addition to the HYPOCRISY catalog: WORSHIP, due to be released Fall 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records. Aptly titled, the album cover shows a mass of humans reaching up mindlessly to the sky as glowing spaceships shaped like the HYPOCRISY crosses sigil beam down to descend upon earthen civilizations and Mayan temples. Designed by artist Blake Armstrong (Kataklysm, In Flames, Carnifex, etc.), WORSHIP’s artwork speaks to the history of the relationship between humanity and extraterrestrials. “They’re coming back to collect,” explains founder and HYPOCRISY mastermind Peter Tägtgren.
A track entitled CHEMICAL WHORE breaches the subject of pharmaceutical addiction, and those who engineer it. “We are all chemical whores. We regularly consume prescriptions and drugs because we think we need it; we use one pill to heal the damage done by another medicine... it’s a vicious cycle.” Musically, it’s the only song that was written by all 3 core members of the band and translates into a recognizable, mid-tempo HYPOCRISY sound much like ERASER or FRACTURED MILLENIUM. Traveling from Sweden to Russia, the band also shot an official music video for CHEMICAL WHORE.
The DEAD WORLD music was written by Peter Tägtgren’s son, Sebastian. “We actually started to write an album together, something like 11 or 12 songs, but we never put any vocals in there and we just sort of set it aside. Then when I started writing HYPOCRISY I realized I really liked the song… it feels fresh. I think my kid got some new blood in there.” While the song comes equipped with a modern feel, the writing is still old fashioned at its core. Going into detail about the illuminati and black ops government, the lyrics examine how miserable these figureheads and theories can make us. “Call it fantasy, call it sci-fi, there are plenty of conspiracies in the world but I find these ones interesting,” explains Tägtgren.
GREEDY BASTARDS is another track outlined by simplicity and catchiness. Chugging riffs encapsulate a sound that almost verges on the realms of thrash while still keeping its feet firmly planted in the world of death metal. The lyrics touch on the greed and methods of control that we see various governments around the world today; how they manipulate people against one another and abuse the masses.
For Tägtgren, the inspiration to write new HYPOCRISY comes in waves. “I believe we were out on tour for another project and I began to get hungry again. I started spitting out some new riffs and when I had 7-8 songs done, I invited the rest of the guys to join me and contribute, and from there we started putting everything together. We had a break for a few months, continued recording, went back on tour… it never stops. There was a lot of jumping back and forth, and then COVID came and things got really weird.”
Tägtgren was one of the many musically inclined who was forced into sudden isolation upon the onset of COVID 19, only for Tägtgren, this is common practice when creating new songs. “A lot of things in the world stopped, and it was time to finish everything I hadn’t finished.” As usual, all recording and mixing took place at Tägtgren’s home studio in Sweden.
It has been 8 long years since the last record, and HYPOCRISY fans can feel the itch. WORSHIP is 11 tracks of precise, ferocious musicianship. Commonly inspired by the fusion of the modern and the ancient, HYPOCRISY has once more found a way to combine innovative ideas with classic sound in order to deliver something metalheads can enjoyably consume with awe and brutal vigor. HYPOCRISY is Peter Tägtgren (Lead Guitar & Vocals), Mikael Hedlund (Bass Guitar), and Reidar “Horgh” Horghagen (Drums).

Roy Montgomery, a key figure in the experimental underground rock scene, lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, just a short drive from the sea. Avant-garde vocalist and songwriter Martha Skye Murphy is based in London. Though geographically worlds apart, the pair inhabit an intimate and almost tactile shared sonic world. Their collaboration feels transformative, like the gradual shifting spell from night to day.

What draws them together is the emotional force of each other’s music. Montgomery’s cyclical, decaying compositions are shaped through intricate guitar and piano work, blending post-rock, folk, and drone. Murphy, meanwhile, possesses a rare gift for transformation, from the intimate cracked whispers of 'At Dawn' to the hypnotic drift of 'The Play of Dark and Light'. On the latter, she evokes old maritime folk tales of fishermen lured into the darkness by the sea’s siren call. The song both seduces and warns, finding something magical and frightening in the temptation of drowning. Though her vocals often resemble fragments of words, consonants, or vowels, they frequently function as pure sound, drawing on glossolalia and prioritising feeling over any ‘learnt’ language.

