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CAY unveils his personal side on Another Life, a debut album rich in melancholic euphoria

The expressive, multi-faceted 10 tracker comes on Mind Against's HABITAT label in January 2026

Cologne-born producer CAY explores beyond the dancefloor with Another Life, a debut album that trades peak-time pressure for an ambitious and artful exploration of self. Far from being rooted in one genre, the record weaves his own honest vocals with a wide range of powerful rhythms that pull from progressive, broken beat, techno and trance.

For CAY, making music has always offered refuge and a place to calm his mind, process life’s chaos and channel personal experiences into sound. His journey started in the clubs of Cologne, in illegal forest raves and with trips to Berlin to soak up big room techno. His search for more purpose, away from mental demons and the darker side of the party lifestyle, led him to production. DJing followed after a push from his brother turned Manager, and while those experiences around Europe shaped his understanding of dance floor dynamics, he was never in a rush to release his early experiments.

Instead, CAY took private time to evolve into an accomplished artist with his own musical voice. Label heads Mind Against were so impressed when they heard what he sent to their demo inbox, they both reached out to collaborate, and he has since released on their label HABITAT.

With Another Life, he is making music that is multilayered and rich in narrative, rather than defined purely by big moments. It is drawn from years of writing, with more than 60 tracks whittled down to one concise, impactful statement. "There wasn't one big concept,” says CAY “but there was direction. It's a big risk for me, but I wanted to introduce people who like club music to something deeper. I want the music to say something real.”

Because of that, Another Life introduces CAY the vocalist. For the first time, he sings on several tracks. The subjects are real, whether that's an important friend, a moment with his girlfriend or, on 'Runaway', the thought of giving up and escaping everything. The lyrics are honest but often slightly oblique, so they invite your own readings rather than spelling everything out.

Sonically, the album moves between optimistic grandeur and introspective reality. It's cinematic but personal and bridges the gap between dancefloor drive and vulnerable storytelling. There is a grand scale to many of the tracks, with arching synths reaching and heavyhearted drums anchoring a groove: you'll dance, you'll cry, maybe both at the same time.

Another Life is the sound of a producer granting himself permission to sing, turn inwards and risk audience expectations. It’s intimate without being insular, club-capable without being confined, and a compelling first chapter for an artist who has spent years building toward this moment of truth.

5-track EP of aquatic, dubbed, and acid-infused electro from the Stockholm legend.

After collaborating with Answer Code Request on Delsin early 2024, Amotik now strengthens the relationship with a first solo EP for the Amsterdam based label. Delsin is known for working the sweet spot in between emotive electronica and dancefloor functionality, and it feels like the perfect place for Amotik's new EP 'Raat'. The Berlin based producer has been pushing his highly effective techno tools via his own imprints for over a decade and doesn't make an appearance on external labels often. So for this special occasion he adds new layers of deepness and emotion to his palette. An effortless combo of punchy techno grooves and soothing pads together form a well rounded pack of dancefloor euphoria. The remarkable bleeps and playful rhythms of Amotik's highly effective techno are deftly transformed into four pieces of excellent eyes-closed techno felicity.

Chicago producer Ellery Cowles lands on Apnea Records with three tracks that draw from the city's foundational rhythms while reaching for something more devotional. Walking by Faith isn't chasing nostalgia--it's after deeper ground. "Fall of Jericho" kicks things off with syncopated Chicago swing colliding with latin percussion and acid basslines that curl and bite in equal measure. "Fly" builds around a looped vocal fragment, letting raw drum patterns stretch and breathe as the track slowly reveals itself. Closer "Crying of Yahweh" is the most patient of the three--seven minutes of hypnotic techno coiling around latin rhythms, carrying a quiet spiritual weight that lingers long after it fades. Cowles moves between reference points with ease--Chicago house, devotional threads, latin heat--but never forces the connection. The music feels like it's been lived in rather than simply constructed, generous with its time and intentional with its space. Out now on Apnea Records.

Following the reissue of The Pocket of Fever, Ambient Sans presents the second chapter in Masahiro Sugaya’s visionary work for the avant-garde performing arts company Pappa TARAHUMARA.

Founded by Hiroshi Koike in 1982, Pappa TARAHUMARA blended dance, theater, music, and visual art into abstract, immersive stage worlds. Sugaya’s compositions became the sonic counterpart to this radical aesthetic—minimal yet deeply evocative, combining electronics, ambient textures, and delicate melodic gestures into a sound language both intimate and expansive.

Music From Alejo marks his first original stage score for the company: a work where repetition and silence intertwine with shimmering synthesizers and dreamlike motifs, conjuring atmospheres that feel suspended between reality and reverie. More structured than The Pocket of Fever yet equally poetic, the album reveals Sugaya’s gift for translating movement into sound, balancing modern composition with subtle echoes of Japanese tradition.

Reissued for the first time on vinyl, Music From Alejo includes a printed insert featuring an exclusive interview with the artist, alongside photographs from our visit to his home in Japan. Essential listening for anyone drawn to the ambient minimalism of Hiroshi Yoshimura, Midori Takada, or Brian Eno—reimagined here through the lens of Tokyo’s experimental scene of the 1980s.

a1. Straight Line Floating In The Sky
a2. Oldfashioned
b1. An Afternoon When Fish Appeared
b2. Mistral
b3. Alejo's Theme

Repress!

