"Dark Flower" is the new imprint by Robert Babicz, launched in cooperation with Systematic Recordings as a home for his own music. Named after one of the defining tracks of his career, it feels less like the launch of another label and more like the opening of a private room: a place for sound, emotion and instinct, shaped entirely by Babicz himself. With „Electric Love EP" he begins this chapter in full colour. After more than 1.000 released tracks and music on labels such as Bedrock, Kompakt, Systematic and Sudbeat, FLOWER0001 is not about proving anything. It is about freedom.
“Electric Love” opens the EP with punchy breaks, luminous harmonies and choral textures that seem to rise above the beat. It is bold, open and slightly unexpected, electronic music with a pulse and a sky above it. "Cuerpo Con Color” brings things closer to the floor: warm chords, fluent grooves and a calm, driving pressure that slowly pulls the body into motion. Across two versions, “Tease Me” closes the EP with a burning bassline, oriental vocal fragments and a seductive tension running underneath. Strange, physical and unmistakably Babicz.
The almighty Joe of the Farr’s is a highly accomplished UK techno DJ, producer and mastering engineer. Originally associated with Bristol's electronic music scene, Joe studied TV and film sound design before building a solid reputation through hard-hitting, technically sophisticated techno releases on labels including Turbo, DSNT, Bloc, Soma and Power Vacuum. His concentrated output combines aggressive club-focused rhythms with melodic and IDM-inspired elements. Now based in Wales, performing internationally and on home turf, he also operates a professional mastering engineering operation of the highest esteem of which RIOT could simply not operate without, as many others will gladly attest too.
Continuing with the ‘Limited As Fuck’ series of releases, on our fiercely independent techno label based in Scotland, we’ve finally let loose the screamer of a release, from such an integral member of RIOT HQ, that’s been patiently ‘Left Alone’ and waiting for the right time to unleash its User Experience. Joe’s totally went one step beyond and cranked out a pressure filled release of not only persistent anthemic prowess but one of such rigorous determination, all those on the dance floor MUST ‘Obey’ to its diligent beats. And with Rant & Rave Records boss Maedon serving up such an iconoclastic relentless remix, you will absolutely need to submit complicitly to all things RIOT.
The full digital release also features two bonus meticulously disciplined tracks to fulfil your obedient, subservient requirements.
WARNING: NON STOP BREAKIN’ N’ STOMPIN’ N’ BOPPIN’ TO THE RIOT BEATS WILL MANIFEST ITSELF
The fifth edition of Meganesia’s annual vinyl release, this year featuring AWHM & Shugo Noss, two leading forces in the fast trance and psytek scenes.
Striving to imagine these two artists as creatures inhabiting the same environment and imbuing it with their sonic identity, we arrived at the idea of a tidal zone in which AWHM’s sound inhabits and defines the warmed, sunlit state of low tide, while Shugo Noss’ sound inhabits and defines the submerged, watery state of high tide.
The resulting release creates a trance-focussed environment inhabited by both the deep, multi-textured, audio-hallucinatory sound of Shugo Noss and the driving, energising force of AWHM.
This release comes out on vinyl and digital on October 27, 2026.
Mastering by Chris Scholz and Dave Miller at Audiosculpture NL
Artwork the THEAJM
Vinyl distribution by One Eye Witness
SHUGO BIO
Shugo Noss is a producer/DJ from Naarm who explores the intersection of sound and form through a blend of hypnotic rhythms, eclectic soundscapes and sonic experimentation. His work aims to exist outside genre binaries, weaving through a multitude of emotional experiences that both relate to, and contradict, one another in an attempt to formulate their own identity. There are no limits that restrain these journeys.
AWHM BIO
A dedicated consumer and creator of trance music, AWHM’s production style draws clear influence from old school goa, psytrance, jungle breaks, and tekno, most easily recognised by his ability to combine driving basslines, hypnotic rhythms, and scattered percussions to transport audiences through uncharted psychedelic realms of fast trance music.
Evolutionary by nature, he’s managed to leverage extensive experiences that led to a self-taught studio process which now stands out in one of the more niche corners of electronic music.
MEGANESIA BIO
Meganesia is an independent music label operating in the broad genres of trance and techno. Drawing its name from the continental plate beneath Australia’s landmass, Meganesia focuses distinctly on developing and platforming artists living and working in Australia.
Since the start of 2022 Meganesia has grown to a catalogue of 12 releases. Across these releases, the label has directly platformed over 40 individual artists on digital and vinyl gaining us recognition as one of Australia’s strongest and most dynamic electronic labels.
The mission is complete.
With the landing behind him, the astronaut begins spreading the sound of Planet Tapes across the planet.
What was once a distant destination is now alive with sound, light and movement. The music starts to travel, bringing different identities, energies and visions together on the same frequency.
Signals of Unity captures this exact moment: four artists, four different messages, one shared destination.
A1 – Mirko Felicioli – Sin City
Mirko Felicioli opens the record with a strong and distinctive statement, built around tension, groove and a sharp sense of movement.
A2 – Mathi – Starship
Mathis continues the transmission with Starship, a cut suspended between movement, imagination and futuristic drive.
B1 – Two Opposites – Tormento
The label captains return with Tormento, combining energy and emotion in a track built for movement, while keeping their unmistakable approach to electronic music.
B2 – Ginno – Void
Gianko closes the record with Void, a deep and evocative final passage that lets the signal drift beyond the dancefloor.
Four artists. Four signals. One planet.
The music has spread.
The people have gathered.
The party has begun.
Terrestrial Funk welcomes Parisian producer Raymond D. Barre with a fun exploration into FM Synthesis. Bouncing in that sweet sweet midtempo zone all six tracks squelch to your heart’s delight. Simply put, “light-hearted and good vibes electro acid tracks”, as Monsieur D. Barre described them when he demoed the tracks to Terrestrial Funk two years ago. But they’re much more. Perfect programming brings that slow swing, wonky warped vocals on songs like ‘Broken Nose’, and the bells that chime in the releases final song ‘Mes Bêtes’ leave you in a paradox of fulfillment and desire. That’s the best part, you can flip the record back and listen to the release right over. DJs and home listeners alike are in for a treat with this one. Heck, get yourself two copies and mix every track back to back in the club. We guarantee it’ll go off.
Waking Dreams returns with “Fantasies,” a four-track excursion by Aline Umber and AGELESS that explores the hypnotic facets of deep house. Featuring the label’s most sought-after ID, the title track finally receives its official release, unfolding as a meditative yet driving cut built on understated percussion and an airtight groove. Lush chords douse the track’s atmosphere, while dubby synth stabs and a spoken-word vocal cut through the arrangement, deepening its hypnotic pull and transfixing the listener. Dan Ghenacia takes things deeper with his electro-tinged rework, expanding on the original’s addictive groove with angular drumwork, adding further club functionality and sharpening it into a darker, more introspective counterpoint. Two additional originals round out the collaborative EP with brighter, kinetic energy.
Acclaimed, Swedish composer, producer and live artist Sebastian Mullaert, and Georgian electronic artist Tamarma (Tamara Davitashvili), are set to release the deeply personal and genre-fluid album ‘Holds the Sky’ on the 25th September via Awesome Soundwave, the label curated by Christopher Coe and Carl Cox.
Spanning ambient, experimental and alternative electronic forms, alongside a set of dancefloor-oriented reworks that expand the project’s sonic spectrum, at its core, the album is the result of an unusual artistic convergence that traces back to 2020. Tamarma entered Mullaert’s successful In Bloom mentorship programme on a scholarship, and over a year-long deep exploration of album creation, her work revealed a rare clarity and emotional depth.
One piece in particular became the catalyst. Developed further through Mullaert’s 4 step studio process, it unfolded into a full length album collaboration. What began as a single composition has since grown into an album that documents an organic and intuitive exchange between two distinct artistic voices.
