There are collaborations that make sense on paper, and then there are the ones that feel like they were always going to happen. CHRIS STASSY and Interplanetary Criminal now bring their first recorded meeting to Up The Stuss with ‘Dangerous’, a four-track EP that sees two artists with unmistakable identities find common ground somewhere between house, garage, breaks and pure dancefloor energy. With the sounds of this collaboration having quietly made their way into the world long before the full picture was revealed, its arrival feels like the moment the pieces finally fall into place.
Across the EP, the chemistry is immediate. STASSY’s knack for infectious grooves and vivid synth work meets IPC’s breakbeat-driven energy and distinctly UK-rooted sensibility, with neither side disappearing into the other. ‘I Just Can’t Get’ sets things in motion with skippy rhythms, breakbeat drums and those unmistakable STASSY synths, before ‘Movin’’ accelerates the pace with punchy percussion and a more restless, breaks-heavy charge. ‘From The South Coast Mate’ pushes the meeting point further, bringing weighty low-ends and unmistakable UK touches while keeping both artists’ distinct approaches clearly in view. Title track, ‘Dangerous’, brings the journey to its natural conclusion. Bright and dark elements pull against one another as the two approaches lock into a shared rhythm, delivering a track that feels simultaneously euphoric, gritty and slightly unpredictable. It’s the clearest expression yet of what makes the collaboration work: two established sounds remaining entirely themselves while discovering what happens when those worlds meet.
For CHRIS STASSY, ‘Dangerous’ marks the first EP to arrive on Up The Stuss under his new name, following the release of the euphoric ‘U know me’ on CCS, adding to this new chapter with a collaboration of serious weight. For Interplanetary Criminal, it adds another dimension to the Manchester artist’s ever-expanding take on UK garage, which has seen him become one of the defining forces of its current resurgence. It’s the sound of two worlds meeting at exactly the right point - and one that many have been waiting for.
KR3.022 DEATH/REBIRTH ONE - marks the launch of a new KR3 series built around split EPs, featuring original productions alongside reinterpretations or collaborative works by the selected artists. The first ACT reunites JK FLESH & ORPHX, reviving a collaboration rooted in a long-standing artistic connection. Having shared stages on several occasions, the project draws particular inspiration from their six-handed live performance at Berlin Atonal in 2016. Justin K. Broadrick, under his JK Flesh moniker, and Rich Oddie / Christina Sealey of Orphx, each contribute one exclusive original track, alongside a remix of the other's composition, exploring a very dark form of electronics; a collision of slo-mo, raw industrial power and crushing techno, standing in deliberate opposition to the relentless pace and overstimulation of the modern era, both sonically and culturally. The series will feature a unified visual identity, with each release sharing the same layout while being distinguished by different background colours and volcanic imagery created by longtime KR3 collaborator Federico Gagraglione.
Unfurling dank forest-floor minimalism straight out of the early-’00s Scandi prog playbook. Unhurried, groove-fwd and made of moss and mist. Deft precision and insectoid detail skitter underfoot.
Channelling the Swedish-Danish axis of Spiral Trax and Creamcrop Records like a true disciple. Pared right back and wound tight, the tension doesn’t let up for a second. Heavy on the low end and properly gloomy with it.
Disembodied vocals summon haunted spirits and divine feminine frequencies. Eerie and levitational, with plenty of late-nite throb.
Elsewhere, it evokes intrepid interstellar exploration and early synth experiments – one track sports a synth line that wouldn’t be out of place on a BBC Radiophonic Workshop retrospective. Gazing out at the infinite scale of the universe, cosmic dread melts into melancholy.
Deep under the canopy, where daylight daren’t follow.
credits
ORUMA is a trio formed by Ola Rzepka (drums, zither, percussion), Artur Rumiński (electric guitar) and Mat Barski (electric guitar). At its foundation is the musical dialogue previously developed by Rumiński and Barski as a guitar duo and documented on the albums “On the Margin” and “At the Junction”. Their encounter with Ola Rzepka during Kraków’s Kakofonie series opened this music to a new sense of dynamics, pulse and
collective form.
ORUMA’s music exists at the intersection of free improvisation, noise, experimental postrock and post-kraut repetition. It avoids the conventional division between soloist and accompaniment. Instead, two electric guitars and drums gradually abandon their individual roles to form a single, constantly shifting sound organism — moving from silence, open space and isolated gestures towards dense masses of sound.
The trio’s debut album consists of five pieces: “Satellites”, “Stranger”, “This Mountain Is Alive”, “A Rough Plan For Nostalgia” and “Hyperborea”. Together, they form a coherent journey: from distant signals and the first moment of contact, through friction and increasing physical intensity, to an expansive fourteen-minute finale.
Ola Rzepka
Drummer, pianist, composer and performer. She graduated from the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, where she studied at the Faculty of Composition, Interpretation, Education and Jazz. She was also a scholarship student at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, studying piano and percussion. She teaches piano improvisation at the Wojciech Kilar State Music School Complex in Katowice and runs her own music lessons and workshops. As a composer, she collaborates with acclaimed theatre directors in Poland, Germany and Switzerland. Her musical collaborators have included Raphael Rogiński and Antoni “Ziut” Gralak. She has performed her original music at numerous avant-garde, popular, jazz, improvised and contemporary music festivals across Poland and Europe. In Jazz Forum magazine’s 2024 Jazz Top critics’ poll, she was named among Poland’s leading drummers.
Artur Rumiński
Guitarist and member of bands including Furia, Thaw and ARRM. He also composes and improvises under his own name and performs in the experimental duo Marmur, which he co-founded with Macio Moretti. He has released several solo albums on labels including Antenna Non Grata, Gusstaff Records, Zoharum and Szara Reneta.
Mat Barski
Guitarist associated with the Kraków and Tricity music scenes. His projects include the duo Ekotonika, the Rumiński / Barski duo. He has released albums through Gusstaff Records and Antenna Non Grata. Alongside music, he works in motion design and visual postproduction. He is a member of the Kraków-based Skład Solny Association, where he coorganises concerts and exhibitions.
Sentimental Ultra marks DJ HEARTSTRING’s debut proper on Steel City Dance Discs, and their first album project, releasing November 13th 2026. Starting life as a mixtape before a happy accident or two took it down a different path, the 15-track album finds the pair chasing not just peak-time euphoria and what they can conjure in a club setting, but everything around it, too. The befores and the afters. The soft and the supercharged. What life felt like when they were young. Featuring collaborations with SWIM, Spriitzz, BAUGRUPPE90, Sam Gellaitry, Saidah, DMA’S, KennyHoopla, Monk, 3NDLES5, David Jackson and secret act, they fold formative years influences such as indie rock, rap, ambient and breakbeat into their sought-after sound, and balance them with contemporary-coded ideas.
This blend of worlds is at the crux of the album’s concept visually as well. Sentimental Ultra is an exploration blurring the lines of hard and soft, taking inspiration from subculture communities around football hooliganism and skateboarding. The cover is shot by iconic British photographer Ewen Spencer, renowned for his work around Skins, The Streets and more. The collaboration has seen DJ HEARTSTRING land features in Numero Berlin, Notion Mag and other cross-cultural editorial platforms ahead of the album announcement.
