Morcheeba return with the second EP in their Remix The Chaos project - a year long series of releases reworking all the tracks from their 2025 studio album Escape The Chaos. Volume 2 is headlined by London art-rockers Django Django who inject a fresh garage pulse into Hold Me Down and prolific producer Rex The Dog who transforms the Latin subtleties of Dead To Me into an extended electro powerhouse.
Elsewhere, experimental producer Daedelus takes Cooler Heads into leftfield IDM territory, and regular Morcheeba remixer Merther Hum turns the album title track Escape The Chaos into deep, refined dub.
Ready in equal parts for the dancefloor or your sofa late at night, these bold reinterpretations push Morcheeba’s seminal sound further towards electronic music’s outer edges. Presented on rubber duck yellow vinyl in classic disco bag packaging, Remix The Chaos (Volume 2) is just the latest in a series of unmissable releases from the trip-hop titans.
It’s rare for a hardcore punk band to make four full-length albums, and rarer still for the fourth album to be the band’s masterpiece. Yet Paratiisi, the fourth album from Helsinki punks Kohti Tuhoa, stands as the undeniable coup de grâce of a catalog overflowing with classic hardcore punk. If you’re already a fan, it’ll comfort you to know Paratiisi leans heavily on the strengths Kohti Tuhoa has possessed since their earliest releases: a timeless sound that combines UK82 drive and hooks with dramatic metal flourishes; a captivating vocalist with the perfect balance of grit and clarity, who can both howl like a banshee and carry a tune; and a particularly Finnish way with a driving, medium-fast tempo. But for all the continuities with Kohti Tuhoa’s excellent previous records, Paratiisi almost feels like the work of a new band. The riffs and choruses that anchor the album are impossibly catchy; Paratiisi bulges with huge moments that practically force you to air guitar and sing along (even if you don’t speak a word of Finnish), the band’s peerless chops and the rich and clear recording driving these climaxes to dizzying highs. But while the hooks are memorable, there isn’t a moment on Paratiisi that feels dumbed-down or overly familiar.
In fact, the album feels notably ambitious, pulling influences from across punk’s historical and aesthetic breadth and digesting them seamlessly into Kohti Tuhoa’s distinctive sound. The lyrics (don’t worry: English translations are included!) meet the same high bar as the music. They’re direct, assertive, and punk, but they’re also subtle and insightful, whether they’re tackling huge issues like microplastics or sharing a very personal account of a sexual assault and its aftermath. And then there’s Paratiisi’s most unexpected moment, “Eliitin Psykopatia,” a free punk freakout in the tradition of “Why (Reprise)” and “L.A. Blues.” If Kohti Tuhoa’s brief foray into free jazz tries your patience, though, don’t worry, because after three minutes of building tension, they reward you with what is bound to be the best riff of 2026, a clash of chords potent enough to blow holes through walls the world over. Paratiisi is the sound of one hardcore punk’s most exciting bands at the height of their powers.
"Cloud Collision" is the first transmission of Open Water and also the debut from it's founder - Berlin DJ and producer OTEE. Born and raised in the city, he has spent a long stretch in and around its club environments and in the studio, absorbing the way techno functions on Berlins dancefloors before committing to a record of his own. In his productions, he likes to build from rhythm first. His techno is hypnotic in the truest sense — drum-driven and loop-led, powered by groove and atmospherics, chasing movement over spectacle but always with an eye on the occasional melodic line. The 5-track EP runs on rhythm and space — hypnotic, loop-led techno built on power, movement and emotion. Five tracks that push from dream to pressure to flight and back to earth, restrained and physical throughout, made for the deep end of the floor.
Do you know what time it is? It’s Prime Time, the new EP on Punctuality from mischievous French duo Pureblast . Marking the label’s twelfth release, the record serves as a bold statement of intent from the Parisian pair and demonstrates why they’re quickly earning a reputation as one of France’s most exciting live acts.
