Search:v a g a b o n d wit

The title of Ghost Bridge, the East-Coast-spanning chamber ensemble Hour's fifth record, is less metaphorical than one might expect. Bandleader Michael Cormier- O'Leary repurposed it from an unrealized movie concept about a bridge that inexplicably starts disappearing. On the nearly-ten-minute title track of this richly imaginative suite of songs_written for a 13-piece ensemble that includes woodwinds, strings, and vibraphone as well as a rock rhythm section_Hour conjures up this central image with spectral string harmonics and free-time percussion gestures. While writing the keyboard pieces that became the takeoff point for the album, Cormier-O'Leary also found himself reflecting on the loss of loved ones or even his own mortality. The six kaleidoscopic instrumental pieces on Ghost Bridge, though, feel more cosmically inquisitive than straightforwardly elegiac, sketching a progression from existential doubt toward understanding and acceptance. Ghost Bridge forms a contrast with Hour's art-rock-informed, more improvisatory early releases, representing a step further into intricate chamber orchestration. Known for his work with Friendship, Wendy Eisenberg, and 2nd Grade, Phillybased multi-instrumentalist and Dear Life Records founder Cormier-O'Leary has made Hour a home for increasingly cinematic instrumental compositions since the mid-2010s. With dazzling production by Lucas Knapp, Ghost Bridge delivers plenty of the live ensemble's trademarks, especially cyclically developing guitar and keyboard melodies. However, even more than on Hour's last studio album, unconventional harmonies and sophisticated counterpoint take center stage here. These emotionally multifaceted compositions feel as rooted in contemporary classical and film soundtrack music as in indie rock. One of the most striking elements of Ghost Bridge is the more significant developmental role the orchestral instruments assume in each piece. Instead of underscoring Cormier-O'Leary's central hooks, there is a new mesmerizing level of detail to the group's conversational interactions and kinetic energy. "Centralia" is a stately and idiosyncratic fugue built from repeated and overlapping phrases, while Ghost Bridge's compositions are full of unexpected pivots in harmony that allow recurring melodic motifs to sound continually reshaded. On "Pearls," the chords modulate drastically around Cormier-O'Leary's inviting central melody in a way that emulates cuts in a film telling several parallel stories. There is an unsettled quality to the chords on Ghost Bridge, with Cormier- O'Leary's progressions avoiding firm grounding in either clearly sunny or melancholy tonalities. This mood is made more concrete by the record's sole vocal track, the jazz-inflected "Sky is Blue," featuring an uncannily gorgeous performance by Heeyoon Won. The song seems to be a communication from a person who has departed, offering consolation or perspective to someone left behind. Though its sonic palette is often tranquil, Ghost Bridge explores heartbreak, grief, anger, and helplessness in a distinct and pretense-free way. The project represents a bold step forward for Cormier-O'Leary as a composer and arranger, and on Ghost Bridge Hour reaches its most fully realized form to date, connecting soaring themes with an inventiveness that perfectly suits the searching nature of the subject matter.

Come Back Down, the new album by Nashville experimental-pop duo Total Wife, was born from the edge of sleep. When composer and producer Luna Kupper would begin to fall asleep during late-night mixing sessions, the songs would follow her into the halfway place between dream and lucidity. Like Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks, she'd wake with a new perspective on the puzzle she was piecing together. "I'm a psychological mixer - I'm trying to think of how someone's experiencing the sound, versus getting stuck in trying to make all these different tones and using all this gear to make something sound a certain way," Kupper says. And like a spiral from waking life into dream, the songs on Come Back Down are endlessly self-referential, building whole universes from a single point. Kupper sold all of her synths to make rent before she started working on the album, and so every inorganic sound is instead built from samples of the band's own work. A guitar on one song may be reprocessed and used as a synth on the next, while everywhere on the album vocal samples are taken from a single unreleased cover of Elliott Smith's 'Between the Bars.' In tribute to this process, the album was almost named The Julia Set after the mathematical equation which feeds into itself again and again, creating beautiful fractal images. The intention was to create something complex but accessible; experimental, yet precise and without abstraction. In her lyrics, too, lyricist and vocalist Ash Richter is as straightforward as she's ever been. She drew on her experience of pandemic isolation to write about connection and disconnection, using her lyrics as a tool for the communication that was missing in everyday life. On the soaring, shoegazey track 'peaches,' a storm that forced the cancellation of a recording session became a metaphor for emotional distance. 'still asleep' chronicles Richter's euphoria after Total Wife's first tour, and watches it begin to curdle into paranoia. "Thank the full moon, my heart is overflowing," she sings, before: "Is there such a thing as too happy?" The experience of isolation was prompting Richter to think back to her childhood, a time marked for her by solitude and natural play - climbing trees, making mud pies, getting lost in the woods. On tracks like 'in my head' and 'second spring,' she uses the imagery of nature to recall that time and forge a connection with her lonely inner child. "I feel connected with transcendentalist writing and magical realism - trying to convey things in a concrete way, but with that element of psychology and mystery," she says. Richter and Kupper, friends from high school, formed Total Wife in 2016, relocating from Boston to Nashville in 2020. Both are visual artists as well as musicians, which they incorporate into their work with Total Wife via layered and purposeful visuals. A DIY streak underpins everything that they do - from handling their own artwork and music videos to recording their own music, releasing tapes through their label Ivy Eat Home, and hosting house shows in the basement they've christened Ryman 2. In Nashville they've settled into a weirdo scene living under the record industry's floorboards, a hive of collaborative and creative energy that has made them excited to call the city home. They also assembled a live band for the first time shortly after moving to Nashville, consisting of Ryan Bigelow, Sean Booz and Billy Campbell - injecting their creative process with a jolt of spontaneity and aliveness that has fed back into Come Back Down.

Come Back Down, the new album by Nashville experimental-pop duo Total Wife, was born from the edge of sleep. When composer and producer Luna Kupper would begin to fall asleep during late-night mixing sessions, the songs would follow her into the halfway place between dream and lucidity. Like Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks, she'd wake with a new perspective on the puzzle she was piecing together. "I'm a psychological mixer - I'm trying to think of how someone's experiencing the sound, versus getting stuck in trying to make all these different tones and using all this gear to make something sound a certain way," Kupper says. And like a spiral from waking life into dream, the songs on Come Back Down are endlessly self-referential, building whole universes from a single point. Kupper sold all of her synths to make rent before she started working on the album, and so every inorganic sound is instead built from samples of the band's own work. A guitar on one song may be reprocessed and used as a synth on the next, while everywhere on the album vocal samples are taken from a single unreleased cover of Elliott Smith's 'Between the Bars.' In tribute to this process, the album was almost named The Julia Set after the mathematical equation which feeds into itself again and again, creating beautiful fractal images. The intention was to create something complex but accessible; experimental, yet precise and without abstraction. In her lyrics, too, lyricist and vocalist Ash Richter is as straightforward as she's ever been. She drew on her experience of pandemic isolation to write about connection and disconnection, using her lyrics as a tool for the communication that was missing in everyday life. On the soaring, shoegazey track 'peaches,' a storm that forced the cancellation of a recording session became a metaphor for emotional distance. 'still asleep' chronicles Richter's euphoria after Total Wife's first tour, and watches it begin to curdle into paranoia. "Thank the full moon, my heart is overflowing," she sings, before: "Is there such a thing as too happy?" The experience of isolation was prompting Richter to think back to her childhood, a time marked for her by solitude and natural play - climbing trees, making mud pies, getting lost in the woods. On tracks like 'in my head' and 'second spring,' she uses the imagery of nature to recall that time and forge a connection with her lonely inner child. "I feel connected with transcendentalist writing and magical realism - trying to convey things in a concrete way, but with that element of psychology and mystery," she says. Richter and Kupper, friends from high school, formed Total Wife in 2016, relocating from Boston to Nashville in 2020. Both are visual artists as well as musicians, which they incorporate into their work with Total Wife via layered and purposeful visuals. A DIY streak underpins everything that they do - from handling their own artwork and music videos to recording their own music, releasing tapes through their label Ivy Eat Home, and hosting house shows in the basement they've christened Ryman 2. In Nashville they've settled into a weirdo scene living under the record industry's floorboards, a hive of collaborative and creative energy that has made them excited to call the city home. They also assembled a live band for the first time shortly after moving to Nashville, consisting of Ryan Bigelow, Sean Booz and Billy Campbell - injecting their creative process with a jolt of spontaneity and aliveness that has fed back into Come Back Down.

