DJ Himitsu is a Tokyo-born, London-based producer and DJ, known for his understated approach and deep knowledge of Japanese vinyl and book culture. Following a debut EP of acid house on Australian imprint Lunatic Music in 2023, 'Exotic Animals' marks a new waypoint in Himitsu's artistic evolution.
On this debut full length, driving 303 basslines and kickdrums are traded in for obscure recordings and convoluted samples, which spiral and fuse to form shuffling, heady new compositions. Like shattered pottery reassembled into top-heavy sculptures with golden glue, 'Exotic Animals' shapes and juxtaposes opposing forms and fragments, with lolloping aplomb.
When not producing, DJ Himistu runs Caravan - a vintage Japanese record, ceramics and bookshop in London. It's with the same warmth, care and curiosity that he arranges his findings in the plunderous grotto of 'Exotic Animals'. In this way, stepping inside this work is like entering a remote trading post of instruments, memoirs and other sonic curios - as Himitsu stands patiently at the counter.
Recommended for fans of Jon Hassell, Giovanni Venosta, Discrepant.
Mutant, in partnership with Universal Pictures, and Back Lot Music, are proud to present the premiere physical media release of 3x Academy Award®-Winning composer Ludwig Göransson's original soundtrack to Christopher Nolan's forthcoming motion picture The Odyssey.
The Odyssey, is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX® film technology. The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX® film screens for the first time and opens in theatres everywhere on July 17, 2026.
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack from The Odyssey is available to order on 3x 140gm Black vinyl and 2x CD set.
Deep, deep stuff on the debut album from K Wata. Long and dubwise, dark and detailed. With bass that fills and warms a space.
All noir. Cast shadows against the wall. Weight being shifted and distributed with singularly delicate poise, like a knife being balanced on the end of a finger.
There’s a silvery, loose flow state to this record that maybe reveals the way some tracks were first written to be deployed live at Sustain Release 2025. Then taken back to the lab and tightened up further into the album’s final form, with beautiful mixing work between Kenzo and Chris Botta.
With that in mind, Give U Space unfolds slowly and fluidly, giving the listener the chance to access and open up to the deepness of the sound, being led down a path. It rolls and builds momentum and groove, and ratchets tensions up toward peaks of energy "Whisper Dub" and "There Will Be Love".
The tunes feel architectural. Rooms to be in and settle into. Simultaneously stripped back and then etched with neat little details and characterful or atmospheric sound choices. The silhouette of slo mo Memphis and Houston trap is a leading influence, especially with the drums. Mixing with bits of click’n’cut sampling and psychoacoustic tricks, the penumbra of dub techno and drowsier dubstep, and SG’s soft vocals rising in the ether.
The presence and inspiration of the sound system is obvious in all of Kenzo’s work, the music can rattle when spun up louder or blended into the club. But K Wata’s uniqueness and signature comes from an often equally inward facing quality, touched by distance and longing and a sort of chiaroscuro incandescent light set up.
Written and produced by K Wata.
Mixed by K Wata and Christopher Botta at Fer Sound Studio.
Two decades after its original release, Herbert Boese’s “Charger“ / „Hypnotoad” returns to vinyl.
Originally released as the second record on Jaktronik, the label Herbert Boese ran together with Marc Romboy, the two-tracker captures a very particular moment in German electronic music: stripped back, physical and functional, yet deeply rooted in the sound of Detroit.
At the time Boese was a resident DJ at Düsseldorf’s legendary Harpune club and one of the people shaping the city’s underground electronic music scene. His Jaktronik productions became an extension of that world, music made by a DJ, for the dancefloor.
“Charger” was an immediate standout. Marc Romboy selected the record for his chart at the time, describing its combination of heavy bass and Detroit-influenced strings as a track that made dancefloors scream.
On the flip, “Hypnotoad” goes deeper and more hypnotic: reduced, trippy and relentlessly effective, built around repetition, tension and groove.
Twenty years later, neither track sounds like a museum piece. Quite the opposite. In a time when a new generation is rediscovering the raw, minimal and machine-driven sound of the mid-2000s, “Charger“ / „Hypnotoad” feels remarkably current again.
The original tracks, remastered and finally back on vinyl.
DJ Support: Mad Matts, Jimpster, Rainer Truby, Craig Smith, Giles Smith, Shane Johnson (Fish Go Deep), Lars Berhenroth, Leo Luscher, Ricky Chong, Rafa Santos, Buti Mabutana and many more
FORMA002 sees label co-founder Glenn Davis back with a deep original production that also does real damage on the dancefloor. Flip over for a true masterpiece remix from Trinidadian deep with his trademark Caribbean rhythms and deep sonics. When you know..
Glenn's deep driving baseline, jazzy chords and synth stabs elevate you to a hypnotic house nirvana. A love for deep atmospheric and melodic house music creates an instant classic from the Dublin producer.
Trinidadian Deep takes the original Davis production, adds his Caribbean magic with layers of live percussion, vocals, organs and sub bass that needs to be heard on a proper club system. Don't sleep on this one.
This is the reissue of original 1993 Rephlex double vinyl album, completely remastered from DATs by Beau Thomas, with the original artwork, and photography by Richard James. µ-Ziq's Tango N'Vectif was released in 1993, a classic year for auteurist electronic music that didn't always fit on the dancefloor. Written by Mike Paradinas in his late teens with some help from Frank Naughton, it still stands up really well today and its influence on electronic music in the decades since is obvious. Across an expanse of ideas, taking influences from early Aphex, Detroit Techno and UK Hardcore, Mike created this spirited, funky, jerry-rigged, lo-fi version of rave; with crunchy drums and a knack for melody that fell somewhere between John Barry and classic TV themes. Without owning a computer, Mike had been writing techno, house and industrial tracks on and off since 1990, playing live keys alongside drum machine rhythms on his 4-track recorder. µ-Ziq started when Mike linked up with Frank who was also writing dance-influenced music, and importantly owned an Atari 1040ST computer with Cubeat software. They pooled their equipment and Mike would travel up to Frank's house a couple of miles away in Wimbledon to record together. By 1992, and after a false start when a proposed EP for Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton's Evolution label got shelved, Mike had started at Kingston University where he deejayed and met like-minded people including a couple of guys who knew Aphex Twin who was also a student at Kingston too, and they passed Aphex a demo of Mike's material. A few days later Mike got a message from his mum to 'call Aphex Twin' and he gave Mike some advice, and seemed interested in releasing something. So when Frank and his family went on holiday that summer Mike borrowed his Atari and synths and wrote the majority of the Tango N'Vectif album during that 2 weeks. By the end of 1992 a release with Aphex Twin and Grant Wilson Claridge's Rephlex label had been agreed - Aphex had moved to the house in Clissold Crescent where he recorded a lot of his early classic albums and Mike went over to collect his advance, in the form of his very own Atari computer.
Fans and headz worldwide have been clamoring for a follow- up, but all Emapea wanted to do was just 'zone out.' And that's what happened, with the release of Emapea's twenty song album Zoning Out, Volume 1. Emapea's cuts are meant for the listener to get lost in - but they're not only for chilling, or when deep in thought, but also for getting in that crucial head-nod zone, like when the DJ drops the dopest beat. Expertly crafted and sequenced, the album presents a boom-bap journey that's dreamy and spacey while remaining tough and jazzy. "Check It Out" exemplifies the mood with its smooth drums, chiming keys, subtle sax riffs, and hip hop shout-outs. The vibe expands on "Motion", adding an exotic, worldly flavor to the seductively loping rhythm. And "Classy" features a smokey saloon piano melody that cruises smugly out of jeep-beat speakers.
Yesca is back on Shall Not Fade with ‘Paint on Walls’ 12” EP.
2024’s Yesca EP on SNF - “Mood Loops” - set a high bar, so when we say this record is something special you should take note. Of course if you already know Yesca’s music or have had the pleasure of a Yesca DJ set then you will have already this queued up.
Sweet Spot: Ben Sims, Deetron, Oliver Ho, Vince Watson, Grain (Artwork’s Techno alias). Planet-E, Primate Recordings, Paul Mac & Stimulus Recordings found the sweet spot.
According to the OED the first use of the phrase “Sweet Spot” was in 1976 in reference to tennis rackets and golf swings. It’s where everything hits just right. And that’s what this EP does, hits just right. What strikes me is how descriptive the phrase ‘Sweet Spot’ is. Given enough swings and some luck we all know what it feels like to hit the sweet spot in some regard. Finding the sweet spot regularly though takes time and skill. But being able to hit the sweet spot by design every time, well that’s something different. That’s what makes the greats great.
For us at SNF there’s a consensus that in the lineage of electronic music there have been many moments where artists & labels converged on a sweet spot. One such sweet spot for us is in Techno
around 2003 when at the tail end of Hardgroove tempos began to slow and a groovier more refined tech house infused goodness appeared in the racks from a group of killer techno labels & artists (some mentioned above) that moment before the fuller emergence of the 2nd wave of Tech House in the mid 00’s.
That sound, while often emulated, never quite hit the same for us at least – until Yesca came along. His music has everything that we love about that sweet spot. Raw driving groove, rolling basslines and hip shaking percussion. What’s different on ‘Paint on Walls’ is that Yesca stepped on - he had already found the sweet spot on 2024’s Mood Loop EP - now his sound (or swing) is natural. Repeatable, refined and seemingly effortless. To revisit the tennis and golf analogy, this is the start of a Grand Slam run from an artist ready to etch their name in dance music history. Tiger..... Serena......Yesca.
Run the Tracks:
‘How I Do It (They Wonder)’ - A masterclass in less is more, and a serious DJ tool. Full of groove - slow it down and it will light the touchpaper in a house set - speed it up and you’ve got techno weaponry. Forget gatekeeping, this will make you feel like you just found a 2004 techno white label from the likes of Grain or Ben Sims.
‘I Desire’ - House music that I reckon Deetron would be proud of... Blissed out machine funk, whispered vocals, slick jazzy chords and dubbed out techno stabs are all grounded by Yesca’s impeccable, loopy drum programming. The best tunes always end too soon.
‘Domination’ - The ever rising bass, err, dominates this track and this track will dominate on many a dancefloor, but Yesca's knack for dubbed out swinging synth lines has to get a shout out here too. He turns what would be melodic elements into what feels like part of the percussion. Double Threat. Hands Up and Heads Down business.
‘Paint on Walls’ - It would be a tough call to say Yesca’s saved the best til last with the EP’s eponymous track given what’s come before, but Paint On Walls works all the highlights from the rest of the EP into a latin techno/house infused anthem. Skittering percussion, a hint of Detroit goodness and a deep deep rolling bassline and THAT vocal. In every way hopeful yet resistant, and that is what techno is all about.
The third release on Uprising pairs a sax-driven rockabilly thumper with one of the coolest dance craze records of the mid-60s. ‘Red Hot Car’ was Bobby Verne’s only recording and came out on the tiny Californian Doc Holiday label in 1962. Judging by the current price and collector demand for an original copy only a small quantity were pressed. This is a powerhouse of a tune that has been filling dancefloors across the globe for some time now.