Emotion and intuition are the driving forces behind Nebular, an album that oscillates between the intimate with the unknown. This spirit is reflected in its artwork. Murphy shared a painting by Irish artist Simon English depicting a solitary house bathed in dusky blue light, and the pair quickly settled on it as the cover image. Both were captivated by its atmosphere. Montgomery related it to the isolated, seemingly uninhabited houses he encounters while travelling through rural New Zealand—places that inspire a desire to knock on the door and discover what lies beyond. “Terra incognita springs to mind. A search into the unknown,” Murphy agrees.

The nocturnal and remote nature of the artwork mirrors the process of making Nebular. With Montgomery in New Zealand and Murphy in London, the album was created entirely through remote correspondence, with stems exchanged via email. Their messages were often written and read at different times of day, and, because of the time difference and the demands of daily life, replies usually were sent late at night and the music too often composed at nocturnal hours. Their exchanges took on the quality of pen pals sending letters across great distances. This suspended sense of time is echoed in Nebular’s sound, with its feeling of temporal drift and timelessness.

On Nebular, Montgomery and Murphy have harnessed raw emotion and launched it into a time capsule bound for the stars. It allows you to drift, to be present, and to feel; creating something timeless.

TRACKLISTING

Es sind fünf hektische, chaotische, zermürbende, völlig durcheinander gewirbelte Jahre. Es sind all die mühsamen Missverständnisse einer fünfjährigen Beziehung, verzerrt und zu einer absurden schwarzen Comedy-Miniserie auf Vinyl gedehnt. Es ist der Klang all unserer Streitgespräche, die gleichzeitig erklingen. Es sind mehrere aufeinanderfolgende Sprachnachrichten, die nicht angehört, sondern stattdessen als Transkript gelesen wurden. Es sind fünfzehn Songs des ikonoklastischen Rappers Mike Eagle und des innovativen Produzenten Kenny Segal. Es ist das weltweit erste halb skurrile Trennungsalbum. Es ist "DOOMED!", es ist auch LA. Vielleicht nicht in erster Linie, aber Los Angeles ist tief in der Gegenwart und der Geschichte dieses Albums verwurzelt. Die Geschichte jeder Großstadt ist auch eine Geschichte von Zugezogenen. DJ Premier in New York, Tupac in Kalifornien. Wenn man es aufbaut, werden sie kommen. Mike und Kenny kamen beide als junge, aufstrebende Künstler nach LA, angezogen von der Szene rund um die bahnbrechende Rap-Crew Project Blowed. Sie sind seit fast zwanzig Jahren befreundet - und arbeiten gelegentlich zusammen. Trotzdem ist "DOOMED!" das erste Mal, dass die beiden ein komplettes Werk gemeinsam geschaffen haben. Aber alles geschieht zu seiner Zeit, und das Schicksal hat sie genau in dem Moment zusammengeführt, der es dem Duo ermöglichte, etwas Außergewöhnliches zu schaffen. Mike, der gerade eine Reihe von Alben mit mehreren Produzenten hinter sich hatte und das Ende einer turbulenten Beziehung verarbeitete, brauchte eine kreative Katharsis. Kenny hingegen hatte sich nach einer Reihe von hochgelobten Kollaborationen - nicht nur mit Rappern wie billy woods und K-the-I??? - sondern auch mit dem Jazz-Trio Human Error Club und dem bluesigen Indie-Rocker Benjamin Booker - auf seine nächste Herausforderung festgelegt. "In den letzten Jahren machte Kenny sehr deutlich, dass er nicht einfach weiterhin ein oder zwei Beats für meine Projekte beisteuern wollte; er wollte etwas aufbauen", erklärt Open Mike Eagle. "Ich konnte ihn davon überzeugen, mir ein paar Beats für Neighborhood Gods Unlimited zu überlassen, mit der Maßgabe, dass wir uns als Nächstes auf unser gemeinsames Projekt konzentrieren würden. Dann zerbrach meine Beziehung, gerade als wir mit der Arbeit begannen, und ich dachte mir: Perfekt, dazu habe ich eine Menge zu sagen."

There is something to be said about being both popular and prolific enough to be anthologized—it’s a space that soul music stalwart Kelly Finnigan and his latest release, B-Sides, Singles & Forgotten Gems, occupies with intent and fire. Serving as a mile marker pacing the 15 year collaboration between Finnigan and Colemine Records, B-Sides, Singles & Forgotten Gems is an easter egg moment for new and long-time fans to collect rare takes and flip sides in one spot, while unearthing Finnigan’s evolution as an artist, producer, and vocalist.


