Suche:wat

On his new album, Micha Acher rearranged compositions for bands such as Tied & Tickled Trio and Ms. John Soda from previous years.

Why are we interested in ghosts? What fascinates us about the eerie? According to cultural theorist Mark Fisher, the allure that the eerie possesses is not captured by the idea that we „enjoy what scares us“. It has, rather, to do with a fascination for the outside. For that which lies beyond standard perception, cognition or experience, as he writes in his book „The Weird and the Eerie“.

In fact, also none of the 15 pieces from Henry and the Ghost is really scary. On the contrary, they all feel strangely familiar. Like revenants or doppelgängers, which in fact they are. They have all been released before. But in a different form. In different line-ups. With different band projects such as Tied & Tickled Trio, The Notwist or the Alien Ensemble.

With the „Songbook“, Micha Acher's aim was, as he says, to find out how the familiar pieces sound in a chamber music instrumentation. Therefore he met with Theresa Loibl (bass clarinet, piano), Timm Kornelius (bassoon), Markus Rom (guitar, banjo, electronics) and Simon Popp (drums, percussion) in his living room for a musical séance in the summer of 2022. The séance lasted two days. Afterwards, Markus Rom (Oh No Noh), added some haunting electronical ideas.

The mood of most of the pieces is melancholic. There are surprising twists and siren-like melodies. Just as ghost stories should be. However, most of the songs sound very light-footed. With their feet in pop, folk, jazz and classical music. Pieces such as „Johanna“ with its wheezing harmonium and spooky piano, or the dreamy „Modest Farewell“ on the other hand have a cinematic flair. Immediately faces and scenes arise in the mind. But at the beginning, there is „Hamlet“. It starts with ghostly electronics and merges into a calm, almost classical guitar piece. Could it be that the ghost of Hamlet's father is hiding between the strings?

„34E“ begins with a banjo. Then the deep humming of Micha Achers sousaphone and the other brass instruments kick in. In the slow, solemn „Aelita“, the sousaphone starts a dialogue with a children's piano. With the banjo and the other wind instruments acting as mediators. The title of „All Tomorrow's Past“ brings Velvet Undergrounds „All Tomorrow's Parties“ to mind. Another ghost from the past. What connects the two pieces is free-floating percussion, which accompanies the sumptuous melodies.

„Arc“ takes us on an exhilarating voyage at sea, with the sousaphone providing powerful propulsion. Towards the end, things get quite turbulent. With the clarinet stirring up the water, before the sea calms down again. „Henry and the Ghost“ is characterised by a ghostly mood change between major and minor. In „Radio Four“ the banjo with its stoic chords keeps the lively brass section in check. „Solid Ground“ is imbued with melancholy. „Space Minor“ takes us into outer space, with the power of sousaphone and percussion.

„Tomorrows“ is filled with cautious optimism. And the concluding „Nordlead“ turns out to be a revenant of the instrumental „N.L.“ from The Notwist's legendary album „Shrink“ from 1998. In the new version, the piece sounds like a distant echo. One that also brings to mind how Micha Acher's music has evolved. Which new worlds he explored and opened up since the nineties. And yet Acher's signature is recognisable in every single note of this fascinating „Songbook“.

MEGAPTERA, the scientific name of the humpback whale, is also the title of the new album by French producer and composer Rone.


Born from an ambitious film project, the record was largely composed at sea, off the coasts of Brittany and Réunion Island, using a modular synthesizer and melodic sketches developed for an almost unreal proposition: attempting to resonate with whales through music.


Following Room With a View—a soundtrack to a performance created with the alternative dance company La Horde, exploring collapse and rebirth—Rone continues his investigation into new imaginaries. If that earlier work emerged from reflections on ecological, social, and technological tipping points, MEGAPTERA marks a shift: away from the city, toward the sea.


Gradually, he moved away from performance toward a more craft-based approach, extending his practice beyond the studio into a wider space of listening, exchange, and fieldwork. Early footage of sailors broadcasting his work into open water—seemingly answered by whale presence—circulated online, generating fascination, but also a growing unease for the artist regarding what these projections might imply.


This tension became the starting point for a longer period of field experimentation, developed in dialogue with scientists, environmentalists, sailors, and bioacousticians. The resulting 15-track album reflects this open-ended inquiry — not only into whether human-made sound can reach whales, but also into how this process can shape a new form of electronic music, and open it towards new deep-sea soundscapes.