As for the flip, in 1965, Buddy Wayne added self-penned lyrics to Gary Paxton’s rendition of the James Bond theme. Released on the Big Ben label – that only put out four records − it sat unwanted for decades. Then the rockabilly scene picked up on it in a big way when they discovered that it was the perfect stroller. This was closely followed by the northern soul and mod scenes. Today, it is at last crossing over to a more mainstream audience.
When the first JIM album Love Makes Magic was released in 2023, it was the end product of an experiment that had begun during the strange days of the pandemic. Cooped up in his studio, James Baron started fiddling about with an as-yet unnamed new album idea. It became Vicious Charm’s first LP release. Labelled variously as Balearic, folktronica, blue-eyed soul and Laurel Canyon, Love Makes Magic was perhaps all and none of those things: a record rooted less in Californian mythology than in Baron’s own musical world, somewhere between Sherwood, Nottingham, classic songwriting, electronic soul and the no-nonsense good times that have long run through his work under his other monikers (principally the anagrammatic Ron Basejam and, of course, Crazy P) One thing was indisputable, it connected with people... and still does.
The album was a minor hit, appearing in many a Best of 2023 chart and voted Album of the Year in Bill Brewster’s Furtive 50. A tour and a few memorable festival appearances – his 2024 We Out Here Festival being one of those wonderfully timed ‘moments’ - perfectly captured the horizontal vibes on the album, while injecting some live energy into its delivery. While there was a follow-up remix album for Love Makes Magic, JIM was already preparing a sophomore LP: “I wrote the majority of The Curious Case Of Existence in a couple of months at the beginning of 2024, then it was just a case of making the record over the next couple of years in between everything else.”
Yes, yes funky people, another super sexy, soul, classic dancer makes it onto the DYNAMITE CUTS 7” series. This all-time soul gem “That what friends are for” by the amazing Madeline Bell and Alan Parker. This version is taken from her solo album, uplifting, with a touch of Latin hip movement, is the fresh, must-have 45 everyone is waiting for. On the flip “That’s the way I like it” is a banging version club mover. When you get the best British Library musicians with one of the hottest American soul singers, the magic happens. The band is made up of some of the biggest library legends; Alan Parker, Alan Hawkshaw, Chris Karan and Duncan Lamont to name a few.
Drop the needle on this latest dispatch from the tape vaults, and we are back in Chicago at The Curtom Studios in 1977. For instalment number five in the "Hutson Sevens" series, Home of The Good Groove Records are so very honoured to deliver this previously unreleased cut from Leroy Hutson—a true titan of soul music and an absolute master of his craft.
"Betting On My Love" carries that signature smooth orchestration we have come to expect from Hutson’s finest hours. It moves with a wonderful, breezy optimism. Hutson’s joyful, velvet lead tones skip effortlessly across the groove, wrapped in lush backing harmonies that instantly evoke the feel of the Hutson II
classic, "I Think I’m Falling in Love".
Now, a brief confession of pure, crate-digging indulgence: if tailored strictly for the dancefloor, the track arguably hits its logical peak and fade just past the three-minute mark. But to cut it there would strip away the raw human magic of the session. If you let the wax ride to the very end, the arrangement dissolves into a wonderful, lingering instrumental outro, culminating in the studio players purposely "clattering" their instruments in a moment of pure creative release. It is a brilliant, candid studio artifact that was fortunately preserved on the original master recording. Essential listening for the global soul family—do not sleep on this debut pressing.
For the flip we present Leroy Hutson’s 1979 cut “ So Nice”, a masterclass in late-70s soul music. A stand out track from the “Unforgettable” album and a vital reminder of Hutson’s unmatched ability to inject sophisticated romanticism into the bleeding edge of that disco era.
Slightly edited for the 7-inch pressing, up steps our remastering and editing maestro Mr Phil Ward. Phil always has the utmost respect when remastering and editing original content, ensuring that every second of the groove is fully respected and preserved. His stellar work here includes the studio recording of the three-count drum intro, never heard before now, leading into that meditative smooth groove layout.
It is an exquisite arrangement of simmering electric keys, nimble basslines courtesy of the legendary Keni Burke, and subtle bongo accents that collectively deliver a timeless masterpiece. Now available on 7-inch vinyl for the first time.
Dungeon Meat and SlapFunk sit right at the vanguard when it comes to house music that truly kicks. It's deep but driving and never too much of a slave to tradition. This is a second collaborative outing that welcomes emerging producers to submit tunes for the chance to feature. Khun goes first with 'Prince,' a delightfully well-swung sound with subtle synth tones and room for the atmosphere to land. Nay Barr's 'Kidnapped' is a more hunched over slammer with a firmer groove, while Patrizio Scope's 'Terdiek8' gets more loose with squirming FX and liquid bass. Yugwan's 'Fungeondunk' is a razor-sharp garage, tech and house fusion to get the floor sweating.
A tasty slice of early 90s New Jersey hip-hop makes this inaugural release from Concrete Flowers a real doozy. Apache's 'Gangsta Bitch' was produced by Q-Tip and taken from his 1993 debut Apache Ain't Shit, so it is a portal back to the raw, unfiltered energy of a time when the Flavour Unit collective was at its most vital. Apache had already appeared alongside Naughty By Nature, Queen Latifah and 2Pac before this record landed and the Q-Tip production connection to A Tribe Called Quest gives it a lineage that still hits hard. The Beatnuts' 'Hit Me With That' on the flip doubles down on the era's boozy, sample-heavy swagger, making this a perfectly paired two-sider that reminds you exactly why the golden era was so golden.
Part celebration, part reflection, THE TIME OF OUR LIVES arrives as both the final release of Lancey’s twenties and the closing chapter of a creative world he has spent the last decade constructing. The most expansive statement of his career to date, moving freely between trap, alternative R&B, dance music, Afro-influenced rhythms and more, Lancey explores triumphant highs and lows of stark vulnerability across the album, interrogating ideas of success, freedom, loneliness and what it truly means to have the time of your life. Lancey Foux stands at the forefront of UK rap’s evolution, blending elements of hip-hop, cloud rap, trap, Jersey club, drill, and more into a sound that’s uniquely his own. Since emerging from Newham, East London in 2015 with a clutch of freestyles and SoundCloud singles, Lancey has occupied a lane entirely of his own making. As he closes out his twenties, Lancey looks ahead to the next decade full of more unpredictable artistry as he continues to break the rules and change the game.
Since the release of DAMAGED in 2024, Michael Fiedler aka GHOST DUBS has been surfing intensifying waves of adulation, earning praise from such diverse underground legends as Justin Broadrick (Godflesh/Jesu), Regis, Stefan Betke (Pole) and Steve Von Till (Neurosis). With second album Oblique, his mastery of sculpting sound waves results in a spellbinding set of alien soundscapes: larger in scale, richer in tone and considerably more cinematic than its predecessor. Lower, deeper and moodier, its cloudy abstractions, shadowy pulsations and submerged rhythms find Fiedler reaching further into his own sonic void, crafting blurred melodies and addictive narco loops into something simultaneously heavyweight and hypnotic.
Lead single and album opener “Low Times” sets the atmospheric pressure to maximum, resembling a dream date between prime dirt-house era Andy Stott and Berlin dub-tech pioneers Basic Channel. From there, Oblique descends into a series of enchanting mood scenes: the furtive, balletic gyrations of “After All”, the haunting ambience and buried heartbeat throb of “Soft Collapse”, and the noirish atmospherics of “Blackout Dust”, which worms its way into the mind like some forgotten David Lynch scene. The spirit of reggae is more distanced here than on DAMAGED, but the ghost of Jamaican dub still permeates these foggy soundscapes, particularly on “Bombed Suburbs”, where Augustus Pablo-style melodicism is chopped, screwed and slowed into a magnetic lock groove.
Superficially minimal but maximal in its minute detail, Oblique is a record of contorted reflections, mesmeric echoes and tantalising audio mirages. By the vaporous mist of closing track “Almost a Structure”, obvious rhythm has been craftily filtered away, leaving a blurred and blunted residue full of mystery and implied narrative. Dense in the best possible sense and crushing when played loud yet equally potent played quiet, Oblique imagines dub techno burning its own rigid rulebook: sensual, funky and concussive rather than dry or alienating. Following Fiedler’s recent work scoring Sound of Falling, recognised at Cannes in 2025, Oblique finds Ghost Dubs shedding his influences and making it clear he has arrived at a sound entirely his own — essential deep listening and a bewitching dose of future shock.
At this point, the vast swathes of unreleased Muslimgauze material Bryn Jones left behind when he passed away over 25 years ago are as legendary as any of his work. And sure enough, there's still some being unearthed today.
The fourth entry in a 7" single series is taken from one of Jones' customary completely unlabelled DATs, which he sent to labels seemingly as fast as he finished them.
A new series of singles collecting one of Bryn Jones’ innumerable DAT tapes that would show up at the labels he worked with sans any identifying marks.
Side A layers multiple voices (a background, faraway wail that either is or is akin to a muezzin, and a flatly declaimed two-word phrase that periodically halts proceedings) over his classic, slightly brick-walled hand percussion for a strangely meditative experience, as Jones phases elements in and out, more or less prominently in the mix. Side B however, open in a surprisingly dreamy place for Muslimgauze, with a looped ascending synth pad and beautiful sampled singing only gradually acquiring percussive accompaniment. As with the other side, Jones is content to let these elements interact and swap spaces in the mix for the duration, trusting in the sturdiness of his chosen components to carry the listener through.
Built with the immediacy that comes from limitation, iPhone Grime is almost exactly what it says on the tape case. Pulled directly from the portable communication device of Front Left Life's Louis Payne, iPhone Grime is the perfect distillation of raw ideas through a simple medium. When producers can drown in the infinite possibilities of the DAW vortex, a simple phone app can steer you swiftly to the sharpest results. Snippets of real world sound captured on the mic ground these quick-fire beats in a time and place, dynamic and street-level like grime and early dubstep was when it was being imagined on PlayStation games and filmed on ropey phone cameras.
Payne is undoubtedly bringing perspective to his sketches, having forged a connection with London's club scene through his part in the widely hailed Front Left Life parties in Catford, at Venue MOT and elsewhere. With a roll call of guests that cuts a sharp line through the best of bassweight club music right now, his taste and knowledge precedes his first steps into the production arena. Rather than puzzling out the path to a thousand likes for a hardware jam reel, he's opted for a direct line between his brain and the beat at the end of it.
You can hear the naivety behind vocal loops like the one nagging away on 'Follow That', calling to mind the first time you ever tried making a Fruity Loops beat. But these are no amateur throwaways — the technology has moved on and Payne's instincts guide him towards legit constructions that could easily do damage in the club. Sometimes they exist as no more than an eight bar loop, while others like 'Wind It Up (Dream Dealers Version)' or 'Extra Dimensional Being' stretch an idea out. Throughout it all, the looming throb of square wave bass glues the record together and anchors the grime dimension of Payne's job lot of phone jams.