Recently unveiled Norwegian Heavy Metal act Avrak was founded in 2023 by guitarists Anders Hegna & Ted Skjellum; himself notable for being half of legendary duo, Darkthrone. The pair had known each other for many years, & with a mutual passion for old, classic rock & metal they finally embarked upon this new journey together under the banner of Avrak.

Ted had declared from the beginning that he would in fact not carry out main vocal duties in the band, & so Anders - with his own voice befitting of the style - took on this task.

Still quite early on within the formative stages, Terje Kråbøl was brought in on the drums &, from there-on, with his percussive presence backing up some thunderous riffing, the creative work accelerated until enough material was produced (and relentlessly refined), culminating in the self-titled, hook-laden & doom-laced rock debut, ‘Avrak’.

Suitably & epically defined as a monumental “Heavy Metal voyage from the peak of the mountains to the depths of the seas”, & delivering themes relating to empowerment in the face of increasingly corrupt times, ‘Avrak’ is a combination of a vast multitude of influences, as the eclectic, deceptively nuanced nine track offering features a classic heavy metal & doom rock backbone, with further experimentation including synth passages, & even some traces of black metal riffing in its DNA.

Avrak subsequently held its debut show in their local town of Porsgrunn in late April 2026, backed by the brand new bassist & final piece of the puzzle, Steinar Gundersen, with more live shows intended in future to support the release.

This edition of ‘Avrak’ is presented on limited silver vinyl, including printed inner sleeve with full lyrics.

Recently unveiled Norwegian Heavy Metal act Avrak was founded in 2023 by guitarists Anders Hegna & Ted Skjellum; himself notable for being half of legendary duo, Darkthrone. The pair had known each other for many years, & with a mutual passion for old, classic rock & metal they finally embarked upon this new journey together under the banner of Avrak.

Ted had declared from the beginning that he would in fact not carry out main vocal duties in the band, & so Anders - with his own voice befitting of the style - took on this task.

Still quite early on within the formative stages, Terje Kråbøl was brought in on the drums &, from there-on, with his percussive presence backing up some thunderous riffing, the creative work accelerated until enough material was produced (and relentlessly refined), culminating in the self-titled, hook-laden & doom-laced rock debut, ‘Avrak’.

Suitably & epically defined as a monumental “Heavy Metal voyage from the peak of the mountains to the depths of the seas”, & delivering themes relating to empowerment in the face of increasingly corrupt times, ‘Avrak’ is a combination of a vast multitude of influences, as the eclectic, deceptively nuanced nine track offering features a classic heavy metal & doom rock backbone, with further experimentation including synth passages, & even some traces of black metal riffing in its DNA.

Avrak subsequently held its debut show in their local town of Porsgrunn in late April 2026, backed by the brand new bassist & final piece of the puzzle, Steinar Gundersen, with more live shows intended in future to support the release.

This edition of ‘Avrak’ is presented on limited silver vinyl, including printed inner sleeve with full lyrics.

With Elvis Presley wishes you a "Blue Christmas", the Drifters wishing you a "White Christmas", a "Christmas Prayer" by Billy Fury, a "Christmas Present" from Solomon Burke, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" with Brenda Lee, "Twistin' Bells" by Santo & Johnny, and the "Jingle Bell Rock" with Chubby Checker & Bobby Rydell. The Cadillacs sings "Rudolph The Red- Nosed Reindeer" and Chuck Berry "Runs With Rudolph", Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons "Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", Johnny Cash with his "Little Drummer Boy" and finally David Seville and the Chipmunks with "The Chipmunk Song".

Repress with regular picture sleeve (no gatefold) and without booklet!!


Since the last two years FloFilz played in the first league of european beat-producers. With his smooth jazz samples he catches them all: his 46.000 (!) Soundcloud-Fans, the "Beatgeeks" from Berlin, the "Rapkids" from the Splash Festival and the Boiler Room in London. With "Cenário" FloFilz continues his musically city-trip, which started in Paris with "Metronom" in 2014. For his new album he travelled with the photographer Robert Winter to Lisbon. The impressions from the trip FloFilz put into 16 new tracks, on two of them he gets support by jazzsinger Olivia Wendlandt (Relaén).
The "Cenário" LP comes in a perfect package with an effortful produced gatefoldcover including a 12 page photobooklet. The LP is limited to 2.000 copies.

Southern Fried Records return with the second instalment of Refried & Tested, a three track EP built for peak time festival business. Bass heavy and attitude driven, this one brings together friends old and new for a run of dancefloor tracks that don't let up. It's Southern Fried doing what it does best - club ready energy with real personality behind it. Elado opens Refried & Tested 002 with 'Don't Stare' - a bass-heavy, attitude loaded cut built for the dancefloor. It's peak time energy with a real sense of swagger, setting the tone for the rest of the compilation. Jordan Peak takes on Elado's 'Don't Stare' and delivers a whopping remix, reworking the original into a festival ready peak time weapon. A standout moment on Refried & Tested 002. lau.ra teams up with Bag Raiders for 'back2back', bringing dance floor energy and attitude to Southern Fried's Refried & Tested 002 - a collaboration between friends old and new that delivers exactly where it counts. Van Damn closes out Refried & Tested 002 with 'Hit You', a bass driven cut that keeps the compilation's dancefloor energy running right to the last track.

he Congos possess what all bands look for, that unique distinctive sound that draws the listener in. Alongside the great songs, lead singer Cedric Myton's singing, phasing and falsetto voice makes that just the case.
The Congos were formed by Cedric Myton (b. 1947, St Catherine, Jamaica) around the mid-Seventies when the
Rasta message was central to the reggae sound coming out of Kingston, Jamaica. But he had started out in the
Rocksteady era, when he formed the vocal group 'Tartans', taking lead vocal duties alongside Devon Russell, Prince Lincoln Thompson and Lindbergh Lewis.They cut 'Dance All Night' (1967) and 'Coming On Strong' (1968). The line-Up became The Royal Rasses and from this Cedric moved on to form the Congos on meeting Roydel Johnson, who had previously sang with Ras Michael and the Sons of Negas. Cedric's Rasta roots were firmly in place when he went to work with producer Lee Perry to cut the seminal album 'Heart Of The Congos' at Perry's just built, Black Ark Studios in 1977. Cedric Myton has carried on the mantle, cutting a set of tunes with the help of his good friend Mr Brent Dowe, who had previously sang lead vocals with the Melodians.This is the Dub set to the vocal album released on the Kingston
Sounds label called 'The Congos Feast'(KS008).With such strong songs, rhythms and vocals it always had the chemistry for a great dub set. Hope you agree and enjoy the dub excursion...

With Lost Lost Lost, Pratt & Moody gather the defining moments of their journey and package it with fresh soul gold into one cohesive, slow- burning statement. What began as a series of cult 7” vinyl releases – often mistaken online for forgotten soul classics from another era – now finds its natural home in album form. Written and recorded with Timmion’s trusted house band Cold Diamond & Mink, the record captures the duo’s unmistakable chemistry: emotionally rich songwriting wrapped in warm, analog textures that blur past and present.
From the velvet sway of “Addictive Touch” to the cinematic tension of “You Bring Me Joy” and the beat ballad ache of “Hard Way To Live,” the album moves effortlessly between bedroom-soul intimacy and widescreen drama. “Hang Tight” opens with a blissful piano figure that nods to gospel-tinged 1970s soul before unfolding into a full-bodied groove, while “Hooked On Your Love” glows with golden-age group soul harmony sweetness. Across both sides, Pratt’s finely tuned vocals and Moody’s expressive guitar work anchor songs that feel timeless rather than nostalgic.