Rather than seeking imitation, Rone works with reduction. Drawing on research into cetacean vocalisation, he pares back his language—focusing on frequency bands, repetition, and suspended structures. Minimalism appears less as reference than as natural convergence.

Presenting the third thematic volume on the “Aquapelagos" series - a collection of split LPs where selected artists offer their own take into water surrounded cultures and communities. After the initial release of the Anthology compilation Aquapelago in 2022 (Discrepant ,CREP91) and the split LP Atlantico by Lagoss & Banha da Cobra (Keroxen, KRXN027) as well as the direct collaboration LP Índico by Mike Cooper & Pierre Bastien we proudly introduce an the third volume in the series in the shape of no other than two inspiring artists, Vica Pacheco and Pak Yan Lau. Two different sound journeys inspired by the majestic and peaceful Pacific Ocean, the vastest, largest and deepest ocean of our planet.

Vica Pacheco’s composition takes a calm meditation approach where water flutes and synths brush shoulders to create a ever expanding mind journey whereas Pak Yan Lau’s ambitions Neo classical piece, The Ocean in Us, talks about that grand overwhelming feeling, that vast space deep under, on the bottom of the Pacific. Both compositions were recorded and created with the particular wet acoustics of the Tank in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in mind.

From Philip Hayward and Matt Hill’s liner notes: ‘’The Pacific is a complex space, comprising a third of the Earth’s surface. A cascade of islands runs along its eastern flank, down from the Kamchatka peninsula, through Japan, Taiwan, The Philippines, Melanesia and on to Australasia. In its watery heart the islands of Micronesia and Polynesia stretch across huge distances, north-east to the Hawaiian archipelago, south east to Rapa Nui and south west to Aotearoa and Chatham island. Closer to the shores of the Americas lie Tierra del Fuego, the Galapagos Islands, Haida Gwaii and the Aleutians. This is a space that resists easy characterisation. The Pacific laps the shores of Japan and Chile, the beaches of Australia’s East Coast and the cold, damp coasts of British Colombia and Alaska alike. Indeed, the space is so vast that it is a world in itself and one rarely navigated in its entirety. In this manner, strands of genres and the songs that reflect them are components in an intricate mesh of associations.‘’ Philip Hayward and Matt Hill, April 2022

Born Bad Records knew exactly what it was doing when it signed this Nantes-based trio, whose sharply defined sound and raw authenticity stand out. With Rage Blossom, Île de Garde unveils an EP charged with palpable tension, somewhere between dark pop and psycho-wave. A catalogue of modern misdeeds, a David Lynch-like backdrop where Sylvia Plath’s poetry might cross paths with the controlled excesses of Fever Ray.



The EP opens with “Fear The Sun,” its Mike Oldfield-esque soundscapes plunging us into an apocalyptic and unsettling world. “Homicide Volontaire” follows with meticulous narration, a technical exercise evoking the anger and defiant lucidity of a Virginie Despentes. The hallucinatory hit “To Death” snaps like an anthem to collective dancing in the face of the inevitable. Since we’re going to die, let’s dance! On the B-side, “Ageless Woman” weaves together a half-mythological, half-mysterious text, carried by haunting backing vocals. “Birthday Girl,” featuring Kuntessa, radiates an ironic and joyful riot-grrrl energy, an uninhibited celebration of women’s liberation. Finally, “Boy,” a small post-punk jewel, closes the EP with an ending as surprising as it is delicate.

The group’s genius also lies in the complementarity of its musicians. Morgane Poulain anchors the drums with a dynamic that is both subtle and narrative, airy yet jagged. Cécile Aurégan, the architect behind a multitude of synths, builds powerful sonic landscapes, layer upon layer. Klara Coudrais, the band’s poetic figurehead, elevates her texts with a rich and plural vocal palette, giving life to several characters who vibrate with intensity. The band’s writing, hovering between darkness and light, echoes a kind of visceral poetry, exploring the seasons of the soul with authenticity and force.



With this EP, Île de Garde establishes itself as a band to watch closely, capable of translating on stage both the raw energy and the fine craftsmanship that define their music. An immersive journey, full of tension, urgency, beauty, and electric flashes.