Payne's work is all his own, and the snatches of real life around the beats anchor this music in his own London life. But, like previous shifts in technology and accessibility, iPhone Grime also raises an important prospect—that anyone with one of these apps, a Bluetooth speaker and an idea can bring music out of studios and into the world. History has already proven, when that happens the possibilities become thrillingly unpredictable.
Seven years after the haunting resonance of Voids, electronic pioneer Martyn returns to the album format with Music For Existing. Arriving on 15 May 2026, the record is more than a collection of tracks; it is a profound exploration of what it means to remain devoted to a craft in an era of relentless noise.
The album’s announcement is heralded by the lead single "Heavy Sound." The track serves as the perfect bridge between Martyn’s past and present - a masterclass in tension and release that previews the album’s dialogue between the producer, the musicians, and the audience. We live inside a culture that has prioritised and monetised restlessness. The modern apparatus runs on the continuous production of "next," driven by algorithms that value novelty over depth.
Music For Existing serves as a love letter to the communal act of making music - something that is both healing and inherently defiant. For Martyn, a musician often finds solace in musical conversation with others; in the moment we press record, we simply exist together. This record is an invitation to build human infrastructure around what we love, leaning into the fluid nature of community and seeing exactly where the music takes us when we choose to listen.
The album is a sprawling, "off-the-grid" tapestry that echoes Martyn’s profound appreciation for jazz - free, instinctive, and bursting in every sonic direction. This collection features an expansive cast of collaborators, including Duval Timothy, Dan Only, Lucinda Chua, and Mark Cisneros. The record is further elevated by the contributions of jazz talents Mischa Porte and Cees Bruinsma, alongside the evocative words of writer and poet Musa Okwonga.
While the acoustic textures and improvisational spirit of this record may feel like a departure, they represent a homecoming. Jazz has always been ingrained in Martyn’s work; even in his most stripped-back club tracks, the DNA of swing, syncopation, and free-form structure was always present, if not always visible.
Music For Existing marks the beginning of an exciting journey that will continue from the studio to the stage, celebrating the radical act of existing in the moment.
‘Finally’, the forthcoming new record from Catz ’n Dogz, belongs to the latter.
There are albums you listen to, and there are albums you live with. ‘Finally’, the forthcoming new record from Catz ’n Dogz, belongs to the latter.
Across sixteen tracks, Voitek and Greg have created their most creatively ambitious and emotionally open work to date. An album about relationships, friendship and the people and places that shape us. At its heart is a simple idea: music should make you feel something, and sometimes the most meaningful moments are the quiet ones when you finally have time to yourself.
Finally is rooted in the emotional contradictions that make memories so powerful. Inspired by classic American Folk and Soul, its songs are happy and nostalgic; hopeful without pretending that the past doesn’t exist. There is melancholy inside the euphoria and warmth inside the sadness, a constant interplay between looking back and moving forward.
The album begins with the soulful breakbeat glow of 'We’re Gonna Be Alright' featuring Ajii, before moving through the smoky jazz and piano-led intimacy of 'Dance For You' with Miller Blue and the bass-driven energy of 'Sun Goes Down' featuring Charlotte Haining. Closing with the reflective 'Miss You' featuring Mateusz Krautwurst, the record takes in a rich cast of vocalists, musicians and producers, alongside a series of deeply personal Catz ’n Dogz solo productions.
Those collaborations are central to Finally. The album is, in many ways, a celebration of the creative friendships Voitek and Greg have built throughout their journey. Relationships that have allowed them to step outside their comfort zone and rethink what their music can be.
Written and recorded between Madrid, New York, Warsaw and the road, the album finds the duo placing renewed emphasis on songwriting, chord progressions and musical craft. Rather than simply chasing the next track, they took the time to learn, experiment and create something with a sense of permanence.
This is an album for driving without a destination. For watching the sun go down. For remembering somebody you haven’t thought about in years. For those rare stretches of time when there is nowhere else you need to be.
Tokyo-based producer aus debuts on Squama with his new album Mere Meer.
Grounded in the question of how a specific environment can emerge through voice and memory, rather than through recording of an objective reality, the album stands in the tradition of modern Japanese Ambient and Kankyo Ongaku.
aus is the solo project of composer, producer, and curator Yasuhiko Fukuzono. His music is characterized by a precise combination of cinematic strings, acoustic instrumentation, and concrete sound design derived from everyday life.
In recent years, he released music on EM Records, WRWTFWW and his own flau imprint. As a remixer, he put his touch on tracks by Matthew Herbert, Tenniscoats and Craig Armstrong, among others.
His sonic research also extends beyond traditional formats into spatial sound installations and site-specific works, collaborating with experimental figures like Ulla, Li Yilei, and Hinako Omori for institutions such as the Tokyo National Museum.
Much of the album consists of sketches made with synthesizer and voice. Sampled from social media clips, field recordings or a heavily processed version of Fukuzono's own vocals, the voice became a central element of the record. "I have long been interested in the relationship between words and melody.", aus says. In his former work as a speech therapist, he witnessed patients with severe dementia or aphasia, who all of a sudden could recall lyrics when they were sung with familiar melodies. An experience that left a deep impression on him.
During the Covid years, when hearing voices of friends and family sometimes was the only way to feel connected to the outside world, aus began reflecting on the connection between voice and environment. "Every voice represents an encounter with a person, but it's also an encounter with a place."
Unable to travel as freely as before, that limitation became part of his method: rather than just recording actual field material capturing the real world, he would write and perform melodies that simulate a sense of place - an imagined room, an imagined street.
"My interest lies not in the dichotomy between artificial and environmental sounds, but in how they collectively shape a single perceptual field."
By observing and mapping our world, aus creates his own and his new record is a prime example of that process.
After almost twenty years of releasing music, Sven Tasnadi finds himself circling back to some of the sounds that first drew him into house music. Explorer was written at home following a longer break from producing and after moving out of his studio, a change of setting that coincided with a shift in priorities. "The tracks on this EP came together at home after a longer break from music and after I moved out of my studio," he explains. "Musically they are very deep and minimal, at times almost meditative. They were inspired by a new chapter in my life as well as my never-ending love and connection to artists like Lawrence from Smallville and Frank & Tony from Scissor and Thread."
That sense of returning to something runs through the whole record. For much of Tasnadi's career, producing and DJing were closely connected, with many releases naturally shaped by the club. Things have changed. "DJing is no longer my main focus, so I can dedicate myself to these deep and minimal sounds again, free from pressure or expectations," he says. "In a way, after almost twenty years of releasing music, things have come full circle for me."
"Atlas (Chapter 1)" and "Atlas (Chapter 2)" grew from the same initial idea but followed separate paths during production. Chapter 2 came first, while Chapter 1 emerged later from a variation Tasnadi discovered while the track was still essentially a loop. "I was still looking for the right theme for the original idea when another version suddenly opened up," he recalls. He saved that variation for later so he could stay focused on the first version. When he returned to it, the two had developed distinct enough identities to stand independently. Their shared DNA is still audible in the restrained rhythms, slowly shifting details and the way small changes carry much of the movement.
The title track moves further into dub techno, another longstanding passion for Tasnadi. "Explorer is almost a classic dub techno track," he says. "Subtle movements within a constantly repeating pattern create a particular atmosphere. It feels like the track could just keep going forever." It is a patient approach to repetition that he connects to artists such as Moritz von Oswald and his friend Daniel Stefanik.
"Megasektor", one of the first tracks Tasnadi made at home with a new equipment setup, brings the EP into deep house territory. "To me it's almost classic deep house, or at least how I define deep house for myself." Warm, compact and gently propulsive, it provides a natural closing point for a record that is ultimately less about changing direction than reconnecting with an instinct that has always been there.
Explorer captures Tasnadi at a point where making music has become more personal again. The four tracks come from following ideas for their own sake and from rediscovering the deeper, more minimal sounds that have stayed with him throughout his career.
Melissa Weikart and her piano have proceeded through life in step, from her early classical
training to the experimental practice that defines her work today, a blending of sounds and forms that has never been so clear—and so fully realized—as on her new album, Contact. Across twelve shifting and evocative tracks that examine the connective tissue binding us to ourselves and others, the Franco-American musician’s voice and piano navigate personal and emotional terrain with clarity and nuance, forging a rich dialogue between artist and instrument, artist and self, and artist and listener.
Winner of the 2022 Nancy Jazz Pulsations emerging artist award and the instrumentalist prize at the 2023 La Défense National Jazz Competition, Weikart has released two EPs and an album as a solo artist, and one EP and an album—Surprise and Secret—with her electronic duo Beatrice Melissa. A student of jazz and ’70s folk-pop, and a keen lover of improvisation since her time at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Weikart has always conjured the confessional candor of the singer- songwriter in her music, even as she dispenses her lyrics across rich, shifting, dreamlike tableaux.
On Contact, written and arranged entirely by Weikart (aside from “New angles”), she pushes her sound further than ever before. The album is animated by a pressing need for connection, observing what brings us together and what drives us apart, and the life-saving revelations that emerge along the way. The album’s opener, “Crash,” is a dreamy telephone-hour ode, a message in a bottle, to connections new and old. On the wistful “Mesurer le vent,” Weikart conjures Debussy or Ravel, layering contrasting sounds like an Impressionist painting. The title track begins as a showcase of Weikart’s frank lyricism, a splice-reel of missed connections and wasted time, then glides into a hazy, euphoric galaxy of pleas, circling around her thesis—“I wanted to make contact”—that ushers us into “The Intersection,” a song that recalls her the beginning of her career, when it was just Weikart and her keys. “Appétit.e” is built around a sample of her down-the-hall neighbor’s drumming—another subtle, affecting gesture toward proximity and connection—while pulsating synths reminiscent of Air lend the track an unsteady atmosphere. On the Carpenters-inspired “Expectations,” Weikart muses on the relationship patterns, universal and specific, that have always been a hallmark of her songwriting.
The psychedelic “L’amour de construit” is a slow-motion fall down the rabbit hole, as Weikart
considers the way her own emotions are captured and commodified by the confining ways we think about love. The interlude—“L’amour pt. 2”—finds her near the end of that trip, shouting into the void as a last-ditch effort to rescue herself from the fall. The drums near the end of the interlude warn us that there may be no cushion for, until she is saved, again, by the power of revelation, on the confident, resilient “Not Right”—on which a show-stopping, frenetic conversation between singer and piano is gracefully interrupted by a rush of transcendent strings, lifting her back up.
On solid ground anew, “New angles,” featuring Manu Delta, creates a percussion-less groove that relies on experimental synth sounds. The 11-o’clock stunner “Catching up”—composed in a church—meets the singer in a state of ecstatic confession, bringing her to the formative memory that propels “Bicycle,” the album’s closer. Younger, more wide-eyed, she reflects on her move from Boston to Strasbourg, those early days, when Weikart had no other companion than that loyal hunk of scrap metal that took her to the shores of her own soul. She seems to suggest, on “Bicycle,” that a backward-glance is not always troublesome, not always anxiety-producing, but can be grounding: a reminder of where we come from, so that we can keep moving forward.