Across the EP’s five tracks, Pureblast weave together a broad spectrum of influences while remaining deeply rooted in the duo’s singular vision. Every cut is fat, pumping, gritty and playful, ready to turn heads and hips on the dancefloor.
Side-stepping easy genre classifications, Prime Time is modern rolling prog at its most energetic. Tightly wound low-end, pummelling drums and restless basslines drive each track forward with purpose, while sa+ga’s vocals are manipulated and distorted to humanoid perfection. The result is something distinctly personal beneath the machine funk: robotic yet seductive, gritty yet playful.
Deep listeners will spot nods to tranced up breakbeats, Ray of Light-era big beat, Detroit electro and contemporary UK techno with psy-fluenced synth swirls and texture. Far from pastiche, these influences are absorbed into the Pureblast machine and transformed into something entirely their own.
Gritty, pumping, sexy and playful. It’s Pureblast, it’s Prime Time.
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,Bestiaria" ist das neue Album des mexikanischen Trios Karen y los Remedios um Sängerin und Songwriterin Ana Karen G. Barajas. Inspiriert von persönlichen Erfahrungen wie Mutterschaft, Krankheit und Neuanfängen erschafft das Album ein klangliches Universum aus mythischen Frauenfiguren, Göttinnen und Legenden, die für Selbstbestimmung, Stärke und Weiblichkeit stehen. Musikalisch verbindet die Band ihre charakteristische Mischung aus Cumbia rebajada, Trip-Hop und verträumtem Pop mit Einflüssen traditioneller lateinamerikanischer Musik. Die zwölf Songs wirken wie eine Tarot-Legung aus Symbolen, Geschichten und magischen Bildern, die zwischen Sehnsucht, Liebe, Fürsorge und Transformation schweben. Mit seiner atmosphärischen Klangwelt und Ana Karens ätherischem Gesang führt ,Bestiaria" den Weg des gefeierten Vorgängers ,Silencio" konsequent weiter.
Adam Freeland’s return continues with the relaunch of Marine Parade and the release of the Twister EP, marking his first solo material since 2007.
“Twister” draws on Freeland’s love of psych rock, drone, leftfield techno and breakbeat, combining raw bass, polyrhythmic grooves and cavernous dub hits before building into a hypnotic drone-driven climax and cinematic guitar finish. On the flip, “Kiligurl” pairs pulsing drone and broken rhythms with spring reverb for an organic dub feel.
The EP follows Transhuman, Freeland’s collaboration with Spooky’s Duncan Forbes, and marks the next chapter for Marine Parade, the influential label that helped pioneer the edgier side of breakbeat in the 2000s. After closing in 2009, the label’s return follows Freeland’s decade living off-grid in California’s Mojave Desert and his work with The Acid alongside Ry X.
"ABYSSUS stand as one of the most significant forces within the Greek Death Metal scene, having forged their path since 2011. Drawing profound inspiration from genre-defining pioneers such as DEATH, OBITUARY and BOLT THROWER, the band preserves the unadulterated spirit of old school death metal while imprinting their own distinct identity.
From the very outset, ABYSSUS placed equal emphasis on studio output and live performance. A steady stream of EPs and split releases established their presence within the international Underground metal community. Their debut full-length, „Into the Abyss“ (2015), garnered widespread acclaim and marked a pivotal moment in the band’s evolution - leading to increasingly frequent appearances both in Greece and across Europe, often sharing the stage with renowned acts, like POSSESSED, SINISTER, SUICIDAL ANGELS and ROTTING CHRIST.
With renewed creative vigour and greater maturity, ABYSSUS unveiled their sophomore album „Death Revival“ in 2022 via Transcending Obscurity Records. Adorned with an arresting cover by the legendary Andreas Marschall (KREATOR, BLIND GUARDIAN, IN FLAMES a.o.), the album was met with universal praise, further cementing the band’s reputation for delivering unrelenting, yet masterfully crafted, death metal. More shows with a.o. ASPHYX, TANKARD, GRAVE DIGGER and THE CROWN followed.