At its core, Lost Lost Lost is an album steeped in atmosphere – lush downtempo moments sit alongside sweet harmony-driven soul, cinematic builds dissolve into dark restrained grooves. Analog string synthesizers, vibraphone accents, tremolo guitar, and deep-pocket rhythms create emotional tension without excess. Pratt & Moody’s strength lies in their melodic instinct: songs that feel big without being pompous or losing their human quality. The result is a record that feels cohesive, immersive, and that real thing – reaffirming the duo as key architects of the contemporary lowrider soul revival.

With Lost Lost Lost, Pratt & Moody gather the defining moments of their journey and package it with fresh soul gold into one cohesive, slow- burning statement. What began as a series of cult 7” vinyl releases – often mistaken online for forgotten soul classics from another era – now finds its natural home in album form. Written and recorded with Timmion’s trusted house band Cold Diamond & Mink, the record captures the duo’s unmistakable chemistry: emotionally rich songwriting wrapped in warm, analog textures that blur past and present.
From the velvet sway of “Addictive Touch” to the cinematic tension of “You Bring Me Joy” and the beat ballad ache of “Hard Way To Live,” the album moves effortlessly between bedroom-soul intimacy and widescreen drama. “Hang Tight” opens with a blissful piano figure that nods to gospel-tinged 1970s soul before unfolding into a full-bodied groove, while “Hooked On Your Love” glows with golden-age group soul harmony sweetness. Across both sides, Pratt’s finely tuned vocals and Moody’s expressive guitar work anchor songs that feel timeless rather than nostalgic.

At its core, Lost Lost Lost is an album steeped in atmosphere – lush downtempo moments sit alongside sweet harmony-driven soul, cinematic builds dissolve into dark restrained grooves. Analog string synthesizers, vibraphone accents, tremolo guitar, and deep-pocket rhythms create emotional tension without excess. Pratt & Moody’s strength lies in their melodic instinct: songs that feel big without being pompous or losing their human quality. The result is a record that feels cohesive, immersive, and that real thing – reaffirming the duo as key architects of the contemporary lowrider soul revival.

„Öd“ marks the long-awaited return of Institut für Feinmotorik - the Black Forest collective known for using eight prepared turntables to investigate acoustic micro-phenomena generated by everyday objects - with a new album and their first full-length release on Faitiche. It is also the return of their almost comical understatement as personal artistic principle: „making almost nothing out of almost nothing,“ compressed into the dots on an umlaut.

The Öd-nis, the wasteland, is a field that the collective has been ploughing in sound since their first release in 1997. Eight prepared turntables, four mixers, no records, six hands (give or take) merge into what they call the „Octogrammoticum“. A rotating organism of surfaces in friction, fed with the clutter from a drawer: rubber bands or tin foil, CDs, a discarded socket board. Under IFF's scrutinizing stylus, mundane almost-nothings get scratched open to reveal the acoustic density of negative space itself.

Last year’s „Adhesive Tape“ drew IFF closer together after an almost ten-year hiatus. An eponymous event series at Berlin's silent green set in motion what would become their most twistedly funky release since „Penetrans“ on Staubgold in 2002.

The only thing öd about „Öd" (meaning „barren" or „boring“ in German) may well be its title: layers of improvised play and randomized loops convolve around porous, dubby groove locks, tugging at each other in a call-and-response with howling static that cuts through bulbous ambient techno into a scrap-metal Dixieland phantasm. Stratified yet spacious, these sonic double exposures always hover on the verge of collapsing. What you think you hear might not be what you actually hear.

The album’s track titles resemble Conceptual Poetry, extending this psycho-phenomenological gesture into the realm of spoken language. Conceived by renowned poet Dagmara Kraus, they become word molecules - „stern,” „dies,” „lose“ - tilting delicately between German and English, constantly changing depending on the ear’s perspective and pointing back to the deeply unstable fabric connecting meaning and sound. Which also makes „Öd“ an unusual cross-disciplinary collaboration - at least in the field of electronic music.

PS: Since its beginnings in Bad Säckingen, IFF has always been more than the sum of its rotating parts, moving tirelessly between multimedia art, theory, solo projects and collaborations. With IFF Expanded, the collective now opens its eight-doored apparatus, inviting artists working with CDJs or samplers to join - an ambitious live format that loosens its former purity law while carrying forward a long-standing curatorial practice. The same thread also runs into the related event series Acephalic Headspace.

Institut für Feinmotorik (*1997), artist-group originating from Black Forest working in various fields. In musical context known for transforming turntables into instruments by removing the records and instead applying rubber bands, paper scraps, household materials – resulting in a vivid laboratory for the productive misuse of everyday objects. This approach is documented in record releases and performed live.

The third chapter of The Third Room's curator-led series is shaped by Verraco, one of the key voices behind a new generation of artists reshaping contemporary club music. Through his productions, DJ sets and his work with TraTraTrax, he has helped define a sound where hybrid forms, rhythmic experimentation and cross-cultural influences are pushing the genre into new territory. Structured across two distinct sides, the release draws a clear connection between past and present. The A-side leans into a deeper, more classic space, while the B-side moves towards a more forward-facing, hybrid sound. It opens with Libration (Stone Version) by Substance & Vainqueur, a revisiting of their landmark 2007 release, a track that helped define the language of Dub Techno as it is understood today. Reduced, deep and spatially precise, it established a blueprint for how rhythm, delay and tone could function together. It's presence here acts less as a nod to the past and more as a reminder of a foundation that continues to shape the genre. Skee Mask's Clear Sky 909 continues this thread, softening the edges without losing depth. Warm, enveloping textures and fluid movement give the track a sense of openness, balancing clarity with emotional weight. The B-side shifts perspective. On Untitled (Teamgeist Mix), Verraco, joined by Tils, delivers the record's defining moment - a dense, intricately designed piece built on a driving low-end and evolving rhythmic patterns. Elements from Techno, Bass and Leftfield House converge into a detailed, forward-moving structure that actively bridges cultural contexts. It results in a form of dance music shaped by technical precision, but drive.n by a clear sense of intent, marking a distinct expression of Verraco's current sound. Untitled by 1morning introduces a rolling, tribal-infused groove with a strong sense of depth, while PatumPa by Regal86 closes the record with a bright, loop-driven energy that leans into pure motion. Across both sides, the release moves between reference and progression. Rather than separating old and new, Verraco connects them - tracing a line from foundational Dub Techno to a more fluid, contemporary club language. Copyright 2026 The Third Room A1 Written and Produced by Peter Kuschnereit & Rene Loewe | A2 Written and Produced by Bryan Mueller | B1 Written and Produced by JP Lopez & Jakob Ferdinand Tils and mixed by Lurka | B2 Written and Produced by 1morning | B3 Written and Produced by Regal86 Mastered by Andreas Kauffelt (Schnittstelle Berlin) Artwork by Charlotte Ernst Design by Daniel Bornmann (STUEDIO.XYZ) Distribution by Clone Pressing by Matter Of Fact

Here at Tuff Kong Records we really like to push our boundaries and explore different sounds, we're passionate with music at 360° and so are these guys we have decided to bring to your attention. Dumbo Station is a nu-jazz ensemble out of Roma, Italy that we've met during a live jam with legendary MC Danno of historical roman hip-hop group Colle Der Fomento. They immediately caught our attention and after listening to this masterpiece we decided to collaborate with them and Roman jazz imprint AlfaMusic to release their debut full-length "Tirana Cafè" on limited edition vinyl. The 11 songs featured on their first studio effort will take you on a trip through different soundscapes with the quartet as your guide, joined by Italian talents the such as vocalist Davide Shorty as well as Maurizio Giammarco's sax and Elvio Ghigliordini's flute. These young fellas have managed to merge nu-jazz with soul, funk and modern sounds creating a true masterpiece.