For their eagerly awaited third album, the Parisian trio Howlin' Jaws have teamed up with Swedish producer Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm (bassist with The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and producer for Foals, The Hives, Jose Gonzalez and Junip) and have taken a major step forward, affirmingthe universal appeal of their explosive yet elegant psych-rock. This new album, Living The Dream, crystallises just about everything we'd ever dreamt of hearing from Howlin' Jaws. Here, more than ever, their dreams take the form of unifying choruses, transforming grief ("Troubled Mind") or separation ("Do What You Gonna Do", "So Sorry") into genuine bursts of hope. Rich in texture (with the Omnichord and Mellotron featuring on the spellbinding "Miss You" and the twilight-tinged "Up On The Roof" respectively) and in wit (led by the biting "Living The Dream"), the eleven-track album is equally diverse in its range of influences. Disco looms large on "Terminal Buzz", country creeps in on "Sunset Laundromat", whilst the fiery "Maximum Speed" is a joyful reminder of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's trippy flights of fancy. The trio are stunning when they're in full swing, but just as impressive when they slow the tempo down. Behind its layers of cosmic keyboards, "Time Has Come" immediately sets the scene and subtly invites introspection. Like an echo at the end of the journey, "That Kind of Pain" rubs shoulders with the stars of the French Touch (the Air school), letting the strings of the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra burst forth amidst its melancholic swells. All in all, whether he simmers his albums like an omelette or a beef bourguignon, Howlin' Jaws proves he's never short of imagination.
For their eagerly awaited third album, the Parisian trio Howlin' Jaws have teamed up with Swedish producer Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm (bassist with The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and producer for Foals, The Hives, Jose Gonzalez and Junip) and have taken a major step forward, affirmingthe universal appeal of their explosive yet elegant psych-rock. This new album, Living The Dream, crystallises just about everything we'd ever dreamt of hearing from Howlin' Jaws. Here, more than ever, their dreams take the form of unifying choruses, transforming grief ("Troubled Mind") or separation ("Do What You Gonna Do", "So Sorry") into genuine bursts of hope. Rich in texture (with the Omnichord and Mellotron featuring on the spellbinding "Miss You" and the twilight-tinged "Up On The Roof" respectively) and in wit (led by the biting "Living The Dream"), the eleven-track album is equally diverse in its range of influences. Disco looms large on "Terminal Buzz", country creeps in on "Sunset Laundromat", whilst the fiery "Maximum Speed" is a joyful reminder of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's trippy flights of fancy. The trio are stunning when they're in full swing, but just as impressive when they slow the tempo down. Behind its layers of cosmic keyboards, "Time Has Come" immediately sets the scene and subtly invites introspection. Like an echo at the end of the journey, "That Kind of Pain" rubs shoulders with the stars of the French Touch (the Air school), letting the strings of the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra burst forth amidst its melancholic swells. All in all, whether he simmers his albums like an omelette or a beef bourguignon, Howlin' Jaws proves he's never short of imagination.
Underoath reinvents the balance between chaos and harmony with each successive release. Their compositions, conjured from creative tension, become iconoclastic anthems. Even when the band almost combusts, the crackling energy coalesces into something deeply resonant for millions.
Each time they have a chance to do something safe, Underoath challenges themselves instead, with integrity and attitude. Their pair of gold albums and three Grammy nominations stand in stark defiance of the idea of commercial compromise. The Underoath catalog weaponizes noise, aggression, and ambiance as skillfully as melody.
This year the band celebrates 20 years of their album Define The Great Line. Coming on the heels of 2004’s They’re Only Chasing Safety, Define The Great Line saw Underoath pivoting towards a more aggressive sound. The record’s unconventional – and, at times, jarring – intensity served as a stark contrast to the pop-leaning trends that were taking over heavy music at the time.
Featuring fan favorites like “Writing On The Walls”, “In Regards To Myself”, and “You’re Ever So Inviting”, Define The Great Line defied expectations when it debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. It is widely regarded as one of the definitive heavy records of the early 2000s, solidifying Underoath’s legacy as one most influential bands of the genre.
The heart of their sound, which delivers naked vulnerability with thrilling force and cinematic lushness, can be heard in generations of bands who’ve pursued their trailblazing spirit. But Underoath refuses to sit still. Walking an artistic tightrope between immersive access and isolationist otherness, Underoath owns the space between huge choruses and forward-thinking heaviness, both on record and onstage.
The songs of Jules de Corte are condensed, folky gems with an almost effortless charm. Poised between the intimate and the universal, between lightness and darkness, they touch on religion, love, loss, and the small dramas of everyday life. Yet they resist easy translation. Packed with wordplay, de Corte’s signature alliterations, humor, and local cultural references, the songs inevitably lose something in another language. Still, when a Belgian quartet of improvisers takes them on, joined by American songwriter Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, the songs are reborn rather than merely transposed: literal fidelity gives way to interpretation, and what is lost in words is often gained in spirit.
Even without tracing every change, their overall effect is fascinating. Songs are slowed down, often doubled in length, and filled with unexpected musical intrusions. They gain fuller arrangements and are placed in an entirely new context. Replacing de Corte’s piano with guitar can create a radically different vibe, as in “Mariska.” An added solo can heighten the contrast between childlike perspective and the almost matter- of-fact brutality of “Little Anita.” In “The Stranger,” another use of contrast unsettles the everyday harmony, transforming it with a subtle, disorienting twist.
Ultimately, these performances show that interpretation is not successful simply because it is literal. With the groundwork laid by Linus, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy further liberated the songs from their original versions. Lyrics and melodies become malleable, shaped by his recognizable cadences, timbre, and personal quirks. Like his collaborators, he allows himself the freedom to bend the material to his own approach. There is no radical break between this performance and his other records. Listeners familiar with the originals may be puzzled at first; for those new to de Corte, it is a wholly different experience.
Does it really matter that the original “Little Jesus, Mighty God” is a 100-second nugget combining playful naivete with biblical fervor? In the hands of these five explorers, the song becomes an intriguing contemplation, with subtle musical shades and a recitation in which every syllable carries a maturity that offers a new perspective. Then there is “The Outsider,” which feels as genuine as any original American folk song. The musicians’ process is more than reinterpretation—it is reimagination, bringing new musical compatibility and emotional depth. Whether that depth was there from the start, waiting to be uncovered, or created in the process is beside the point. What matters is that Linus and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy have made the essence of these songs their own, paying homage yet dancing to their own tune.
Linus is the Belgian duo of guitarist and banjo player Ruben Machtelinckx and reedist and synthesiser player Thomas Jillings. Across five previous albums — Onland (2014), Linus + Skarbø / Leroux (2015), Felt Like Old language at the crossroads of folk, jazz, minimalism, chamber music and free improvisation. Their music is adventurous, shaped by a particular sensitivity to texture, timbre and the subtle interaction between musicians.
What began as a duo gradually grew into a flexible musical world, bringing Linus together with musicians such as Nils Økland, Ingar Zach, Niels Van Heertum, Øyvind Skarbø and Frederik Leroux. Yet each new constellation has remained recognisably Linus: music in which carefully considered forms leave space for intuition, interaction and the unexpected.
For their sixth album, Linus takes a new step by moving into the world of song and text. Inspired by a shared love for the late Dutch songwriter Jules De Corte, the album is a reimagining of De Corte’s unique repertoire. More than simply interpreting De Corte’s songs, they absorb and reshape them, bringing them into dialogue with their own musical language. In keeping with this open approach, they are joined by celebrated vocalist Bonnie “Prince” Billy. With albums such as 1999’s I See a Darkness appearing on several greatest album lists, Bonnie “Prince” Billy is a cult figure in the alternative folk scene, and his highly intuitive way of singing seamlessly matches the subtle interplay Linus has developed over more than a decade.
IRST ALBUM IN 10 YEARS.
TOURING WITH TROPICAL FUCK STORM IN NOVEMBER (DATES BELOW).
PRODUCED BY DAN LUSCOMBE (THE DRONES) WHO IS ALSO PART OF THE LIVE BAND.
PREVIOUS ALBUMS ON HARDLY ART/SUB POP AND REMOTE CONTROL.
VERY LIMITED BLACK VINYL AND INDIES ONLY PINK VINYL . NON-RETURNABLE.
‘Jarrod Quarrell, creator of Lost Animal, is one of the most underrated songwriters in Australia and one of our all-time favourites. He creates poetic expressions. His work is very interesting in a highly original way and richly emotional. The songs reveal themselves more over many listens and always feel fresh. His powerful, beautiful, transformative, and unforgettable songs possess the vast depth of the human spirit.’ - GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIE ZINE
‘Quarrell has developed a collaged techne that embodies a heart-on-sleeve attitude. Lush melodic delays wash with an influx of lyrics that pierce with uncanny imagery and diction.’ - VICE
It’s not every day you hear about a new Lost Animal album. In fact, it’s been ten years between drinks. The debut Ex Tropical (Hardly Art/Sub Pop) was released in 2011, and followed by You Yang (Remote Control) in 2016. So what happened, and where’s frontman/mastermind Jarrod Quarrell been for the last ten years?
From the horse's mouth, “I don't give a fuck about productivity”. A humbling reply. It confirms Quarrell's MO: here’s an artist as a non-conformist. And when he does see fit to bless us with his unique vision of what music can sound like, it has the ability to completely charm and disarm. Amongst a sea of rock bands, LA is essentially a solo act. Simply put; LA is JQ. But on the other hand, amongst an ocean of solo acts, LA possesses the grandiosity of a full band, punk in spirit, but without being fast, or heavy.
Armed with keys and synths, timbres align more with what a toucan might listen to, as opposed to what's heard commonly throughout Melbourne's gig economy. Strings are gently plucked and horns are tenderly blown. These are the colourful brush strokes that decorate the upper frequencies. They’re the ticket to a far away land;exotic, and potentially very dangerous. If the crew from Hear My Eyes are reading this, consider Lost Animal performing Give Some Get Some as the soundtrack to the next time you screen The Hangover Part 2. Yeah, the one where shit gets super fried in Thailand.
The album examines the underbelly of what a ten year journey might rub up against. As one may expect, a lot of that action is below the belt. Tracks like Do That Thing, and In
Rewinding, a few things have happened in the past ten years that are worth illuminating. Shags is no longer commandeering the bass full time. Though he does make an appearance on a couple tracks. The main difference from present day to yesteryear LA is Dan Luscombe (The Drones). Luscombe has jumped into the role of producer (and also part of the live band). One could say he’s a producer of the Spector-ilk: playing a hands-on approach and assisting Quarrell's song crafting. He may have suggested to add a chorus or two, but the chord progressions remain distinctly Lost Animal. You'll recognise them easily by their beauty, combined with either fragility or rigidity. Luscombe is arguably the defining force that made this album happen. Perhaps he had Quarrell at gunpoint. Yet to be confirmed. Regardless, thank fuck for Luscombe because it may have been another decade.
But the album's defining feature is arguably Quarrell's lyricism. He may not cross-examine where he's been, but his voice does unmask where he is: absolved and reincarnated. The decade-long journey has resulted in him looking inwards and unlocking himself. The album's many mantras suggest that he may be a bird (I'm a Bird Now), or that he is living on another planet (Never is Forever). Whatever and wherever he may be,
Give Some Get Some invites the listener to reflect on their own journey over the past decade. Because the game's got a price. So ask yourself what have you taken, and what have you given? Life ain't a box of chocolates. It's a bowl of berries. And when fruit symbolizes temptation, get some.