Île de Garde, a Nantes-based trio with sharply drawn sonic contours and raw authenticity, unleashes its full arsenal on Rage Blossom, an EP radiating palpable tension between dark pop and psycho-wave. A catalogue of modern misdeeds, a David Lynch-like setting where Sylvia Plath’s poetry would meet the controlled excesses of Fever Ray. An immersive journey of tension, urgency, beauty, and electric sparks.

Opening track “Fear The Sun” plunges us into an apocalyptic and unsettling landscape. “Homicide Volontaire” continues with meticulous storytelling, a crime vignette evoking anger and the fierce lucidity summoned by a situation with no way out. The hallucinatory trance of “To Death” snaps like an anthem to collective dance in the face of the inevitable. Since we are going to die, let’s dance! “Ageless Woman” blends a half-mythological, half-mysterious text, carried by hypnotic backing vocals. “Birthday Girl,” featuring Kuntessa, releases an ironic and joyful riot-grrrl spirit, an uninhibited celebration of feminine liberation. Finally, “Boy,” a small post-punk case study, closes the EP with a simple, sensitive truth.



The three musicians propel and relay one another in this breathless race. Morgane Poulain drives the drums with a dynamic that is both subtle and narrative, airy yet staccato. Cécile Aurégan, architect of multiple synths, builds powerful sonic landscapes, layer after layer. Klara Coudrais, the storyteller, elevates her texts with a rich and multifaceted vocal palette, giving life to all their characters, both mythical and ordinary. The band’s writing, between darkness and light, proclaims a visceral poetry, exploring the seasons of the soul with authenticity and strength.

The funky, atmospheric, evocative and sometimes downright weird output of companies such as DeWolfe, Cavendish, Burton and the ubiquitous KPM have always been a guiding inspiration for ATA Records, as evidenced in the spooky soundtrack works of The Sorcerers, the big band brass of The Yorkshire Film & Television Orchestra and even in the soul-jazz of The Lewis Express ('Theme From The Watcher).

Everything released on ATA is written and guided by the label heads Neil Innes and Pete Williams, who frequently dip their toes in the Library pond while working on other projects. These occasional one-off tracks have accumulated over the past few years and have now found a home on the first volume of an ongoing series : The Library Archive

Recorded using the same techniques and equipment used to create the now legendary catalogues of music sold to the film and television industry of the 60's & 70's, The Library Archive could easily sit alongside the plain minimalist covers of KPM or Telesound.

The fierce Brass of 'Whack, Slap & Blow' and 'Kaye Okay' could both be a Keith Mansfield cut, acting as a theme tune to a glamorous saturday night tv show circa 1972. 'Duck Strut' is a cheeky slice of Bass driven Brit-funk, Muted horns and flute adding an element of Quincy Jones amongst the grooving drums and percussion. 'The Needle Nose', 'Midnight Heist' and 'Wiretap' are amongst the more cinematic tracks on the album. Moody and atmospheric, they conjure up images of dark alleys, shadowy figures and dead letter drops. 'Wigged out' channels the wonky organ weirdness of Italian library legends I Marc 4 while 'Nuclear Wind I & II' use Moog and Mellotron as electronic counterpoint to ethereal voices. 'Siren's sea's' acoustic interlude conjures up images of distant clifftops, gossamer vocals enticing you onto the rocks before album closer 'Planet Nine' traverses the cosmos.

Water can retain or wash away memory; flowing or freezing. It gives life and shapes earth, while frozen imprints of an ancient past are waiting to melt – back into sound or fluid motion, or simply to dissipate and disappear. For their split release, Yoichi Kamimura and Olli Aarni offer two distinct reinterpretations of a performance recorded live at the Temppeliaukio Kirkko – a church in Helsinki built directly into solid rock and bathed in natural light – meditating on glacial landscapes and water cycles, using shared field recordings that bifurcate into two sonic visions of “ice journey”.