It’s safe to say that Rochester, NY rapper of Italian descent Pounds’ work ethic is unmatched: he’s constantly on the grind, loud in the lab but quiet on the outside, he wastes no time unlike many other big mouthed rappers these days and then, all of a sudden, he drops a bomb on you. To kick off 2018 in the best of ways, he released a 4-tracks collaboration EP with West Coast producer , 1/2 of Gangrene, Oh No entitled “Borgata”. The record opens up with “Last Supper” and with a clear statement of intent: “Run for your life, my cousin brought a drum and a knife, break my hand on your face I need a bucket of ice” just so you understand where this project is headed since the first song. His style is always direct, without any frills, with his trademark voice spitting gritty crime-themed bars that revolve around drug and the street life that raised him. A “borgata” in Italy is a “hood”, and Pounds, being the definition of an artist that talks the talk and walks the walk, couldn’t pick a better title for this project.

Limited edition vinyl release of 500 hand-numbered copies with etched B-side, black vinyl.

BerettaMusic's compilation series is mouthwatering just from reading the names of the artists involved. First up is Detroit mainstay Dez Andres, who opens with 'Ready Disco,' a warm and typically hip-hop-inflected tone that Curiel's 'Keep You That Way' and Evan Rhodes' 'We Go Low' both build on comfortably, with the latter a particularly contagious minimal house shuffler with a bassline that really pops. DJ Cent's 'Malfunction' gets more heavy and threatening with steely drums marching into darkness, before Ryan Sadorus closes with 'Cultivate,' a storming disco-house workout. It's less a scattered various-artists grab bag and more a real document of Detroit's current house scene. Unsurprisingly, then, it is superb.

Back In Stock!

Ajo Se Po is the third album by alto-saxophonist and percussionist Kevin Haynes, released with his band Grupo Elegua. The album integrates musical elements with references to his deepening spiritual understanding. Haynes has created a modal harmonic language incorporating Afro-Cuban melodies and classical kora playing - his alto-sax, infusing the album with a personal 'voice'.

Yoruba spirituality is at the heart of Haynes' musical thinking which also includes both Nigerian and Cuban dimensions. This is especially reflected by the use of recitation and Cuban bata drumming being employed on all tracks, with each piece growing out of a particular bata rhythm. Each such rhythm is dedicated to a particular Orisha, or divinity.

As well as influences from Afro-Cuban, Native Nigerian and folkloric Bata, Haynes' music is a fusion of contemporary jazz incorporating Mandinga folk and praise songs and hard bop.

Kevin Haynes and Grupo Elegua have performed at renowned jazz festivals including Havana Jazz Festival, Cuba and Salamanca Jazz Festival, Spain. Haynes has also featured on Moses Boyd's hit album Displaced Diaspora.

Previously available on digital only, Ajo Se Po is now released on vinyl.

Common Primitives is the second collaborative album between Andy Bell (Ride guitarist, Oasis bassist) and Essex-based harp and synth duo Masal. It’s a stunning, meditative collection which veers from kosmische to astral jazz by way of Turkish folk tunes and all the way back again.


Their first outing, 2023’s acclaimed Tidal Love Numbers, consisted of four lengthy and almost ambient tracks and is included here on vinyl for the first time as part of a two-record set with the new album. By contrast, the seven tracks that make up Common Primitives are almost concise, but also a lot more layered and complex.


“We tend to work from initial, free-jammed ideas, building form and arrangement from there,” explains Masal’s Al Johnson. “Above all, we believe you should go where the vibe takes you.”


For Andy, that vibe was very much jazz legend Pharoah Sanders’ classic 1977 album Pharoah, which was reissued a few years ago.


“It puts me into a hypnotic state,” he explains. “That’s why I worked with more guitar loops on this record. The Tisziji Muñoz part on ‘Harvest Time’ has had me in a vice-like grip for the last three years and it arrives here via the Vini Reilly filter.”


For Özlem Simsek, there is nostalgia, too, and she even adds vocals as well as her heavenly harp to the opening track, ‘After Kâtibim’, based on a traditional Turkish folk song she had sung as a child growing up in Istanbul.


From there, the album takes us on a real journey, with the apt, impressionistic titles added by Andy once it had all been pieced together. There’s the beautiful, elegant ‘I Swear We Are Infinite’; the atmospheric ‘Yuzuki Fighting Spirit’ and the beatific ‘Soap And Water’. ‘Tower Of Babylon’ was named after the novelette by Ted Chiang, its structured creation reflecting that in the story; first single ‘The Morning Of The Trip’ finds Andy playing his guitar “as if it was a waterfall”. The journey ends with ‘Rudi’s Dream – The Third Bardo’, the trio accelerating onto the autobahn for a krautrock crescendo inspired by their studio’s resident cat.

Common Primitives is the second collaborative album between Andy Bell (Ride guitarist, Oasis bassist) and Essex-based harp and synth duo Masal. It’s a stunning, meditative collection which veers from kosmische to astral jazz by way of Turkish folk tunes and all the way back again.


Their first outing, 2023’s acclaimed Tidal Love Numbers, consisted of four lengthy and almost ambient tracks and is included here on vinyl for the first time as part of a two-record set with the new album. By contrast, the seven tracks that make up Common Primitives are almost concise, but also a lot more layered and complex.


“We tend to work from initial, free-jammed ideas, building form and arrangement from there,” explains Masal’s Al Johnson. “Above all, we believe you should go where the vibe takes you.”


For Andy, that vibe was very much jazz legend Pharoah Sanders’ classic 1977 album Pharoah, which was reissued a few years ago.


“It puts me into a hypnotic state,” he explains. “That’s why I worked with more guitar loops on this record. The Tisziji Muñoz part on ‘Harvest Time’ has had me in a vice-like grip for the last three years and it arrives here via the Vini Reilly filter.”


For Özlem Simsek, there is nostalgia, too, and she even adds vocals as well as her heavenly harp to the opening track, ‘After Kâtibim’, based on a traditional Turkish folk song she had sung as a child growing up in Istanbul.


From there, the album takes us on a real journey, with the apt, impressionistic titles added by Andy once it had all been pieced together. There’s the beautiful, elegant ‘I Swear We Are Infinite’; the atmospheric ‘Yuzuki Fighting Spirit’ and the beatific ‘Soap And Water’. ‘Tower Of Babylon’ was named after the novelette by Ted Chiang, its structured creation reflecting that in the story; first single ‘The Morning Of The Trip’ finds Andy playing his guitar “as if it was a waterfall”. The journey ends with ‘Rudi’s Dream – The Third Bardo’, the trio accelerating onto the autobahn for a krautrock crescendo inspired by their studio’s resident cat.

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Koen Holtkamp has spent more than two decades shaping a body of work at the intersection of ambient, experimental, and electroacoustic music. Known for his role in the influential duo Mountains, as well as a solo catalog defined by texture and spatial awareness, Holtkamp has long explored how sound interacts with environment and perception. With Nightlife, he enters a new phase of that inquiry, one shaped as much by physical relocation as artistic evolution.