The result is less a collection of tracks than a continuous unfolding; a dialogue shaped by trust, listening and shared curiosity. Rather than aiming for a fixed genre position, the album operates as a living process: a meeting point between tradition and experimentation, between voice and synthesis, between two artists allowing something larger to emerge through their collaboration.
With compositions such as the chiming ‘Being Colours’ and hypnotic ‘Holds The Sky,’ Mullaert and Tamarma have created a body of work that resists easy categorization. The album moves through intimate, meditative passages and more rhythmically driven moments, always anchored in a sense of presence and emotional immediacy. The flickering beats of ‘Winnow’ and ambient manifestations of ‘Lost In Dimension’ and ‘Field of Us’ add a sense of tranquillity, stillness and convergence.
Tamarma’s voice carries both a personal and cultural depth throughout the album, while remaining fluid and responsive to the moment. The result is a sound that feels both intimate and spatial, where voice, texture and atmosphere are closely connected. Her Georgian musical heritage combined with Mullaert’s open-ended electronic exploration, allows something beautiful to emerge, shaped by listening, space and a sense of something larger than either artist alone.
Widely celebrated in the electronic music community, Mullaert has spent the last three decades moving beyond the boundaries of electronic music, from shaping the sound of cult duo Minilogue to creating the fully improvised global platform, Circle of Live, which has seen him perform and collaborate with artists such as Mathew Jonson, Âme, Amp Fiddler, Aurora Halal, Speedy J, Sam Barker, Dorisburg, Move D, Sleep D, Kuniyuki, Pantha du Prince, Leafar Legov, Wayne Snow, Laurence Guy, VRIL, Neel and Erika.
Initially making a name for himself in the world of techno, his performances have moved fluidly between environments, from underground spaces including Berghain’s Panorama Bar to festivals around the world, and venues including the Barbican, London, where he has appeared alongside artists including Joep Beving, Laura Misch and JakoJako. Platforms such as ARTE have featured his performances, placing his work within a broader European cultural context, while support from Resident Advisor and Boiler Room reflect his continued presence within the core of electronic music culture. He has received a Swedish Grammy and the P3 Guld award from Swedish National Radio.
His 2020 album ‘Natthall,’ developed in collaboration with Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich and performed with Subchamber Ensemble, saw Mullaert enter the world of contemporary composition, and merged electronics with chamber music and improvisation. The album was later named among the top post classical releases of the year by BBC Music Magazine.
A new documentary film by Ableton, set for release this summer, captures Mullaert’s Circle of Live project through a performance at Brighton Dome in the UK, featuring Mullaert and electronic artists Clark and Rival Consoles. The film offers a rare insight into the inner workings of collective improvisation at a high artistic level, further cementing Mullaert’s role as a leading voice in contemporary live electronic practice.
Tamara's background is rooted in the landscapes and traditions of Georgia. Raised near the Caucasus Mountains, classically trained in piano and shaped by years as a jazz vocalist, her work carries traces of Georgian polyphonic singing and a strong connection to nature and place. Her transition into electronic music is not stylistic but transformational; a recontextualisation of heritage into new sonic forms.
‘Holds The Sky’ will be available on vinyl and digitally on the 25th September via Awesome Soundwave. The digital release includes three exclusive album track reworks from Mullaert.
Ghanaian producer, songwriter, and cultural innovator Delasi has earned international recognition for his forward-thinking blend of traditional Ewe rhythms, soul, jazz, hip-hop, and electronic music, with recent releases on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings and support from outlets including Bandcamp Daily, CLASH, CRACK, COLORS, and BBC Radio 6 Music. His music has also appeared in the indie feature Dreams in Nightmares and the UK Premier League. Joining him are Tokyo's acclaimed experimental pop outfit TAMTAM, whose distinctive fusion of reggae, dub, jazz, soul, exotica, and electronic music has drawn praise from Gilles Peterson, Bandcamp, NTS, Mr. Bongo, and Rolling Stone Japan, alongside performances at Fuji Rock and international tours across Canada, Australia, and South Korea.
This limited 7" brings the two artists together across two richly textured collaborations. A-side "Guardian of The Green" blends alternative soul, downtempo electronica, trip-hop, and cinematic post-rock into a lush, organic soundscape where futuristic electronics meet live instrumentation. On the flip, "Celestial Bodies" explores dream pop, ambient electronica, and jazz-inflected soul, pairing hypnotic rhythms with shimmering synths, expressive guitars, and warm lo-fi grooves. Together, the release showcases a cinematic, globally minded approach to contemporary electronic music that will appeal to fans of Bonobo, Khruangbin, Little Dragon, and Cinematic Orchestra.
House music has truly gone worldwide and here at Local Talk Records we like to think that we're open-minded to all shades of our beloved 4/4 rhythms...
This time we've given North Africa an opportunity to showcase their take on electronic deep house...with soul of course.
Egyptian producer Adham Zahran has been on our radar for quite a while now.
With a blend of dark yet beautiful electronic themes we like to think that his sound lands somewhere between Ron Trent, Atjazz or the more electronic Glenn Underground tracks.
For his debut on Local Talk, Adham presents 'Stripped Years', a beautiful production that takes us down below with big strings, supa deep chords and a light yet bumpy 4/4 kick.
Not hard, not pumping, just sexy and deep.
In order to make the North African theme even stronger we asked Moroccan producer Cee ElAssaad to take 'Stripped Years' further beyond the limits of the original version. The result is quite Chicago-ish, slightly more soulful but still very electronic and thumping. Cee gives us two versions, the original remix but also a massive beatless version that works just as well without beats.
TORRE return to Musiq Voyage with Phocaea Vol. 2, a new chapter in their ongoing Mediterranean journey. The Aix-en-Provence duo, Jean-Marc and Patrick Torre, deliver two original tracks, Sormiou and Les Sirènes du Frioul, inspired by Marseille, its coastline and the deep connection between the city and the sea. Blending disco, house, boogie and Balearic influences, TORRE once again shape a warm, hypnotic and distinctly Mediterranean sound.
The EP is completed by two remixes from leading figures of the Italian underground. *Gigi Testa, one of the most respected names in Naples’ deep house scene, brings his signature soulful, deep and groove-driven approach to the TORRE sound, while **Giovanni Damico* delivers a refined rework infused with funk, cosmic textures and dancefloor energy. Together, the four tracks offer different perspectives on the same Mediterranean landscape, moving seamlessly from sunlit afternoons to late-night club atmospheres.
With more than two decades of musical exploration behind them, TORRE have built a distinctive sound between disco, house and electronic music, earning support from artists such as Carl Craig and releasing underground favourites including Corps à Corps and Baleora. With Phocaea Vol. 2, Musiq Voyage and TORRE continue to explore their own Mediterranean mythology — from the turquoise waters of Sormiou to the mysterious shores of Frioul — with a release that feels equally at home on a Balearic beach, a Marseille terrace or a late-night dancefloor.
It's fitting that Mike Jefford is both a photographer and a musician, his music career having slowly evolved like a developing photo coaxes Technicolor images out of the shadows. His sonic palette began taking shape in Medway, Kent with darker, grittier strains: teenage grunge and metal turned into drum & bass and IDM, following the Brighton club scene to Berlin as Positive Centre, until he made a nest in rural Portugal where Laguna Seca’s bright, expressive range would blossom.
A longstanding friendship with Chris Clark supported Jefford’s most pivotal artistic evolution yet, jumping from a decade of techno dusk to music practically overflowing with life as Laguna Seca debuted on Throttle Records.
“O tempo” can mean “the time” or “the weather” in Portuguese, two intensely changing powers whose many different connotations Jefford reflects in a highly varied tracklist. The breadth of climatic catharsis permeates through textural production and songwriting experiments, down into the very bedrock of the album’s engineering process where Jefford traces the long signal chain of time: the amps, desks, and tapes of Motown, the vinyl mastering studio’s intricacies, the Akai samplers that gave modern hip hop its “ghostly and impressionistic” sound, the software that drives electronic music today.