Now in 2026, ABYSSUS return with their third full-length opus, “The Reign” - a ferocious testament to their artistic evolution. The album encapsulates all the core elements that have defined death metal through the decades: raw aggression, blistering riff-work, and a suffocating, commanding atmosphere. Once again, the visual narrative is entrusted to Andreas Marschall, whose artwork enhances the band’s sonic vision with striking intensity.
Relentlessly evolving, ABYSSUS remain true to their roots while continuing to push the boundaries of the genre. With a prolific discography and an ever-growing presence on the live circuit, they have rightfully earned their place as a formidable name within the global death metal landscape."
The Malian virtuoso, indisputably one of the most creative talents of his country, deserved his solo career decades ago. In May 2026, we released his debut solo album SOBRA DANCE featuring his wife Mariam Kouyate on vocals. The groovy and variated electric album, went straight to the top lists of World Music Charts Europe and Transglobal World Music Chart as well as selected for TOP OF THE WORLD by SONGLINES. Gaoussou's solo debut got several 5 star reviews.DJANGO BLUES is a tribute to Gaoussou's father and childhood teacher, who's nickname is Django. On this album the talented guitarist and composer goes deeper into the roots of Malian Dessert Blues, with the variations from the Arabic soundscapes from the north.In Senegal, Gaoussou is nick named "The new Ali Farka Toure". But even though Ali Farka was one of Gaoussou's greatest inspirations, Gaoussou has developed an unmistakable style of his own. He breathes music and goes to his studio every day to work. He uses his composing to reflect, and as a ventilator when things are hard -they often are in his country of contrasts- and as a love declaration to life itself. He is a true Mandingue, a Griot, peaceful and kind, as the philosophy preaches.Accompanying such legends like Toumani Diabate and Kasse Mady Diabate, Gaoussou Kouyate, with his beloved village 'Sobra' as his middle name, has long proven his level. Yet his name has been relatively undiscovered. The trio performed a memorable concert at Dakar Music Expo, led by their producers, Dudu Saar and Lucy Duran. What started being noticed internationally through this exceptional trio was Gaoussou's composing skills.The electric SOBRA DANCE album was released first, to contrast and give space to the acoustic GUITARI BARO album. Now comes the time for DJANGO BLUES. This great album features Gaoussou's band as well as an exceptional Moroccan Ribab- Amazigh violin master and singer, Aziz Ozouss.
Melissa Weikart and her piano have proceeded through life in step, from her early classical
training to the experimental practice that defines her work today, a blending of sounds and forms that has never been so clear—and so fully realized—as on her new album, Contact. Across twelve shifting and evocative tracks that examine the connective tissue binding us to ourselves and others, the Franco-American musician’s voice and piano navigate personal and emotional terrain with clarity and nuance, forging a rich dialogue between artist and instrument, artist and self, and artist and listener.
Winner of the 2022 Nancy Jazz Pulsations emerging artist award and the instrumentalist prize at the 2023 La Défense National Jazz Competition, Weikart has released two EPs and an album as a solo artist, and one EP and an album—Surprise and Secret—with her electronic duo Beatrice Melissa. A student of jazz and ’70s folk-pop, and a keen lover of improvisation since her time at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Weikart has always conjured the confessional candor of the singer- songwriter in her music, even as she dispenses her lyrics across rich, shifting, dreamlike tableaux.