To date, the project has already received various milestones across international radio, including Arielle Free’s Big Whopper for third single ‘Another Year Alone’ and DJ HEARTSTRING landing a coveted BBC R1 Residency in November. Adding to this is the slew of digital looks and accolades for DJ HEARTSTRING’s set recordings including their closing set at Soenda Festival earlier this year which is on 115k views since being published in May 2026, their Melbourne Boiler Room published in 2025 with +1 million views and their Belfast Boiler Room published in 2023 with +1.1 million views.
Since DJ HEARTSTRING’s 2021 debut, when they rollicked through the club door with their Destiny of the Moment and Eternal Euphoria EPs, alongside a slew of self-released, pop-and-R&B-indebted edits, DJ HEARTSTRING have followed their hearts and won over legions more with an emotional dance music style that’s fast become synonymous with their name.
There’ve been big releases such as 2025’s You Are The Sun, I Am The Sky EP, and buzzy collaborations with fellow synapse-igniters like SWIM, Narciss, southstar and S.C.D.D.’s KETTAMA. The past few years have also seen remixes for Charli XCX and Sam Smith, Romy, Sugababes and Empire of the Sun, sets everywhere from Berghain to London’s 3000-capacity Roundhouse, their own Teenage Dream parties and a must-listen contribution to the BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix series, which showcased just some of the sonic inspirations behind their signature, like Eurodance and trance, plus heaps of DJ HEARTSTRING material.
And now, Sentimental Ultra arrives off the back of DJ HEARTSTRING’s busiest summer to date with landmark festival plays at Awakenings in the Netherlands, Lost Village and Maiden Voyage in the UK, We Love Green in France, Lost Paradise in Belgium, Movement Festival in Detroit and Arc Festival in Chicago. Hot off the heels of their festival run, the Berlin duo show no signs of slowing down with a 3-date Australia tour at the end of September whereby they sold a cumulative 15,500 tickets across Melbourne, Sydney and Perth shows, all on presales. In addition to some pop-up in key markets around album release including Ireland, Scotland, Berlin and London, the Sentimental Ultra official tour also encompasses a European hard ticket run including Belfast’s Telegraph Building (2,000 cap), Brussels’ Braindance (2,000 cap), Paris Phantom (3,400) and DJ HEARTSTRING’s biggest London show to date - Brixton Academy (5,000) - an apt follow-up after selling out Magazine (4,000 cap) weeks in advance in February 2026.
There’s plenty still in store, and plenty of places to catch them throughout the rest of what’s set to be a landmark year. Shows from Miami to Manchester (for the sold-out KETTAMA presents Steel City Dance Discs WHP takeover) to Dublin’s District X, a hometown Teenage Dreams event and 2 colossal ADE headlines at Dockyard and Sugar Factory - with more plans bubbling behind the scenes. DJ HEARTSTRING season is well and truly upon us.
With »The Future Is Futuristic«, the fifth album for Haleiwa (and third with Morr Music), Stockholm’s Mikko Singh draws from a deep well of nostalgic feeling, while making music that feels razor-sharp, on point, and full of hazy dream-pop pleasure. After 2019’s »Cloud Formations« and 2022’s »Hallway Waverider«, which imagined psychedelic post-shoegaze and mantric pop songs into being, »The Future Is Futuristic« feels like both consolidation and magnification; the noise-drenched songs feel thicker, heftier; the electronic interludes playful and kinetic; the rhythms boundless. It’s as though Singh has truly found his metier, his voice, a place from which he’s comfortable to indulge in the kind of home-recorded worldmaking that has always marked Haleiwa out as something special.
»The Future Is Futuristic« passes by in a rush of whiteout tones and scurrilous energy; the whole thing is over within half an hour, Singh ensuring his songs say exactly what they need to say – no more, no less – before bustling through into the next ecstatic pop moment, pushing the music further into the zone. While his music often has a similar, drenched quality to shoegaze, on »The Future Is Futuristic«, Singh seems to be settling in alongside other spirits – there are touches of the experimentation of both A.R. Kane and Flying Saucer Attack here; the more motoric tunes recall New Zealand’s Snapper; the glitchtronics have a City Centre Offices sensibility, while the sparkling folksiness of the melodies can recall Bristol bands like Light or AMP.
But it’s ultimately not about influence, beyond perhaps Haleiwa nestling alongside some like-minded souls in perceptive listeners’ minds. Instead, thrill to the rush of rhythms that float between jungle and punk on »Flourishing« and »96«, the latter a reference, from Singh, to moments of early revelation – »it’s about being thankful for having found punk rock and skateboarding at a young age, in 1996.« There’s also the hypnotic dream-rush of the opening »Smoke Will Rise«, the beautiful Cure-esque guitars swimming through »Sunset Street« and »Strange Notes«, the tumbling rhythms and heady, elated chord changes that grant lift-off to »Wave Chaos«… A real panoply of pleasures, in fact.
»The Future Is Futuristic« was recorded solely by Singh on four- and eight-track in his home studio, with a quick trip to Telefonstudion to record drums. Recording at home grants a certain intimacy to »The Future Is Futuristic«, even as the songs, at times, bliss their way off into the skies; there’s something both expansive and intimate about the music here, as though Singh is grappling immensities into intimacies. It also feels deeply personal for Singh, a summation of much of what he’s done over the years; as he says, simply and clearly, »The album is in my interpretation a mix between punk, electronic music, and dream pop.« The threads that connect these creative phenomena? Energy, texture, melody, tone, sensuality; pure pop pleasure.
Mohammad Syfkhan is back with his second album for Nyahh Records. This collection of new recordings marks a hug milestone in Mohammad’s career as it’s the first album that features all original compositions. And with a full band! We had the great help of Syrian Cellist and composer Naseem Alatrash to help with the string arrangements. The resulting record is a beautiful journey into a timeless Middle Eastern and North African sound akin to the likes of Fairuz or Umm Kulthum with a fast Kurdish Dabke tempo.
I Love You Ireland is an incredibly personal album for Mohammad. The title alone, much like his debut ‘I Am Kurdish’ is as personal as it it’s political. To express such love for a place in music is saying, thank you for making me and family feel safe. Thank you for taking us in. A stand out track titled ‘Ah Yu Donia’ is Mohammad’s first real public moment of grieving for the loss of his son at the murderous hands of Isis. In this song he asks God why he was taken. Trying to figure the sense in the actions of fundamentalists. The strings sections are sad, but not morbid. Acting like a release or companion to the horrific reality of losing a child.
‘Al Huriya’ is Mohammad’s first attempt at using an Irish rhythm known as a Reel, as appose to his usual Middle Eastern rhythms. Again, this is a beautiful way for Mohammad to give thanks to all the musicians and supportive people his has met in Ireland since 2011.
WHO IS MOHAMMAD SYFKHAN
Mohammad Syfkhan is a Kurdish/Syrian Singer and Bouzouki player. He began
playing music in 1980 while he was in college studying nursing. When he got
his degree in 1983, Mohammad moved to the city of Raqqa, Syria where he
began working as a professional singer and started his own band, The Al-Rabie
Band which played concerts, parties, weddings and festivals all over Syria. The
Al-Rabie Band were a much sought-after group. Their live sets included Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish and some Western songs as well as Mohammad’s own original material.