Second Phase (aka Joey Beltram and Mundo Muzique) are 2 legendary producers whose output shaped an entire generation of ravers, DJs and producers minds.
'Mentasm / Mind To Mind' is one such influential release, literally creating new styles, new directions and impacting on dance music for decades to come. Unique programming and fresh sounds made their records stand out head and shoulders above everyone else's output. 'Mentasm' particularly broke ground with it's now infamous 'hoover sound', influencing house, techno and trance music to come and even spilling over into the nascent hardcore, jungle and D&B scenes where it was often imitated or sampled by producers who wanted that ruff, visceral feel for their own tracks, but didn't know how to create it themselves. A new energy was born and it emanated from this milestone 12". 'Mind To Mind' on the flipside is equally as deadly, but in a deeper, more spaced out realm it maneuvers and pulls into a trippy early morning space, the yin to 'Mentasm's yang. This is a quintessential techno record, a glimpse of innovation from back in the day. File under 'classic'.

This special 2021 edition is reissued by R&S Records from original master sources, remastered by Curve Pusher.

"Only a clarinet sings – minimal, quivering, wavering. Breathing mad notes in the cracks between notes, weaving a dazed, fuzzy kind of magic. The latest recordings by Museum of No Art are tripping – floating in suspense, somewhere out in the irrational corners of the world inhabited by the haunted elegance of Ben Bertrand or Bernhard Herrmann. But still, entirely her own – a quiet revolt of classical clichés in search of a new dawn for lunatic woodwinds. She sings through her instrument and it sings to her. It carries her, and she lets it. A distinctive timbre tumbling through tonal fog. Four freely formed compositions for dispari. One petite and tempting. Two mid-length wanderers – teetering, wobbling. And one epic piercer. All drifting in inspiring airs. Ephemeral, nebulous, fragile, like the desolate candy snowman, melting on a warm tongue, threatened with complete dissolution. Fleeting like a stolen glimpse of the intimate curve of an anonymous stranger’s neck."

Mathias Kaden returns to Rekids with the 'Circulate' EP, featuring a William Kiss Remix.

Mathias Kaden is back on Rekids after 2022’s ‘Blackbird’ EP, this time with the four-track ‘Circulate’ EP featuring a remix from the hotly tipped William Kiss. Kaden’s ‘Freedom’ kicks things off with stripped-back machine rhythm, tasteful stab melodies and a deeply satisfying low-end groove before an iconic gospel vocal joins in. Title track ‘Circulate’ is another infectious low-slung crawler with crunchy synth hits and a hypnotic and classy vibe that will get the dancefloor moving.

On the flip, William Kiss remixes Mathias Kaden’s ‘Freedom’ following his recent EP on Rekids' sibling label RSPX and the release of his collaborative project, Not Without Friends, with Luke Alessi and Jordan Brando on RÜFÜS DU SOL’s Rose Avenue. Kiss turns the track into a pumping peak-time cut with additional percussion and plenty of his signature Jackin’
flavour. Closing out the record, Kaden’s ‘Twisting Shadows’ introduces an acidic bassline and warped, dubbed-out vocals before dropping into an energetic trip.

Active since the mid-90s, Mathias Kaden appeared on Radio Slave’s Rekids for the first time in 2019 for ‘Liberate Drums’. He now returns to the label with the ‘Circulate’ EP, adding to his versatile discography on labels like Dyinamic and Vakant while also remixing work by Matthias Tanzmann, Onur Özer, Anja Schneider, and Trentemöller.

Cristi Cons makes his Crosstown Rebels debut with his latest EP, ‘Give Me Love’.

The three-track exploration of rhythm, tension, and hypnotic club craft lands on 16th January 2026.
Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels imprint opens its 2026 release schedule with a special label debut from Romanian favourite Cristi Cons, as he delivers a magnetic three-tracker in the form of his ‘Give Me Love’ EP. Known for his precise, minimal-infl ected approach and unwavering command of groove, Cristi’s arrival onto the label brings a release that distils his signature tension-and-release architecture into some of its most direct club form yet.

The title track, ‘Give Me Love’, unfolds with subtle vocal refrains, shadowy atmospheres, and a rolling, elastic groove built for late-night momentum. On the B-side, ‘Can You Hear Me’ channels a sleeker, more hypnotic pulse, with dubby textures, restrained bass pressure, hooky vocals, and a snaking groove to keep dancers moving. Closing the EP, ‘You Ain’t Got Nothin’ brings vibrant synths, tight drum programming, and more captivating vocal use into a head-down trip that leans into Cons’s innate ability to craft late-night and early-hours journeys.

A longstanding architect of Romania’s influential underground, Cristi Cons has carved a reputation through his solo work, his collaborative SIT project with Vlad Caia, and their shared imprint, Amphia, which now stands as a true force within the minimal landscape. Alongside regular appearances across Europe’s key institutions and collaborations with revered names, including Raresh as part of their Verico project along with Caia, Cristi continues to evolve with each release - and ‘Give Me Love’ delivers yet another side to his diverse sound as he steps into the Crosstown Rebels fold to open the year.

In 2016, a year after the 50th entry in the long-running series, none other but the iconic Detroit artist, DJ and producer Moodymann stepped up to helm the next landmark edition of DJ-Kicks, his first ever multi-artist DJ mix compilation. Following !K7's 40 th anniversary, this classic DJ-Kicks mix is now being repressed on coke bottle clear vinyl.
Born Kenny Dixon Jr., Moodymann is a one-of-a-kind electronic music icon, hailing from, and wholly synonymous with the Motor City. He is an outspoken, impossibly charismatic artist who has been putting a distinctive and soulful stamp on house and techno since the early 90s. Melting together jazz, funk, soul, blues and rock in captivating ways, he is responsible for some of electronic music’s most definitive tracks, EPs and LPs on labels like Planet E, Peacefrog and his own KDJ and Mahogani Music imprints. As able to serve up the sweetest and most sensual sounds as he is the darkest and most depraved grooves, his own unique voice and stream of conscious musings infuse expertly sought-out samples for music that is decisively alive and authentic.