Much as 2026’s O Tempo was inspired by vintage tonality, retro aesthetic, and the likes of CAN, Kraftwerk, and Jimi Hendrix, it’s not an exercise in nostalgia; this is music that could have only been made with today’s technological advancements, revelling in anachronisms and collisions between hindsight and present tense.
It’s tempting to view Jefford’s projects as opposites, but they come from the same sonic values. Positive Centre’s “bleak” and “sinister” world is also incredibly detailed, constantly updating pile-driving grooves with microscopic flourishes and vast ambient swells. The flaring psychedelia of Laguna Seca is a continuation of those textural, material, and kinetic explorations, where plate reverb splashes, blistering and crunchy beats, vocal glimmers, and guitar swagger are all glued together by recurrent themes of memory and time. As each of his projects travel to the same destination, all of Jefford’s roads have eventually led to vibrant colour.
Shape of the Unknown’ is kind of a double LP that fully embraces the idea of exploration. It is CHLOÉ’s most expansive and immersive work to date. ‘Shape of the Unknown’ is CHLOÉ’s fourth proper studio album. Its predecessor, ‘Endless Revisions’, was released in 2017. Nine years have passed. Nine years during which CHLOÉ has continued digging for music, DJing at internationally renowned clubs and festivals including Rex Club, Robert Johnson, Panorama Bar, Nuits Sonores, Glastonbury and many more, releasing EPs and remixes, while also allowing herself the time to explore entirely new creative paths.
The challenge is to capture the unknown, make it her own, endlessly reshape its textures, and ultimately preserve its mystery.
The first single ‘Drifter’, released back in June, already offered a striking glimpse of the sonic territories the album would venture into, driven by its hypnotically contoured basslines. The album's two other singles offer different windows into her world. 'Shapeshifter' captures CHLOÉ at her most hypnotic, balancing stripped-back techno and melodic house through deep rolling grooves, expansive bass chords and subtle rhythmic shifts that constantly reshape the listener's perception without ever disrupting the flow. Later, 'Repeating The Obvious' takes a more leftfield route, pairing staggered rhythms with retro-inspired harmonics and an understated indie dance pulse that feels simultaneously familiar and unpredictable.
CHLOÉ has ventured into live performance through new formats, notably alongside percussionist Vassilena Serafimova; immersed herself in film scoring with soundtracks for Paris la Blanche, Arthur Rambo, The Mountain, Blanquita, Guru and Unsubmissives; and developed compelling collaborations, from High Season, her project with Ben Shemie of Canadian band Suuns (which resulted in the album The Call), to her own organic, experimental audiovisual performances under the name Slo/Mo AV.
Throughout Shape of the Unknown, CHLOÉ blurs the boundaries between deep house, hypnotic techno, electronica and cinematic sound design with remarkable fluidity. The album unfolds as a continuous narrative rather than a sequence of tracks, moving effortlessly between beatless ambient passages, rolling analogue grooves and emotionally charged club music. Organic percussion, sweeping bass movements, melancholic harmonies and richly textured synthesisers create a body of work that constantly evolves, where no section feels static and every transition reveals another layer of depth. There is an unmistakable warmth running through the record, with grainy analogue textures and spacious production giving even its most driving moments an intimate, almost tactile quality.
The album’s title is no coincidence. It evokes a form that has yet to be named, something language itself struggles to grasp. CHLOÉ approaches it through an organic creative process. Each piece must first be performed in the studio, almost as if it were being played live. The album will be followed by a series of live performances and DJ sets, including a show at the Olympia on March 18, 2027.
She is joined by a handful of steadfast collaborators. Jazz trumpeter David Enhco appears on two tracks, ‘Undertow’ and ‘Inner Bass’. But above all, there are the voices: Ben Shemie lends his unmistakable presence to the radiant ‘More Than Just a Feeling’. Olivia Merilahti, singer, songwriter and one half of The Dø, appears on the otherworldly ‘TWYR’. Working with Olivia’s already hypnotic voice, CHLOÉ has approached it like a sculptor, enhancing its strangeness and dreamlike quality.
And finally, impossible to miss is the instantly recognizable voice of Kittin. A longtime accomplice, she lends her distinctive phrasing to CHLOÉ’s music here for the very first time. The strongest collaborations are often those that take their time, arriving only when the moment is right. Same kind, same bass, same vibe, same pride.
The result is an enigmatic, nocturnal record, drifting between introspective listening and dancefloor functionality, revealing an artist who remains far more interested in atmosphere, movement and emotional storytelling than conventional club structures. It is an album that invites us to dream more deeply and to dance again, both within ourselves and out in the open.
CFUNK 050 is presented as a special collector edition commemorating the 50th Cyberfunk release. The package celebrates more than two decades of the label's music, artwork and visual identity.
The accompanying booklet brings together artwork from across the Cyberfunk catalogue, including labels from some of Quest's biggest and most memorable releases, alongside a personal retrospective from DJ Quest looking back at the creation of the label, the artists who shaped it and the journey back to vinyl.
Dedicated artist pages introduce DJ Quest, Paket, Destroyers, Code BreakerZ and Groovebox, connecting the artists behind release 050 with the wider story of Cyberfunk and the international breakbeat community that continues to support it.
More than simply a four-track 12", CFUNK 050 is designed as a physical celebration of Cyberfunk: its records, its artwork, its artists and the people who have kept the sound alive.
Cyberfunk reaches release number 50. To mark the milestone, DJ Quest opens up the Cyberfunk archives for a special four-track vinyl release featuring new interpretations from Paket, Destroyers, Code BreakerZ and Groovebox.
CFUNK 050 connects the label's original UK Bassline Breaks foundations directly with a new generation of producers. Each artist has been given the freedom to reinterpret classic Quest material in their own style while retaining the character, bass pressure and dancefloor attitude that made the originals unmistakably Cyberfunk.
From Paket's reworking of Muffled Mayhem and Destroyers' take on Cybanet, through to two very different versions of Back To The Old Skool from Code Breakerz and Tech House maestro Groovebox, the release moves across modern breaks, heavyweight club production and rolling groove-led territory.
It is both a celebration of 50 Cyberfunk releases and a statement about what comes next.
A1. DJ Quest feat. Yoof - Muffled Mayhem (Paket Remix)
Spanish breaks heavyweight Paket takes on Muffled Mayhem, retaining the attitude and personality of the original while rebuilding it for contemporary dancefloors with heavyweight drums, powerful bass and the polished low-end pressure that has made him a leading figure in the new generation of Andalusian Breakbeat.
A2. DJ Quest - Cybanet (Destroyers Remix)
Destroyers turns his attention to Cybanet, pushing one of Quest's darker electronic productions firmly into modern club territory. Futuristic electronics, heavyweight rhythm programming and serious dancefloor pressure meet the machine-driven character of the original.
B1. DJ Quest - Back To The Old Skool (Code BreakerZ Remix)
Code BreakerZ completely re-engineer one of Quest's defining tracks for a new generation. Their acid-tinged, hard-hitting approach injects fresh energy into Back To The Old Skool while keeping the hooks and attitude that made the original such an important Quest record.
B2. DJ Quest - Back To The Old Skool (Groovebox Remix)
Groovebox closes the release with a deeper, tech house, groove-led interpretation. Built around movement, rhythm and rolling dancefloor momentum, his remix takes the original somewhere different while preserving the unmistakable old-skool spirit at its core.
New York-based Japanese jazz and electronic music polymath Takuya Nakamura presents his debut album Shape The Future - almost 35 years into his storied musical journey.
An expansive double album, the album’s first LP documents a spellbinding live performance by Nakamura recorded at fabric. A hybrid set combining DJing, live electronics, vocals, and trumpet, the set also features studio versions of special collaborations with Shigeto, Currency Audio and Tim Reaper. The second LP complements the first by assembling studio recordings of select album tracks. Altogether the two volumes make for a definitive display of Nakamura’s exceptional musicianship across jazz, DnB, jungle, broken beat, deep techno and more.