Mohammad continued to play with his band while also working as a surgical
nurse until the war broke out in 2011. This unfortunately brought tragedy to
Mohammad’s family when one of his sons was killed by Isis thus threatening
the lives of the rest of his family. His family had no choice but to leave their
home and seek safety in Europe. Three of Mohammad’s sons were resettled in
Germany while Mohammad, his young daughter and wife were taken in by
Ireland. Mohammad has spoken at length of his confusion and despair with
fundamentalists and how their message is a far cry from the teachings of love
and understanding that he considers the true message of Islam.
'Carnaval De Luz' is the exhilarating 16th studio album from U2, 12 melodically rich new songs from one of the most celebrated & enduring bands of all time. Acknowledged as one of the best live acts in the world, U2 has sales of over 175m & won numerous awards, incl. 22 Grammys. Set for release in the year Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen Jr. will mark 50 years together in U2, 'Carnaval De Luz' includes lead tracks 'Street of Dreams', 'Silencio' and the extraordinary 'Torn (ft. Dolly Parton)'.
"Atrocity Exhibition" ist der neueste Höhepunkt in einer langen Serie von Highlights: Im Verlauf der letzten Jahre hat Danny Brown mit vielen hochkarätigen Künstlern von Purity Ring bis Rustie, von ScHoolboy Q via E-40 bis hin zu Ghostaface Killah gearbeitet. Für den Posse-Track "Detroit vs. Everybody" tat er sich mit Eminem, Dej Loaf, Royce da 5'9', Big Sean und Trick Trick zusammen, und auch den legendären The Avalanches lieh er für ihr Comebackalbum dieses Jahr seine Stimme. Da er auf "Atrocity Exhibition" kein Blatt vor den Mund nimmt und gewissermaßen die hochprozentige Essenz seines kreativen Ansatzes herausdestilliert, hat Danny auch die Wahl der Gäste ganz genau darauf abgestimmt: Ihren schlangenhaften Gesang steuert Kelela im Fall des wahnsinnig finsteren "From The Ground" bei, mit B-Real von Cypress Hill ist ein alter Hanf-Fachmann für die tiefentspannte Hook von "Get Hi" verantwortlich, und mit Earl Sweatshirt, Kendrick Lamar und Ab-Soul treten gleich drei junge Hochkaräter für das ominös schillernde "Really Doe" zu ihm ans Mikrofon, die er derzeit für die besten Rapper hält, die es momentan gibt.
In April 1963, The Beatles stepped into a formal lunchtime ceremony at EMI Studios, where they were honoured with their first silver disc, for Please Please Me. This event, attended by EMI staff and the press, was likely recorded for Radio Luxembourg’s Friday Spectacular. Just one month later, the raw energy of Beatlemania exploded at the Walthamstow Granada. The 9-minute newsreel from this show is a time capsule of wild, full-throated screaming—a stark contrast to the relaxed EMI ceremony.
Fast-forward to 1964 and we feature TV performances from Shindig & Blackpool Night Out plus a Tyne Tees TV Interview where the interviewer tried—and failed—to pin down the band’s voting intentions on 15th October 1964, the day of the UK General Election. Whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer, these performances offer a unique lens into the group’s early years.
This November, Brownswood Recordings will release Mek Do & Mend, the debut album from self-taught producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and artist Wonky Logic. Although his name may not yet be familiar to everyone, Wonky Logic (AKA Dwayne Kilvington) has spent the past two decades quietly becoming one of the UK's most respected musical collaborators. His career has moved comfortably between London's jazz, electronic and contemporary music scenes, performing and recording with artists including Nala Sinephro, Yussef Dayes, Nightmares On Wax, Shabaka Hutchings and Emma-Jean Thackray. Alongside his work as a producer and composer, he's been musical director for projects with Eddie Chacon, John Carroll Kirby and I.G Culture's LCSM, scored the feature documentary Zandra With A Zed, contributed music to A24's The Smashing Machine, and continues to lead music workshops with young people, refugees and people experiencing incarceration.
Far more than a collection of compositions, Mek Do & Mend is a deeply personal reflection on the people, places and experiences that have shaped Kilvington throughout his life. It's the story of growing up on a Leeds council estate, where music became both a creative outlet and a way of understanding the world. Making music often meant working with whatever was available: a second-hand keyboard, a makeshift studio desk or ageing equipment that simply had to last a little longer. The title itself came from a conversation with his mother, capturing the resourcefulness that defined his upbringing and continued into the making of the album itself, which was written and produced to a tight deadline around touring, family life and Kilvington's work as a musician and educator.
Built from material spanning more than fifteen years, Mek Do & Mend brings together some of Wonky Logic's earliest compositions alongside brand new pieces written during the making of the record itself. Childhood ideas sit alongside music conceived only months before recording, creating an album that draws together a lifetime of writing rather than documenting a single moment. Running throughout are voice notes from family members, teachers, friends, mentors and collaborators—not simply as interludes, but as a reminder that no creative life is ever self-made. Rather than telling his own story outright, Kilvington invites listeners to discover him through the people who've shaped him: an aunt remembering him playing in church as a child, lifelong friends recalling early experiments making beats together, fellow musicians from different stages of his career and his mother describing him in her own words. Together they reveal the invisible network of relationships, philosophies, communities and experiences behind the music. "The album exists somewhere between being a biography and an autobiography," says Dwayne. "The biography is in the voice notes and how other people see me. The autobiography is in the music."
That same philosophy extends to the musicians who appear on the record. Every contributor has played a meaningful role in Wonky Logic's life beyond the studio. Long-time collaborator Luke Wynter, Steam Down drummer Benji Appiah, partner Vanessa Rani, Jonathan Enser, Joe Bristow, Brother Portrait and Nubiya Imani all feature not simply because of their musicianship, but because they form part of the album's story.
Across its fourteen tracks, Mek Do & Mend moves effortlessly between dynamic jazz arrangements, pulsating broken rhythms, delicate, twinkling piano passages, interstellar synth textures and elegant brass lines. Album opener and first single 'Strange Attractor' begins with a shimmering introduction before unfolding into an exhilarating surge of rhythm and momentum. Named after the mathematical concept of the same name, it serves as the conceptual point of origin for the album. Written when Kilvington was just seventeen, the composition reflects the idea that even the most unpredictable lives are guided by hidden patterns that often only become visible with time. Second single 'A Thousand Hands' features the unmistakable vocal tones of Brother Portrait, whose cerebral lyricism drifts over a low-slung, constantly shifting groove as woozy synth lines ebb and flow overhead. At its heart, the track celebrates the family, friends, mentors and collaborators whose often unseen influence shapes who we become, echoing the album's belief that every achievement is, in some way, a collective one. LP focus track 'BAME (Beyond All Marginalised Expectations)' is a lush, spiralling composition, brimming with both emotion and resolve. Reclaiming an acronym long imposed on racialised communities in the UK, the piece transforms it into a statement of possibility rather than limitation: a defiant rejection of stereotypes and a refusal to let identity be defined by other people's expectations.
The album itself only exists because other people believed in it. Isabel Gracefield made the RAK sessions possible, Rick David brought the record together with his characteristically thoughtful mix, and Gilles Peterson committed to releasing it on Brownswood before hearing any of the music. Away from the stage, Kilvington works with the charity Finding Rhythms, writing and producing original records with people experiencing incarceration, while also leading workshops with Arts Train and Dovetail Orchestra.