Across 75 minutes and 30 tracks, Moodymann does not disappoint: despite being a notorious vinyl fetishist, Dixon’s aim is to present music of quality, not to one-up fellow collectors. Rather than serving up ridiculously rare or hard- to-find records, he instead focuses on creating a libidinous, blues-drenched mood that takes in heart-breaking soul, gorgeous hip-hop and love-fuelled house.

In addition to cuts from his own creative circle, the mix features 11 exclusive Moodymann edits. Like everything Kenny Dixon Jr. touches, his DJ-Kicks showcases the taste, skill, and soul of a dance music original.

2026 repress !

Nous'klaer Audio presents Martinou - Chiral, the follow full-length up to his 2021 album Rift. This time nine tracks across two vinyls. An album flowing 'in a way' like Rift, but it's different: More outspoken, heavier sound design and it peaks on a blissful note. ''Open up the blinds and take me there. We'll break the surface tension. We'll dive in. I'm locked in your devotion. You give an inclination to our demise. It will be our exit. To bliss, we'll be its guardian. Once there was love. Clear as glassy water. No ripples, no waves. I followed while you led. Our arrival was warm. Hot, even. Stunning to a startling degree. Hands intwined, frolicking towards the blue. Hours passed, and white heat cede to an orange hue. We cooled down. Red. We rallied. Black. It began. Into the deep darkness we ran. White sand, it has a tendency to get everywhere. Salt water will only dehydrate you more. Shriveled and dry. Scratchy and coarse. More. And then we were lost. Fingers once locked grew distant. Morning, dear. Where have you gone? We looked. A glimpse from afar. Red. We rallied. Shall we share a bottle of wine? Black, lost again. Afternoon, friend. Where were you? Red. Alone. Black. We rallied. Shall we try somewhere new? Sand and salt. Evening, sir. Reservation for one? Reservations a plenty, I say. Evening, miss. Dining alone? Aren't we all? Dining, miss, not dying. Oh, yes, alone. Black. Sand and salt. I found you. No. No. Wait, do I know you? You feel like a dream. Don't touch me. Move along, sir. Who are you? Leave. Who are you? Where did you go? Keep moving. I am, I will. Time to move on. I'm moving! Leave. Don't touch me. Leave. Why are you? Exit. Purple. Orange. Yellow. White. Blue. Morning, dear. Shall we have breakfast? I think I'll sleep some more. But it's our last day. I know. See you downstairs when you're ready. OK. I open up the blinds. A bird breaks the surface tension. Locked in. To Devotion? No. Demise. An inclination. Reverie. Take me there. Where? Exit (To Bliss) '' Text by Gregory Markus

Repress!

Undoubtedly one of the most addictive records of 2017, CamelPhat & Elderbrook's 'Cola' has been a defining musical moment of the year. Growing exponentially since its release, the track has captivated tastemakers, DJs and clubbers alike, topping charts and blowing up worldwide to become a true modern anthem. Leading on from the success of the original and some heavyweight remixes, three of which hit the Beatport top ten - for the first time on vinyl, comes a remix package set to continue 'Cola's' dance floor domination.
Rising superstar Franky Rizardo's suitably heavyweight remix comes correct with a club-friendly update that elevates the unmissable vocal hook and bottoms out the breakdown. Dario D'Attis' vinyl exclusive mix continues the club feel with rolling grooves, teasing breakdowns and shuffling hi-hats in a remix which packs a punch, guaranteed to get people moving from the get-go. Mousse T. flips the track completely, bringing those Glitterbox vibes to Defected, taking 'Cola' to the next level and going straight to Traxsource #1 in the process.

High-definition audiophile pressing - 180g premium vinyl - the complete album plus bonus track from the same session, but not included on the original LP

This special edition presents the complete Grant Green LP 'Gooden's Corner' (1961) with an additional track recorded at the same session with saxophonist Ike Quebec joining the quartet on the seldom heard standard, Count Every Star by Bruno Coquatrix and Sammy Gallop. Grant Green - guitar Sonny Clark - piano Sam Jones - bass Louis Hayes - drums Ike Quebec - tenor sax (on 'Count Every Star' only) Rudy Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, December 23, 1961. Original sessions recorded by Rudy Van Gelder & produced by Alfred Lion. "This is an album of real beauty and synergy between Green and pianist Sonny Clark, who along with Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums rounds out the quartet. Green, an expert with standards, offers 'Moon River', 'What Is This Thing Called Love?', and 'On Green Dolphin Street'." - ****1/2 Michael Erlewine, All Music

Yvonne started her carreer as a singer at the age of 18 years. She performed the hit GARDEN OF EVE in 1981 (ATLANTIC), produced by the great Donald Burnside. This outstanding classic tune stayed for several weeks on top of the hitlists, while LOVER OF MY DREAMS was a track initially meant for the 1983 album, but the track wasn't finished in time for the release of the album, it was only released in Europe during 1984. SLOW DOWN was recorded during 1981 and was never release before

Ace Records are delighted to reissue one of Parliament’s classic LPs, “Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome”. The album got to #2 in Billboard’s R&B chart and #13 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.