IRST ALBUM IN 10 YEARS.
TOURING WITH TROPICAL FUCK STORM IN NOVEMBER (DATES BELOW).
PRODUCED BY DAN LUSCOMBE (THE DRONES) WHO IS ALSO PART OF THE LIVE BAND.
PREVIOUS ALBUMS ON HARDLY ART/SUB POP AND REMOTE CONTROL.
VERY LIMITED BLACK VINYL AND INDIES ONLY PINK VINYL . NON-RETURNABLE.
‘Jarrod Quarrell, creator of Lost Animal, is one of the most underrated songwriters in Australia and one of our all-time favourites. He creates poetic expressions. His work is very interesting in a highly original way and richly emotional. The songs reveal themselves more over many listens and always feel fresh. His powerful, beautiful, transformative, and unforgettable songs possess the vast depth of the human spirit.’ - GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIE ZINE
‘Quarrell has developed a collaged techne that embodies a heart-on-sleeve attitude. Lush melodic delays wash with an influx of lyrics that pierce with uncanny imagery and diction.’ - VICE
It’s not every day you hear about a new Lost Animal album. In fact, it’s been ten years between drinks. The debut Ex Tropical (Hardly Art/Sub Pop) was released in 2011, and followed by You Yang (Remote Control) in 2016. So what happened, and where’s frontman/mastermind Jarrod Quarrell been for the last ten years?
From the horse's mouth, “I don't give a fuck about productivity”. A humbling reply. It confirms Quarrell's MO: here’s an artist as a non-conformist. And when he does see fit to bless us with his unique vision of what music can sound like, it has the ability to completely charm and disarm. Amongst a sea of rock bands, LA is essentially a solo act. Simply put; LA is JQ. But on the other hand, amongst an ocean of solo acts, LA possesses the grandiosity of a full band, punk in spirit, but without being fast, or heavy.
Armed with keys and synths, timbres align more with what a toucan might listen to, as opposed to what's heard commonly throughout Melbourne's gig economy. Strings are gently plucked and horns are tenderly blown. These are the colourful brush strokes that decorate the upper frequencies. They’re the ticket to a far away land;exotic, and potentially very dangerous. If the crew from Hear My Eyes are reading this, consider Lost Animal performing Give Some Get Some as the soundtrack to the next time you screen The Hangover Part 2. Yeah, the one where shit gets super fried in Thailand.
The album examines the underbelly of what a ten year journey might rub up against. As one may expect, a lot of that action is below the belt. Tracks like Do That Thing, and In
Rewinding, a few things have happened in the past ten years that are worth illuminating. Shags is no longer commandeering the bass full time. Though he does make an appearance on a couple tracks. The main difference from present day to yesteryear LA is Dan Luscombe (The Drones). Luscombe has jumped into the role of producer (and also part of the live band). One could say he’s a producer of the Spector-ilk: playing a hands-on approach and assisting Quarrell's song crafting. He may have suggested to add a chorus or two, but the chord progressions remain distinctly Lost Animal. You'll recognise them easily by their beauty, combined with either fragility or rigidity. Luscombe is arguably the defining force that made this album happen. Perhaps he had Quarrell at gunpoint. Yet to be confirmed. Regardless, thank fuck for Luscombe because it may have been another decade.
But the album's defining feature is arguably Quarrell's lyricism. He may not cross-examine where he's been, but his voice does unmask where he is: absolved and reincarnated. The decade-long journey has resulted in him looking inwards and unlocking himself. The album's many mantras suggest that he may be a bird (I'm a Bird Now), or that he is living on another planet (Never is Forever). Whatever and wherever he may be,
Give Some Get Some invites the listener to reflect on their own journey over the past decade. Because the game's got a price. So ask yourself what have you taken, and what have you given? Life ain't a box of chocolates. It's a bowl of berries. And when fruit symbolizes temptation, get some.
LA-based producer Real Bad Man and multi-JUNO Award winning Toronto-based artist TOBi release their collaborative album The Perfect Blue via the producer’s own Real Bad Man Records. The album collects a diverse array of sounds,highlighted by the album’s two advance singles “When I’m Home, ” which Stereogum described as “a moody,graceful soul song with a serious groove, ” and the funk-laden “Over The Moon, ” released last week.
TOBi and Real Bad Man’s work together on The Perfect Blue encapsulates the producer’s mission for 2025, a year in which he released intricate collaborative albums with a wide swath of artists. His work with TOBi was seamless and began quickly after the two first met, finding kinship in their ability to push past their comfort zones in genre and familiar sounds. The result is eclectic and boundless, jumping from straightforward and unflinchingly personal rap moments, to the flared funk of “Over the Moon” and understated contemporary soul flourishes that prove the Toronto emcee can confidently make each of these sounds his own.
The Perfect Blue marks Real Bad Man’s fifth full-length collaborative album of the year, bookending a prolific 2025 that began with his collaborative album with ZelooperZ, Dear Psilocybin. Over a celebrated catalog spanning years, Real Bad Man, also known as Adam Jay Weissman, has cemented himself as a force in underground hip-hop, but his impact extends beyond work with contemporaries like Boldy James, Pink Siifu, Blue and more. Each of Weissman’s five collaborative albums this year showcases a different side of his craft, appeasing fans familiar with his gritty hip-hop production on his third album with Boldy James Conversational Pieces. He also surprised listeners with a bold turn in sonic direction, well outside of his traditional production palette, with his reunion with former Pollyn bandmate Genevieve Artadi on Everything Is Under Control.
Nigerian-born, Toronto-raised artist TOBi has carved out a distinct lane for himself with a celebrated discography of releases that explore themes of vulnerability, self-reflection and contemporary masculinity with a pointed nuance. His 2023 album PANIC swept the rap categories (Best Rap Album, Best Rap Single for “Someone I Knew”) at the 2024 JUNO Awards and his catalog has been praised by the likes of Billboard, Rolling Stone, i-D and more. Expanding on his ELEMENTS project series with the second volume released earlier this year to high praise, The Perfect Blue cements TOBi’s bonafides as an adept collaborator.
Ralph Session is a direct connection to the old school and original house values and he brings all those to the fore here. 'Move Your Body' (feat Mr Flip - main mix) touches on hip-house energy with jacked drums and rapped vocals. 'You Never Know (Party Break)' is deeper, smoother and soulful for when you need a nice late-night pick-me-up and 'Feel That Spirit' plays around with jazzy, off-grid chords and expressive vocals that play with pitch. The highlight might be the effortlessly breezy closer 'Listen', which is a broken-beat and sun-bathed delight for summer sessions.
No Home is the new album by Lane Hartley, releasing October 23rd 2026 on Royal Oakie Records. Produced in collaboration with David Hartley of The War On Drugs & Adam McDaniel (Animal Collective, Angel Olsen, Geologist), the album was recorded at Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville and features contributions from North Carolina’s tight knit music community–including Mary Lattimore, Seth Kaufman of Floating Action & Dream Sitch, David Hartley, Jack Victor Johnson, and more.
After recording his debut album Naming Horses, Lane left Los Angeles and returned home to the Carolinas, eventually landing in Asheville. It wasn’t too long until the songs started flowing and Lane found himself reaching out to Adam McDaniel at Drop of Sun Studios–a vaunted space that’s been at the heart of indie-rock the past few years, bringing to life recent albums from MJ Lenderman, Wednesday, Fust, and more. McDaniel introduced Lane to David Hartley, and what originally started with discussions to record one song quickly turned into a plan to track a whole album live with a six piece band. Once in the studio, co-producer McDaniel encouraged the group to lean on intuition–“All of the players on this record really brought it to life in such a cosmic way. They instilled so much childlike wonder and fun into the making of the album. It inspired me to keep going” says Lane.
Lyrically the album is a collection of vignettes about people who’ve become alienated from their deepest desires of connection, belonging, intimacy, and autonomy–inspired both by Lane’s own life and the lives of people he’s loved. The unique character of the album emerged when Lane made the decision to pair the dark lyrical content with bright & lush arrangements, inspired by Gene Clark’s No Other, Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush, and Amen Dunes’ Love. In Lane’s words, “The content of the songs got way darker, and my reaction was to make the songs catchier, and to lean harder into the music that influenced me. I wanted each song to feel like a room in a haunted house, with a beautiful garden growing outside”.
Album opener “I Am Not Ashamed” was inspired by the anti-memoir of actress Barbara Peyton, a 1950’s Hollywood starlet who met an untimely end; “It’s about knowing that whatever you’ve done to survive, you still deserve love” says Lane. “Mother” pairs lyrics about ancestral trauma with the sunshine-pop influence of Colin Blunstone, featuring backing vocals from Lane’s sister Barrett Hartley. “It's about coming to terms with the fact that the people meant to protect us are dealing with their own trauma…”
Meanwhile, “All Of This Is Yours” and “Tone Poem” form the spiritual center of the album, an attempt to transmute anger & pain to bittersweet acceptance in the wake of a breakup. “I feel like on the surface this is essentially a breakup album, a lot of these songs are about mourning the end of a relationship and reflecting on what went down. I was falling in love and getting my heart broken, then waking up and driving across the country and doing it all over again.” “Love Is Not A Song” was inspired by Margo Guryan’s Love Songs, pairing bright piano with playful lyrics about an old man who’s been beaten down by life but still believes his greatest love is yet to come. Last but not least, title track “No Home” sums up the album’s key theme of alienation, “It all goes back to this feeling of wanting to belong to someone or somewhere, wanting to belong in your own body.”
WRWTFWW Records proudly announces the release of sfs/in vain (selected tracks) by UK jungle heavyweight and Future Retro London founder Tim Reaper, a limited-edition 3LP bringing together selected tracks from two previously digital-only albums, sfs and in vain.
An insane collection of slower 140 BPM wonders, sfs/in vain explores jungle, dubstep, UK garage, R'n'B, grime, liquid D&B and broken beats through Tim Reaper's fresh and informed approach. Deconstructed and reconstructed club music, rooted in tradition but looking forward, these tracks reveal another side of one of the key figures in the modern jungle revival.
The selection comes from 2 albums. sfs collects a body of slower material Tim Reaper worked on throughout 2025, stretching across various genres of UK electronic music. in vain comes from a much more personal place. Written during a period of instability, heartbreak, financial and professional uncertainty, the album became a way for Tim Reaper to process what was happening around him and find some kind of escape. The tracks were made at a point when the effort he had put into rebuilding his life felt as though it had all been "in vain" - hence the title. The result is warm, melancholic, soulful, simply very human.
Together, these selected tracks highlight the incredible range of Tim Reaper's production, proving that his understanding of jungle extends far beyond the traditional boundaries of the genre. From heavyweight bass music to delicate melodic passages, sfs/in vain (selected tracks) is a beautifully varied snapshot of an artist constantly pushing UK club music into new territories.