Across his career, Nakamura has played Brazilian music, merengue, salsa and straight-ahead jazz. He’s opened for Sun Ra Arkestra, performed with David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Wu-Tang Clan, and Arto Lindsay, appeared on sessions with Terry Riley, ASAP Rocky, Goldie, and TV On The Radio, and remixed the likes of Quincy Jones, Sun Ra, Billie Holiday, and The Streets. He’s also played under director and playwright Robert Wilson.
Although the musical past and present of the Tokyo-born, New York-based DJ and trumpet player is undoubtedly eclectic, Nakamura is abidingly steeped in the sounds of jazz and jungle. This’ll be obvious to casual observers who may have seen any viral videos of him. But there’s more to this. The depth of Nakamura’s engagement with these kinds of music, the way they’ve made him into the person he is, the decades-long path they’ve taken him on; to now arrive at the summit of a solo album is all truly remarkable. Shape The Future resonates with every chapter in this story.
In high school, Nakamura’s friends started listening to jazz and jazz fusion, which piqued his interest, especially when they started going to clubs to see it live, where they managed to see US legends like Sonny Rollins play. Eventually he began to play jazz every day and his musical skill emerged early. He soon became obsessed with getting closer to the source of this music, which led to his studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with George Russell, an influential figure who had taught Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Nakamura drank it in: not only the technical aspects but the sense of a direct connection to “a music culture where Russell and his friends changed harmony forever. I wanted to know how that was possible!”.
This was a radical experience in itself, but then another revolution happened for Nakamura. He was playing in a venue called The Western Front, near Boston and discovered that the elderly owner had his own soundsystem and was playing what was then - in 1992 - only just becoming known as jungle. This was as freeing a musical revelation as his proximity to the giants of jazz was, and in that instant the two things fused. He understood that using technology to fill a dancehall with sound and a jazz musician’s reflexes are all working to the same ends: “You’re always making decisions,” he says, “but it doesn’t have to be really difficult. It’s the truth of the frequencies, and how they’re affecting people’s minds.”
From that moment on, his life path was set. Moving to New York City, he sought out jungle and its offshoot sounds wherever he could find them, gigging and collaborating relentlessly, and gradually developing his own live and hybrid live/DJ shows. Through regular appearances at New York fixtures Zebulon and CBGBs, and continual shows elsewhere in the city, Nakamura developed his live performance and DJing and it was in these environments that he gradually weaved together his twin loves without compromising either, building an international reputation in the process.
It’s only fitting then that his first album, almost 35 years after he first found his musical direction, should be a live one: a window into this never-ending process. Even here, he had to be persuaded that he should make a record. A member of the fabric team got turned on to his music after their daughter saw him play. Of course, as a jungle lover, Nakamura knew fabric – which has a special place in the history of jungle and drum’n’bass – and “had wanted to play there since I was very young.” You can hear the club in the record: this isn’t just a live show, in keeping with his jungle roots, it’s Nakamura duetting with the soundsystem, and you can feel how the emotions in the room would have ebbed and flowed.
This dynamic translates to a transfixing record. Setting the tone with lushly textured ambient and reverberant jazz, Nakamura segues into cinematic breakbeat and stellar fusion, infusing it all with intoxicating low end and hypnotic rhythms. The LP’s midway point locks into mesmeric percussion heightened by resonant echoes of piano and trumpet. There’s an endless pull to this music. Nakamura adjusts the levels for maximum impact throughout, and the overall effect begins to evoke some harmonious hybrid between a jazz ensemble, a classic Metalheadz 12” and a Theo Parrish DJ set. His electric form continues through surreal jazz, intricate electronics and rolling sub-bass velocity, right up to the subtly devastating final cover of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush’s ‘Don’t Give Up’, with Nakamura’s fragile vocal sitting in the heart of a huge sound.
From Tokyo jazz nights to formative studies and encounters in Boston to his artistic development in New York, Nakamura reaches another milestone with his monumental debut album. It’s a release that happened just the way a Takuya Nakamura record should. In the same way his instincts led him to musical revelations, taking his own sweet time has led him to make one of the most extraordinary debut albums imaginable, all executed in his own singular style. In Nakamura’s world, the universe finds a way.
Toy Tonics Italomania Vol. 4 is a compilation dedicated to new ITALIAN DISCO. Not ITALO DISCO.
10 new tracks made by young producers from Italy, exclusively made for Toy Tonics. All songs with Italian vocals.
Made with a lot of love by
Cleeeo, Giorgio Lopez, Magnolia, Juan Soto & Sam Ruffillo, KOKO, Luca Averna, Ricardo Baez, Euro Nettuno, The Cube Guys and Paccone.
The Italomania compilation was initiated by Mathias ‚Kapote‘ Modica. Creative mind behind Toy Tonics and half italian producer himself.
The series is a manifesto to show the status of Italian disco of today.
Kapote invited the most relevant producers to show different new styles of modern Italian disco and house music.
With a wide range of influence: Live disco, indie dance, italo pop, and italo house.
Italian disco is not Italo disco. The last few years saw a big revival of the trashy pop music of the 1980s called Italo disco, mostly with English lyrics.
But this compilation is about something else. It is about this new Italian disco. Toy Tonics wants to show a new way to combine Italianity with dance culture.
The Italomania Vol. 4 Artists
Cleeeo - Come Tocchitu: A sexy and sophisticated disco house track by 22 year old newcomer DJ and producer Cleeeo. Driven by a warm, uplifting groove and strong dancefloor energy. The record is dedicated to Brazil. The vocals move between Italian and Portuguese. This creates a natural bridge between two cultures.
Giorgio Lopez - Italiani Brava Gente: Giorgio Lopez is an important player from the much talked about new music scene from Napoli.
For "Italiani Brava Gente," he teams up with Los Angeles artist Sueño. The track is a tongue-in-cheek take on the stereotypical Italian male. It pays homage to late Italodisco legend Pino D’Angiò. The story unfolds from the perspective of a foreign tourist navigating the contradictions of self-proclaimed Casanovas.
The Cube Guys - Saper Ringraziare: The legendary italo house duo shows their Italian vibes and musical taste with “Saper Ringraziare”. The track captures the warmth of summer and the infinity of urban nights. A combination of early Italo disco elements mixed with their typical groovy beats.
Magnolia - Vesuvio: Magnolia’s “Vesuvio” is a cover version of a song from the 1960s by artist E’ Zezi. While the original is more in a folk vibes, the new version is an irresistible piano house track with groovy, sun-soaked vibes. It is made for the dance floor. This track blends Mediterranean roots with the euphoric energy of modern house. Some might know the vocals already from another cover version by Nu Genea from the previous album.
Juan Soto & Sam Ruffillo - Italomexicano: What happens when a Toy Tonics artist hangs out in Mexico city and teams up with the local scene? The result is here. A blend a Toy Tonics sound and tons of vintage synthesizers and some additional production by Mexican producer talent Juan Soto.
You get "Italomexicano". A fuse of the mystique of Mexican mariachi with the magnetic pulse of Italo disco.
KOKO feat. Elena Moroder - I Can't Understand: This melancholic piano house track is a serious floorfiller! Goosebumps! Italian DJ and producer KOKO teams up with Elena Moroder on "I Can’t Understand". Elena delivers a captivating vocal performance. The track explores the misunderstandings of a relationship where emotions were never fully expressed. It blends an iconic piano melody with warm, uplifting grooves.
Luca Averna - Le Luci Della Pista: Luca Averna is a DJ, producer, and resident at the iconic Pikes Hotel in Ibiza. "Le Luci Della Pista" is an energetic track designed for peak-time Ibiza moments while keeping a strong groove and a playful spirit.