Yoichi Kamimura’s extensive recordings formed the bedrock of the original performance, notably from time spent on Suomenlinna Island just outside Helsinki in 2021, aiming to capture the remnants of the glacial movements that formed the area’s geology. Elsewhere, the voices of ringed seals, underground waterways of Kyoto, and icy rivers in Lapland from Kamimura’s library float in as well. “The small, charming, and gentle islands floating in the Baltic Sea—some with little cottages and restaurants—reminded me of the drifting ice in the Sea of Okhotsk between Japan and Russia,” describes Kamimura. Fragments of a Christmas choir creep in too, recorded at the church on Suomenlinna Island. Titled Kōri no ryokō , Kaimimura’s reinterpretation of the performance emphasises a shared future across all icy sea regions of the world: thawing ancient memories and the threat of disappearing entirely.

On Jäämatkailu, Olli Aarni presents his own expansive reworking of the same source material, heavily processed alongside his own field recordings from Vantaanjoki river and Suontee lake in Finland. “I was thinking about the processes of erosion, water carving rock, the prehistoric glaciers over the landscape in my own environment,” explains Aarni. The soundscape hums with both intimate details and macrocosmic flow, and a submersible bass rumble hinting at an iceberg far below the tip, morphing at time scales beyond human comprehension.

Side A is composed by Yoichi Kamimura using field recordings of drift ice (Shiretoko, Hokkaido, 2019–2022), the Lake Biwa Canal (Kyoto, 2020), the Therme Vals baths (Vals, 2017), spring water (a fountain next to Saint Benedict Chapel, 2017), a Christmas choir (Suomenlinna Church, Helsinki, 2021), ice in the Juutuanjoki River (Inari, 2021), and recordings from Yoichi’s and Olli’s concert (Temppeliaukion kirkko, Helsinki, 2021), KORG iPolysix, and KORG minilogue xd.

Side B is composed by Olli Aarni using the aforementioned sounds + field recordings of the river Vantaanjoki and the lake Suontee, sampled sounds, and a computer.

Red Viny Repress

l Indispensable 1981 cosmic funk business from Tommy McGee, remastered and reissued on black 12” with replica artwork that has been calling out for an official reissue due to it’s eye watering £250+ price tag.

Soul Direction presents the second instalment of unissued tracks from the writer and composer behind the music of 70s group Legacy.
These two tracks came from two master tapes, and after further conversations with Eddie, he shared: “The lead vocals on Love Is Hard to Find were Delbert Nelson (who also
performed some backing vocals for The Funk Brothers) and me, Eddie Watkins Jr.” Eddie is also the lead vocalist on “Did You Notice” (I Used to Love You.)

Clear Vinyl mit blauer Marmorierung. Das luxuriöse Atelier Ryza (Original Soundtrack Trilogy)-Vinyl-Boxset enthält 45 Songs auf drei LPs, darunter die beliebtesten musikalischen Highlights aller drei Spiele. Jede Vinyl-Schallplatte steckt in einer polylined Innenhülle und befindet sich in vollständig illustrierten Covern mit Rücken. Das Set beinhaltet außerdem ein 24-seitiges Booklet mit Konzeptzeichnungen, Charakter-Artworks, Liedtexten sowie Liner Notes auf Englisch und Japanisch. Alles ist in einer hochwertigen, schweren Box verpackt, die diese Sammlung zu einem echten Must-have für jeden Fan des Spiels, seiner Kunst und natürlich der Musik macht, die immer ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Erfolgs der Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy war.Die Atelier-Serie ist ein JRPG-Franchise mit dem Thema Alchemie, entwickelt von GUST und seit 1997 laufend. Die ,Secret Trilogy" umfasst die Videospiele Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout (2019), Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (2020) und Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (2023). Sie ist die erste Reihe innerhalb der Atelier-Serie, die über mehrere Titel hinweg dieselbe Protagonistin zeigt. Die Geschichte folgt einem gewöhnlichen Mädchen, Reisalin ,Ryza" Stout, die die Alchemie entdeckt und gemeinsam mit ihren Freunden ein Sommerabenteuer erlebt, welches ihr persönliches Wachstum durch diese Erfahrungen widerspiegelt. Alle drei Titel im neu veröffentlichten Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack bieten Verbesserungen hinsichtlich Bedienkomforts sowie zusätzliche Inhalte, um die ,Secret"-Reise weiter aufzuwerten.