On Contact, written and arranged entirely by Weikart (aside from “New angles”), she pushes her sound further than ever before. The album is animated by a pressing need for connection, observing what brings us together and what drives us apart, and the life-saving revelations that emerge along the way. The album’s opener, “Crash,” is a dreamy telephone-hour ode, a message in a bottle, to connections new and old. On the wistful “Mesurer le vent,” Weikart conjures Debussy or Ravel, layering contrasting sounds like an Impressionist painting. The title track begins as a showcase of Weikart’s frank lyricism, a splice-reel of missed connections and wasted time, then glides into a hazy, euphoric galaxy of pleas, circling around her thesis—“I wanted to make contact”—that ushers us into “The Intersection,” a song that recalls her the beginning of her career, when it was just Weikart and her keys. “Appétit.e” is built around a sample of her down-the-hall neighbor’s drumming—another subtle, affecting gesture toward proximity and connection—while pulsating synths reminiscent of Air lend the track an unsteady atmosphere. On the Carpenters-inspired “Expectations,” Weikart muses on the relationship patterns, universal and specific, that have always been a hallmark of her songwriting.
The psychedelic “L’amour de construit” is a slow-motion fall down the rabbit hole, as Weikart
considers the way her own emotions are captured and commodified by the confining ways we think about love. The interlude—“L’amour pt. 2”—finds her near the end of that trip, shouting into the void as a last-ditch effort to rescue herself from the fall. The drums near the end of the interlude warn us that there may be no cushion for, until she is saved, again, by the power of revelation, on the confident, resilient “Not Right”—on which a show-stopping, frenetic conversation between singer and piano is gracefully interrupted by a rush of transcendent strings, lifting her back up.
On solid ground anew, “New angles,” featuring Manu Delta, creates a percussion-less groove that relies on experimental synth sounds. The 11-o’clock stunner “Catching up”—composed in a church—meets the singer in a state of ecstatic confession, bringing her to the formative memory that propels “Bicycle,” the album’s closer. Younger, more wide-eyed, she reflects on her move from Boston to Strasbourg, those early days, when Weikart had no other companion than that loyal hunk of scrap metal that took her to the shores of her own soul. She seems to suggest, on “Bicycle,” that a backward-glance is not always troublesome, not always anxiety-producing, but can be grounding: a reminder of where we come from, so that we can keep moving forward.
Isaac Kniveton (fka Keplrr) steps out with Daydreaming, a four track deluge of psychedelic club projections for Call Super and Parris’ can you feel the sun imprint.
Having boasted a notable reputation as Keplrr for labels like Control Freak and Midgar, Isaac Kniveton now embraces transition. On Daydreaming, his debut release under his own name, he maintains an unclassifiable sound with newer purpose; a sound that cascades in brighter colours. It’s a renewed sense of focus and subtlety that produces some of his most arresting work to date.
The ornate funk of opener Flutter angles for the wide-eyed, a cosmic stepper that pins tight drums to a weightless melodic base. Love Groove’s inebriated swing trips out further, a steady cut that binds vocals from GRACE founder Katiusha with entangled melodies. Symmetry’s wayward rhythm ups the ante with subtle rave tension, gently rising as its circular bassline swells. On closer Molecule, he locks in for an exploratory dive, offering shades of Detroit and twisted theremins.
A fascinating new era for Isaac Kniveton that finds solace in can you feel the sun’s forward-leaning club manifesto.
Following the international praise for their 2024 debut album Where Did You Go?, Sandman Project return with Hearts Forever, the first album entirely composed, arranged and produced by guitarist, composer and bandleader Tal Sandman. Rooted in psychedelic groove, Middle Eastern musicality, funk, jazz and desert rock, it is a record driven above all by a wider spiritual belief in music as a force for connection.
If Where Did You Go? introduced Sandman Project as a borderless, brass-heavy outfit with a cinematic sound, Hearts Forever takes that vision somewhere more intimate and self-assured. Written following Tal's move from Jaffa to Leipzig, the album reflects a period of personal and creative transformation. Arriving in Germany without knowing whether she would find the right collaborators, she gradually assembled a new band through recommendations from fellow musicians, discovering a group capable of bringing her musical vision to life. For Tal, the music is not about drawing neat lines between styles or traditions. It is about taking inspiration from wherever it appears and reshaping it into something honest and alive. "If music touches my heart, it inspires me", she says. "So much music already exists, but what we are doing is creating something new out of inspiration. You take the ingredients and make a new thing".