Recorded live in a single day in Studio One at RAK, Mek Do & Mend was mixed by Rick David through an analogue Cadac console before being mastered by Stuart Hawkes at Metropolis. The aim wasn't nostalgia or audiophile perfection, but to create a record people could return to throughout their lives, discovering something new with each listen.
As Dwayne puts it: "I don't want this body of work to be reduced to a jazz record. It's more like a novel about life told through music."
Cyphon Recordings welcome DJ, producer, musician, and D.KO co-owner Flabaire for the fourth outing on the label.
At just 29, the Parisian artist, already has a fair share of victories under his belt. On his acclaimed D.KO imprint, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year, he’s released three albums and several EPs, as well as charting releases for Organic-Music, Deeppa Records and South Street.
For his next solo EP, he brings his beautifully affecting and nostalgic blend of electro, IDM, and deep house to Cyphon. Doing what he does best, Flabaire’s ‘Entre-Deux’ is an EP brimming with emotion and atmosphere. Pulling at the heartstrings, opener ‘In Between’ layers an electro beat over lush pads with iridescent synth lines rising out of the haze. Cowbells swing into action, pads swell and glisten, making way for a squelchy 303 to bubble underneath.
‘No Minding’ moves into softer realms, a serene blend of deep house and electronica, it’s paced by a warm bass bounce and shuffling percussion sprinkled with chopped vocal samples and bright keys. Flabaire’s bass mastery continues ‘Click Plok’, as does his deftness at producing delicate, gliding pads, this time punctuated by tight bleeps, gentle open hats, and a meandering synth solo.
Closing out the EP the atmospheric ‘FBG’, a balmy syncopated groove joined by twinkling synth melodies that dance over dusty breakbeats and hushed vocal stutters.
YES is a genre-blurring blend of punk, electronic and rap from South Africa, released on limited edition White Vinyl
South African alt-rap trio Internet Girl have officially announced their debut album, YES, arriving November 13 via PACK. Records. Alongside the announcement, the group has released their new single “DA BUSINESS” featuring Kenny Mason.
A high-energy party anthem, “DA BUSINESS” opens with distorted guitar before chopped vocals briefly pull things back, only for an abrupt beat drop and howling synth to send the track into overdrive. As another synth melody sweeps in, TK cuts through the chaos with an introspective opening verse before Kenny Mason crashes in with a gritty guest verse. Live drums, distorted guitars, and surging synths continue to build around them, turning their vocals into something closer to rage-filled battle chants than traditional rap verses.
Partially written on tour last year, “DA BUSINESS” is the oldest song on YES and one of the album’s few guitar-led tracks. Kenny connected with the trio over DMs months earlier before joining them on the track, bringing Atlanta and South Africa together for one of the album’s most charged moments. “DA BUSINESS” follows the trio’s recent single “ALL THE SAME,” a swagger-heavy track built around a hypnotic Spanish-language vocal sample and live drums before a heavily distorted bass synth takes over in its final stretch, drawing inspiration from South Africa’s booming taxi rave scene. Together, the two singles offer an early look at the range of YES, moving between the rock, rap, and electronic sounds Internet Girl have made entirely their own.
Written largely during a week-long trip to South Africa’s Karoo region at the beginning of 2026, YES captures Internet Girl at a turning point. What began as an ad-lib TK would throw into his verses gradually became the philosophy behind the record: saying yes to an idea and committing to it completely, even before there’s any proof it will work. Across the album, that once-delusional confidence begins to feel real as the trio reflect on coming of age, growing more comfortable with themselves, and becoming increasingly assured in the music they make.
The new release arrives on the heels of a big year for the South African trio, who have brought their high-energy live show to stages around the world, including Pitchfork Music Festival Paris and Boiler Room Soweto, while co-headlining Kiss Kiss Festival in South Africa alongside Basement Jaxx.
Tony Reed is undoubtedly one of those artists whom fans of “heavy music” have, at least unknowingly, encountered on stage or on their turntables at some point. Bands like Pentagram, Mos Generator, Hot Spring Water, and the so-called supergroup Big Scenic Nowhere are just a small part of his discography, which he continues to expand as a producer and mixer.
CONSTANCE TOMB was Tony Reed’s first band, which he founded at age 19 and which was heavily influenced by the gothic movement of the early ’80s. There are recordings online from when they made “boombox recordings” or, later, when he recorded everything “hi-fi” on his own in the garage with just a microphone, preserving it all for posterity on cassettes. You can also find several solo cover versions released under the band’s name. It was a labor of love that Tony Reed never let go of, but there was never a real band that toured or released an album—until now!
Now Tony has breathed new life into his childhood love, CONSTANCE TOMB, and fused his fondness for dark ’80s bands with his heavy metal past. Bands like Southern Cult, Bauhaus, The Cure, Bowie, as well as Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy have shaped his musical tastes. Now, a mix of old and new songs is being infused with fresh energy, reviving a solo project that had taken on a slightly artificial feel.
With Bo McConaghie on bass and Christian Roney on drums, the band has already played its first concerts in the northwestern United States to find their sound as a group. Joint rehe
Across time and beyond genre, this is an audio component test record that continues to earn universal acclaim. Drop the needle and unleash the fateful grooves etched into its tracks.
The rediscovery of this album—originally produced as a test record for high-end audio systems—stands as one of the great rewards brought about by the rare groove movement. The project was led by the visionary Katsunori Ishida, who would later become renowned as a producer, composer, and arranger for numerous television and film soundtracks. Gathering an exceptional line up of musicians including Shuichi “Ponta” Murakami, Akira Okazawa, Mikio Masuda, Kenji Ohmura, and Tantan, Ishida crafted a sound that is both tight and sophisticated.
Tracks such as “Cool Head” and “Son Of Pin Head” showcase grooves that are at times as powerful as a hammer blow, and at others as thrilling as a rushing torrent. The musicianship, precision, and dynamic energy throughout are simply outstanding. Today, thanks to its remarkable level of craftsmanship and commanding presence, this album is recognized as a true masterpiece, admired and celebrated far beyond the boundaries of any single genre.
DIVA AS TECHNOLOGY
Arca announces the details of her highly anticipated new studio album, XXXXX, arriving via XL Recordings. Five years after the twice GRAMMY-nominated KiCk i and subsequent KICK pentalogy, the Venezuelan-born musician, producer, vocalist, and visual artist returns with her first full-length album since concluding one of the most ambitious chapters in contemporary music.
If the KICK era expanded Arca's universe outward, XXXXX turns inward and fractures it apart. Across 16 tracks, the album excavates vastly different emotional landscapes to deliver a body of work that is darker, more aggressive, more experimental, and unwilling to settle into fixed form. Initially conceived as a mixtape before revealing itself as an album, XXXXX embraces contradiction as a core methodology. In the spirit of her previous mixtapes @@@@@ (2020)—released as a 62-minute single—and &&&&& (2013), XXXXX thrives on raw exploration and instinct. It arrives as a deliberate interruption of expectation.
“It seems playful, also mischievous, to interrupt that autopilot,” says Arca.