Originally released in 1977, “Funkentelechy” found George Clinton and his crew on top form. Although best known for featuring their smash club hit ‘Flash Light’, every track on the album shines from ‘Bop Gun’ to ‘Wizard Of Finance’.
Ace are always known for going the extra mile and this reissue is not only pressed on 180gm vinyl but comes with the 8-page comic book that also graced the original issue.
There is no downstroke on this upstroke. This is the one.

Mit Secret Love legt die Londoner Band Dry Cleaning ihr bislang reifstes Werk vor. Das dritte Studioalbum, produziert von Cate Le Bon, ist eine konzentrierte Momentaufnahme der besonderen Chemie zwischen Florence Shaw, Tom Dowse, Nick Buxton und Lewis Maynard. Aus intensiven Sessions in Peckham, Chicago, Dublin und schließlich im Black Box Studio in Frankreich entstand ein Werk, das Vertrauen und Verletzlichkeit ins Zentrum stellt - die Bande zwischen den vier Musiker*innen ebenso wie das fragile Verhältnis zwischen Nähe und Manipulation in der Gesellschaft. Musikalisch schlägt Secret Love eine Brücke zwischen den paranoiden Untertönen des frühen US-Punks, dem coolen Strut der Stones, Stoner-Rock, No-Wave-Experimenten und zarten, fast pastoralen Gitarrenfiguren. Die Stücke atmen gleichermaßen Schärfe und Verspieltheit, immer getragen von Shaws unverwechselbarem Sprechgesang, der präzise auf die dynamischen Soundlandschaften ihrer Band reagiert. Damit knüpft sie an eine Tradition von Spoken-Word-Künstlerinnen wie Laurie Anderson an, erweitert sie aber um eine ganz eigene Mischung aus Absurdität, Empfindsamkeit und lakonischem Humor. Die erste Single "Hit My Head All Day" zeigt exemplarisch, wie Secret Love gesellschaftliche Themen - etwa Desinformation und Einflussnahme - mit persönlicher Unsicherheit und existenzieller Fragilität verknüpft. Doch trotz aller Schwere bleibt das Album von einer spielerischen Offenheit geprägt: Ideen wurden ausprobiert, verworfen, neu zusammengesetzt - bis ein Sound entstand, der gleichzeitig roh, elegant und unerwartet warm klingt. Secret Love ist ein Album über das Vertrauen - in Freundschaften, in Musik, in sich selbst - und über die Risiken, die damit verbunden sind. Es markiert für Dry Cleaning den Schritt zu einer Band, die ihre avantgardistische Energie zu einem unverwechselbaren Ausdruck verdichtet hat.

Yesterday it started to rain…

The smell of damp tarmac rising up through open windows, a smell which is uniquely evocative for us all depending on our individual histories: a suburban pavement, a school playground, a basketball court.
The rain cut through a band of low pressure that had been lying over the city for days, pinging rhythmically off metal, causing rolling tyres to hiss and spit.

The music that soundtracked this meteorological shift was the debut full length from Rain Text (Giuseppe Ielasi & Giovanni Civitenga), simply titled III. Scattered throughout the nameless eight tracks there are moments of low-end pressure relieved by the fizz and clatter of metallic rhythms; there is static, there is discord, there is release.

The individuals comprising Rain Text have a long history of manipulating sounds for evocative ends, Giuseppe Ielasi has been making music as one half of Bellows for many years, each album stretching and destroying their sound in beautiful increments. He has also released reliably inspirational music either solo or in collaboration for the likes of Editions Mego, Shelter Press and Faitiche. His sensitive ears are also in high demand as a mastering engineer. It is worth perusing the 800+ releases he has technical credits for on Discogs: from classics of the avant-garde to the freshest faces of the Swedish underground, the chances are some of your favourite albums are included.

Giovanni Civitenga helms the SKYAPNEA long-running NTS show. Joining him, you can enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of deep listening through shows that flit between the industrial and the devotional, a space that is fully explored on III.

The album was recorded quickly over three fertile days in Ielasi’s studio in Monza, but of course results like this can only be achieved at such a pace by spending a lifetime obsessing over the mechanics and possibilities of sound.

Those who are enamoured by the rain—who are returned by it to the surfaces, smells and sounds of a lost and idealised youth; who feel themselves restored—are known as ‘pluviophiles’. Their response to rain may well have a biological explanation: when rain hits tarmac negative ions are released into the air, which are thought to result in feelings of wellbeing and positivity. All the more reason, then, to return to the vivid ecosystem that Rain Text has so carefully cultivated for III."

Words by The Dengie Hundred – August 2024

ATA Records proudly present the latest release from The Flying Hats, Blender 7” Following the buzz surrounding their debut LP and the soft limited pre-release of Blender, anticipation for this single has been huge - and with good reason.
“I've never heard something so perfectly combine funk and reggae and do it in a way that is dancefloor gold”. - Monkeyboxing.
The Flying Hats - the Leeds quartet responsible for one of the standout albums of the year - return in phenomenal form with two previously unreleased cuts of the highest calibre. Both tracks strike hard somewhere between Kingston and New Orleans, as if The Meters were channelling Jackie Mittoo or Sound Dimension were jamming with Jimmy Smith.
Thick, funky-reggae organ leads the charge with killer breakbeats, bass pressure, and rhythm-section fire designed to light up any dancefloor worth its salt. Both sides are built for selectors, collectors and dance DJs alike.