This is the quiet force behind Hearts Forever. Almost entirely instrumental, the album deliberately leaves space for listeners to find their own stories within it. Without lyrics, the music is never confined to one language, nationality or identity.
Following support for Where Did You Go? from All About Jazz, DJ Magazine, Bayern Radio, Greedy For Best, Pipelines Magazine, Ban Ban Ton Ton and Laurent Garnier, Hearts Forever finds Sandman Project entering a new chapter: more confident, broader in vision and more deeply rooted in Tal Sandman's own creative voice. Rich, restless and full of feeling, Hearts Forever is music for uncertain times; a record about holding on to innocence, choosing compassion and believing, however quietly, that connection is still possible.
There's a moment during every great dance floor experience when the music takes over and everyone becomes part of something bigger. "SHOUT!", the latest release from 2SoulFusion Presents Ascension, captures that feeling in its purest form. Featuring the powerhouse voices and ad-libs of Dames Brown and Dawn Tallman, along with an all-star ensemble of master vocalists including Josh Milan, Rahsaan Patterson, Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Audrey Wheeler, Ramona Dunlap, and Lea Lorien, this joyful anthem is an invitation to let go, lift your spirit, and celebrate through music.
Produced, written, arranged, and mixed by 2SoulFusion—Louie Vega and Josh Milan—"SHOUT!" draws inspiration from the communal spirit of gospel while embracing the energy and freedom of house music. Driven by simple yet powerful affirmations—"Shout," "Sing," "Move," "Love," "Get Up On Your Feet," "Listen Up," and "Let This Music Take You Higher"—the song transforms into an experience where every voice becomes part of the celebration. It's a journey of anthemic hooks, soaring harmonies, infectious grooves, and unforgettable melodies designed to ignite dance floors, uplift hearts, and remind us that music has the power to unite people through rhythm, joy, and love.
The inspiration for "SHOUT!" was born from a creative exchange between Louie Vega and Charaf Tajer, founder and creative director of the internationally acclaimed fashion house Casablanca. Introduced by longtime friend Joseph Capriati, Charaf shared a bold vision—to bring together the worlds of fashion, gospel, and house music for one unforgettable Casablanca runway presentation in Paris.
Louie Vega recalls: “Charaf was introduced to me by my friend Joseph Capriati, who said Charaf was looking to meet me about an idea he had. His vision was to marry fashion, gospel, and house music within Casablanca's collection. At first, he wanted me to DJ and play gospel house music. I said, 'Instead of playing existing music, why don't I create an original song with a gospel house flavor?' I immediately got together with my 2SoulFusion partner Josh Milan, and together we came up with 'SHOUT!'”
That vision came to life during Casablanca's spectacular Paris presentation inside a breathtaking cathedral, where Louie Vega premiered the original twelve-minute and nine-second composition live. As the music echoed through the cathedral, Dames Brown joined the London House Gospel Choir in a soul-stirring performance while the models walked the aisle on Casablanca's carpet made of their signature green color and a dashing vibrating giant mirror echoing the runway visually. Renowned DJs Luciano and Chloé Caillet were among those who walked the runway, while friends of Charaf Tajer and special guests—including Jaden Thompson, Folamour, Dimitri From Paris, Kapela, and many others—were in attendance, making it an unforgettable gathering where music, spirituality, fashion, and culture merged into one extraordinary experience.
Inspired by that magical evening in Paris, Louie Vega and Josh Milan returned to the studio to expand the original composition into the powerful recording heard today. Built around rich live musicianship, Josh Milan's keyboards, organ, piano and synth bass provide the foundation alongside Axel Tosca's expressive grand piano recorded live, Sherrod Barnes' soulful guitar, and Gene Perez's unmistakable bass groove. Together they create an infectious, organic driving sound that allows the vocals to soar while delivering the unmistakable musical depth and musicianship that define 2SoulFusion.