From his earliest explorations to one of the first tracks cut at his new studio in Ohio, this travelogue in sound both brings the listener forward to the present while laying out Kelly Finnigan’s road ahead.


“Colemine has grown so much, I've grown so much… I think this collection is a chance to take a little look back and share that with the people, the fans, the music lovers, the Colemine lovers,” says Finnigan.

There is something to be said about being both popular and prolific enough to be anthologized—it’s a space that soul music stalwart Kelly Finnigan and his latest release, B-Sides, Singles & Forgotten Gems, occupies with intent and fire. Serving as a mile marker pacing the 15 year collaboration between Finnigan and Colemine Records, B-Sides, Singles & Forgotten Gems is an easter egg moment for new and long-time fans to collect rare takes and flip sides in one spot, while unearthing Finnigan’s evolution as an artist, producer, and vocalist.


From his earliest explorations to one of the first tracks cut at his new studio in Ohio, this travelogue in sound both brings the listener forward to the present while laying out Kelly Finnigan’s road ahead.


“Colemine has grown so much, I've grown so much… I think this collection is a chance to take a little look back and share that with the people, the fans, the music lovers, the Colemine lovers,” says Finnigan.

There is something to be said about being both popular and prolific enough to be anthologized—it’s a space that soul music stalwart Kelly Finnigan and his latest release, B-Sides, Singles & Forgotten Gems, occupies with intent and fire. Serving as a mile marker pacing the 15 year collaboration between Finnigan and Colemine Records, B-Sides, Singles & Forgotten Gems is an easter egg moment for new and long-time fans to collect rare takes and flip sides in one spot, while unearthing Finnigan’s evolution as an artist, producer, and vocalist.


From his earliest explorations to one of the first tracks cut at his new studio in Ohio, this travelogue in sound both brings the listener forward to the present while laying out Kelly Finnigan’s road ahead.


“Colemine has grown so much, I've grown so much… I think this collection is a chance to take a little look back and share that with the people, the fans, the music lovers, the Colemine lovers,” says Finnigan.

Stanley Brinks is renowned for his unique anti-folk style: both playful and suggestive, insightful and entertaining. Brinks was born in Paris, France, in 1973. He studied a bit of biology and worked as a nurse for a while. Half Swedish, half Moroccan, strongly inclined to travel the world, he soon began spending most of his life on the road and developed a strong relationship with New York.
By the late 90s he’d become a full time singer-songwriter – André Herman Düne – as part of three piece indie-rock band, Herman Düne alongside his brother, David-Ivar. Several albums and Peel sessions later and after a decade of touring Europe, mostly with American songwriters such as Jeffrey Lewis, Calvin Johnson and early Arcade Fire he settled in Berlin. The early carnival music of Trinidad became a passion, and in the early 21st century he became the unquestioned master of European calypso, changing his name to Stanley Brinks.
Under this moniker he has recorded well in excess of 100 albums, collaborated with the New York Antifolk scene on numerous occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures.
Freschard grew up in a farm in French Burgundy. Aged 18 she moved to Paris, where she baked pies and cakes in a cafe. There, a local musician and regular customer called Stanley Brinks wrote a few songs for her to sing. Homeless in Paris, she saved up just enough money to get herself a ticket to New York. There she found an old electric guitar and started writing her own songs. In 2004 she moved to Berlin, where she recorded her first LP, "Alien Duck". Her second album, "Click Click", recorded in 2006, features electric guitar by Stanley Brinks. On her third album, she plays the drums herself. On her fourth “Shh...” she also plays the flute, and she breaks out the washboard on her fifth “Boom Biddy Boom”. Press for Stanley Brinks and Freschard.
“an absolute joy.” Q.
“...a set that’s as wistful and charming as it is playful and self-concious.” Uncut.
“quietly charming” Pitchfork.