Ricardo Baez - È Venerdì: Ricardo Baez is an Italian-Venezuelan DJ and producer. He is known for his distinctive blend of house, dark electro, italo disco, and leftfield electronics. Well respected in Italy's contemporary electronic scene he has been releasing on labels such as Running Bag, Permanent Vacation, Bordello a Parigi, Correspondant, Mule music, Live at Robert Johnson.
Euro Nettuno - La Notte Chiama: These guys are hot! Part of the Polyamore Crew, one of the rising italian new disco collectives their sound mixes Italo house from the 1990ies, electro and Pop in a very cool new way.
Paccone - J'Adore Napoli: Vincenzo Paccone is a DJ, producer but also very renowned graphic designer. He is co-founder of NSS. A fashion agency that is by now one of the leading italian fashion crews. He has been also working as a designer for Circoloco Ibiza for many years and organizes some of the hottest parties in Napoli currently. He makes his official debut as a producer with “J’Adore Napoli”. It is a vibrant tribute to the house music culture born in Naples. The track draws inspiration from the late 1990s and early 2000s. And is part of a NSS campaign about the ’new coolness of the city of Napoli“.
As Eerie Enterprise, upsammy and Piezo have funnelled their singular styles into a classic-feeling but ultra-modern album of elegant, angular electronica. With a strong melodic sensibility and a highly developed palette of playful sound design in their toolkit, the unexpected pairing grew spontaneous jams into a considered collaboration, and Places Remember Events is the end result.
Individually, Thessa Torsing and Luca Mucci have carved out strong identities within contemporary electronic music. As upsammy, Torsing has applied a delicate precision to ambient and uptempo approaches alike, building up a striking catalogue of releases including her 2020 LP for Dekmantel, Zoom. Meanwhile, Mucci has taken a wayward path through contemporary bass music and techno that matches edgy sound design with playful unpredictability. As Eerie Enterprise, both artists tap into their respective creative instincts while arriving at a unique sound with a nurturing quality they were both missing from modern dance music.
Having appreciated each other's work for some years, in July 2024 Torsing and Mucci seized an opportunity to carve out two days in the studio. There was no expectation of an end product, but the sketches conceived during those open-ended, hardware-oriented sessions felt worthy of a deeper exploration developed and finalised over the following year-and-a-half.
Places Remember Events has an unapologetically nostalgic streak, calling to mind the warm glow of melodically-charged, golden-era electronica. The twitchy rhythmic make-up of tracks like 'Decay + Collapse' and 'Folding Origin' speak to the duo's shared affinity for ravey energy, but even within faster frameworks they lean into half-time space to maintain a light-footed agility that allows the relatively busy arrangements to feel grounded and patient rather than frantic.
There's an appreciation for mystery in the emotional make-up of many of the tracks, not least in the slithering textural exploration and spatial tension of 'Capsule', but elsewhere fragile melancholia guides the melody direction of 'Superradiance' and 'Things Fall Upwards'. The final impression is crisp and modern while delivering an accessible experience that seeks to soothe rather than shock when so much contemporary club music tips towards uneasy intensity.
Finding malleable approaches to their chosen sonics and applying them to intentional song structures, Eerie Enterprise collectively land on a sound that promises a lasting reward for the repeat voyager — satisfying headphone gear in the grand tradition of introspective electronic music, but also with a physical immediacy that will manifest in the live set upsammy and Piezo have put together to perform later in the year.
A collaboration few would have predicted, and one that makes perfect sense once you hear it. Munich producer Skee Mask (Bryan Müller) has spent over a decade turning hazy, atmospheric techno, breakbeat, dub and jungle into some of electronic music's most acclaimed records, from 2018's Compro to 2024's Resort. North Americans, the ambient country-folk project of guitarist Patrick McDermott, brings a completely different palette of slow-unspooling drones.
Final Circle finds these two worlds colliding, pairing rhythmic electronic detail with the wide-open, meditative textures both artists are known for.
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL: WE WRITE TO YOU WITH ALARMING NEWS ABOUT THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL SPECIMEN DISCOVERED IN THE FORBIDDEN FOREST IN JULY 2017. THIS LIFEFORM, CODE-NAME “DARLING”, ESCAPED FROM THE TOP-SECRET SAFE TRIP ORGANISATION HOLDING FACILITY LATE LAST NIGHT.
ALL THAT WAS LEFT INSIDE THE SUBJECT’S ENCLOSURE WAS A PRESSED POLYVINYL DISC CONTAINING TWO PIECES OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC. THE FIRST, WHICH WE HAVE TITLED “WHEN SHE HATES ME”, SOUNDS LIKE A CALL TO A DISTANT MATE OR PARTNER, COMPOSED AT SUNRISE AND SHOT THROUGH WITH BLISSFUL POSITIVITY. THE OTHER, NOW KNOWN AS “ISLE OF RED”, COMBINES SURGING DRUMS WITH POIGNANT AND MELANCHOLIC SOUNDS THAT ARE CLEARLY UNEARTHLY IN ORIGIN.
We Shine In The Darkness have made a superb start to life with two first EPs that both sold out. Their third is another hot one with dancefloor-savvy reworkings set to light up summer floors. The A-side reimagines 'Beachball', the beloved 1997 Ibiza house anthem that here becomes a smooth, nu-disco bumper with fine-grain synths and an electro-funk vibe that is finished with a great vocal from Ukrainian singer Teya Flow, lending the track fresh emotional pull. The B-side shifts into 'Gulf Dream', a deeper, more hypnotic and cosmic disco sound that takes its time to unfold, before closer 'Shining Star' channels New York's Neo funk lineage into something super cool and loved up, swaggy and full of summer heat. Vital cuts for vibey selectors.
Shadowy Detroit duo The Fantasy continue to offer up "secret mixes fixes" - high-grade, sonically spectacular re-rubs inspired by the original reel-to-reel re-edit era and the now iconic DJs behind the movement (Ron Hardy, Danny Krivit and Larry Levan included). The Motor City twosome kick off volume 5 in their ongoing series with 'Working Girl', a throbbing, San Francisco style electro disco workout peppered with spacey synth riffs, before turning a Bay Area drum machine workout into a breathless peak-time percussion-fest. Over on the reverse, 'On Fire Warp' is another percussion-laden revision of what sounds like a post-punk era industrial funk gem, while 'Lovefingers' is a break-driven translation of an ancient psychedelic rock workout.
To celebrate another year around the sun, we’re proud to present our second vinyl release: Formulation — a 4-track EP that perfectly captures the label’s output over the past year while continuing our commitment to physical formats and attention to detail.
Like its predecessor "Foundation" is a various artists release featuring some of the key names from our latest catalog. The formula goes like this:
A Side: Iron T.C. and Hor-G take control of the slower side of the record with aggressive drums, distortion and the raw energy that defines their sound. Epic atmospheres and humanoid vocals introduce a heavy breakbeat assault from two of the strongest names in the Iberian underground. A perfect blend of dirty electro and industrial breakbeat built to turn the dancefloor upside down.
B Side: Heathen, The Egg & No Rules push the BPMs higher in the other side. Dark landscapes and metallic drums twist into a spiral of tension and halftime rhythms. Three experienced explorers of the niche taking techstep sound beyond its usual limits — for those into density, introspection and long blends
Another solid step into the physical format — and a glimpse of what’s still to come...
Once again, huge thanks to everyone involved in the project and to all our supporters who make this possible.
To celebrate another year around the sun, we’re proud to present our second vinyl release: Formulation — a 4-track EP that perfectly captures the label’s output over the past year while continuing our commitment to physical formats and attention to detail.
Like its predecessor "Foundation" is a various artists release featuring some of the key names from our latest catalog. The formula goes like this:
A Side: Iron T.C. and Hor-G take control of the slower side of the record with aggressive drums, distortion and the raw energy that defines their sound. Epic atmospheres and humanoid vocals introduce a heavy breakbeat assault from two of the strongest names in the Iberian underground. A perfect blend of dirty electro and industrial breakbeat built to turn the dancefloor upside down.