Clear Vinyl mit blauer Marmorierung. Das luxuriöse Atelier Ryza (Original Soundtrack Trilogy)-Vinyl-Boxset enthält 45 Songs auf drei LPs, darunter die beliebtesten musikalischen Highlights aller drei Spiele. Jede Vinyl-Schallplatte steckt in einer polylined Innenhülle und befindet sich in vollständig illustrierten Covern mit Rücken. Das Set beinhaltet außerdem ein 24-seitiges Booklet mit Konzeptzeichnungen, Charakter-Artworks, Liedtexten sowie Liner Notes auf Englisch und Japanisch. Alles ist in einer hochwertigen, schweren Box verpackt, die diese Sammlung zu einem echten Must-have für jeden Fan des Spiels, seiner Kunst und natürlich der Musik macht, die immer ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Erfolgs der Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy war.Die Atelier-Serie ist ein JRPG-Franchise mit dem Thema Alchemie, entwickelt von GUST und seit 1997 laufend. Die ,Secret Trilogy" umfasst die Videospiele Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout (2019), Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (2020) und Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (2023). Sie ist die erste Reihe innerhalb der Atelier-Serie, die über mehrere Titel hinweg dieselbe Protagonistin zeigt. Die Geschichte folgt einem gewöhnlichen Mädchen, Reisalin ,Ryza" Stout, die die Alchemie entdeckt und gemeinsam mit ihren Freunden ein Sommerabenteuer erlebt, welches ihr persönliches Wachstum durch diese Erfahrungen widerspiegelt. Alle drei Titel im neu veröffentlichten Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack bieten Verbesserungen hinsichtlich Bedienkomforts sowie zusätzliche Inhalte, um die ,Secret"-Reise weiter aufzuwerten.

araviglia, the sixth album by Italian percussionist and producer Gabriele Poso, celebrates collective musicianship through a vibrant, groove-driven sound. Inspired by late 70s Italian disco and global rhythms, the record blends Mediterranean warmth, Afro Caribbean percussion and jazz sensibility, with one foot firmly on the dancefloor. Recorded live to tape in an analog studio in southern Italy, with heavy percussion, Rhodes, Hammond and a full brass section, the album delivers an organic, joyful sound built for both deep listening and global dance floors.

araviglia, the sixth album by Italian percussionist and producer Gabriele Poso, celebrates collective musicianship through a vibrant, groove-driven sound. Inspired by late 70s Italian disco and global rhythms, the record blends Mediterranean warmth, Afro Caribbean percussion and jazz sensibility, with one foot firmly on the dancefloor. Recorded live to tape in an analog studio in southern Italy, with heavy percussion, Rhodes, Hammond and a full brass section, the album delivers an organic, joyful sound built for both deep listening and global dance floors.

As Poorly Knit completes it's first arc of the Sun, it's children become four, as a new mini LP is born.

Tending to his crop with dreams of rotation, Bruce sows and scythes four new grains in the porky mill. Of this strange fruit, that further explores his increasingly familiar, hyper-real and sonically surreal work within this current “movement,” he finds his foothold once more in a wild world intensity: fear and fury grappled in equal measure.

What's more, in celebration of the plentiful harvest thus far, (let alone in the interest of seed diversity), Bruce invites four fellow reapers to the farm, offering their recipe from the spoils of the label's yield:

Vancouver based Brit-abroad, dj_2button pulls apart 'The Hand,' with his 'Accidental Mood Mix,' to be reborn as an Odyssian 13 minute stomper: "a fight of emotions, of light and dark; in quiet protest to the incessant fear mongering that slowly numbs us on a global scale." Balearic shores can be seen glimmering in the distance, whilst you are dragged by part man part (very horny) bull into the depths of dancefloor madness.

re:ni proves she is the captain of her own ship as sweet SSRI numbness billows in the sheets and fraying, dubwise halyards tether and tear through her devilishly elegant 'sertraline queen mix'. polyrhythms plotted and percussion plundered; the vocal from 'Golden Water Queen' sounds oh so sweet in the claws of its new Regina.

Hotly titted deep house reviver, fka boursin empties clips with their bubblegum 'boomkat mix,' of 'The Price,' swivelling the original's brash and bawdy bonce, to face a 120 reality we all need to wake up and start sniffing. Sprinkled with trauma on an icing of a bassline more than a little rood, boursin is packing enough cake for the whole function to take home in (dreadful) goody bags (and even allowed compression in the mastering - mental).