After leaving Brooklyn for the relatively rural setting of New York’s Hudson Valley, Holtkamp found himself immersed in nature and embracing a slower way of life, a shift that directly informed the album’s creation. Rather than rushing into a new project, he allowed the space itself to guide him, focusing on experimentation and play instead of a fixed outcome. Over time, a new instrument emerged from his modular system, built around physical modeling techniques that emulate plucked string sounds. Drawing on a deep affinity for acoustic traditions, from guitar soli to the kora and other chordophones, he began translating those influences into an electronic language, creating music that feels tangible, effusive, and even intimate, despite its synthetic nature. As the pieces took shape, Holtkamp expanded the project into a kind of imagined ensemble. Composed with specific collaborators in mind, the album features extensive contributions from drummer Greg Fox and saxophonist and flutist Matt Bauder, whose performances subtly reshape the material and draw it toward more fluid, song-like forms, alongside a guest appearance from Ben Vida on synth bass. Yet even as Nightlife occasionally resembles a band in motion, its construction resists traditional cohesion. Acoustic and electronic sources coexist to create a hyper-dimensional sense of space, with each element deliberately placed in its own distinct environment, yielding a complex yet inviting setting that feels both otherworldly and completely natural.

Much of the album was created during late-night sessions, which became a kind of personal ritual and ultimately inspired its title. Nightlife unfolds as a series of finely detailed environments, where stillness, texture, and subtle interplay take precedence over momentum. Each piece invites close listening while remaining open and unforced, reflecting both a change in pace and a deepening of focus. The result extends Holtkamp’s ongoing interest in how sound can shape, and be shaped by, the spaces we inhabit.

Imagination Lady is the fifth long-player for Stan Webb's Chicken Shack and was originally released in 1972.

Much in the same tradition as the great British bluesmen Alexis Corner and John Mayall, Webb's revolving-door personnel landed the band several notable members. For this album, Webb (guitar/vocals) gathered a trio consisting of himself, future Gods and Jethro Tull member John Glascock (bass), and Paul Hancox (drums). As with the previous Chicken Shack long-players, this disc features several Webb originals augmented with some well-chosen cover tunes.

The album opens with a ferocious cover of B.B. King's "Crying Won't Help You." In a style akin to the Faces or even some of the rowdier moments from the Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac, this trio grinds out the blues with a decidedly English edge, followes by the folkie "If I Were a Carpenter". "Daughter of the Hillside" & is Webb's most impressive contribution to the album. This straight-ahead rocker is an ideal trio effort recalling the intense instrumentality of Cream or early Led Zeppelin. The closing number "The Loser" is upbeat and almost pop-oriented, again displaying the immense strength of this Chicken Shack line up.

Imagination Lady is available as limited numbered edition of 1000 copies on red vinyl and comes in a gatefold sleeve.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952), the third novel in C. S. Lewis’ fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. It is also the third and final installment in the original Chronicles of Narnia film series. Set three years after the events of Prince Caspian, the film follows the two youngest Pevensie children, Edmund and Lucy, as they return to Narnia to join the new king Caspian in his quest to rescue seven lost lords and to save Narnia from a corrupting evil that resides on a dark island.

Composer David Arnold scored the film, with themes composed by Harry Gregson-Williams (who scored the first two films). It was Arnold’s fourth collaboration with director Michael Apted. He created specific themes for the characters The Dawn Treader and Reepicheep, and used themes from the previous films for the opening and closing scenes as well as recurring characters, to ensure that the film is consistent with the franchise. The score was performed by an 87-piece orchestra and a 40-piece choir, resulting in an epic soundtrack with just the right magical touch to compliment this film.

Originally released in 2017, Zara McFarlane’s Arise represents a classic moment in Brownswood Recordings catalogue. Just before the global spotlight landed on London's new jazz generation, Zara McFarlane was already forging her own path - connecting jazz, soul, reggae and Afro-Caribbean traditions with a confidence and clarity that remains striking nearly a decade later. Arise captures an artist operating with singular vision, creating a body of work that sounds every bit as fresh and forward-thinking today as it did on release.
The album also stands as an early landmark in the career of Moses Boyd, who produced and co-composed the record while serving as Zara's longtime drummer and musical collaborator. Years before his Mercury Prize-nominated breakthrough, Boyd helped shape Arise into a deeply personal exploration of heritage. The credit list is remarkable: Moses Boyd, Binker Golding, Shabaka Hutchings, Nathaniel Cross, Peter Edwards and Shirley Tetteh all contribute to a record that now reads like a roll call of British jazz royalty. The iconic cover shot was taken by Adama Jalloh, around the corner from Brownswood’s North London HQ.

Upon release, Arise was met with widespread critical acclaim. The Guardian praised “A Class Act" and celebrated its exploration of African-Caribbean musical lineage, while Clash Magazine described it as “enchanting and intriguing”. All About Jazz called the album's fusion of jazz and Jamaican rhythms "spellbinding".
As Brownswood celebrates its 20th birthday, we're proud to return one of the label's defining releases to vinyl, with the original copies being highly sought after. Pressed on limited edition gold vinyl, this special anniversary reissue is both a celebration of Zara McFarlane's artistry and a reminder of a record that was both ahead of its time, and whose influence resonantes today.

“When the flesh gets cut off the soul, it’s not the end.”

More than forty years after hardCORPS emerged from a Brixton basement, ‘Metal & Flesh’ returns in a new expanded edition on double vinyl and CD, newly remastered with the full involvement of surviving members Rob Doran and Clive Pierce. Born from the collision of punk, analogue synthesisers, sequencers, disco, reggae and experimental studio techniques, hardCORPS created electronic music that was as physical and emotional as it was mechanical. The arrival of French vocalist Regine Fetet gave the group its defining identity, placing her raw, uncompromising voice against the dense machinery of Hugh Ashton, Clive Pierce and Rob Doran. Working mainly with a Roland System 100, several Roland MC4 sequencers and later an additional MC500 and Atari ST 1040 computers, etc. pp., hardCORPS always transformed limitations, accidents, distortion and human imperfection into part of the music itself. Although rooted in the early 1980s, ‘Metal & Flesh’ refuses easy nostalgia, retaining the tension, space and character that made hardCORPS unlike their contemporaries. Yet, shall we eventually mention Kraftwerk, maybe let’s quote Ian Shirley from Record Collector magazine: „’Je Suis Passée‘ was not only a love letter to Kraftwerk but penned with such verve, passion and precision that Ralf and Florian probably would have accepted a blind date at a Düsseldorf cocktail bar (…).“ And as Martin Rushent famously said in 1990: “Hard Corps were ignored in their time. Perhaps it is the burden of the adventurous and the innovative to be ignored in their time, which is sad. Don’t ignore them now.”

This new edition has been carefully remastered to preserve that character and dynamics rather than simply making the recordings louder or more ‘modern’, while the artwork has likewise been developed to reflect the band’s original identity. Metal & Flesh’ is not merely an artefact of the 1980s, but a rare and fiercely individual document of four people discovering what happens when human instinct and machines collide.

Remastered by Martin Bowes. Graphic design by hard CORPS and Steve Lippert.

Gatefold sleeve gloss lamination, printed inner sleeves with lyrics, two double-sided hand-numbered.

SLOT is the high-energy, dance-punk project of couple Abby Detrich (vocals) and Max Detrich (bass, drum machine), based in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Their music is a potent, genre-fusing sound described as gritty but flirty pop songs with a punk, in-your-face delivery, and pumping, heavy, danceable beats. Drawing on dance punk, noise pop, and alt-rock, their sound is rooted in Max's transition from drummer to electronic beats via a Boss DR-5 drum machine, with Abby contributing lyrics and dynamic vocals. The band's upcoming album is a bold, flirty, punchy, and raw statement, delving into themes of the intersection of performance and sexuality, self-acceptance, and personal reclamation. It was recorded with collaborator Danny Gibney in Harrisonburg, VA, capturing an experimental sound inspired by Y2K media. SLOT delivers an energetic, bratty, and in-your-face live show, having shared the stage with bands like Brainiac and played festivals like MACROCK. Beyond music, Abby is a floral artist and Max is a graphic designer, and they are both dedicated to progressive community causes in Baltimore.