Tim Reaper has been leading the resurgence of jungle for years, with releases on AKO, Skeleton Recordings, 7th Storey Projects, Green Bay Wax, Dalston Chillies, Parallax, Myor Massiv, V Recordings, Deep Jungle and many more. He is also the founder of Future Retro London, one of the most respected labels and platforms in the contemporary jungle scene.
Nine-time GRAMMY® winner Anderson .Paak and GRAMMY®-nominated rapper Cordae have been operating on the same wavelength for years. What started as pure chemical reaction on 2019’s “RNP” slowly turned into one of hip-hop’s most natural, low-ego partnerships, fueled by back-and-forth gems like “Two Tens” and “Summer Drop” and a series of dynamic TV performances that felt more like two best friends hanging out than a polished routine. On their debut collaborative album, Heavy Is The Crown, that organic bond gets the full-length treatment it’s always deserved.
At its core, the project is a tightrope walk between serious real-life stakes and uncompromising fun. The title isn't just bravado—it speaks directly to the shared weight both artists carry as the primary providers and anchors for their families. But instead of letting that pressure crush the vibe, .Paak and Cordae lean into each other. Meeting as total equals, .Paak’s elastic, soul-drenched musicality anchors Cordae’s razor-sharp lyricism, allowing both to unpack the heavy reality of success and family responsibility without ever losing their spark.
That balance is what makes the album tick. To drive the point home, the album art pays homage to the cult comedy Step Brothers—a nod to the silly, irreverent friendship that birthed the music in the first place. Heavy Is The Crown doesn't feel like a forced corporate crossover or a calculated career move. It’s a record about brotherhood, family, and what happens when two masters of their craft step into the studio simply because nobody makes them laugh, rap, or create quite like the other.
Nine-time GRAMMY® winner Anderson .Paak and GRAMMY®-nominated rapper Cordae have been operating on the same wavelength for years. What started as pure chemical reaction on 2019’s “RNP” slowly turned into one of hip-hop’s most natural, low-ego partnerships, fueled by back-and-forth gems like “Two Tens” and “Summer Drop” and a series of dynamic TV performances that felt more like two best friends hanging out than a polished routine. On their debut collaborative album, Heavy Is The Crown, that organic bond gets the full-length treatment it’s always deserved.
At its core, the project is a tightrope walk between serious real-life stakes and uncompromising fun. The title isn't just bravado—it speaks directly to the shared weight both artists carry as the primary providers and anchors for their families. But instead of letting that pressure crush the vibe, .Paak and Cordae lean into each other. Meeting as total equals, .Paak’s elastic, soul-drenched musicality anchors Cordae’s razor-sharp lyricism, allowing both to unpack the heavy reality of success and family responsibility without ever losing their spark.
That balance is what makes the album tick. To drive the point home, the album art pays homage to the cult comedy Step Brothers—a nod to the silly, irreverent friendship that birthed the music in the first place. Heavy Is The Crown doesn't feel like a forced corporate crossover or a calculated career move. It’s a record about brotherhood, family, and what happens when two masters of their craft step into the studio simply because nobody makes them laugh, rap, or create quite like the other.
“Negative Music / The Poorest! If they still know silence at all, then only as holes in the continuum of noise…” — Günther Anders, 1965
Editions Mego presents GETGETGET, a new release by Thomas Brinkmann which serves as an inquiry into silence, code, and the limits of perception.
The title GETGETGET references the trilogy of ‘Get’ lp’s made by Rehberg under his PITA moniker; Get Out, Get In and Get On. The music is based on material by Rehberg and Brinkmann morphing these two identities into a third colour, a disappearing color.
Emerging from a live performance at the label’s 30th anniversary in Berlin, the work unfolds as both sonic artifact and conceptual system: a study in what remains when sound is reduced, extracted, and reconstituted.
Taking inspiration from Günther Anders’ notion of “negative music”—composition through absence—Brinkmann’s approach aligns with Heinrich Böll’s idea of “collected silence”: silence not as void, but as a material framed against the constant pressure of noise. In GETGETGET, pauses are not gaps but structural elements, cut from a continuum and reinserted as signals.
The two side long tracks weave a dark abstract and ‘twisted’ presence where the ghosts of the machines and their operators fuse into a fantastical whole. One can hear traces of both Brinkmann and Rehberg logic which seems to fuse in a hallucinatory manner.
Brinkmann’s work reflects a broader condition: the translation of material processes into informational ones. As images detach from bodies and code separates from matter, sound too loses its fixed resonance. What remains is circulation—of signals, of data, of meaning—within systems that increasingly define perception itself.
GETGETGET is an album where absence is equal to presence, a metaphor with suggestive tones of the influence Rehberg had and continues to have in the world of the radical experimental electronic avant garde. The “zero” is not empty; it is what makes everything else work.
Ever-evolving Amsterdam duo ANOTR continue their forward momentum with the release of their highly anticipated third studio album, ‘Withness’, out via their own imprint No Art. Rooted firmly in dance music, ‘Withness’ sees the pair refine their sound into their most dance-floor focused and cohesive project to date.
Born during their global tour, ‘Withness’ was shaped in real time: written, tested and refined on dancefloors across the world. Following the expansive, genre-blurring approach of their 2025 LP ‘On A Trip’, the duo felt a pull back toward the club - not as a limitation, but as a unifying space. “We really wanted to have a wide variety of songs that we can play out and create moments,” they explain. “Every track needed to make sense wherever people come together to dance.”
That intention sits at the heart of ‘Withness’. A title that reimagines the idea of “witnessing” into something more active and collective. ‘Withness’ is an album about experiencing life with others. It’s about the moments you share, the people who shape them, and the energy that becomes real only when you’re fully present. The album captures the collective high of friendship. Whether in a packed club, at a festival, or in a living room with friends, the album is designed to soundtrack moments of connection.
“The memories you make with people, they’re the witness of those moments. Withness is about being in it together.” - ANOTR
Sonically, the album marks a clear evolution. Drawing from their early club roots while building on the songwriting confidence developed on their previous records, classic drum machines and 909 samples sit alongside warm, 80s-tinged textures, layered vocals and modern production techniques, creating a sound that feels both nostalgic and forward-thinking.
A key part of the process was spontaneity. The duo embraced a free-flowing, collaborative studio environment, often working with a rotating cast of contributors. Their now-signature “open mic” approach encouraged anyone in the room to experiment with melodies, lyrics and vocal ideas. This energy translates directly into the album’s standout moments. From the euphoric pull of ‘Withness’ to the groove-led ‘Do It With Ya’, the uplifting ‘Paradise’, each track is built to live beyond a single setting.
The LP comes at a timely moment, as their single ‘Talk To You ft. 54 Ultra’ has become the biggest global breakout dance single this year. Sitting firmly in Spotify’s Global Top 200, it has surpassed 175 million streams, and is currently No. 21 in the UK Singles Chart. Spotify have tipped it in their much-coveted global ‘Sound Of The Summer 2026’ list and other highlights include peaking at No. 7 in Shazam’s Global Chart, No.1 on Beatport Top 100 and gaining over 600M UGC views so far.
If you dig deep enough into the internet's lower depths, you'll find a shaky video shot on a camcorder. In 43 seconds, we see a makeshift drum kit built out of backyard Ostbahnhof trash, hear distorted vocals, and feel the anarchic energy of band and ravers dissolving into each other. It's now been twenty years since Bonaparte played their very first show at the legendary Bar25 on Berlin's Spree river. The ringmaster of this unhinged musical theater was Tobias Jundt then, and it's Jundt again now bringing the Bonaparte extravaganza back to the stage. New and nostalgic sit close together when the party's been going this long. Or, as they put it: "PARADISE IF YOU CAN STAND IT."
From late October through mid-November, Bonaparte will tour Germany, Austria, and Jundt's native Switzerland at full intensity, the full lineup - band to burlesque. Since their 2006 debut through their supposed farewell in 2019, Bonaparte played over 800 shows in 28 countries. Bottom line: "Too Much" isn't enough to properly celebrate a body of work like this. And the new songs from "PARADISE IF YOU CAN STAND IT" are far too significant not to bring to the stage. The lo-fi trash-punk of Bonaparte's earliest records has been built out with added layers, in production (largely alongside British avant-garde electronic artist HELiX) and in the songwriting itself.
The world certainly hasn't gotten any simpler since 2006. Tracks like "EVERYBODY PRESiDENT," loosely riffing on Zoe Leonard's poem "I Want A Dyke For President," and the corrosive "BRAiN ROT" mirror the social chaos we find ourselves in 2026. "OBEY (THERE iS STiLL A RiOT GOiNG ON)" is just as furious, though here the principle of hope still holds, as a multigenerational choir concludes "everything will be okay." Jundt speaks across generations again on "i LOVE YOU (MORE LATER)," dedicated in equal measure to his parents and his daughters: "Let the echo chamber bleed - from here into eternity."
The reconciliation and hope Bonaparte allows for and tends to, amid violence and all that noise, make "PARADISE IF YOU CAN STAND IT" a singular document of an artist grown wiser. Separation and grief don't cancel out love and vitality - they depend on each other. Ultimately, the album is a record of searching for and finding a home. To arrive, you have to let go.
And what better place to let go than in step with Bonaparte's wild, hedonistic party circus, finally back to gently terrorize our cities?
We worked closely with surviving members of The Nerves, Paul Collins and Peter Case along with Jack Lee's daughter Cynthia to bring The Nerves - Best Collection to you.
Unlike previous releases that often relied on secondary copies or rips from vinyl and CDs, we were able to locate the original source recordings and have Warren Defever master/remaster them at Third Man Mastering in Detroit for this release. This is what makes this record so special—it features the definitive versions of these tracks as they were originally intended, some have not been heard since the day they were recorded. We hope you enjoy it.
We worked closely with surviving members of The Nerves, Paul Collins and Peter Case along with Jack Lee's daughter Cynthia to bring The Nerves - Best Collection to you.
Unlike previous releases that often relied on secondary copies or rips from vinyl and CDs, we were able to locate the original source recordings and have Warren Defever master/remaster them at Third Man Mastering in Detroit for this release. This is what makes this record so special—it features the definitive versions of these tracks as they were originally intended, some have not been heard since the day they were recorded. We hope you enjoy it.
Both Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn had already started promising solo careers in the 1980s, but something special happened when Tim DuBois suggested they record together. Brooks & Dunn was not just a temporary collaboration, but the beginning of one of the most impressive and successful stories in country music.
The men were unstoppable. Their debut album delivered four number one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, going seven times platinum in the US (seven million copies sold) and three times platinum in Canada. "Boot Scootin' Boogie" was the album's biggest hit and single-handedly revived line dancing in the 1990s. This undeniably shows the album's cultural significance. Finally, this classic gets the LP treatment it deserves.
Brand New Man is available as a 35th anniversary edition on smokey marbled vinyl and includes an insert with lyrics.
It was in the year 2008 when Too Much came out: a 15-track debut that turned Berlin's underground upside down and made excess into a musical principle.