Stanley Brinks is renowned for his unique anti-folk style: both playful and suggestive, insightful and entertaining. Brinks was born in Paris, France, in 1973. He studied a bit of biology and worked as a nurse for a while. Half Swedish, half Moroccan, strongly inclined to travel the world, he soon began spending most of his life on the road and developed a strong relationship with New York.
By the late 90s he’d become a full time singer-songwriter – André Herman Düne – as part of three piece indie-rock band, Herman Düne alongside his brother, David-Ivar. Several albums and Peel sessions later and after a decade of touring Europe, mostly with American songwriters such as Jeffrey Lewis, Calvin Johnson and early Arcade Fire he settled in Berlin. The early carnival music of Trinidad became a passion, and in the early 21st century he became the unquestioned master of European calypso, changing his name to Stanley Brinks.
Under this moniker he has recorded well in excess of 100 albums, collaborated with the New York Antifolk scene on numerous occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures.
Freschard grew up in a farm in French Burgundy. Aged 18 she moved to Paris, where she baked pies and cakes in a cafe. There, a local musician and regular customer called Stanley Brinks wrote a few songs for her to sing. Homeless in Paris, she saved up just enough money to get herself a ticket to New York. There she found an old electric guitar and started writing her own songs. In 2004 she moved to Berlin, where she recorded her first LP, "Alien Duck". Her second album, "Click Click", recorded in 2006, features electric guitar by Stanley Brinks. On her third album, she plays the drums herself. On her fourth “Shh...” she also plays the flute, and she breaks out the washboard on her fifth “Boom Biddy Boom”. Press for Stanley Brinks and Freschard.
“an absolute joy.” Q.
“...a set that’s as wistful and charming as it is playful and self-concious.” Uncut.
“quietly charming” Pitchfork.

Es sind fünf hektische, chaotische, zermürbende, völlig durcheinander gewirbelte Jahre. Es sind all die mühsamen Missverständnisse einer fünfjährigen Beziehung, verzerrt und zu einer absurden schwarzen Comedy-Miniserie auf Vinyl gedehnt. Es ist der Klang all unserer Streitgespräche, die gleichzeitig erklingen. Es sind mehrere aufeinanderfolgende Sprachnachrichten, die nicht angehört, sondern stattdessen als Transkript gelesen wurden. Es sind fünfzehn Songs des ikonoklastischen Rappers Mike Eagle und des innovativen Produzenten Kenny Segal. Es ist das weltweit erste halb skurrile Trennungsalbum. Es ist "DOOMED!", es ist auch LA. Vielleicht nicht in erster Linie, aber Los Angeles ist tief in der Gegenwart und der Geschichte dieses Albums verwurzelt. Die Geschichte jeder Großstadt ist auch eine Geschichte von Zugezogenen. DJ Premier in New York, Tupac in Kalifornien. Wenn man es aufbaut, werden sie kommen. Mike und Kenny kamen beide als junge, aufstrebende Künstler nach LA, angezogen von der Szene rund um die bahnbrechende Rap-Crew Project Blowed. Sie sind seit fast zwanzig Jahren befreundet - und arbeiten gelegentlich zusammen. Trotzdem ist "DOOMED!" das erste Mal, dass die beiden ein komplettes Werk gemeinsam geschaffen haben. Aber alles geschieht zu seiner Zeit, und das Schicksal hat sie genau in dem Moment zusammengeführt, der es dem Duo ermöglichte, etwas Außergewöhnliches zu schaffen. Mike, der gerade eine Reihe von Alben mit mehreren Produzenten hinter sich hatte und das Ende einer turbulenten Beziehung verarbeitete, brauchte eine kreative Katharsis. Kenny hingegen hatte sich nach einer Reihe von hochgelobten Kollaborationen - nicht nur mit Rappern wie billy woods und K-the-I??? - sondern auch mit dem Jazz-Trio Human Error Club und dem bluesigen Indie-Rocker Benjamin Booker - auf seine nächste Herausforderung festgelegt. "In den letzten Jahren machte Kenny sehr deutlich, dass er nicht einfach weiterhin ein oder zwei Beats für meine Projekte beisteuern wollte; er wollte etwas aufbauen", erklärt Open Mike Eagle. "Ich konnte ihn davon überzeugen, mir ein paar Beats für Neighborhood Gods Unlimited zu überlassen, mit der Maßgabe, dass wir uns als Nächstes auf unser gemeinsames Projekt konzentrieren würden. Dann zerbrach meine Beziehung, gerade als wir mit der Arbeit begannen, und ich dachte mir: Perfekt, dazu habe ich eine Menge zu sagen."