Was ist Krautrock? Genre, Provokation oder Mythos? Diese Compilation liefert keine endgültige Antwort - aber zwölf ausgewählte Tracks aus fünf Jahrzehnten musikalischer Grenzüberschreitung. In Zusammenarbeit mit Bureau B entstanden, versammelt diese Platte Highlights aus einer größeren, kommentierten Diskografie. Kein Kanon, sondern ein Impuls: zum Wiederhören, Weiterdenken, Diskutieren. Krautrock bleibt Streitfall - und genau das macht ihn lebendig. Jetzt auf transparentem Vinyl - limitiert und unverzichtbar.

On the 25th August, Burna Boy will release his brand-new album ‘I Told Them…’. It will be available to stream everywhere as well as on CD & Vinyl. The Pre-order will go live alongside the album announce on the 28th July. ‘I Told Them…’ features Burna’s newest hit singles ‘Sittin’ On Top Of The World (feat. 21 Savage)’, ‘Talibans II’ & ‘Big 7’ as well as a whole host of album features.



Burna Boy was born Damini Ogulu in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, in 1991 and began making music at just ten years old. As a teenager he honed his craft on Nigeria’s southern coast, delving into dancehall, reggae and Afrobeat’s. In the early 2010s Burna Boy emerged as one of Nigeria’s fastest-rising stars, combining influences from his Nigerian heritage with hook-filled pop stylings to create unforgettable tracks. His 2012 single ‘Like to Party’ broke into the global mainstream and paved the way for his full-length debut L.I.F.E, a year later.



Over the next five years, Burna Boy released two more albums and collaborated with a long list of high-profile artists including J Hus, Skales, Fall Out Boy and Lily Allen. African Giant was released in 2019 followed by his fifth album Twice as Tall in 2020 (which featured collabs with Chris Martin and Youssou N'Dour), both charted in several countries across the globe andgarnered worldwide acclamation, with the latter winning a Grammy Award for ‘Best Global Music Album’. Breaking cultural boundaries, he became the first Nigerian to headline a show at New York’s Madison Square Garden, he released his sixth album, Love, Damini, last year (featuring collabs with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Khalid). It deservedly became the highest-charting Nigerian album in history and currently holds the record for the only African artist to earn a no. 1 on iTunes in 16 countries worldwide.

Alan Vegas selbstbetiteltes Debüt-Soloalbum kam 1980 raus, zur gleichen Zeit, als Suicide ihr zweites Album "Suicide: Alan Vega and Martin Rev" veröffentlichten. Während Suicides Plattenlabel ZE Records das Duo in Richtung eines synthetischen Disco-Sounds drängen wollte, der von Moroders Produktion von Donna Summers "I Feel Love" inspiriert war, zog es Vega in eine andere Richtung. Er wollte tiefer in die Wurzeln seiner eigenen musikalischen Identität eintauchen, die von Blues, Rockabilly, frühem Rock ,n' Roll und seiner anhaltenden Liebe zu Elvis Presley geprägt war. Vega nutzte die Zeit zwischen den Aufnahmen mit Suicide, um seine selbst geschriebenen Songs auszuarbeiten, begann mit der Produktion seines ersten Albums und trat live auf, um diesen Sound weiterzuentwickeln. Wie auch in seiner bildenden Kunst schichtete Vega Klänge auf minimalistische, dynamische und bewusste Weise. Das Ergebnis war ein einzigartiges Album, das aus rohen Materialien entstand und tief in Vegas künstlerischer Vision verwurzelt war. Tracks wie die klassische Hymne "Jukebox Babe" mit ihrem schwungvollen Rhythmus und ihrer minimalistischen Selbstsicherheit fingen diesen Ansatz perfekt ein und wurden in Frankreich zu einem Hit. "Kung Foo Cowboy" hat einen südstaatlichen Touch und lehnt sich stark an den Blues an, während der goldene Pop-Glanz von "Ice Drummer" mit melodischem, aber klagendem Gesang, marschierenden Trommeln und einem geschmackvollen Mundharmonika-Solo überzeugt. "Bye Bye Bayou" ist ein eindringlicher Mutant-Rockabilly-Song, der den Rock der 50er Jahre mit Vegas exzentrischem Performance-Stil verbindet und später in der Coverversion von LCD Soundsystem aus dem Jahr 2009 neu interpretiert wurde, wodurch Vegas Solowerk einer neuen Generation vorgestellt wurde. In ähnlicher Weise würdigte die Coverversion von "Ice Drummer" durch The Flaming Lips Vegas Außenseitergeist. Jetzt von Josh Bonati anhand der Originalbänder neu gemastert und erstmals auf Streaming-Diensten verfügbar, wurde Alan Vega von Sacred Bones Records originalgetreu neu aufgelegt, wobei die rohe Intensität von Vegas Originalaufnahmen erhalten blieb und sie gleichzeitig für Hörer auf der ganzen Welt neu zugänglich gemacht wurden. "Alan Vega" ist mehr als ein Solo-Debüt, es ist eine Erklärung der künstlerischen Unabhängigkeit und Freiheit eines der einflussreichsten und kompromisslosesten Künstler New Yorks. Ohne die intensive Elektronik von Suicide, aber mit Vegas Außenseiter-Energie und Schärfe, übersetzt das Album den frühen Rock 'n' Roll durch einen Art-Punk-Filter, der sich als eigenständiges Kult-Meisterwerk bewährt hat.

Kaninchenbau label head The Funk District has joined forces with Argentinian keys specialist Sokur for a new four-tracker that collides bluesy samples with sleek electronic grooves. 'Till My Feet Got Numb' kicks off with waves of synth energy run through with sampled vocals that hark back to Robert Johnson. 'Never Satisfied' is another mix of funky drums, jazzy pianos and crackly blues vocals that is unusual but effective. 'Took My Babe Away' repeats this combination, this time with hints of St Germain in the melancholic spoken words and ever more thumping and acid-laced beats. 'Sunshine From The Sky' completes the quartet with more hurried grooves laced with wonky synth work. It's peak time stuff with plenty of deeper meaning.