The album's striking artwork depicts Arca as a biomechanical entity, accompanied by two owls—symbols of protection and the underworld in Greek mythology. Like the music itself, the imagery inhabits a space between worlds where transformation is both terrifying and liberatory. Suspended between posthuman augmentation and raw emotion, XXXXX exposes the mainframe. It is a record born from uncertainty, contradiction, instinct, and surrender—a becoming-machine that continues Arca's lifelong project of redefining what it means to be human both in, and against, the machine.
For Arca, rebirth has never been a metaphor, but a practice. She continues to exist in multiple states simultaneously, collapsing boundaries between human and machine, high and low culture, and experimental noise and pop music. Following her first-ever painting exhibition at London’s ICA earlier this year, XXXXX arrives as the latest transmission from a continuously evolving creative process. Over the last year, Arca has remained prolific: unveiling the double-sided single "Puta" / "Sola"; remixing tracks for Addison Rae, Robyn, and Hikaru Utada; collaborating with Tokischa on “Chama”; and contributing production to Madonna’s CONFESSIONS II. She walked the runways and made appearances at major international fashion weeks, while also composing the original motion picture soundtrack for Stillz’s film, Barrio Triste.
Now, after years of transformation beneath the surface, her next musical evolution reveals itself.
Following the vinyl reissue of Back To Basics Part 1, Metroplex is proud to re-release Part 2 of this essential Detroit techno series. Originally released on New Religion, Back To Basics Part 2 is another piece of Juan Atkins' Detroit techno legacy, now returning to vinyl.
following two releases dedicated to sydney's atone, tonal oceans now turns its attention closer to home. after several years in the making, this release reintroduces the berlin trio die elektronische wohlfahrt in a revised form. nearly three decades after its original release on lab records in 1997, alongside the original 12" material, it includes two short pieces from the treffpunkt freizeit cd. die elektronische wohlfahrt was a short-lived project formed by kai kroker (rawell), peter lay, and anne westphalen. their recordings grew organically from late-night after-hours sessions in their studio in berlin's pankow district, capturing a unique blend of warm, quirky and playful textures. although their recorded output was rather limited, die elektronische wohlfahrt occupied the same creative circles as artists and friends such as move d and jan jelinek, at a time when berlin was establishing itself as one of germany's most innovative electronic music hubs. the group also performed at the legendary interference festival, one of germany's key underground electronic events of the 1990s. founded by dr. motte and uwe reinicke, the festival later evolved into interference records, where die elektronische wohlfahrt released the caro ep in 1996, further cementing the project's place within berlin's underground electronic scene. over the past few years, the music has quietly found its way into the hands of a new generation of listeners and discerning tastemakers, making its return feel long overdue.
Tara Cunningham’s guitar glitch miniatures draw patterns in negative space on new mini-album Warm Ground. Operating predominantly within improvisational and experimental music, guitarist Tara Cunningham has developed a discrete sonic language that reveals the full textural and timbral range of her instrument.
Marking a new chapter for Cunningham that builds on her solo debut, Almost – Not Exactly, released on Non Classical in 2025, Warm Ground unfolds across seven compelling instrumental dialogues - each a conversation of rhythms and found sounds, syncopated and juxtaposed, open to encounter.
Implied by the title of first single ‘Following a Thought’, Cunningham weaves an exploratory melody into the spaces between field recordings. At once introspective and highly relational, each track ushers the listener into a world of different scales, seeking beauty and meaning in the everyday, from the discrete mechanisms of ‘Fridgelight’ to the delicately unhinged organism of ‘Flying Ant Day’.
Cunningham finds a natural home on Odda’s roster of artists sensitive to the details of their materials and surroundings, finding kinship alongside the intimate songcraft of Kirk Barley and Fohn in the gaps between composition and improvisation.
In 2026 she released a self-titled LP as The Sleeves with Jack Cooper, performing at Cafe Oto ahead of a US tour in the autumn. She continues to pursue a range of projects as collaborator and side person with Modern Nature, Sebastian Rochford, Red Snapper, Liam Noble, Laura Jurd and Caius Williams.
Spring Back, Ball Forward is the Soda Gong debut from Jung dj, nom de plume of shapeshifting multi-instrumentalist Randy Riback. Following a series of uniformly great self-releases and cassettes on the dearly missed Lillerne Tapes, this collection observes the spacious and angular dynamics of 1990s Midwestern post-rock through the lens of the bedroom electronic music producer.
Perhaps surprisingly, amp worship lies at the center of the album: a fascination with the grain, pressure, and emotional charge of amplification and gain, refracted through the strange remove of digital amp modeling. Tubes, speakers, sag, and in-the-red textures are a critical part of the album’s expressive vocabulary, imparting density and colorful saturation while lending even its most weightless passages a vital sense of physical presence. Over the course of twelve tracks, wistful ambience gives way to blunt heaviness and roiling catharsis, underpinned by a palpable sense of loss and grief.
The album’s auspicious cast of collaborators further complicates its emotional terrain. Spoken contributions from Natalia Panzer and Angelina Nonaj occupy strikingly different registers: Panzer’s diffuse and oblique, drifting in and out of the music’s contours; Nonaj’s a vivid travelogue, grounding the record in place and lived experience. Elsewhere, Soda Gong veteran Mister Water Wet joins a small constellation of guests whose playing folds naturally into Riback’s arrangements, blurring the boundaries between computer and ensemble music.
For all of its attention to texture, process, and the material qualities of sound, Spring Back, Ball Forward is first and foremost an emotionally potent work, possessed of a directness that can feel rare within experimental electronic music. Riback draws from a rich and idiosyncratic musical vernacular, arriving at something deeply felt and difficult to place: a singular statement whose pathos exceeds the sum of its references.
**BenArt Ensemble ft. Baptiste Herbin** unveil a distinctive debut album at the crossroads of jazz, world music and groove. Led by bassist and producer Ben Artuphel, this eight-piece ensemble brings together musicians from diverse backgrounds and with a wide range of influences: Baptiste Herbin (saxophones), Amina Mezaache (flute), Céline Bonacina (baritone saxophone), Ben Artuphel (bass), Antoine Banville (drums), Alexis Bajot-Nercessian (keyboards), Laurent Avenard-Kohler (guitar) and Nils Wekstein (percussion).
Born from a musical encounter in 2023, the band has developed a unique sound in which intricate bop-inspired writing meets 1970s funk, Afro and Creole rhythms, and the vibrant energy of samba. The album features 13 original compositions, the result of a deeply collaborative process and an exceptional musical chemistry between the eight musicians.
At the heart of the project, saxophonist **Baptiste Herbin** brings his virtuosic playing and extensive international experience. Nominated for the Victoires du Jazz in 2013 for his debut album *Brother Stoon*, he went on to receive the Django Reinhardt Prize and was named Musician of the Year by the Académie du Jazz in 2019. He has released four albums under his own name and has appeared on around fifty recordings alongside some of the leading figures in jazz.
With its finely crafted arrangements, rich melodies and irresistibly groove-driven rhythm section, **BenArt Ensemble ft. Baptiste Herbin** delivers a vibrant and generous take on jazz, where each musician's individual voice shines through while serving the collective. Balancing heritage and modernity, this album is an invitation to dance, dream and travel.