SLOT is the high-energy, dance-punk project of couple Abby Detrich (vocals) and Max Detrich (bass, drum machine), based in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Their music is a potent, genre-fusing sound described as gritty but flirty pop songs with a punk, in-your-face delivery, and pumping, heavy, danceable beats. Drawing on dance punk, noise pop, and alt-rock, their sound is rooted in Max's transition from drummer to electronic beats via a Boss DR-5 drum machine, with Abby contributing lyrics and dynamic vocals. The band's upcoming album is a bold, flirty, punchy, and raw statement, delving into themes of the intersection of performance and sexuality, self-acceptance, and personal reclamation. It was recorded with collaborator Danny Gibney in Harrisonburg, VA, capturing an experimental sound inspired by Y2K media. SLOT delivers an energetic, bratty, and in-your-face live show, having shared the stage with bands like Brainiac and played festivals like MACROCK. Beyond music, Abby is a floral artist and Max is a graphic designer, and they are both dedicated to progressive community causes in Baltimore.

2026 Repress

With Augustus Williams Metroplex welcomes one of Detroit's new generation of electro and techno explorers to the label. His debut titled ,,Increaser EP" offers four tracks of celestial funk deeply indebted to the classic sound of Metroplex. The EP starts off with ,,The Hook-Up", a bouncy yet minimal electro permutation built around a propulsive Bassline and a percolating synth arpeggio. On the other three tracks Williams flexes his techno muscle and shows his keen sense for deep and focused techno-soul with a futurist edge that has any dance floor heaving with energy. - most notably in the noisy abstractions of ,,Submission".

Meet Matas Petrikas, a music producer, DJ, and book author with a passion for electronic music. Born in Lithuania during the time when it was still a part of the Soviet Union, Matas began experimenting with electronic sounds during his teenage years using self-built instruments and recording equipment. In 1991, Matas took a trip to Berlin that would change his life forever. There, he encountered the early years of techno culture, which led him to co-found EXEM, one of the first house and techno bands in the former Soviet space. With EXEM, Matas was one of the pioneers of electronic dance music in Lithuania, and by the end of the decade, they had charted numerous hits. They performed live shows ranging from intimate clubs to massive arenas, sewing the seeds of the local electronic music scene. Since then he relocated to Berlin and has forged a musical solo career focused on live-sets, experimentation, and authoring the book 'The Joy of Electronic Music'. The Unknown is Matas’ first release on his newly formed imprint Dangė Records, focused on supporting electronic music from Lithuania and the Baltics. The 6 track EP forges his love for texture heavy hypnotic techno with industrial and warehouse leaning low end and percussion. Although mainly an EP rooted in driving a groove, the use of earworm worthy basslines, rave breaky drums, and squelchy lead synths is where Matas’ long career foray into many genres of electronic music shines through. Dangė Records releases electronic music from Lithuania and the Baltics—sounds that emerge from underwater, carried by artists who inherited the weight of transformation.

"Back in 2022, Ban Ban Ton Ton raved about George T’s then digital-only release, “Roll On, Kings Cross”. We described it as a “dynamite dose of poetry and digidub.” Likening the prose – which describes a train journey from the coast to the city – to Michael Smith and Joe Duggan, while comparing the production to Dennis Bovell’s remixes of Jarvis Cocker’s “Swanky Modes”, and The Sabres Of Paradise’s “Wilmot”. Melodica-led with a hefty post-punk flavour, its dub, which focuses on manipulating and morphing the bass-line, we called “hollowed out house.”

These tracks have now been pressed to vinyl for the second release on new imprint Noetic Rhythm, where they’re joined by Leonidas’ “Great Northern” mix. Eschewing his usual futuristic ethno techno jacking, here he drops into roots reggae. Creating something more skanking, more stepping. An extended “discomix” showered in filtered, Mutron Bi-phased percussion, ghostly horns and peppered with the odd syndrum pop. Washes of sampled surf appropriately accompanying George informing us that “to the left there’s the sea.”

The 12 also features, “Dr Doctor”, a fresh collaboration with Yas Mine, The singer / guitarist’s French vocals countering George’s Matt Johnson-esque delivery, and a John Barry / “Midnight Cowboy”-like melodica melody serenading the song’s slow, squelchy, electronic skanking. The dub, instead, showcasing Yas’ fine fretwork." BAN BAN TON TON review

-

"These tracks are massive! I love Roll On King's Cross the best" KAY SUZKI (Time Capsule)
"I played the dub (Dub On, King's Cross) at a club in Oslo alongside some Maurizio and it sounded great. Bit of an oddball." Also played on NTS Radio and in Mixmag mix. JONNIE WILKES // OPTIMO
"Really digging Mr Demure when he drops into dubwise" DR ROB // BAN BAN TON TON
"Yes. Nice" NICK THE RECORD
"Awesome" JONNY ROCK
"I really like this EP... Love the Leonidas dub!" CEDRIC WOO (Beauty & The Beat, LDN)
"Love the blend of Augustus P vibes with a post punk dub feel. Bingo!" DICKY TRISCO
"I love it and will be playing" TREVOR FUNG (Ibiza Legend)
"Yes this is dark but kinda friendly.... brilliant...It's like ghost town ...I love Leo's mix" FOR MANKIND (Pikes Ibiza)
"Love the release and LOVE LOVE LOVE Dr Doctor!!!! Psyched to play this one out all weekend." ZILLAS ON ACID // James Weissinger (Philadelphia, US)
"This is amazing. Dub on kings cross is a banger - really love this one" ARVEENE
"Loving the Leonidas dub" ATEMI (Blackbush Orchestra / Abstrack)
+
PREVIOUSLY
"Melodica heaven" JD TWITCH/OPTIMO (RIP)
"I love this" IVAN SMAGGHE
"It's hot!!" JONNY ROCK
+ plays/support from:
DON LETTS (BBC 6Music)
TOM RAVENSCROFT (BBC 6Music)
HARRI (Sub Club)






[f] Roll On, King's Cross [Leonidas' Great Northern Mix] 06:54
[g] Dr Doctor [Instrumental Mix] 03:25

The group's goal was, "Let's go back to melodic tunes, let's be more of a proper rock band," Hozie explains. Sonically, the band aimed for "this late '80's/ early 90's Stone Roses- meets- Janes Addiction thing, with more riffing and guitar solos." Where the band's earlier material took a more explicitly sociopolitical bent, Hozie and Belfilgio's writing on 'All Inside Aquarium' is deliberately more concerned with the personal, poetics, and play. With each single from the album, the band have created a limited edition 7" singles series. Each 7" has a unique colour and individual exclusive artwork that corresponds to a section of the 'All Inside Aquarium' album cover designed by Nikki. BODEGA, passionate defenders of the lost art of curating B- sides, made sure that each disc comes with an exclusive B- side track that's not available digitally, or on the album. Vinyl collectors and BODEGA heads will surely want to catch them all.

Jude Brothers sails toward a new shore with Dogwood Maiden Voyage. Created in living rooms, recording studios, and train tunnels between Tennessee and Arkansas, it's an adventurous album that's every bit as eclectic as its world-traveling creator. Here, Jude's vision of freethinking folk music — a multicultural sound that truly knows no borders, inspired by a vast array of global folk, sacred music, and pop songs— is given a lush update with string arrangements and vocal harmonies, shining new light on an artist who's always evolving.

Jude's songs are rarely linear. Instead, they explode outward in unexpected directions, exploring left-hand turns and detours before returning to their original paths. Caught halfway between the free-form, the freak-folk, and the finely-crafted, they tell stories about the complicated paths we take toward self-discovery, the push-and-pull between the desire to belong and the perpetual feeling of otherness, and the growth that emerges during times of barrenness. "You can sit with an old southerner on the porch and they’ll be telling you a story, and there are 17 different tangents," Jude says. "That's how I make music. I take all different plot lines and weave them together."