Swiss sound artist Zimoun returns two long-form works sculpted entirely from the Wind Dynamic Organ (Prototype III) in Bern. Built by Daniel Glaus and his team at the Bern Academy of the Arts, this one-of-a-kind instrument transforms air into something palpable and tactile - wind pressure, airflow and tone are all fluid while shaping sound that shimmers between breath and vibration. Zimoun spent years recording and experimenting with it, coaxing warm, resonant tones, and what results is immersive and uncanny. His vast reverberations and slow-moving harmonics seem to breathe and explore a new frontier in acoustic minimalism.

Pacific Northwester Drew Sullivan is the man behind the Slow Dancing Society and on his latest album, he interrogates nostalgia with clearer eyes while sculpting analogue glow, treated guitar and patient ambience into scenes that breathe. Tracks drift like headlights through snow - hums, howls, bass rumbles, rain-veiled keys all feature, each motion subtle, deliberate and devastating. The record's power lies in restraint: chord changes feel meteorological, melodies arrive as messages, then vanish. It's ambient music with a spine, grief without spectacle. By the time 'Blue Suburban Skies' lifts into Twin Peaks-levels of ache, Sullivan has rebuilt a world you want to hide away in forever.

2025 REPRESS ON TRANSPARENT GREEN VINYL


Compiled by Philip King “And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.” NICK KENT, NME. All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure. Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms, ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course) these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother of invention. At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records). The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased track You Will See, released April 12th 2025. There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk / underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now. Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP. Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7” and lost until now. The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the main refrain. The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive, robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner. All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

For its 25th anniversary, Cocoon Recordings returns to its roots with an elaborate vinyl LP box set, marking the first part of a two-volume anniversary project. 25 Years Cocoon Recordings – Volume
One brings together exclusive contributions from international artists who have defined the sound and diversity of the label over the past two decades, complemented by fresh talents who are helping to shape its future.
Over the span of 25 years, Cocoon Recordings has created a catalog that now comprises hundreds of releases, 12-inches, albums, mix CDs, and iconic compilation box sets, always bridging past, present, and future. While firmly rooted in techno and house, the label has also provided space for electronica,
ambient, and other evolving genres.
25 Years Cocoon Recordings – Volume One is more than just a compilation. It is both a homage to the label’s history and a glimpse into what lies ahead. With exclusive tracks that embody the Cocoon sound in all its depth and complexity, this release marks a milestone in the legacy of one of electronic
music’s most influential labels, arguably the strongest compilation in Cocoon’s history. To mark this special occasion, Sven Väth’s label presents the first of two carefully curated volumes, uniting 15 exclusive tracks from international artists in celebration of nearly three decades of Cocoon
Recordings. The luxurious 5x12" box set features a spectral-reflective foil finish and includes contributions from renowned names such as Butch, Robag Wruhme, Josh Wink, Guy J, and Dino Lenny, alongside longtime companions of the label including Extrawelt, Harvey McKay, Johannes
Volk, and Raxon. New discoveries of recent years, Jonathan Kaspar and Riccardo De Polo, enrich the release in their own distinctive ways. The compilation is completed by the unmistakable talents of Damiano von Erckert, Fedele, and ja:ck, who provide the perfect conclusion to the first of two parts.
This release sets the stage for what's next: a daring diptych where musical voices emerge, shining with originality and passion, carrying the spirit forward. The story is just beginning. Something special is on the horizon. One can only wonder which artists will shine on the second chapter.

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Dan Piu wrote this album during the "dark, dystopian times" of the last year. The record's themes take in nature, human life, sci-fi, cyborgs and plenty in between with opener 'Tru Confession' being a robust house track stacked with throwback breaks, futuristic synths and old school vocals. There is a real warmth and soul to the machine sounds of 'Un-X-Plored Exodus' while a certain sense of 90s New York house colours 'Upgrade System M59'. 'System Of Ethics' shows off a fine mastery of synth craft that brims with emotion and 'Asteroid Blues' is like a lost Kerri Chandler cut. Essential.

Few producers have had the same seismic impact on techno and rave music as Joey Beltram. Hailing from Queens, New York, Beltram was a key architect of the early '90s rave explosion and responsible for some of the most influential electronic records of the era - and it was Belgium’s R&S Records that gave many of these tracks their first home.

Originally compiled and released by R&S in 1996, Classics brings together the core of Beltram’s groundbreaking early output - namely the Beltram Vol. 1 (1990) and Beltram Vol. 2 (1991) EPs, alongside the legendary Second Phase productions ‘Mentasm’ and ‘Mind To Mind’ (1991), plus a selection of aliases and collaborative work from the same period, including tracks under Mental Mayhem, Open Mind, and Disorder.

Now remastered and reissued as a 2LP set for 2025, Classics is available on vinyl for the first time since 2006, offering a long overdue opportunity to own these timeless cuts in their purest form. Across the 13 tracks, you'll hear the sheer force and innovation that made Beltram a household name in underground techno.