The Tango N'Vectif: Sessions 2LP contains tracks from the original CD version, the 2001 2CD reissue, remixes and alternate versions of album tracks, music from the Phi*1700 u/v EP on R&S and other exclusives, selected by Mike, completely remastered from DATs by Beau Thomas. µ-Ziq's Tango N'Vectif was released in 1993, a classic year for auteurist electronic music that didn't always fit on the dancefloor. Written by Mike Paradinas in his late teens with some help from Frank Naughton, it still stands up really well today and its influence on electronic music in the decades since is obvious. Across an expanse of ideas, taking influences from early Aphex, Detroit Techno and UK Hardcore, Mike created this spirited, funky, jerry-rigged, lo-fi version of rave; with crunchy drums and a knack for melody that fell somewhere between John Barry and classic TV themes. Without owning a computer, Mike had been writing techno, house and industrial tracks on and off since 1990, playing live keys alongside drum machine rhythms on his 4-track recorder. µ-Ziq started when Mike linked up with Frank who was also writing dance-influenced music, and importantly owned an Atari 1040ST computer with Cubeat software. They pooled their equipment and Mike would travel up to Frank's house a couple of miles away in Wimbledon to record together. By 1992, and after a false start when a proposed EP for Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton's Evolution label got shelved, Mike had started at Kingston University where he deejayed and met like-minded people including a couple of guys who knew Aphex Twin who was also a student at Kingston too, and they passed Aphex a demo of Mike's material. A few days later Mike got a message from his mum to 'call Aphex Twin' and he gave Mike some advice, and seemed interested in releasing something. So when Frank and his family went on holiday that summer Mike borrowed his Atari and synths and wrote the majority of the Tango N'Vectif album during that 2 weeks. By the end of 1992 a release with Aphex Twin and Grant Wilson Claridge's Rephlex label had been agreed - Aphex had moved to the house in Clissold Crescent where he recorded a lot of his early classic albums and Mike went over to collect his advance, in the form of his very own Atari computer.
RADYO BOMBERO - ABOUT THE LABEL
Radyo Bombero is the record label founded by acclaimed filmmaker, author, DJ and record collector Fatih Akin. Born out of his personal passion for vinyl and film music, the label will initially focus on soundtracks from his films: previously unavailable works will be released on vinyl for the first time, while out-of-print titles will return as carefully produced reissues. Its inaugural release is the soundtrack to Akin's new film Geister, scheduled for release in November 2026. Further projects are already in development.
ABOUT THE RELEASE
MALAKOFF KOWALSKI - GEISTER
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK
Composed by Malakoff Kowalski, the soundtrack to Fatih Akin's Geister is the inaugural release on Radyo Bombero.
Born in the United States, raised in Hamburg and now based in Berlin, Kowalski is a composer, pianist and multi-instrumentalist whose work moves between film music, contemporary classical composition, theatre and pop. He composed the music for eleven films by Klaus Lemke, as well as for productions including Schweigend steht der Wald and Stasikomödie. His solo work has been released by MPS and Sony Classical, and he has collaborated with artists including 2raumwohnung, Igor Levit, Chilly Gonzales and Nils Frahm. His sound combines elegiac melodies with a warm, cinematic atmosphere and a subtle sense of unrest beneath the surface.
For Geister, this distinctive musical language meets Fatih Akin's vision of a deliberately anachronistic and romantic score: a tribute to Ennio Morricone's great love themes that plays a defining role in the film's tragic love story and atmosphere.
LP 1 contains Kowalski's complete original film score.
LP by JUGGLERZ opens up a second musical world, bringing together four productions by the internationally successful Jugglerz on a four-track 12-inch disc at 45 RPM: the film's title song Ya Mami, performed by Aya Samra; Mood by Cloudee, Milaa and Jugglerz; Tip by Jugglerz, Limitlezz, Maureen and Demarco; and Beirut Nights Riddim. The four tracks bring Arabic tarab and contemporary Levantine pop together with hip-hop, urban beats and dancehall rhythms.
FATIH AKIN ON RADYO BOMBERO
"Radyo Bombero is on the air. Don't miss a tune!
"
Music is - alongside cinema and literature - a fundamental source of inspiration for me. Having grown up in the 1980s, the way I listen to music has hardly changed: I buy records, listen to them carefully and then copy them onto a portable device. It used to be a Walkman, then an iPod - today it is my smartphone with my playlists.
I do not use Spotify or any other streaming services. Why that is, I do not know. In most other areas, I try to keep up with technological developments. Not with music. I like unpacking a record, cleaning it before listening, holding the sleeve in my hands and reading who worked in the studio, who wrote the music and where the record was made. These things interest me. And they lower my cortisol levels.
Music plays a major role in my films. It is not that, as a director, I want to impose my favourite music on the audience. The music must always serve the story. In Head-On, for example, it tells us something about the characters and their biographies. Crossing the Bridge - The Sound of Istanbul is the musical portrait of a city. Its music tells us about the people who live there: where they come from, the cultures they brought with them and how those cultures have merged with local traditions. The Cut was conceived as a Western, and the music had to help reinforce that idea.
Geister tells a tragic love story. The music was meant to be gloriously anachronistic. And romantic. Just like the light and colours, it had to shape the atmosphere of the film. My films are often about cinema itself, and Geister is no exception. Its music is a tribute to Ennio Morricone's great love themes.
In Malakoff Kowalski, I found the perfect creative partner. He immediately understood my idea and realised it brilliantly. That made it all the more painful when I was told by the music industry that there could be no soundtrack release for Geister because soundtracks were too expensive to produce and would simply sit on the shelves.
It is not as though I am a spoiled child who absolutely has to have a lollipop. But this music is simply too good to withhold from the audience. The idea that there would be no soundtrack release felt like a great injustice.
Then several friends and collaborators advised me to release the record myself. No sooner said than done. But Radyo Bombero is not a one-off project. Geister is only the beginning.
Finally, I have the opportunity to gradually release all the soundtracks from my films that have remained unavailable. Soundtracks that were previously released but have since gone out of print will also return as reissues.
Hainbach's soundtrack to Amrum is already in development, as is a double album featuring the unforgettable German pop songs from The Golden Glove. And, finally, a vinyl soundtrack to Head-On.
Fatih Akin
More good news for fans of Luke Vibert's Plug output. Hot on the heels of the Variety Magic album, released earlier this year, De:tuned returns to the vault with four more previously unreleased Plug tracks.
Following the hugely acclaimed 11-track Variety Magic, which saw Vibert unearth and hand-pick a collection of forgotten jungle and drum & bass gems from his original mid-90s DAT archive, Robotic Futuristic digs even deeper into the same treasure trove. Four more raw, playful and highly distinctive Plug cuts, all previously unheard and finally brought to light.
The EP takes its title from one of the tracks and opens with Luke Vibert's personal favourite: 'Bring A Fuckin' Army'. A full-on jungle workout driven by rolling breaks, heavyweight bass and that unmistakable Plug funk. Put the needle on the record and let it rip. Go 'Head - Do It!
Robotic Futuristic also marks the 17th anniversary of De:tuned, making this a particularly fitting release for the Belgian label.
Visualised by the Variety Magi. Stencil art by Pablo Fiasco and rewired by Openmind. Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis. A separate digital release will also be available at the usual digital shops.