The album sounds like a party that has already gone off the rails - and is getting better because of it. Tobias Jundt's deadpan, heavily accented delivery collides with jagged guitars, rattling bass, vintage synths and restless dance grooves. Rock'n'roll, electroclash and dance-punk blur into something that never quite sits comfortably in any genre.
The songs are deliberately ridiculous, catchy and hedonistic. Too Much is full of party anthems, absurd one-liners and hooks that get stuck in your head whether you want them to or not. The title track itself became one of Bonaparte's signature songs - one of the early Myspace-era tracks that helped turn the band into a genuine underground sensation.
But Too Much was never just a record. Bonaparte's world extended into circus costumes, provocative performances, striptease, queer aesthetics and wildly excessive live shows. What began with illegal gigs under Alexanderplatz quickly moved to the Montreux Jazz Festival, international tours and legendary parties - with the band becoming one of the most distinctive acts to emerge from Berlin in the late 2000s.
Now Too Much returns on vinyl. A document of a particular Berlin moment - chaotic, funny, sweaty and impossible to ignore.
15 songs. Zero restraint. Still too much.
If the name The Midnight Hour isn't immediately familiar, the music almost certainly is. Ali Shaheed Muhammad is a founding member of A Tribe Called Quest, one of the most beloved groups in hip hop history. Adrian Younge is the Los Angeles-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer who has shaped the sound of some of the most critically admired records of the past two decades. Together, they have been architects of the sound that serious listeners point to when they try to describe what great music feels like.
The music they had been making together had a life of its own. By 2018, it had become The Midnight Hour: their self-titled debut album, recorded to tape with a live rhythm section and a full orchestra, and released to widespread acclaim. In 2020, the duo were deep into sessions for a second album. But then the world shut down, the recordings were shelved. The album never came and remained unfinished and unheard. But now, via their Jazz Is Dead label, The Lost Tapes have been unearthed
If the name The Midnight Hour isn't immediately familiar, the music almost certainly is. Ali Shaheed Muhammad is a founding member of A Tribe Called Quest, one of the most beloved groups in hip hop history. Adrian Younge is the Los Angeles-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer who has shaped the sound of some of the most critically admired records of the past two decades. Together, they have been architects of the sound that serious listeners point to when they try to describe what great music feels like.
The music they had been making together had a life of its own. By 2018, it had become The Midnight Hour: their self-titled debut album, recorded to tape with a live rhythm section and a full orchestra, and released to widespread acclaim. In 2020, the duo were deep into sessions for a second album. But then the world shut down, the recordings were shelved. The album never came and remained unfinished and unheard. But now, via their Jazz Is Dead label, The Lost Tapes have been unearthed
Industrial noise terrorists LARD, the legendary collision of Jello Biafra and Ministry masterminds Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker, return with the long-awaited repress of their 1990 full-length masterpiece, The Last Temptation of Reid.
A vicious fusion of industrial metal, punk rock, political outrage, and black humor, The Last Temptation of Reid remains as relevant, confrontational, and sonically devastating today as it was when it first detonated over three decades ago. From the opening assault of “Forkboy” (later featured on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack) to the twisted brilliance of “Pineapple Face,” “Drug Raid at 4 AM,” and their unhinged reinvention of “They’re Coming to Take Me Away,” (originally performed by Napoleon XIV), LARD created a collection of songs that still sounds unlike anything before or since.
This new edition has been worth the wait. After production setbacks and multiple rounds of test pressings, Jello Biafra personally halted the project to completely remaster the album, ensuring it finally received the sonic treatment it deserved. The result is the best-sounding vinyl edition of The Last Temptation of Reid ever released. As a special bonus, this edition now includes bonus one sided 12” vinyl of “I Am Your Clock.” Originally a UK exclusive 12”, it’s never been repressed until now.
Originally released on Alternative Tentacles in 1990, The Last Temptation of Reid captured the paranoia, hypocrisy, corruption, and media madness of its era with razor-sharp wit and a patented wall of noise and sonic wizardry. The unsettling truth is that it may hit even harder today.
Industrial noise terrorists LARD, the legendary collision of Jello Biafra and Ministry masterminds Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker, return with the long-awaited repress of their 1990 full-length masterpiece, The Last Temptation of Reid.
A vicious fusion of industrial metal, punk rock, political outrage, and black humor, The Last Temptation of Reid remains as relevant, confrontational, and sonically devastating today as it was when it first detonated over three decades ago. From the opening assault of “Forkboy” (later featured on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack) to the twisted brilliance of “Pineapple Face,” “Drug Raid at 4 AM,” and their unhinged reinvention of “They’re Coming to Take Me Away,” (originally performed by Napoleon XIV), LARD created a collection of songs that still sounds unlike anything before or since.
This new edition has been worth the wait. After production setbacks and multiple rounds of test pressings, Jello Biafra personally halted the project to completely remaster the album, ensuring it finally received the sonic treatment it deserved. The result is the best-sounding vinyl edition of The Last Temptation of Reid ever released. As a special bonus, this edition now includes bonus one sided 12” vinyl of “I Am Your Clock.” Originally a UK exclusive 12”, it’s never been repressed until now.
Originally released on Alternative Tentacles in 1990, The Last Temptation of Reid captured the paranoia, hypocrisy, corruption, and media madness of its era with razor-sharp wit and a patented wall of noise and sonic wizardry. The unsettling truth is that it may hit even harder today.
Not many can match V.I.V.E.K when it comes to pushing sound system culture.
With over two decades worth of releases, dances and low-end pressure, the Southall-born, System Music label owner announces the imminent arrival of his debut album, ‘The Escape To Nowhere’.
Spanning eight deep and meditative tracks, ‘The Escape To Nowhere’ is a fully realised exploration of dubwise tradition, reimagined through V.I.V.E.K’s unmistakable expert approach and unbound from one specific genre
Drawing from a lifetime immersed in bassweight heritage and club-ready experimentation, the record distils his musical journey into a fully formed and immersive statement, featuring the haunting vocals of Dandelion and Dego Ranking, experimental percussion and a meticulously sculpted low-end design.
‘The Escape To Nowhere’ will mark the 50th release on System Music, a landmark that underscores both the label and artist’s enduring commitment to forward-thinking bass music firmly rooted in culture and craft.
The third and final full-length, double album from the Elephant 6 Recording Co. co-founders. Their first record in 27 years from the Athens, GA band. A legend is a heavy thing to carry. It has been 27 years since the last album by The Olivia Tremor Control. In that time, they have influenced countless bands, been the subject of documentaries and biographies, and now, finally, improbably, there is a third Olivia Tremor Control album. In the 1990s, The Olivia Tremor Control released two albums of experimental and psychedelic pop genius, Music from the Unrealized Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle (1996), and Black Foliage: Animation Music Vol. 1 (1999). As founding members of the Elephant 6 collective, they redefined the US underground scene, injecting bright paisley colors and sonic adventure into a scene weighed down by grim irony and a fear of pretension. Work began on the album as far back as 2005 but progress was slowed by other projects, other responsibilities, but in 2010, the band of Hart, Doss, John Fernandes, Pete Erchick, Eric Harris, and Derek Almstead began to record. By 2011 The Olivia Tremor Control had reemerged as a fully active band and added AJ Griffin to the lineup as well as touring members Scott Spillane and Robbie Cucchario. The band was now recording constantly and were fast on their way to completing the album. Then in the summer of 2012, Bill Doss suddenly, tragically passed away. With everyone still in shock and grieving, work on The Same Place came to a halt. Every attempt to resume the project stalled until 2023, when, after watching the Elephant 6 Documentary, Athens producer/musician Jason NeSmith came on board to help. In 2024, with the album nearly finished, Will Hart unexpectedly passed away. Drawing on Will's extensive collections of notes, The Same Place was finally completed by the surviving band members, the broader Elephant 6 community, and producers Derek Almstead, Jason NeSmith, and Ron Kwasman. The Same Place does everything The Olivia Tremor Control ever did well. It also does it better, and goes further, than anyone could have imagined was possible.
Underoath reinvents the balance between chaos and harmony with each successive release. Their compositions, conjured from creative tension, become iconoclastic anthems. Even when the band almost combusts, the crackling energy coalesces into something deeply resonant for millions.
Each time they have a chance to do something safe, Underoath challenges themselves instead, with integrity and attitude. Their pair of gold albums and three Grammy nominations stand in stark defiance of the idea of commercial compromise. The Underoath catalog weaponizes noise, aggression, and ambiance as skillfully as melody.
They're Only Chasing Safety is the fourth studio album by American melodic hardcore band Underoath. It was released on June 15, 2004, through Solid State Records. Following the release of their third studio album, The Changing of Times (2002), half of the band's members were replaced. After finalizing the line-up with vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, the band recorded They're Only Chasing Safety with producer James Paul Wisner (Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever, Paramore). In the heavy and punk music scene, the album is considered a watershed moment. The blend of heavy metal and hardcore influences with a strong pop/punk sensibility spawned a new branch of heavy music. The sound eventually became synonymous with the screamo scene of the mid-2000s. The record went gold in 2011.
Hector Gannet have always known that place and music are inseparable. For songwriter and guitarist Aaron Duff, North Shields high on England’s north east coast, shaped by fishing, shipbuilding, and the sea, is not just a backdrop but a source. Everything flows from it: the imagery, the politics, the particular stoicism of people who absorb more than their share and keep moving anyway.
‘The Great Shakedown’, their third album, is where that source runs deepest. Featuring bold brass arrangements alongside choir and church bells recorded live at the 17th-century Christ Church in North Shields, the album is Hector Gannet’s most ambitious and most searching work. The brass is a constant throughout: driving the Dexys-style urgency of the title track, lounging through the jazz-tinged Big White Telephone, surging euphorically through singles The Mother Tongue and Seven Signs.
The singles capture something essential about the album, euphoric on the surface, quietly devastating underneath. Beneath its propulsive brass lies an examination of stoicism as both armour and wound, of shared language used to avoid saying the very things that need to be said. It’s a quality that runs through the whole record, which looks at human history and art, the ordinary and the extraordinary, the actions of those in power and the communities who live with the consequences. It is both communal and euphoric - a powerful rallying cry for people at a time when we need it most.
Early in 2018 he unveiled Zoning Out, Volume 1, an album intended for chilling while deep in thought, or for getting into that crucial head-nod zone, like when the DJ drops the dopest beat. With listeners ready for more rhythmic brain-food, Emapea provides with the anticipated next installment: Zoning Out, Volume 2. Developing the theme of Volume 1, Emapea takes his jazzy sensibilities and fresh drum patterns and ups the ante, delivering 18 mandatory cuts that swerve and shimmy while exhibiting pure dopeness. Take "Last Cypher," which is an infectious funk- hip- hop hybrid that flows with more than a few surprise embellishments. There's also the low-rider spy-hop of "Big Small Talks"; "Tantra" with its smooth, old school ride; the sensual boom bap of "Blue Almonds"; and the infectious, latin-lounge-tinged "Rainy Day". These are no- nonsense beat compositions, perfect for thinking, for grooving, for dreaming, for zoning out. Emapea and Cold Busted come correct once again.