Last and indubitably not least, from lying somewhat dormant in the depths of UK dance music legend, none other than flippin' Untold (!?) rises to seal the release with typically megalithic prowess. Proving he was just resting his eyes for a bit, his 'A1 Mirabelle Mix,' weaves and whips an otherworldly beauty, technically tantalising 'Dham's Jam' in adornments both sour and sweet. It's nothing short of a cloaks and daggers banger, primed for the darkest of dancefloor cosmic moments, and serving as a little less-than-warm-reminder that Untold’s presence in the world of dance music is crucial as ever.

Frankly, if you couldn't tell from all the verbose waffle, they have all absolutely smashed and finessed it: they were all approached after expressing a real resonance from the previous releases and it's such an honour to have them and their fantastic visions on the label.

Available digitally or on high quality cassette, the final chapter of the Poorly Knit's first act has been woven whimsically into the fraying folds.

a A1. It Ain’t Over Till… 04:37
b A2. Wesley’s Sniped All Our Bleeding’ K (Re-Vamped) 05:40
[c] A3. Rockfall [05:06]
[d] A4. You Were Right [10:00
[e] B1. The Hand (dj_2button's accidental mood mix) [13:07]
[f] B2. Golden Water Queen (re:ni's sertraline queen mix) [05:36]
[g] B3. The Price (fka boursin's boomkat mix) [08:30]
[h] B4. Dham's Jam (Untold's A1 Mirabelle Mix) [09:42]

[a] A1. It Ain’t Over Till… [04:37]
[b] A2. Wesley’s Sniped All Our Bleeding’ K (Re-Vamped) [05:40]
[c] A3. Rockfall [05:06]
[d] A4. You Were Right [10:00
[e] B1. The Hand (dj_2button's accidental mood mix) [13:07]
[f] B2. Golden Water Queen (re:ni's sertraline queen mix) [05:36]
[g] B3. The Price (fka boursin's boomkat mix) [08:30]
[h] B4. Dham's Jam (Untold's A1 Mirabelle Mix) [09:42]

To mark 10 years since SOPHIE’s game-changing singles collection PRODUCT, Numbers are celebrating with a special edition featuring 11 songs across Deluxe Vinyl and Compact Disc.

This anniversary release includes bonus tracks, track-by-track slide posters, and a SOPHIE PRODUCT Card. Physical editions are now available for pre-order and released on 11th July 2025.

SOPHIE classics ‘BIPP’, ‘LEMONADE’ and ‘VYZEE’ are joined by two immaculate PRODUCT-era songs ‘OOH’ and ‘GET HIGHER’ recorded and produced at the time, each with colourful single artwork completing the set.

‘OOH’ is one of SOPHIE's earliest productions that has been through several revisions since 2011. It was one of three original tracks that Numbers had signed when SOPHIE uploaded the song alongside 'BIPP' and 'ELLE' to her Soundcloud, and while it had been through several iterations and speed changes, this finalised version was completed by SOPHIE in 2019.

SOPHIE once described ‘OOH’ as “hi tech club dance pop”. Musically speaking, the earworm hook is carved out by her signature portamento-infused synths and candy-coated lyrics, a firm cult classic approved by AG Cook and Charli XCX. Initially titled 'MAKE RESPECT', the track was first performed live by SOPHIE in 2011 to a handful of lucky people at a beach afterparty surrounding Sonar Festival, Barcelona and later that year at Manhattan's New Museum. The vocal was recorded as the first track in the same one-day recording session as SOPHIE's debut single 'NOTHING MORE TO SAY', released on the Huntley & Palmers label, where Sophie's songwriting was performed by the London vocalist Jaide Green.

The genesis of the ‘OOH’ and ‘NOTHING MORE TO SAY’ recording session is lore-worthy in its own right: after watching Jaide Green perform live with Olly Murs during the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009, SOPHIE reached out and invited Jaide to record in her home bedroom studio.

‘GET HIGHER’ was born during joyous sessions in 2013, when SOPHIE’s beat was introduced to the vocalists Cassie Davis and Sean Mullins. The track feels like a visionary precursor to ‘Vroom Vroom’, and doesn't sound out of place next to the sub-clang intensity of SOPHIE’s ‘HARD’ and ‘MSMSMSM’. Striking a playful balance between blissed-out hyperpop and club-ready Atlanta trap, it showcases SOPHIE’s signature, laser sharp sound design. Originally released as a bonus track on the Japanese CD edition of PRODUCT, ‘GET HIGHER’ has remained a hidden gem.