More good news for fans of Luke Vibert's Plug output. Hot on the heels of the Variety Magic album, released earlier this year, De:tuned returns to the vault with four more previously unreleased Plug tracks.
Following the hugely acclaimed 11-track Variety Magic, which saw Vibert unearth and hand-pick a collection of forgotten jungle and drum & bass gems from his original mid-90s DAT archive, Robotic Futuristic digs even deeper into the same treasure trove. Four more raw, playful and highly distinctive Plug cuts, all previously unheard and finally brought to light.
The EP takes its title from one of the tracks and opens with Luke Vibert's personal favourite: 'Bring A Fuckin' Army'. A full-on jungle workout driven by rolling breaks, heavyweight bass and that unmistakable Plug funk. Put the needle on the record and let it rip. Go 'Head - Do It!
Robotic Futuristic also marks the 17th anniversary of De:tuned, making this a particularly fitting release for the Belgian label.
Visualised by the Variety Magi. Stencil art by Pablo Fiasco and rewired by Openmind. Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis. A separate digital release will also be available at the usual digital shops.
In celebration of John Coltrane's centennial, this 3-LP boxset includes all 3 albums recorded with Wilbur Harden in 1958 for Savoy Records: Mainstream 1958, Tanganyika Strut and Jazz Way Out. Featuring players including Tommy Flanagan, Curtis Fuller, Doug Watkins, Louis Hayes, Art Taylor and more and cut from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio the album is pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at RTI and housed in Stoughton tip-on jackets and new liner notes from Syd Schwartz.
Tony Price returns with NAME?, a new LP on his Maximum Exposure label delivering 10 tracks of red-hot house music realness.
Following two releases in 2025, the brutalist cybernetic jazz reveries of Requiem for the Ontario Science Centre and the ferocious machine funk of Street Theatre, NAME? keeps its crosshairs aimed straight at the dancefloor.
NAME? showcases Tony’s undying affinity for the sound of New York City and New Jersey house: Tony Humphries’ cybernetic gospel dubs, the crude, Todd Terry-style 12-bit hip-hop explosives, the cracking garage swing of early Strictly Rhythm, Mood II Swing and Masters At Work, the psychotic bleep-funk bombast of the Bomb Squad, and the deep, ecstatic machine soul pioneered by the likes of Blaze and the Burrell Brothers.
Produced in his Greektown studio in Toronto using an array of drum machines and samplers, these recordings are pure Tony: rude, crude and elemental. House music stripped down to its core principles and defining primordial textures. No nonsense, no junk, no varnish, no nothing. Just the funk.
Today we are happy to announce that we are reissuing Merucry Rev’s 1993 album Boces in the UK & EU! Available from the 13th of November, Boces has been newly remastered by Henry Rudkins at Air Studios and is available on black vinyl and CD.
Hailing from Buffalo New York, Mercury Rev are one of the US’s most well-respected bands, always experimenting and continually reinventing. The Guardian called them “a rarity in indie rock: a band who have continually evolved their sound, pushing at the boundaries of what rock music actually means…borrowing from jazz, funk, doo-wop, techno, folk and more along the way.”
Boces is such an important record in their discography, a grand and epic part of their story. The songs on the album came from the whole band. Everyone contributed and the recording process really allowed everyone’s freak flags to fly – partly thanks to their first ever major label recording budget. The opening 10-minute epic track “Meth of a Rockette’s Kick” really let’s you know that this album will be like nothing you have ever heard before.
LIP020: Ferdinger – Easy Warmth & Quiet Menace Life In Patterns marks its 20th release, and its last of 2026, with an EP from label head Ferdinger himself. "Easy Warmth & Quiet Menace" sees him move into darker, more textured territory without losing his signature relentless drive. From the sombre melodies of "Tears Will Dry" and the distorted, haunting synths of "Back At It" to the analogue modular textures of "Front Toward Enemy" and the gritty dub stabs of "Ruminations", the EP covers a lot of ground across its moods. Closing track "Fresh Impetus" ends things on a different note, with a driving old-school electro groove. "Easy Warmth & Quiet Menace" is out on 13 November 2026 on vinyl and digital.
“Interpretation”
The act of explaining, reframing, or otherwise showing your own understanding of something. This captured me. We can all look at the same thing but what we see, hear or experience may differ. This word ended up being the title of my new album. I want to share my interpretation of music with listeners and take them on a musical journey. Through my music, I hope to bring about many interpretations. Your interpretation.
With great joy and pride we announce that The Night Service Commute second album Interpretation is a fact. The release is set for November 13th. You can expect cinematic vibes driven by breakbeats, bass, rhodes, violin, poetry, trumpet and field recordings. This turned out fantastic, and gave the album the groove, feel and vibe I was looking for. During the making, It was so great to learn how to capture the sound and get it to sit well in the mix.
The cover was made by my dear friend Saša Ostoja. His illustrations resonate greatly with me and put a smile on my face. The setting of the cover artwork is urban with hints of forest. Behind the windows, you can see the characters playing music and doing studio stuff. It has loads of hidden jokes and details. I can look at it again and again and discover new things every time.
Veronica Everheart has just announced that her new project Lighter in the Morning (3/2) will be out on November 13th via Pack. Records. The news arrives alongside her link-up with Mumbai-raised electronic artist the sound chalk makes for their new collaborative single, “2222222222222222 + Climbing”. A colorful, club-ready take on “22 & Climbing” from Everheart’s Lighter in the Morning (2/2) EP, the track is also accompanied by an animated music video for the original song, which was made with Source Filmmaker software from the gaming developer Valve using models from their game series Half-Life.
Hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, Veronica Everheart writes and produces all of her own music alongside her creative partner, Justin "Juni" Neugeboren, and has built a cult following for a distinct sound that pulls from indie rock, electronic, and folk. Released in May, Lighter in the Morning (2/2) was led by singles "NO LOLITA SHIT", "Unknowable Distance", and "12/21” and serves as the sister tape to Everheart’s 2024 EP, Lighter in the Morning (1/2). Now, she’s gearing up to release Lighter in the Morning (3/2) (Deluxe Edition), curating a slate of leftfield producers that includes ideasforconversations, nikki nair, atlgrandma, E_DEATH, and Oskie (alongside the sound chalk makes) to craft remixes for the project.
With “Homura”, Sable Hills take everything they have built over the years and push it into new territory.
Since winning the Metal Battle at Wacken Open Air in 2022 as the first Japanese band in the competition’s history to claim the grand prize, Sable Hills have continued to make their mark on the international metal scene. The victory led to a deal with Germany’s renowned label Arising Empire, followed by their global debut with their third album “Odyssey” in 2024. In 2025, their single “Namu”, incorporating traditional Buddhist chanting, became a global viral hit, surpassing 3 million streams on Spotify and 5.4 million views on YouTube, while live clips posted to Instagram and TikTok collectively exceeded 30 million views.
Rooted in the band’s signature blend of metalcore and melodic death metal, “Homura” expands that foundation with distinctly Japanese elements, from traditional instruments and melodies to the use of Japanese language and Buddhist chants. The result is an album that feels both unmistakably Sable Hills and unlike anything they have created before.
The title “Homura” comes from an old Japanese word meaning “flame.” It represents the intensity and aggression at the heart of metal, reimagined through a distinctly Japanese aesthetic. Throughout the album, heaviness and melody collide with the atmosphere and beauty of traditional Japan, creating a sound that is both fierce and deeply rooted in the band’s identity.