Leading the celebration are Dames Brown and Dawn Tallman, whose commanding performances are elevated by an extraordinary choir of world-class vocalists. Dames Brown's spirited sermon and ad-libs, and Dawn Tallman’s powerful ad-lib vamping out together with the soaring harmonies of Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Audrey Wheeler, Rahsaan Patterson, Ramona Dunlap, Lea Lorien, and Josh Milan, recreate the feeling of a joyful gospel congregation—not confined to four walls, but alive on dance floors around the world. Every chorus encourages listeners to get up, listen up, feel it, sing, move, love, and become part of the experience. Recorded between Honeycomb Studios in Pennsylvania, The Hub Ibiza and Manhattan Center Studios, New York City, and mixed at The Hub Ibiza, "SHOUT!" reflects the continuing vision of the Ascension project, where spirituality, musicianship, community, fashion, and dance music become one.
Long Distance Operators (LDO) is a collaboration between the Australian musician Hugo Race and the Belgian violinist Catherine Graindorge. Hugo Race, singer, songwriter, producer and author, has a long and wide-ranging history, from the trans-global Dirtmusic and his groups True Spirit and Fatalists to his origins in the 80's Melbourne post-punk scene with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and The Wreckery. Catherine Graindorge, violinist and composer, is known for her solo work and collaborations with International artists such as Iggy Pop, John Parish, Pascal Humbert (16 Horsepower), Simon Huw Jones (And Also The Trees). She also plays and composes for theater and cinema. The music of LDO is an intensely atmospheric dreamweave of violins, electronics and Hugo's darkly evocative voice. The duo explores metaphysical lyrics, experimental sounds and retro-baroque orchestrations in a romantic, song-based context.
Long Distance Operators (LDO) is a collaboration between the Australian musician Hugo Race and the Belgian violinist Catherine Graindorge. Hugo Race, singer, songwriter, producer and author, has a long and wide-ranging history, from the trans-global Dirtmusic and his groups True Spirit and Fatalists to his origins in the 80's Melbourne post-punk scene with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and The Wreckery. Catherine Graindorge, violinist and composer, is known for her solo work and collaborations with International artists such as Iggy Pop, John Parish, Pascal Humbert (16 Horsepower), Simon Huw Jones (And Also The Trees). She also plays and composes for theater and cinema. The music of LDO is an intensely atmospheric dreamweave of violins, electronics and Hugo's darkly evocative voice. The duo explores metaphysical lyrics, experimental sounds and retro-baroque orchestrations in a romantic, song-based context.
Mike Reed"s Separatist Party sophomore effort and Thrill Jockey debut "Sing The Color Blue" is a recording assembled over numerous sessions, and a testament to persistence and transformation. The album reunites Mike Reed with Rob Frye, Cooper Crain, Dan Quinlivan (all of the trio Bitchin Bajas), Marvin Tate, and Ben LaMar Gay in a set that moves between composition, reconstruction, improvisation, and song form.
Mike Reed's Separatist Party sophomore effort and Thrill Jockey debut "Sing The Color Blue" is a recording assembled over numerous sessions, and a testament to persistence and transformation. The album reunites Mike Reed with Rob Frye, Cooper Crain, Dan Quinlivan (all of the trio Bitchin Bajas), Marvin Tate, and Ben LaMar Gay in a set that moves between composition, reconstruction, improvisation, and song form.
Italian percussionist Umberto Vitiello takes us on a journey into a vanished world. Mixed by Italian techno master Donato Dozzy, the album draws on memories spanning decades, including Vitiello's years living on Yarakh Beach on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal. There, the rhythms of daily life flowed with the tides: fishermen launching their pirogues at dawn, griots and vendors gathering beneath three towering palm trees, and the Atlantic Ocean providing a serene soundtrack.