Throughout Dogwood Maiden Voyage, Jude indulges in childlike fantasy as an adult, encouraging fractured pieces of identity to communicate with one another. Much of that fantasy takes place in the woods, surrounded by trees, protected by the natural world that Jude's music so wistfully evokes. There's grief and darkness here, but there's light, too, like a forested landscape that's beginning to embrace spring after a long winter. Dogwood Maiden Voyage makes room for both sides of that divide. It's an album of multitudes — a record for all seasons.

With 'The Electro Guilde III EP' Zodiak Commune Records once again presents a selection of well-known and label-recurring electro-acid producers who take you on their various adventurous musical journeys.

'Collateral Funk' is a one shot live recording funky acid Electro track by Acidulant and inspired by the likes of Dynamix II

'We Will Survive' by Dima Gastroler is a fantasy about robots fighting for their rights in the future world of global robotisation. Dynamic electro and psychedelic pads make it sound like that battle. We will survive!

Step into the world of pozek with 'EPT', a 128 BPM electro-acid tune that takes inspiration from 80s toys like Speak & Spell and classic old-school electro. The track weaves quirky, retro acid lines with driving electro beats, creating a perfect fusion of nostalgia and futuristic energy.

When johnfaustus start an electro track for Zodiak commune Records, he always have in mind the journey of a spaceship to the edge of a dark galaxy. No exception with 'Oberon', syncopated rhythms, abrasive basslines and a dark spacy theme

Thursday, 2025. Philadelphia. South Philly, to be precise. A basement, to be even more precise. And not just any basement, but the subterranean headquarters of Zillas On Acid.

Which is where Roman Flügel found himself, presumably with good intentions. Some time before that, he had decided to wake Sister Midnight from its slumber.
But rather than simply carrying on where things had left off, a new idea was needed. Enter Sister Midnight Special Products: a new series dedicated to collaborations, chance encounters and other musical situations that deserve to become records.

No grand manifesto, no five-year plan. Just making music with people you like, in places you happen to find yourself, and seeing what happens. Special Product 01 is “Conga Dream,” born from a basement jam with Zillas On Acid and apparently unwilling to behave itself ever since.

Three musical free spirits meet somewhere between the basement, the dancefloor and the more pleasantly confused corners of the mind. Club music is involved, certainly, but functionality has been politely asked to wait outside. Instead: pocketprotector synthesizers, a little E-mu Proteus 3, assorted electronic activity and, as advertised, congas.

The result is less a tool than a small trip. Or perhaps a tool for taking small trips.
Either way, it works.

Zillas On Acid put it like this:
“A basement jam deep beneath the streets of Zilladelphia yields surprising results: pocket protector synths, a dash of E-mu Proteus 3, and yes of course the aforementioned congas.”

And with that, Sister Midnight Special Products is officially open for business.

Dream on.

Mastered by Mike Grinser at Man Made Mastering.

Artwork by Saskia Randt.

Essential. A flawless and wonderful release from a true veteran. Fort Romeau has spent years sharpening his craft, and "Be With U" hits with the polish to show for it. Pulled from his own imprint Romantic Gestures, this is deep, hypnotic house at its most refined: immaculately produced, crisply mastered, and unmistakably his. Pressed on 180g black vinyl.

Following the success of Naturalisten’s release “Forms”, E2-E8 is back with the latest offering from Milan-based artist Joseph Tagliabue. “Espansione” presents a meticulously crafted sonic exploration that transcends conventional genre boundaries. It is a double LP consisting of four distinct parts: an ambient concept presented in Part 1 & 2, and four techno tracks in Part 3 & 4. This structure makes for a multifaceted listening experience, seamlessly blending organic textures with synthetic manipulations.

Part 1 & 2 delve into immersive, post-natural ambient soundscapes. Tagliabue constructs a vaporous, dreamlike environment through the interplay of modular synthesis, analog effects, and meticulously designed soundscapes. The journey into the forest is not a merely thematic narrative, but rather a visceral sonic realisation. These expansive compositions, devoid of clear demarcations, invite the listener to a lysergic, meditative retreat, where ritualistic and mystical elements converge. The blurring of lines between machine and nature is a central motif, achieved through ethereal layers seamlessly integrated with ambient textures.

The album as a whole is a sophisticated sound collage, highlighting Tagliabue’s mastery of sonic manipulation. The dense sonic flow, characterised by echoes of distant temples and molten synthetic modulations, creates a compelling auditory and potentially visual experience. The interplay between organic and synthetic, combined with the album’s thematic depth, makes Espansione a noteworthy evolution in Joseph’s artistic expression. A work designed to be both deeply listened to, and physically experienced.

Early support comes from Vladimir Ivkovic, Marco Shuttle, Konduku, among others.

"Da fällt mir doch die Kinnlade runter - Hier in euren glücklichen Händen liegen die urzeitlichen Kassetten-Kuscheleien, die aus einem weit entfernten Keller in Baltimore von jenen - mittlerweile sicherlich fast schon mythischen - The Smashing Times heraufströmten. Erhabene Feldaufnahmen, die scheinbar die Kluft zwischen einer aufkeimenden unterirdischen Folk-Rock-Renaissance überbrücken und doch kurz auf schimmernde DIY-Jangle-Pop-Anklänge aus der Jugendrebellion dieses alten Griesgrams treffen, ohne einen Hauch von revisionistischem Ritual oder irgendetwas Trendigem (wie etwa ein emotionaler Komplex). Das besagte Quintett schreitet durch schwindelerregende Tracks voller skurriler Art-Pop-Meisterleistungen, zaubert ein Labyrinth aus großartiger Ausrüstung herbei, trotzt kultureller Langeweile - und ihr werdet schon vor dem Nachmittagstee völlig umgehauen sein und bald ins Bett müssen. Also macht euch ein Bild davon und hört euch die Smashing Times an." - Sam Knee

Futurismo proudly present a vital compilation born in the shadows of American punk; AMERICAN GRAVE Gothic Punk / Deathrock USA: 1978-1988, the third volume in their Altered Vision anthology series.

Drawing from darkest depths of the American spirit, American Grave is testament to a subculture spawned from late night savagery, graveyard hangouts and suburban isolation. Deathrock, post-punk, goth, whatever term you prefer, this compilation showcases the sounds and aesthetics of a tarnished golden era, an underground movement that took the DIY concepts of punk and the velocity of a burgeoning hardcore scene and immersed it in echoes, distortion, tribal rhythms and macabre vocals, thematically preying upon cult horror flicks, surrealism, and the manipulation of religious iconography. Whilst the UK had a counterpart scene many would hail as Goth, this was different, this was a truly American incarnation, a new breed of youth haunted by the ghosts of old blues, garage and glam, bleak theatrical imagery dressed up to evoke a response, smeared eyeliner, leather, bones…black. This was a backlash against a culture in decay, bucking against a puritanical oppression brought on by the archaic social standards set by their parents. It was aggression manifested as gloom, it was a ceremony, the celebration of death.

American Grave has been co-curated by Wesley Eisold (Cold Cave/American Nightmare/Heartworm Press) in collaboration with Futurismo head honcho Del Jae, to bring you a haunting tracklist ranging from the all important integral mainstays of the genre to those rarer and more elusive artists, including many recordings that have never been reissued before on any format. Featuring the music of Christian Death, T.S.O.L., The Cramps, Of A Mesh, The Gun Club, Twisted Roots, Kommunity FK, The Brainz, Theatre Of Ice, Burning Image, Fur Bible, PSI Com, Shadow Of Fear, Super Heroines, 45 Grave and more.

The music on this compilation is reinstated further from a visual perspective by an array of incredible images by famed punk photographer Edward Colver, and lovingly designed to the level you would expect from a Futurismo release.

2xLP on limited edition ‘Splintered Tomb’ coloured vinyl. It is housed in a gloss laminated outer sleeve with colour inner sleeves and contains a large fold-out poster with unseen photos by the great Edward Colver, words by Lisa Fancher and liner notes by Wesley Eisold of Cold Cave/American Nightmare.