A groundbreaking producer, songwriter and performer, SOPHIE's visionary approach reshaped the landscape of pop and electronic music. Emerging in the early 2010s, SOPHIE introduced a hyper-detailed, futuristic sound defined by metallic textures, elastic basslines, and an uncanny blend of synthetic and emotional tones. Collaborating with artists including Charli XCX, Madonna, Vince Staples and Arca, SOPHIE helped pioneer a new pop movement while challenging conventions around identity, genre and production. SOPHIE's work continues to resonate deeply, leaving a lasting impact on a generation of artists and listeners alike. Discography: PRODUCT (2015), OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES (2018), SOPHIE (released posthumously, 2024).

Group Rhoda returns to Dark Entries with Phase 5, a new LP of synthesizer-driven art-pop. An integral member of the West Coast electronic music scene, Mara Barenbaum has been writing, performing, and plunging into oneiric depths as Group Rhoda since 2009. Barenbaum’s songcraft is at once stylistically diffuse and laser-focused, a synesthetic approach that allows her to effortlessly glide between genres and soundworlds while centering her singular poetics. On Phase 5, her fifth LP as Group Rhoda, we find Barenbaum waxing nondualistic. Lines between fairytale and fact, between nature and art, between subject and object all dissolve under contemplation.

The songs on Phase 5 are perpetually in-between states, deftly shifting form at the blink of an eye. With sleight of hand, “Field Tone” transmutes from brooding John Carpenter-esque electro into vocoder-driven space disco. “Dragon Pine” darts from cosmic dub to cybernetic dancehall and back again. The uptempo darkwave-leaning number “Aeolian Crossing” dissolves into the void, like sand falling through one’s fingers, like a retreating wave. The cover artwork for Phase 5 is by Shawn Reed, and features purple lilies and light refracted through water. All songs on this album were mastered by Ruud Lekx. The digital version of Phase 5 will be released via Katabatik, a label and sound system that Barenbaum has had close ties to for the past decade.

Ovatow made quite a stir when he first started dropping deep dubs on his mysterious MySpace page (the main social media at the time). The tracks on the little crappy audio player got hunted down by a flock of DJ's and label heads. From behind a curtain of anonymity he soon started releasing his material on various labels, becoming cult classics in the dub-techno world. It was 2007 when X-dub first appeared on the Dutch imprint SD Records, followed up by his classic release on Frantic Flowers and a string of other projects while keeping his identity secret to everyone. Years later, the rumors proved true... the artist behind these mysterious projects was non other than the Frantic Flowers / Frustrated Funk label head himself. Just testing the waters around him, receiving release offers from close friends and colleagues while he kept his anonymity up. A fun little joke for himself, though the tracks are still relevant and sought after classics today. Both X-dub versions re-appear now, for the first time after almost 20 years, fully retouched and remastered, together with an unknown unreleased jam called Autistic Navigational Spectrum. This is the first in a series of Ovatow work, revived for the heads that appreciate the foggy deep of the Undacurrnt.

nagoyaka na kaze / 和やかな風 (quiet wind): a collection of forward-thinking electronic experiments sourced from central Japan - co-curated by Nagoya artist abentis for Facta & K-LONE’s Wisdom Teeth imprint.

The project profiles a close-knit community of music makers operating in and around the Japanese city of Nagoya: one of the country’s most populous and industrial cities, but one all too often overlooked in terms of its cultural significance.