B Side: Heathen, The Egg & No Rules push the BPMs higher in the other side. Dark landscapes and metallic drums twist into a spiral of tension and halftime rhythms. Three experienced explorers of the niche taking techstep sound beyond its usual limits — for those into density, introspection and long blends
Another solid step into the physical format — and a glimpse of what’s still to come...
Once again, huge thanks to everyone involved in the project and to all our supporters who make this possible.
Josh Ludlow - one half of MAKE A DANCE - one of London’s most beloved duos - steps out on his own for a rare solo outing on legendary London imprint Rhythm Section International.
A late contender for EP of the year - the record meanders menacingly across four tracks of mind-altering, dissociative Brain Music, precision engineered to transport a listener and hypnotise a crowd without losing any dancefloor impact.
Interestingly, Bradley Zero (RS label boss) and Mr. Ludlow have a connection dating back to the late 2000s, when they were both drummers in rock and roll bands...almost 20 years later - a shared love of experimental electronic music has brought them back together, resulting in this spellbinding EP.
Channelling a much darker, heads down, aggressive sound than the uplifting house M.A.D have become known for, the record begins with 'Brain Music’, which serves as a Detroit techno-inspired wormhole of a track, guiding us into a parallel, inner dimension.
Time Upside Down is next up and it becomes apparent we have entered another realm entirely. The introductory bars of the song feel like a long journey down a dark tunnel. The sound design and acoustic backdrop are so evocative you can almost see it. Obnoxious bass notes reverberate through the space created by the track, slowly giving way to flurries of high-pitched, resonant acid lines - the sum of which escape easy classification. It would be lazy to call it house music, misleading to call it techno - but it’s definitely not tech house. Elements of disco, electro, post-punk, balearic and Weatherall-esque chug are all in the mix but essentially, this is its own thing - this is Brain Music.
The record continues to the penultimate track “The Kettle”, which starts off in more familiar upbeat, bongo-house territory before the calm is betrayed by a hovering intensity which grows out of nowhere before making space for a humungous bass synth melody - so big in fact that it has never once failed to elicit club-wide bass-face; which for a mid-tempo track is no mean feat. We round things off with ‘Mean Mother’, the most playful of the bunch: a Chicago house-indebted workout reminiscent of Paranoid London at their most visceral. The track feels familiar and almost safe until the synth-work is cranked up to 11, creating a cacophonous SH-101 build-up into a disco-esque drop that would get even the most reluctant raver jumping up and down for more.
Besides all the theatrics and acoustic world building, the evocative sound design and the insatiable, no-nonsense grooves - the thing that makes these tracks stand out is the attention to detail. No two fills are alike, every embellishment is EQ’d and polished to perfection - yet no immediacy is lost. The tracks feel alive, intentional and constantly evolving. Hyperbole aside - we have a serious, generational talent on our hands whose mastery of the equipment, understanding of the dynamics of the dance and unabashed
playfulness is being harnessed into something that stands out head and shoulders above the crowd.
Freerange is delighted to announce the 20th Anniversary Edition of Jimpster’s seminal Amour — remastered and available on vinyl for the first time.
Originally released in 2006, Amour arrived at a pivotal moment in Jimpster’s evolution, as Jamie Odell moved further into electronic and house territory while retaining the lush, downtempo, and eclectic character of his earlier work. Two decades on, Amour remains a beautifully understated record, full of warmth, musicality, and late-night appeal.
Amazing Album! Following his remix on Massiel's Echoform, Nicolas Barnes returns to Devilish Affair for his first full EP on the label, joining Genning for the label's first double LP. Each producer contributes three original tracks before remixing one another, bringing together eight tracks that showcase two different but complementary approaches to deep electronic music. While Barnes leans into darker, dubby grooves, Genning brings a brighter, more driving energy, giving the record a natural balance from beginning to end. The artwork features a photograph taken by Devilish Affair founder Eric Louis while hiking through The Narrows in Zion National Park. A winding stream cuts between shadow and sunlight beneath towering canyon walls, creating a scene that feels right at home alongside the music. Whether you're listening at home or deep into a late-night set, Through the Narrows is meant to be experienced as a complete journey across four sides of vinyl
Synth driven perpetual punk rock, darkened by atmospheric touches in its production and songwriting, yet uplifted by its intention to distill that darkness into light. Pop music from France on either side of the punk explosion has never shy’d away from electronic elements and on Nuits Blanche’s Helás LP there is plenty to remind us of that legacy. The sounds we are given rub against neither pop or dance, but instead absorbs the impact of quite tough sounding street punk. Four on the floor drums, like Disco’s ghost stamped across the face by the weight of the electric guitar run with songs not out of place if “A Country Fit For Heroes” got shoved inside the sleeve of “Wanna Buy A Bridge” and the two became one. Helás has the heft and the violence of boots treading across concrete en masse but within that is the lightness and the style of a dark smokey room filled with people wearing dark glasses and considering the inevitability of the pointlessness of existence…off the dance floor anyway. (Jonah Falco)
What happens when bassweight electronic beats meet the abstract world of one of the most uncompromising MCs on this planet?
Get ready for a special listening experience as Abu Ama and Sensational take you deep into a world of heavy bass, fractured rhythms, strange frequencies and completely unpredictable flows.
Abu Ama is known for his unique production style, combining Dub, Ambient and Industrial soundscapes with Middle Eastern sound structures. His productions create vast, atmospheric spaces where bass pressure and subtle details constantly collide. Over the years, he has developed his signature sound through releases on forward-thinking labels such as Bokeh Versions and Accidental Meetings. With Ringing In Your Ear, Abu Ama presents some of his most adventurous and forward-thinking productions to date.
On the microphone, we are proud to present a true underground legend straight outta NYC: Sensational.
Born Colin Julius Bobb in Guyana and raised in Brooklyn, Sensational became one of the most distinctive and unpredictable voices to emerge from New York’s experimental hip-hop underground. Originally performing under the name Torture, he was already connected to the Jungle Brothers in the early 1990s before developing the completely unique style that would become synonymous with Sensational.
In 1997, he released his debut album Loaded With Power on the influential Word Sound label. Built from dusty beats, unusual samples and lo-fi textures, the record established Sensational as an artist who seemed to operate completely outside the established rules of Hip Hop.
Over the following decades, he continued to explore the space between underground rap, experimental electronics, noise and abstract music. His long list of collaborators included artists such as Spectre, Kouhei Matsunaga, Kid 606, Cardopusher, Handsome Boy Modeling School and many others. His work with Kouhei Matsunaga was even remixed by Autechre.
Sensational was never interested in fitting into a particular scene. His rhymes were surreal, his flows unpredictable and his approach completely his own. For more than three decades, he remained a true outsider — a cult figure whose music connected underground Hip Hop with some of the strangest and most adventurous corners of experimental music.
After Abu Ama and Sensational’s heavy 2023 single International Rokkaz left us wanting more, the two decided to take things much further. What started as a single collaboration evolved into a full length soundclash.
We were already incredibly hyped about this collaboration from the moment we heard it. But while we were preparing for the release of the single MOZZ, the terrible news reached us: Sensational had passed away.
The news hit hard. It is still difficult to believe that we will never hear a new Sensational verse again.
What makes Ringing In Your Ear even more special is that it captures Sensational doing what he did best — completely free, completely unpredictable and completely himself.
We dedicate this record to Colin Julius Bobb aka Sensational, in loving memory of an extraordinary artist, MC and true underground original.