2026 Repress

Celebrating 50 years since the release of the iconic Cathedrals album, U.S. disco legend D.C. LaRue returns with never-before-released remixes of all four original classics—pressed on strictly limited vinyl.
Top contemporary disco producers The Reflex, Dr. Packer, and Mannix breathe new life into LaRue’s 1976 masterpiece:
The Reflex (Stevie Wonder, Cerrone) delivers dancefloor-driven edits using digitized analog multitracks.
Dr. Packer (First Choice, Loleatta Holloway) reinvents one of LaRue’s biggest hits with fresh, soulful energy.
Mannix, head of Dafia Records, adds deep, dubby textures to complete this dynamic remix package.
Each track is respectfully reimagined—maintaining the emotional depth of the originals while enhancing clarity, rhythm, and relevance with modern production.
Bonus: Includes two standout remixes from LaRue’s second LP The Tea Dance—"Overture" (The Reflex) and "O Ba Ba" (Mannix).
These remixes aren’t just nostalgic—they’re timeless. Essential for collectors, DJs, and anyone who lives for disco.
Grab your copy before it’s gone.

Beneath the sleek, confident guitar line that powers “Overdrive,” the lead single of All Over You, another guitar marks the time more impatiently, as if the groove its locked into is the timebomb- tightness of a pre-hookup heartbeat. Its energy isn’t nervous — after all, it’s hard to be nervous with Will Schwartz cooing come-ons like “I just wanna get you in the bed / Light you up like a cigarette” in your ear — but it is urgent. Excited. Titillated.


That’s the word that best describes the prospect of a new Imperial Teen record: titillating. They come out every five or six years, each new album acting as, to quote Roddy Bottum, “an episodic piece of where we are now, where the world is now, who we have become, and the geography of our collective consciousness.” There is considerable distance between Imperial Teen, its members — Bottum (guitars, keyboards, vocals), Schwartz (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Jone Stebbins (bass, vocals), and Lynn Truell (drums, vocals) — having made lives for themselves in different cities, but the collective consciousness that exists between them makes distance and time seem immaterial to the listener.


Time, especially time together, is not immaterial to Imperial Teen: it is precious. “For the last few records,” Stebbins explains, “the process has been similar. We live great distances away from each other, so initially, we get together to collaborate, write, and create. When we have enough material, we reconvene to record. Both scenarios, creating and recording, take multiple trips, sometimes with big lapses of time in between due to our various schedules.” Bottum concurs: “The biggest challenge in writing and recording is the distance between us, but the longing and desire and the ultimate coming together becomes more potent as a result.”


All Over You is a triumph of maximized moments together, four people bringing the force of their personalities to bear on years of built-up ideas. Title track “All Over You,” initially built over the computer, gained its charming sneer in the studio, where Stebbins’ buoyant, fuzzed out bassline added bounce to the song’s punchy, sloganeering lyrics, a perfect set-up for Truell to drive the song home, screaming the last line of the chorus, “We’ve got nothing to do,” like a rallying cry for a generation that’s been given nothing and told to deny themselves everything. “In my head,” Truell says, “I just went back to punk, to that feeling of prowling around looking for anything to do and being so mad about how boring everything is that you just have to yell.” The track had an attitude, it had an unexpected texture thanks to Truell’s playing improvised percussion, but her scream is what took it to the next level, transforming it into a signature Imperial Teen song.


One of Imperial Teen’s less magical concerns on All Over You is the effect capitalism has on the creation of art. This expresses itself in the headspinning rush of music industry success and disappointment that plays out in “Hands All Up,” and also in Imperial Teen’s sound. All Over You features the band’s most expansive, textured palette to date, and much of it’s steeped in — bubblegum music and boy/girl harmonies, electro beats and grungy distortion, power pop mall anthems and kiss-off lyricism — has been dismissed, at one point or another, as a fad. Time, of course, has proven otherwise, and All Over You makes a case for Imperial Teen as four of that time’s architects, inheriting, preserving, and pushing the boundaries of what pop music can be from one song to the next.


“We want to make people dance and think and feel,” says Schwartz. In all of those ambitions, All Over You crushes, brought to life by four musicians who found each other in the clubs of San Francisco over three decades ago and have remained family ever since. It is less a return from hiatus than a broadcast from the sonic utopia Imperial Teen has long ruled over, where the music is bratty and sexy and the parties don’t stop until everyone’s found euphoria. A raveup for mind, body, and soul, best enjoyed in a dark room packed with as many sweaty bodies as possible

Beneath the sleek, confident guitar line that powers “Overdrive,” the lead single of All Over You, another guitar marks the time more impatiently, as if the groove its locked into is the timebomb- tightness of a pre-hookup heartbeat. Its energy isn’t nervous — after all, it’s hard to be nervous with Will Schwartz cooing come-ons like “I just wanna get you in the bed / Light you up like a cigarette” in your ear — but it is urgent. Excited. Titillated.


That’s the word that best describes the prospect of a new Imperial Teen record: titillating. They come out every five or six years, each new album acting as, to quote Roddy Bottum, “an episodic piece of where we are now, where the world is now, who we have become, and the geography of our collective consciousness.” There is considerable distance between Imperial Teen, its members — Bottum (guitars, keyboards, vocals), Schwartz (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Jone Stebbins (bass, vocals), and Lynn Truell (drums, vocals) — having made lives for themselves in different cities, but the collective consciousness that exists between them makes distance and time seem immaterial to the listener.


Time, especially time together, is not immaterial to Imperial Teen: it is precious. “For the last few records,” Stebbins explains, “the process has been similar. We live great distances away from each other, so initially, we get together to collaborate, write, and create. When we have enough material, we reconvene to record. Both scenarios, creating and recording, take multiple trips, sometimes with big lapses of time in between due to our various schedules.” Bottum concurs: “The biggest challenge in writing and recording is the distance between us, but the longing and desire and the ultimate coming together becomes more potent as a result.”


All Over You is a triumph of maximized moments together, four people bringing the force of their personalities to bear on years of built-up ideas. Title track “All Over You,” initially built over the computer, gained its charming sneer in the studio, where Stebbins’ buoyant, fuzzed out bassline added bounce to the song’s punchy, sloganeering lyrics, a perfect set-up for Truell to drive the song home, screaming the last line of the chorus, “We’ve got nothing to do,” like a rallying cry for a generation that’s been given nothing and told to deny themselves everything. “In my head,” Truell says, “I just went back to punk, to that feeling of prowling around looking for anything to do and being so mad about how boring everything is that you just have to yell.” The track had an attitude, it had an unexpected texture thanks to Truell’s playing improvised percussion, but her scream is what took it to the next level, transforming it into a signature Imperial Teen song.


One of Imperial Teen’s less magical concerns on All Over You is the effect capitalism has on the creation of art. This expresses itself in the headspinning rush of music industry success and disappointment that plays out in “Hands All Up,” and also in Imperial Teen’s sound. All Over You features the band’s most expansive, textured palette to date, and much of it’s steeped in — bubblegum music and boy/girl harmonies, electro beats and grungy distortion, power pop mall anthems and kiss-off lyricism — has been dismissed, at one point or another, as a fad. Time, of course, has proven otherwise, and All Over You makes a case for Imperial Teen as four of that time’s architects, inheriting, preserving, and pushing the boundaries of what pop music can be from one song to the next.


“We want to make people dance and think and feel,” says Schwartz. In all of those ambitions, All Over You crushes, brought to life by four musicians who found each other in the clubs of San Francisco over three decades ago and have remained family ever since. It is less a return from hiatus than a broadcast from the sonic utopia Imperial Teen has long ruled over, where the music is bratty and sexy and the parties don’t stop until everyone’s found euphoria. A raveup for mind, body, and soul, best enjoyed in a dark room packed with as many sweaty bodies as possible