Curated in close collaboration with local scene organiser Yuya Abe - aka abentis - the record seeks to capture the creative energy of a community of artists making hard-to-define, future-facing electronic music away from the clamour of the bigger cities. “In Nagoya, there’s a strong culture of supporting artists. Even if you pursue music in your own way, as long as it’s good, you’re encouraged to keep doing what you want”, explains abentis. “Within that environment, my generation has been able to freely bring in elements we like from all kinds of genres, combine them in our own way, and express ourselves individually. If you go to Tokyo or Osaka, that kind of freedom isn’t something you can take for granted.” Spiritually, Nagoya fits the mould of cultural hotbeds like Bristol, Detroit or Melbourne, showing that some of the most innovative creative communities form away from the glare of the capital cities. Like Detroit, Nagoya is principally known for being a major auto manufacturing hub, famous for being the home of Toyota Motors - but behind the scenes, it is quietly harbouring one of Japan’s most vibrant and forward-thinking electronic music scenes. “In a good way, Nagoya is a bit removed from the cutting edge, so you find people making all kinds of music”, explains Karnage. “If you’re making music, you feel like part of the crew, and people of different ages mix together without much hierarchy.” The city’s music scene is characterised by a freedom to mix genres and an open-door approach to creatives of all disciplines. The artists featured come from a diverse set of backgrounds, ranging from hip-hop to noise music, but have found a common collective identity in their omnivorous approach to genre. As such, the record moves fluidly between shimmering ambient and new age (Am Shhara, DHYAN, daiki hayakawa), psychedelic minimal house (Methodd, abentis), abstract, low-slung downtempo (baptisma, Nasty Soupman) and spaceage steppas (Karnage). “I’d say the way ambient, new age and that kind of sound design are blending nicely with dance music feels somewhat new”, says baptisma, the crew’s eldest member and de-facto scene leader. Responsible for bringing artists like Basic Channel, Mala and Jan Jelinek to the city, baptisma has been crucial in establishing underground electronic music in Nagoya since the 90s, and now helps cultivate the next generation of local talent. “Artists and DJs are seamlessly mixing ambient and new age with techno, house and bass music. I think that’s a really interesting development.” nagoyaka na kaze has its roots in a one-off event held in October 2024 as part of the 10 Years of Wisdom Teeth Japan tour. Curated by abentis in collaboration with Facta & K-LONE, the showcase featured live sets from eight artists based in and around Nagoya at one of the city’s key dance music hubs, Club JB’s. Each of the artists features again here, on record, presenting an original commission produced especially for the project. The record’s art direction was led by Yudai Osawa - in-house designer for Kankyō Records, the much-loved Tokyo record shop run by H. Takahashi - and features original photos by Hayato Watanabe.

Repress!

LTD Edition white vinyl version of RÜFÜS DU SOL's debut LP 'ATLAS' that hit Number 1 in Australia. The album was a testament to the band’s passion, work ethic and DIY approach to music, featuring the much loved singles 'Take Me' and 'Desert Night'.

A labour of love, the album was written, produced and recorded by the band between two studios they built themselves - one in a remote farmhouse on the NSW south coast, the second in a hollowed out water tank under one of their parents houses.

Based in Rennes and founder of the Vives label in 2020, Weever has been exploring the interplay of light and shadow for over 10 years, crafting abstract soundscapes and textured sonic tunnels of unparalleled musical breadth. He elegantly blends industrial and baroque sounds to construct sonic cathedrals. His music is both utterly raw and meticulously crafted.

L’âge de la Galère :

started this EP in 2020. At the time, I had just finished my studies, it was a pretty difficult period and I had made a track, or rather a melody, that I thought was amazing. I held onto it all these years without ever releasing it. 2020 was a tough year overall. The big question was: What am I going to do with my life? Hence the title L’âge de la Galère

The title really started to make sense when I began putting tracks together for Micheal. Around that time, I was reading Those of 1914 by Maurice Genevoix. For those who don’t know it: it’s written as a journal and tells the story of the author and his fellow soldiers in the trenches during World War I.

I’ve always been passionate about the two World Wars, I watch every film, old and new, I listen to the soundtracks, and so on. Same with period films, especially medieval ones. I love drawing inspiration from them.

So naturally, I imagine and create around that. It comes easily because it’s always been my universe. And when I make music, those kinds of images inevitably come out, even subconsciously.

So I created and told an audio story through my 6 tracks.

“It’s 1914. The story of many men who, upon hearing the sound of the bells, are met with the announcement of a war like no other. Most of them are young, some very young, and they are drafted into the French and German armies. They have no military experience, and the first battles are so violent that many won’t make it back. Very few will earn the glory they deserve.

The conditions are appalling, everything is in short supply, and the men are exhausted. Still, they must hold on.
Leaving carelessly from beneath their mothers’ skirts, too few returned. Many were left traumatized, and an entire generation was forever changed.”