'Get Back' is a 8-track album and collection celebrating the last ten years of Italian DJ and producer Da Lukas, a respected name in the global nu-disco and house music scenes. Known for blending vintage disco nostalgia with modern electronic production, this collection brings together his strongest club anthems from the past decade. The album also introduces two brand-new tracks. The first new track is a powerful cover of the James Brown-penned Lyn Collins funk classic, "Take Me Just As I Am," featuring a brilliant vocal performance by Fatimah Provillon. The second new addition is the original title track, "Get Back," a driving nu-disco anthem featuring the legendary dance/pop singer Amanda Wilson. This album serves as both a perfect retrospective of his signature sound and an exciting look at his latest work.
New school meets old school on Visitors’ third release!
Returning with a second Various Artists EP, Visitors bring together two pioneers of an authentic tech house sound alongside a new generation of producers. Scene legends Pete Hurst aka Sloth UK and Adam Collins join newcomers Locky Mazzucchelli and Sweater for a versatile four-track offering. Acidic touches run throughout, alongside raw bassline house and broken techno rhythms, with the modern sounds of the A-side flowing seamlessly into some classic flavours on the flip. A versatile and highly playable EP that balances contemporary club energy with old-school attitude - four tracks made to fit your record bag and stay there
Over the last two decades, Ste Roberts has quietly established himself as one of the UK's more distinctive underground electronic producers. Drawing equally from house, techno, electro, IDM and experimental electronic music, his productions blur the line between dancefloor functionality and sonic exploration. His debut release for Cyphon Recordings continues that trajectory. Four transmissions exploring machine rhythms, synthetic environments, and fractured dancefloor architecture, where melody emerges through corrosion and groove survives mutation.
After a three-year hiatus, Downbeat returns with its 15th release, marking the very first Various Artists compilation in the label's history.
The A-side features the masterminds behind Tetrode, Damon Lamar and Specter, who deliver two tracks showcasing their signature sound. Machine house at a lower BPM, packed with repetitive Akai percussions and synth lines—gentler and warmer on Damon's track, and darker, more unhinged on Specter's side."
The B-side kicks off with label co-founder Jose Rico, who delivers "The Invaders," a track that transports us straight to the roots of the genre. This is textbook Chicago deep house—straightforward and infectious from the very first beat. Closing out the EP, Leonid makes his label debut with an emotional, Detroit-infused deep electronic gem, beautifully crafted with soft percussions, silky synths, and a subtle touch of epic grandeur. Absolutely stunning.
Memoria returns with MEM064, welcoming Brizman to the label for a four-track journey through stripped-back grooves, deep atmospheres and dub-infused minimalism. The A-side sees Brizman on solo duty with Detroit Awareness and That Chord, two subtle but effective club tracks where rolling rhythms, warm chords and hypnotic details do the work. On the flip, Brizman joins forces with Szafran (Oskar Szafraniec) for Reworking The Dub. Spacious, bass-heavy and deeply hypnotic, the track takes the record into distinctly dubby territory. Cirkel Square closes the EP with his remix of Reworking The Dub, reshaping the original into his own tightly-wound interpretation while retaining its deep, soundsystem-minded character. Four cuts covering the space between minimal house, dub and late-night electronics, understated, functional and made for the floor.
In 2000, after almost two decades of hibernation under the ambient waves and dub currents of the Sargasso Sea, LSD revived the seminal ‘Auntie Aubrey's' series, an Orb Remix Project. Released as a 2 x CD compilation, Part 3 is a veritable smorgasbord of classic, new and unreleased labour-of love remixes that span three decades yet still transcend space and time.
Many influential artists have been involved with The Orb since the beginning, and the project keeps evolving and adapting. Dr. Alex Paterson, the gravitation centre of the Orb is known for his playfully subversive remixes and true to form this album highlights the diversity of his musical mind.
We see the good doctor remix the melancholy and evocative “The Last Lighthouse Keeper” from The Transit Kings, an early British electronic music group that included Jimmy Cauty of The KLF, one of the original members of The Orb. The remix of ‘Davy Jones’ Locker’ from System 7 takes you surfing on a sun-dappled sea of ambient dance nostalgia, while Killing Jokes’ ‘European Super State’ remix (in which LSD label founder Martin ‘Youth’ Glover plays bass guitar) sounds like the soundtrack for an imaginary spy thriller with the powerful lyrics and hypnotizing voice of Jaz Summers.
Legendary producer Youth teams up with Lx yet again on a psychedelic rocker with spellcasting vocals by Lara Smiles, and this is just the beginning! Boasting an all-star lineup, the compilation includes many of our scenes most esteemed electronic music producers such as Coldcut, David Harrow, Sendelica and Gaudi as well as the ambient blissed out vibes from the enigmatic DF Tram, Duende India Collective and The Gyuto Monks of Tibet, this collection offers up such the variety to appease even the most dedicated Orbsessives and music connoisseurs
Anyone who has had the sheer pleasure of seeing and hearing Leroy Burgess perform in concert will know just how amazing the live renditions of his iconic compositions of Disco Boogie hits and classics sound with a full band and a fully fueled audience. Accompanied by the ten piece French band and long time Leroy Burgess collaborative outfit Saving Coco, BBE Music is releasing live versions of two of those classics Let’s Do It and Big Time. Recorded and released by Rick James in 1980 Big Time is an absolute killer of a track that sounds so fresh decades later in this crowd energising performance. Famously released by Convertion Let’s Do It was a huge club hit in the early 1980s and is the perfect track to accompany Big Time on this release. Leroy Burgess is a certifiably genuine legend of Black music; his compositions have moved dancefloors across the world since the early 1970s as a member of Black Ivory, then Convertion, Paradise Garage favourites LOGG, Kleer and electro outfit Aleem. His collaborations with Patrick Adams, Inner Life, Dazzle and solo artists such as Eddie Kendricks, Rick James and Fonda Rae have cemented Leroy Burgess’ place in the annals of Black Music History. As a founder-member of the Universal Robot Band he co-wrote the massive perennial favourite Barely Breaking Even. Leroy Burgess feat. Saving Coco-Big Time/Let’s Do It is released as a 12″ vinyl and digital download and definitely belongs in the ‘make sure you get this’ category. Mixed by Marc Mac and mastered at the Grammy-nominated Carvery Studio by Frank Merritt. Available as 12″ vinyl and digital download. Release date September 25th, 2026
Mysticisms’ explores the previously unknown Dub House, Digidub and electronic Street Soul of Manchester émigré Andrew Fitzgerald aka Atone on a 6 track EP, shape shifting from dark basements to summer fields, the music is wide-screen dreams, mixing psychedelic temperaments with ecstatic memories.
Dub Dats is a compendium of a life around or making music, beats, dubs; menageries of sound that encompass a love of reggae mixed with the influences of youth. Growing up in Thatcher’s then declining Manchester housing estates, Fitzgerald found escape first as a young roadie, just aged 15, sorting ‘cigarettes and alcohol’ for visiting bands. Rubbing shoulders with the likes of The Buzzcocks, Ian Dury and The Slits, was a great way to learn the ropes, while avoiding becoming another juvenile delinquent.
A love of Bowie, Kraftwerk, Motown, film scores and the emerging electronic and industrial bands like Throbbing Gristle led to a first studio, featuring the unique and faithful DR-55 Dr. Rhythm, soon followed by Sequential Circuits Pro One, Juno 60, Roland 303 (x 2), Roland 808 and Space Echo.
Working on music solidly, a release finally appearing on Robs Records, before losing all the equipment in a robbery. Manchester was shifting, gangs and “Gunchester” meant it was time to move on and when ‘an out’ appeared, Fitzgerald was landing in Sydney and settling into a new life.
Hooking up with Ali Omar, who he’d met while doing a stint in Brixton, London; the two worked solidly on music, gigging continuously, hanging with the likes Severed Heads and living a good life of that post acid-house party era. The loss of Ali to cancer, still young, hit hard and period “quite liked the madness” ensued. Rehab and starting again, Atone has been gaining some interest.