With its fusion of crushing riffs, melodic death metal intensity, traditional Japanese instrumentation, and powerful vocal performances, “Homura” marks a new chapter for Sable Hills, embracing their roots, building on their international rise, and setting the band on a path they have never taken before.
With “Homura”, Sable Hills take everything they have built over the years and push it into new territory.
Since winning the Metal Battle at Wacken Open Air in 2022 as the first Japanese band in the competition’s history to claim the grand prize, Sable Hills have continued to make their mark on the international metal scene. The victory led to a deal with Germany’s renowned label Arising Empire, followed by their global debut with their third album “Odyssey” in 2024. In 2025, their single “Namu”, incorporating traditional Buddhist chanting, became a global viral hit, surpassing 3 million streams on Spotify and 5.4 million views on YouTube, while live clips posted to Instagram and TikTok collectively exceeded 30 million views.
Rooted in the band’s signature blend of metalcore and melodic death metal, “Homura” expands that foundation with distinctly Japanese elements, from traditional instruments and melodies to the use of Japanese language and Buddhist chants. The result is an album that feels both unmistakably Sable Hills and unlike anything they have created before.
The title “Homura” comes from an old Japanese word meaning “flame.” It represents the intensity and aggression at the heart of metal, reimagined through a distinctly Japanese aesthetic. Throughout the album, heaviness and melody collide with the atmosphere and beauty of traditional Japan, creating a sound that is both fierce and deeply rooted in the band’s identity.
With its fusion of crushing riffs, melodic death metal intensity, traditional Japanese instrumentation, and powerful vocal performances, “Homura” marks a new chapter for Sable Hills, embracing their roots, building on their international rise, and setting the band on a path they have never taken before.
The Obits played their first show on January 12th, 2008 at the Cake Shop in NY, and wow, what a show! Captured live at the time and finally released on vinyl. Eleven songs, ranging from fan favorites like One Cross Apiece and Widow of My Dreams to unreleased tracks like You Took an Axe. Mastered for vinyl by JJ Golden, Cake Shop is a must for any Obits fan. Pressed on limited edition clear vinyl.
Comfort with ambiguity, dynamic experimentation and melancholy are rife throughout Brody Price’s newest record, Leaf Miner’s Daughter. Classic alt-country at its core, this collection meticulously weaves together Americana into sluggish, heavy grooves; overdriven guitars, hook-laden acoustic dissonance - all bolstered by a songwriter full of heart and intention.
An integral member of the Dallas / Texas scene and national DIY touring community, Price has been quietly building a dedicated community of fans across the US since 2017, entirely independent and reliant on each other to build and shape the tours by word of mouth. Following a cassette recorded collection of country songs, ‘What’s The Point In Trying’ (2017), and the gorgeous and chaotic ‘Win A Trip To Palm Springs’ (2022), Price is tracing a sonic and narrative arc that feels specific, earnest and whimsical - not without its dark corners and deep questions.
The innate ability to find beauty among the rubble is rife throughout his newest, revealing an authentically tender desire to dig deeper to find relief and understanding. He invites us to empathize and sit alongside his turmoil in an effort to make ours more bearable. At home in his musicality and the discomfort of living, Price revels in the act of putting the pieces back together, giving us all permission to do the same.
Leather-jacket krautrock? Indeed. Welcome to the world of Carrboro NC's Object Hours. These generous saviors consist of three Triangle scene lifers who all worship the riff but imagine what happens if the riff fell into the middle of your favorite CAN LP. Yes, it lives up to the hype.
"Solved By Walking" was recorded in the winter of 2025 at Betty's in the Chapel Hill woods, these are mighty rock slabs ready for all seasons. Rock believers have felt the ripples and knew the day was coming. Object Hours is a band that fits right in on stage alongside acts as varied as Kim Gordon and Tropical Fuck Storm, bringing the house down in these and similar moments. These are songs that groove, peel paint, sandblast, inspire unconscious movement, make your head bob - frequently all at the same time. These are the jams inspired by the time that you heard "Fun House" coming out of that dude's car with the windows down in the middle of the summer, the ones inspired by the kids who own 3 copies of "Daydream Nation," the ones who listen to the last 1:30 of Wire's "Too Late" over and over. This is the band that has a timer on stage so they don't keep each song playing for days on end, the band whose Bandcamp bio succinctly summarizes their approach thusly: "We try to keep songs under 25 minutes for your sake." Every word here should be inspiration for you to *want* and *need* to hear this record and every word here is true. Just you wait.
Real heads know and the rest of the heads are getting ready to find out. Get ready for Object Hours' "Solved By Walking".
Praised by Rolling Stone, NME and the New York Times on release — the1996 debut from the members who went on to form bright eyes & cursive. Back on vinyl for its 30th anniversary!
Blanket Warm is a genuine buried-treasure reissue: a record contemporary critics compared to the Rolling Stones, Guided by Voices, and Tindersticks, and one a new generation of listeners has rediscovered as a missing link to Neutral Milk Hotel and Sufjan Stevens’ chamber-folk.
Lullaby for the Working Class formed in Lincoln, Nebraska in the winter of 1994, when multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis and singer-guitarist Ted Stevens began writing together. Working from two home-recorded demos — and without having played a single live show — the band signed to New Jersey’s Bar/None Records in 1995. Blanket Warm was recorded and mixed by the Mogis brothers between December 1994 and April 1996 at their own Whoopass Recording Studio in Lincoln. Bar/None issued the album on CD in September 1996, while the vinyl LP went out through Lumberjack/Saddle Creek imprint in a pressing of just 1,000 copies — long out of print, and the edition this reissue restores to the format.
The result splits the difference between rustic and ornate: acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, and upright bass sit alongside a chamber ensemble of violin, cello, clarinet, trumpet, and trombone. Critics at the time reached for an unusually wide range of comparisons — the Rolling Stones, Guided by Voices, Tindersticks, Van Morrison — united mainly by the sense that nothing else sounded quite like it. Ted Stevens’ plainspoken, image-driven lyrics and unhurried delivery anchor songs that unfold with more patience and more instrumental color than the alt-country and lo-fi indie rock the band got lumped in with on release.
Four solid dub house and deep house cuts from Alessandro Crimi, pressed on blue green marbled vinyl. Get Up opens on a rolling groove, hats ticking against a bassline that breathes rather than pushes. Interstate tightens the low end into something more direct, built for the peak of a set. Look At The Stars slows the tempo down into dub house territory, chords smeared and delayed until they blur into the drums. Multiverse closes the record on a dubbier note again, echoes trailing off into silence between hits. Across the four tracks the mood stays controlled, functional, made for rooms where space and repetition do the work.
Soundkiller anthem of the highest order by Birmingham OG fast chat legend Speng Bond, born during an all night Jahtari live session at the Annex bass bunker at Open Ground, now cut onto wax for the very first time.
“Dead Dem A Go Dead” comes with a devastating Dub cut on B by disrupt and silver pantone print on the labels – this dangerous 7” beauty is ready to make other soundbwoys bite the dust in no time.
This is the second release in a new Jahtari 7” series, don’t forget to check out number one: Sammy Gold x Tapes – Ital Food.
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