Named after the Lébou people whose fishing culture has shaped the coastline around Dakar for centuries, the record is both a tribute to a community that welcomed Vitiello as one of their own and a reflection on what has been lost.
Those years left a profound mark on both his life and his music. Yet this is not simply a work of remembrance. It is also a meditation on change.
Today, the beach that inspired these recordings has been transformed by pollution and environmental decline. Where fishing boats and palm trees once stood, a sculpture by Senegalese artist Serigne Gorgui Mbaye now depicts two giant ears facing the sea-a reminder of the need to listen: to one another, to nature, and to our own conscience.
Blending percussion, atmosphere and storytelling, the album revisits formative experiences from the 1980s through the perspective of the present day. Featuring vocal contributions from Olympia Ndiaye, Anna Caragnano and Mariangela Morais, and guided by Dozzy's spacious, immersive mix, it unfolds as a deeply personal journey through memory, place and transformation.
UK experimental multi-instrumentalist Oli Heffernan (aka Ivan The Tolerable) returns to independent label Riot Season Records on October 23rd, 2026, with The Planets, a fierce, tension-fuelled reinterpretation of Gustav Holst’s iconic orchestral suite tailored for the modern age.
Originally composed over a century ago to capture the astrological characters of the cosmos, Holst's masterpiece receives a radical, uneasy update. Where the original composition leaned on grand symphonic sweeps, Ivan The Tolerable strips away the comfort of the orchestra, replacing it with fracturing analog synthesisers, claustrophobic tape loops, and the hypnotic, nervous pulse of modern kosmische music and avant-garde noise.
The Planets is an album forged in the specific dread of 2026—a year defined by geopolitical instability, climate weariness, and pervasive societal tension. Rather than looking up at the stars in awe, Heffernan turns the telescope back toward a fractured Earth. From the staggering, industrial-tinged dread of "Mars" to a hollow, melancholic take on "Jupiter," the album transforms familiar motifs into an immersive exploration of collective psychological fatigue.
Recorded in isolation by Heffernan, the project captures the signature solo vulnerability seen on his recent landmark releases like Psychogeography. It balances moments of deep, meditative stillness with sudden, jarring eruptions of noise, offering listeners a space to both confront and process the overwhelming static of the everyday world.
Put your hands together and please welcome Linda Lo to Shall Not Fade's Time is Now imprint. The LA producer/DJ's new 12" EP "Masa" drops 23rd Oct 2026 and f**k is it sick.
Linda Lo fuses* mambo, samba, and salsa with UK garage, dubstep, and club rhythms to make guaranteed rewind material that is gonna light up the dance…
* imma talk about this fuses sh*t in a minute.. First we need to get a bit philosophical. Cos rewinds and fusions aside, this EP is alive. It's part of something bigger and cyclical, without a start or an end. It is music. It was part of someone else's music before and it will be part of other people's music in the future. Right now though, it's Linda Lo's music.
Too esoteric? Let me elaborate and, let's talk about fusion. There is the fusion that is – steal a bit of genre X and culture Y, chuck it on the grid and strut about professing fusion – and then there's actual fusion: Music that is something "new" and real and genuine. Music that you end up describing excitedly as a "fusion of" things (even if it inevitably ends up doing it a disservice). Music that is simultaneously one thing and not that thing, and also something else and not that something else too. Music that is just "music" to the creator but is also part of the progression and evolution of music for others. Mala wasn't making "dubstep". Skream & Benga ended up not making Garage. Like many before and after they were making their music and Linda Lo is making her music so let's hear from her about it. Big up Linda. This is real.