Integral to this collection are ‘Jazz 303’ and ‘Psycho Bass,’ co-produced with Norwegian techno innovator Per Martinsen (aka The Alien), which stand out for their experimental, forward-facing sound - highlighting a futuristic edge even within Beltram’s already pioneering catalogue. Elsewhere, his Second Phase project with Mundo Muzique delivers the seminal ‘Mentasm’ and ‘Mind To Mind,’ two foundational tracks that introduced the infamous “hoover” sound to dancefloors worldwide. Rounding out the set are deeper cuts under his aliases Mental Mayhem, Disorder, and Open Mind, capturing the breadth of Beltram’s restless creativity and technical command during his peak R&S years.
Classics’ by Joey Beltram is available on R&S Records from 25th July 2025.

Childhood Drop Out’z - compiled by Childhood Intelligence (Tokyo/Berlin) & Tone Drop Out (London, UK). Timeless 2x12 featuring traxx by E-Control, Konerytmi, Soft Pioneer, Basement Space, Alphonse & Sween, Skywave Transmission vs. XOTR, Kostas G, DAWL, ZOTS and Electrodefender. A solid time travel into the early ages of Uk Bleep, Acid, Breakbeat, Techno and House - born in 2022.

“I II III” is pure voltage. An EBM synth-punk blasting assault forged in the concrete heart of Kyiv. These tracks don’t just move: they hit, with brutalist force, fury, and cold rage. Each beat stomps forward like a clenched fist, a sound for strobe-lit riots and blacked-out warehouses. Body music as survival instinct and harsh rhythm as revolt. Raw. Unrelenting. Necessary Presented in ONE- OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid RED vinyl, All tracks have been specially remastered for vinyl by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studios (Germany).

Back when the first white labels started floating through the hands of German, British, American and Canadian DJs in late ’84, nobody was ready for what was coming. The official drop hit in early ’85 and the scene was never the same again. This was the moment Mike Mareen broke through the static. Yeah, he’d been working with Chris Evans-Ironside since the ’70s but nothing hinted that together they’d channel something this futuristic. “Dancing In The Dark” sounded like it had slipped through a wormhole: melancholic, hypnotic vocals wrapped in vocoder haze, riding an arrangement so razor-sharp it made most releases of the era feel prehistoric. It didn’t need the pop charts… It owned the clubs. And the clubs listened.

London. Berlin. Madrid. Rome. Paris. Lisbon. Amsterdam. Athens. Toronto. NYC. Tokyo. Mexico City.

One drop of that electro bassline and DJs were hooked. Crowds were hooked. The whole underground was hooked. Soon Europe’s radio charts caved under its pressure, and the track crossed borders on mixtapes, becoming a cult anthem behind the Iron Curtain. It was everywhere, even where it technically wasn’t allowed to be.

Fast-forward four decades and the spell hasn’t faded. “Dancing In The Dark” still shows up in indie dance, italo wave, house and deep house sets. Producers keep re-editing it like it’s sacred material. It’s one of those tracks that DJs treasure, a timeless weapon, one of the top three defining singles of Mareen’s entire career.

And now for the 40th anniversary of its official release, Vintage Pleasure Boutique and Night’n Day Records drop the vinyl every collector and selector has been waiting for: a special reissue loaded with four brand-new remixes spanning the full spectrum of today’s underground indie/disco/italo/house energy.

Tallac – the American Berlin dweller – dives deep into the hypnotic soul of the original, pulling out its buried deep-house DNA and carving out a spacious, emotional roller.

Luksek, Italian producer & DJ, goes raw and dirty: loop-driven, gritty, underground, hypnotic, the kind of edit that eats dancefloors alive.

Flemming Dalum, the Danish Italo grandmaster, finally gets to remix the track he’d always dreamed of touching and of course it’s pure Flemingish electro-italo magic.

And the Polish sparkle: A.P. Mono delivers a shimmering mix of italo disco, glitterbox groove, disco glamour and synthwave glow, all while keeping the spirit of Mareen’s original heartbeat intact.

The wax also features two historical heavy-hitters: the 1985 Jens Lissat’s team remix and Luis Rodriguez’s original arrangement, essential cuts in the Mareen universe.

This release isn’t nostalgia. It’s a resurrection. A celebration. A reminder. “Dancing In The Dark” didn’t survive 40 years by accident, it survived because it still moves bodies, breaks hearts and lights up floors in ways modern tracks can only wish for.

If you’re an indie, italo, wave, house or disco DJ… This record isn’t just worth owning… It’s mandatory.

The Return of 'The Nightstalker', a Childhood Intelligence endeavor written/produced by Dan Piu & Gary Rich (2022). The second album «Genetic Constitution» is the sequel of «The Tragedies Of A High-Tech World» (2020), in which the Nightstalker continues to manifest its mystic dystopian electronic prophecies. Full of haunted melodies, cinematic compositions and passages of hope and despair.

«In a damned world
dystopian and mad
we create our own sound
of the positive apocalypse

with bizarre characters
we feel connected
with the outsiders,
strangers and forgotten

in the darkest hour
the crazy sounds arise
standing on the edge
a delight for the senses

when all are gone
we have stayed
in the endless desert
good and evil at the same time

for us it is true
always to nail down
when everyone can have it
we do not want it»

Childhood Intelligence’s 18th release by ADSR aka. Todd Nickolas & Dominic Paterson from Toronto, Canada. The 2x12” album presents mostly tracks written and produced by Todd, with A1/D1 being in collaboration with Paterson. "Give a teenager in a rural Canadian setting an analog synthesizer, a drum machine and a four-track cassette recorder and feed him a steady diet of 80s EBM, Post-Punk, Synthpop, Electro, Dub, Acid, Hip Hop and House, and you’ll get the kind of genre melding electronic-based music that Todd Nickolas has been known for since his early days of writing and producing." The end result is a versatile one, with “Passive Articulation” presenting abstract Techno - House - Electro visions, and fusing all the elements of vintage Intelligent Dance Music that we cherish so much: warm basslines, beautiful chord progressions, diverse and surprising arrangements infused with haunting melodies, hypnotic cyber sounds, detached vocal cuts and dubbed percussion.…Overall fresh & timeless classiness for the present, past & future.