With 2 EPs of early works recently released on Tonal Oceans, Dub Dats looks deeper, with the dubbed house grooves of title cut, Dats and, the intriguingly named, Somewhere In France With Eric Random. Complimented by the electronic dub of Keep On, the soulful, slow breaks torch song, I Be There, the sample heavy Sound Of Soul and closing, trippy Unlike You, this is a multi-genre producer of considerable capability and talents.
Finally getting his due, Dub Dats perfectly fits the Dubplate Series, broadening its soundscape, while also standing out as its own, sonic release.
2027 marks two decades since musician and producer Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy struck out on his own and launched Claremont 56, a label initially dedicated to “music by Mudd and friends” and named after the house he grew up in. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Murphy has assembled the label’s first ever decades-spanning vinyl retrospective: a six-LP re-mastered collection bringing together key cuts, cult classics, personal favourites, hard-to-find gems and inspired remixes from across the catalogue.
Unlike the label’s previous 10th anniversary box set, which focused on unreleased material and never-before-heard remixes, 20 Years of Claremont 56 traces the musical story of the imprint to date. Across six records, it showcases the distinctive Claremont 56 sound in all its many forms: acoustic, electric and electronic instrumentation, Balearic sunshine, krautrock grooves, folk-inflected psychedelia, slow-burning chuggers and deeply considered dancefloor music.
The set comes housed in a custom box featuring cover art by long-term label illustrator Mark Warrington. Inside are six slabs of vinyl across three gatefold sleeves, accompanied by liner notes from music journalist and author Matt Anniss, Murphy himself, and many of the artists whose music features in the collection.
The journey begins with a selection of formative late-noughties releases, including Mudd & Pollard’s chugging, picturesque ‘Villa Stavros’, the folksy beauty of Smith & Mudd’s ‘Shulme’ and Murphy’s exotic reworking of Ahmed Fakroun’s ‘Drago’. From there, the collection moves freely through deep cuts, overlooked gems, album highlights and some of the most inspired remixes in the label’s catalogue.
Among those remixes is Murphy’s own über-Balearic rework of Zee Erf’s cover of ‘Southern Freeez’, a mix dedicated to his partner Emma; an extraordinary 22-minute, Manuel Göttsching-meets-ambient-dub revision of Smith & Mudd’s ‘Vegetable Square’ by friends-of-the-family Idjut Boys; Larry Heard’s typically deep and immersive house treatment of Jack Cutter’s ‘Serpent Strut’; and Quiet Village’s ambient-house ‘deep space dub’ of Mudd’s ‘Spielplatz’. Also included are lesser-celebrated but no less rewarding reworks by Recloose, Jex Opolis, Felix Dickinson and Deep88.
The collection represents every corner of Claremont 56’s self-contained musical universe, from the Murphy-assembled in-house collectives Hillside, Paqua and Bison - whose members famously included the late Holger Czukay and his life partner Ursula, to long-serving label artists such as Almunia and Hear & Now, as well as later additions and artists who took some of their first steps on the label through its much-loved Claremont Editions compilations.
That means the deeply cosmic krautrock of Bambi Davidson, the folk-meets-Americana of Torn Sail and the samba-electrofunk of Jpye sit alongside baggy Balearic sing-alongs such as Bel’s ‘Ready To Die’ and Sillyboy’s Ghost Relatives’ ‘In a Small Place’, recent high-profile guest releases such as Chaz Jankel’s ‘Rhumba Jam’, and string-laden ambient pieces such as Four Hands’ wonderful ‘Hizou’.
Packed with classic cuts, formative gems and overlooked treats, 20 Years of Claremont 56 is not only a fabulous label retrospective, but also an essential collection of timeless music from a label whose output has remained distinctive and unique for two decades.
There are few electronic musicians as accomplished as A Guy Called Gerald From writing genre-expanding records as a member of 808 State and as a solo artist, to crafting what journalists call the greatest jungle album ever made under the moniker Black Secret Technology, AGCG has spent four decades redefining what electronic music can be. With collaborations, remixes, and tracks for the biggest names in house, techno, drum & bass, and jazz, one thread remains constant: in any decade or any genre, AGCG's music continues to be celebrated as genre-pushing excellence.
Juice Box is AGCG's label, named after his Manchester-based soundsystem. Originally established in 1992, the label went on an unofficial hiatus before the decade's end as AGCG's output demanded wider release. pairing two essential cuts from Gerald's vault that have long deserved proper vinyl treatment. On the A-side, the absolute classic "Voodoo Ray" finally returns to wax. On the flip, 1990's "I Won't Give In" resurfaces from the archive, a reminder that even Gerald's deep cuts carry the weight of lost classics. Juice Box is back, and the catalog has plenty of treasures to unearth, along with new material from one of the all-time greats.
The latest release from the Gladio Operations label showcases a new collaboration between two heavyweights of the European electro scene. This seventeenth release brings us a collaboration between Jauzas The Shining, a regular on the label, and the eagerly awaited debut of Swedish producer Obergman.
This EP, entitled “Continuum Analysis”, opens with “Analysis Of My Ego” and “Untitled”, two powerful tracks by Jauzas The Shining, featuring the classic, forceful and dark basslines, beautifully accompanied by deep vocals, very much to the French producer’s taste. The final track is by the Swedish artist, who treats us to “Kap Flora”, a journey to be savoured amidst consistent basslines and arpeggios, which draws us into a soundscape that flirts with trance sounds.
Side B opens with two tracks by Obergman: the first, “Continuum Bender”, with its intriguing and mysterious passages, gives way to “Closed Surface”, a track that slows the tempo down compared to the previous ones, and in which we hear a gentle line of more synthetic and relaxed sounds. The EP closes with the track “Con Gusto” by the French artist, a rhythmic journey with a fast-paced development, enhanced by cinematic vocals.
Mining the rich seam between transcendental escapism and crushing physical pressure, Sciama delivers his first album for Samurai Music. Exploring an energetic pitch between half-time and full-tilt 170, the London-based producer sculpts brooding soundscapes of sheer peaks and deep pits, driven by unrelenting but light-footed forward motion and an imposing strain of sound design. As Sciama, Michael Watters has been marking out his exacting sound since 2019 with an assured run of albums on ASC's Auxiliary label. His second EP for Samurai — the Wave Interaction 12" released earlier this year — pointed to his current area of focus inspired by the teachings of electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram. Contemplating the relationship between precise electronic frequencies and human perception, Celetal Form now delivers the full findings of his exploration. Oram coined the term 'celetal' in her 1972 book An Individual Note of Music, Sound and Electronics, trying to sum up a connection between the celestial and electrical. It's this spiritual dimension contained within sound waves Watters is concerned with, and the shape of the music on Celetal Form follows suit. In an opening statement of abyssal ambience, 'Overload Into Silence' establishes an atmosphere that endures throughout the album. Caught between steely textures, vaporous reverb tails and subtle harmonic interactions, the glacial shift of the many layers under Watters' control reveals an intense amount of detail at play even before drums and bass come into play. From there on in, the intensity ramps up from one heavyweight stepper to the next. There is agile, brittle top-end percussion at work on the likes of 'Induced Resonance' and 'Consuming Pulse', perhaps the most closely connected to D&B, while 'Rational Echoes' and 'Scanning Waveband' deal in urgency and techno-coded tension. A half-time roll guides the huge kick drum undulations of 'No Panacea', and 'Celetal Emergence' opens up into more spacious surroundings to let the subtle microtonal inflections of the synth tones set a curious mood. The two 'Intermodulation' tracks bring Watters' exacting approach into sharp focus, pushing the drums back and foregrounding alien frequencies that coalesce into unfamiliar yet strangely uplifting forms. Throughout Celetal Form this uncanny sensation charges the music with a power that reaches beyond its immediate, surface level impact. This intentional reflection on Oram's visionary thinking charges the current sound of Sciama with energetic intrigue that stands apart and invites a mindful, maybe even spiritual, engagement.