Notes from Linda:
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“Like Croydon by way of Havana”
“Masa, or corn-based dough used to make tortillas and tamales, is a traditional staple food for many in Mexico and throughout LatAm. In the Maya worldview, people's flesh is made out of masa. In order to make masa, corn must be dried, nixtamalized, ground, and mixed (often by hand) to create the right textured dough. I find much of my music work is a collision and a mixing of many elements, all worked into one product. In this way, I've worked these songs, transforming raw rhythms and sub bass into hand-mixed tunes. ‘Masa - EP' presents four delicious heaters. The title track explodes with a fiery double-time dubstep groove. Mambo horn stabs bite through a bass inferno. ‘Cenote' looks down upon a subterranean pool of sound—still on the surface but impossibly deep. ‘Minifalda', pure flirt and gyration, calls in cuica and other voices from a samba bateria. Finally, claves stitch across ‘Mestiza', a fusion of blooming lush orchestration and jagged 2step rhythm.
Around 1960, my grandparents were regular dancers at the Palladium in Los Angeles: young, Mexican, and falling in love to dance music, specifically big band mambo. My mom, consequently, is a fantastic dancer, and her mambo collection along with my dad's exotica records formed the base of my own vinyl collection. When I first discovered garage and dubstep, there was something indescribably familiar to me, something mambo-like about the syncopated offbeat hits and drama. Later, as I began stitching together mambo claves and 2step drums, I assumed I was trying out something totally new. The farther I go, the more I see that I was wrong.
Dubstep, garage and jungle share a parental lineage back to dub reggae, originating from Jamaica. Mambo hails from Cuba, and sister genres of salsa to NYC & PR, and bachata and meringue to the Dominican Republic. Yet, these musical genres of the Caribbean have not developed in isolation. Reggae, mambo, dancehall, salsa, even son jarocho from Veracrúz, Mexico (where my family is from), all developed together, influencing each other fundamentally. Ultimately, all musics of the Caribbean have come from West African polyrhythmic musical heritages. Garage, mambo, dubstep, and salsa are points in time along one musical continuum.
I feel very honored to be a selector working in Los Angeles (and elsewhere!). I hope I can share some music for the next generation of young people to fall in love to. "
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I'm moved by what Linda writes here. #1 Doing what you love, and finding you are part of something bigger. Creating for yourself freely and hoping to inspire others with healthy amounts of care, humility, freedom, self awareness and enjoyment. (It is inspiring and I'm honoured we are now a part of sharing Linda's music). #2 There's something wonderful about finding connection and a sense of place. A place physical, spiritual and in time. Music can help us all find connection and be part of a place. Wheel it up wherever you are.
For their eagerly awaited third album, the Parisian trio Howlin' Jaws have teamed up with Swedish producer Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm (bassist with The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and producer for Foals, The Hives, Jose Gonzalez and Junip) and have taken a major step forward, affirmingthe universal appeal of their explosive yet elegant psych-rock. This new album, Living The Dream, crystallises just about everything we'd ever dreamt of hearing from Howlin' Jaws. Here, more than ever, their dreams take the form of unifying choruses, transforming grief ("Troubled Mind") or separation ("Do What You Gonna Do", "So Sorry") into genuine bursts of hope. Rich in texture (with the Omnichord and Mellotron featuring on the spellbinding "Miss You" and the twilight-tinged "Up On The Roof" respectively) and in wit (led by the biting "Living The Dream"), the eleven-track album is equally diverse in its range of influences. Disco looms large on "Terminal Buzz", country creeps in on "Sunset Laundromat", whilst the fiery "Maximum Speed" is a joyful reminder of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's trippy flights of fancy. The trio are stunning when they're in full swing, but just as impressive when they slow the tempo down. Behind its layers of cosmic keyboards, "Time Has Come" immediately sets the scene and subtly invites introspection. Like an echo at the end of the journey, "That Kind of Pain" rubs shoulders with the stars of the French Touch (the Air school), letting the strings of the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra burst forth amidst its melancholic swells. All in all, whether he simmers his albums like an omelette or a beef bourguignon, Howlin' Jaws proves he's never short of imagination.