Recorded various locations New Hamburg, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa, Toronto, San Francisco and Los Angeles. ADSR greatly thanks those who were there from the start, those who joined along the journey and those here now.

Childhood Intelligence Nineteen by Dan Piu “The Mystic Mind” 2x12 LP

As the vortex of time evolves, Swiss Underground Legacy “Dan Piu” returns to his home planet “Childhood intelligence”. A rare specimen and artifact known for his timeless & intelligent soul-infused music, arises with his 3rd solo album on Childhood. “The Mystic Mind” 2x12 Lp as the trilogy, the sequel of “Tru Time And Ages” and “Inside Universe”.

This Full-Length player is a voyage through yet another unexplored realm of Dan's creativity, where listeners are invited to explore a vast network of emotions. As the album organically unfolds, tales of spooky synth worlds emerge, where hypnotic atmospheres collide with analog technoid elements, guided by classic JUNO chord progressions. Witness the alchemy of vintage ARP, Jupiter, Mono/Poly, and 80s Yamaha sounds as they morph into an elusive journey of electronic mysticism crafted by the otherworldly mind, the “Mystic Mind” of Dan Piu.

2026 Repress
DJ Support: Seth Troxler, Marco Carola, Sasha & Digweed, Camelphat, Dennis Cruz and many more

The chances are you've already heard this track being played all over the place this summer; It's been causing some damage on the dancefloor all over, and is now it's finally available on wax for a limited time

Another excellent find here, an unreleased dub/instrumental album compiled by Lloydie Slim at the end of the 70s, featuring exclusive dubwise & instrumental cuts to many of his rhythms from earlier in the decade. As a bonus we've added 2 more tracks to the original 10 track album tape - the vocal & dub cuts to Johnny Clarke's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", one of Slim's personal favorites of his productions. This single was originally released in 1975 in JA on his Don One label, and again in New York a few years later on his namesake Ivanhoe the Conqueror label. This album is a great listen which reminds us of the classic Channel 1 Revolutionaries instrumentals of the mid/late 70s.

In a World of deep paradoxes unrestrained by time, mysterious new corporations appear; tagged with the words 'Sunrise Inc.' ... For the first chapter in Childhood Intelligence's Sub-Division Corporation "Sunrise Inc.", Future vinyl Artifacts from Inf0 - Sheffield, UK - have been collected; 6 Traxx showcasing visions of Dark Mystique, from Dreamy Auras and Lush Soundscapes, to Outer Space - all in Pulse with Fresh Acid Saturation and Electrobass. Limited copies...

El Elektro Compilado Padrísimo Vol. 1 is a double 12” compilation curated by Spanish artist Elektro’s Grandfather, Dark Vektor featuring his personal selection from today’s scene. A fearless snapshot of the Spaniard national electro scene. Established figures stand shoulder to shoulder with new blood, generating a current where tradition and innovation collide in sparks. Every track is a charged fragment of a collective identity, soldered into one unstoppable groove. A declaration that the Spanish electro underground is alive, mutating, and absolutely padrísimo. Presented in ONE-OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid BLACK vinyl. All tracks have been specially remastered for vinyl by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studios (Germany).

Ninja was a niche Italo disco project formed by Cristina Peri (vocalist, composer and producer) and Enzo Benetti (DJ and producer). Together they managed to compose and produce only a handful of tracks, three of which were released under the Ninja moniker. Their collaboration resulted in a highly distinctive synth-pop sound, marked by a rock-leaning drum approach with a strong, metal-sounding snare, and melodic lines that deliberately avoided obvious, immediate catchiness.

The unique and “super obscure Italo treasure” reissued by Vintage Pleasure Boutique, titled “Mad About Love,” carries an additional point of interest: Pier Michele Bozzetti, better known as Miko Mission, was also involved in the production. “Mad About Love” is a rare and collector-sought track that has never been reissued before. With this new vinyl release, Vintage Pleasure Boutique once again steps forward with an archival initiative, hoping to bring genuine excitement to underground Italo fans and collectors alike.

Alpenglühen starts 2026 with two close friends working together in the 11th one
Atàvic is the collaborative project between Estrato Aurora and Absis, merging two distinct yet complementary approaches to electronic music. The project is rooted in texture, atmosphere, and subtle narrative, allowing sound to evolve organically and without excess.
They together bring a refined sense of space and detail, working with ambient layers, restrained rhythms, and melodic fragments that unfold slowly. Here is a 4 track release with a more tactile and material approach, focusing on timbre, resonance, and sonic density, blurring the line between abstraction and structure.
The alignment between Atàvic and the label lies in a shared appreciation for subtlety, patience, and sonic storytelling, where each release is conceived as a complete and meaningful statement.
With this reference, Atàvic contributes a work that resonates with alpenglühen’s aesthetic ethos while reinforcing the collaborative project’s own identity: music that invites close listening and reveals its nuances slowly.
If you’re looking for a peak-time, dancefloor-driven banger to keep you moving until sunrise, this is not that record.
But if you’re after a mind-blowing experience that challenges and expands your listening (and dancings), this one’s for you. Don’t overthink it.