The Malian virtuoso, indisputably one of the most creative talents of his country, deserved his solo career decades ago. In May 2026, we released his debut solo album SOBRA DANCE featuring his wife Mariam Kouyate on vocals. The groovy and variated electric album, went straight to the top lists of World Music Charts Europe and Transglobal World Music Chart as well as selected for TOP OF THE WORLD by SONGLINES. Gaoussou's solo debut got several 5 star reviews.DJANGO BLUES is a tribute to Gaoussou's father and childhood teacher, who's nickname is Django. On this album the talented guitarist and composer goes deeper into the roots of Malian Dessert Blues, with the variations from the Arabic soundscapes from the north.In Senegal, Gaoussou is nick named "The new Ali Farka Toure". But even though Ali Farka was one of Gaoussou's greatest inspirations, Gaoussou has developed an unmistakable style of his own. He breathes music and goes to his studio every day to work. He uses his composing to reflect, and as a ventilator when things are hard -they often are in his country of contrasts- and as a love declaration to life itself. He is a true Mandingue, a Griot, peaceful and kind, as the philosophy preaches.Accompanying such legends like Toumani Diabate and Kasse Mady Diabate, Gaoussou Kouyate, with his beloved village 'Sobra' as his middle name, has long proven his level. Yet his name has been relatively undiscovered. The trio performed a memorable concert at Dakar Music Expo, led by their producers, Dudu Saar and Lucy Duran. What started being noticed internationally through this exceptional trio was Gaoussou's composing skills.The electric SOBRA DANCE album was released first, to contrast and give space to the acoustic GUITARI BARO album. Now comes the time for DJANGO BLUES. This great album features Gaoussou's band as well as an exceptional Moroccan Ribab- Amazigh violin master and singer, Aziz Ozouss.
This is more a relic than a record. A token of respect to the music that made me who I am. Everything I do starts here — the urge to pull songs I love into the club shape I play today, for one reason only: to make someone else feel what I feel when I hear them. Two techno improvisations, ANG and OSC, built on two songs that mattered enormously to me and to electronic music — bands that started their own revolutions, in their own time, mostly off to the side of the mainstream.
These came out too good to keep to myself. Vinyl only. 300 copies. No repress, ever. First come, first served. Bandcamp and selected stores. No digital, no promos — this one stays sealed.
Ossie lands back on Heist after his 2025 hit ‘Are U still smiling?’ with a 4 track EP featuring Miraa May.
How on earth do you follow up your debut when that record got dancefloors moving across the world and picked up radio & dj plays from dance music’s finest selectors?
Many producers would get instant writer’s block, but not Ossie. His new EP on Heist is full of joyous melodies, catchy vocals and euphoric dancefloor moments. Across 4 tracks, Ossie takes us on a trip through rolling electronics, catchy UK sounds and big room anthems.
His Heist debut in 2025 did not go by unnoticed, and Ossie kept a busy calendar since, with regular shows in London and Hï Ibiza with Skepta’s Mas Tiempo crew, his own Supercali imprint as well as his appearance alongside heavyweights Louie Vega, Kerri Chandler, Cinthie and more on Heist’s ‘House of House’ much celebrated compilation.
The Motivation EP kicks off with a bumpy UK track that somehow reminds us of Bicep early day hit ‘Vision of love’. Where the Bicep boys went for a big sample, Ossie landed a surprise studio session with Algerian born-London native Miraa May where they wrote ‘Motivation’ in a single session. The track is stripped back to its core with catchy scats and chants from Miraa May and keys that’ll stick with you far after the track is over. If you’d need any extra motivation for your daily routine, to get out of bed or to go out dancing, this is your jam.
‘Can it get any better’ is a loopy house affair with soulful vocal chants, hints of disco and a subtle piano theme that drives the track into big room territory. It’s energetic without ever getting over the top; a thin line Ossie navigates effortlessly on this record.
On the flip, we’ve got ‘Left side’; a deep groover built around a synth & disco loop and cleverly sampled vocals singing ‘I believe… oooh yes I do’. This one is definitely a lowkey banger, where Ossie turns that one simple loop into a powerful theme made to ignite dancefloors.
The EP closes with the heavy warehouse groove of ‘Don’t stop’. A cavernous low end, rough percussion and chopped synth stabs all come together on this beast of a track. Ossie cleverly plays around with vinyl backspins, vocal chops and small changeovers to keep things interesting, while the groove just keeps on going.
Ossie’s ‘Motivation’ EP has dancefloor written all over it and with all its forward energy, there’s no doubt you’ll be hearing this one a lot in clubs all over the world.
There's a moment during every great dance floor experience when the music takes over and everyone becomes part of something bigger. "SHOUT!", the latest release from 2SoulFusion Presents Ascension, captures that feeling in its purest form. Featuring the powerhouse voices and ad-libs of Dames Brown and Dawn Tallman, along with an all-star ensemble of master vocalists including Josh Milan, Rahsaan Patterson, Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Audrey Wheeler, Ramona Dunlap, and Lea Lorien, this joyful anthem is an invitation to let go, lift your spirit, and celebrate through music.
Produced, written, arranged, and mixed by 2SoulFusion—Louie Vega and Josh Milan—"SHOUT!" draws inspiration from the communal spirit of gospel while embracing the energy and freedom of house music. Driven by simple yet powerful affirmations—"Shout," "Sing," "Move," "Love," "Get Up On Your Feet," "Listen Up," and "Let This Music Take You Higher"—the song transforms into an experience where every voice becomes part of the celebration. It's a journey of anthemic hooks, soaring harmonies, infectious grooves, and unforgettable melodies designed to ignite dance floors, uplift hearts, and remind us that music has the power to unite people through rhythm, joy, and love.
The inspiration for "SHOUT!" was born from a creative exchange between Louie Vega and Charaf Tajer, founder and creative director of the internationally acclaimed fashion house Casablanca. Introduced by longtime friend Joseph Capriati, Charaf shared a bold vision—to bring together the worlds of fashion, gospel, and house music for one unforgettable Casablanca runway presentation in Paris.
Louie Vega recalls: “Charaf was introduced to me by my friend Joseph Capriati, who said Charaf was looking to meet me about an idea he had. His vision was to marry fashion, gospel, and house music within Casablanca's collection. At first, he wanted me to DJ and play gospel house music. I said, 'Instead of playing existing music, why don't I create an original song with a gospel house flavor?' I immediately got together with my 2SoulFusion partner Josh Milan, and together we came up with 'SHOUT!'”
That vision came to life during Casablanca's spectacular Paris presentation inside a breathtaking cathedral, where Louie Vega premiered the original twelve-minute and nine-second composition live. As the music echoed through the cathedral, Dames Brown joined the London House Gospel Choir in a soul-stirring performance while the models walked the aisle on Casablanca's carpet made of their signature green color and a dashing vibrating giant mirror echoing the runway visually. Renowned DJs Luciano and Chloé Caillet were among those who walked the runway, while friends of Charaf Tajer and special guests—including Jaden Thompson, Folamour, Dimitri From Paris, Kapela, and many others—were in attendance, making it an unforgettable gathering where music, spirituality, fashion, and culture merged into one extraordinary experience.
Inspired by that magical evening in Paris, Louie Vega and Josh Milan returned to the studio to expand the original composition into the powerful recording heard today. Built around rich live musicianship, Josh Milan's keyboards, organ, piano and synth bass provide the foundation alongside Axel Tosca's expressive grand piano recorded live, Sherrod Barnes' soulful guitar, and Gene Perez's unmistakable bass groove. Together they create an infectious, organic driving sound that allows the vocals to soar while delivering the unmistakable musical depth and musicianship that define 2SoulFusion.
Leading the celebration are Dames Brown and Dawn Tallman, whose commanding performances are elevated by an extraordinary choir of world-class vocalists. Dames Brown's spirited sermon and ad-libs, and Dawn Tallman’s powerful ad-lib vamping out together with the soaring harmonies of Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Audrey Wheeler, Rahsaan Patterson, Ramona Dunlap, Lea Lorien, and Josh Milan, recreate the feeling of a joyful gospel congregation—not confined to four walls, but alive on dance floors around the world. Every chorus encourages listeners to get up, listen up, feel it, sing, move, love, and become part of the experience. Recorded between Honeycomb Studios in Pennsylvania, The Hub Ibiza and Manhattan Center Studios, New York City, and mixed at The Hub Ibiza, "SHOUT!" reflects the continuing vision of the Ascension project, where spirituality, musicianship, community, fashion, and dance music become one.
Fudge is Michael Kiwanuka’s most free and instinctive album to date. A vibrant, deeply human record shaped by spontaneity, emotion, and creative joy. It’s loose, soulful, and alive with the kind of magic that only happens when the process leads the way. The album was inspired by the encouraging words of the late Chick Corea, whose interview Michael stumbled upon during the pandemic lockdown, urging him to embrace what he loved without worrying about what others might think.
Each physical edition brings you into that world. The artwork, created by Michael’s friend and visual collaborator Stevie Gee, bursts with colour and character. It’s a psychedelic cartoon-inspired piece that perfectly mirrors the album’s warmth and wonder
Fudge is Michael Kiwanuka’s most free and instinctive album to date. A vibrant, deeply human record shaped by spontaneity, emotion, and creative joy. It’s loose, soulful, and alive with the kind of magic that only happens when the process leads the way. The album was inspired by the encouraging words of the late Chick Corea, whose interview Michael stumbled upon during the pandemic lockdown, urging him to embrace what he loved without worrying about what others might think.
Each physical edition brings you into that world. The artwork, created by Michael’s friend and visual collaborator Stevie Gee, bursts with colour and character. It’s a psychedelic cartoon-inspired piece that perfectly mirrors the album’s warmth and wonder
Put your hands together and please welcome Linda Lo to Shall Not Fade's Time is Now imprint. The LA producer/DJ's new 12" EP "Masa" drops 23rd Oct 2026 and f**k is it sick.
Linda Lo fuses* mambo, samba, and salsa with UK garage, dubstep, and club rhythms to make guaranteed rewind material that is gonna light up the dance…
* imma talk about this fuses sh*t in a minute.. First we need to get a bit philosophical. Cos rewinds and fusions aside, this EP is alive. It's part of something bigger and cyclical, without a start or an end. It is music. It was part of someone else's music before and it will be part of other people's music in the future. Right now though, it's Linda Lo's music.
Too esoteric? Let me elaborate and, let's talk about fusion. There is the fusion that is – steal a bit of genre X and culture Y, chuck it on the grid and strut about professing fusion – and then there's actual fusion: Music that is something "new" and real and genuine. Music that you end up describing excitedly as a "fusion of" things (even if it inevitably ends up doing it a disservice). Music that is simultaneously one thing and not that thing, and also something else and not that something else too. Music that is just "music" to the creator but is also part of the progression and evolution of music for others. Mala wasn't making "dubstep". Skream & Benga ended up not making Garage. Like many before and after they were making their music and Linda Lo is making her music so let's hear from her about it. Big up Linda. This is real.
Notes from Linda:
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“Like Croydon by way of Havana”
“Masa, or corn-based dough used to make tortillas and tamales, is a traditional staple food for many in Mexico and throughout LatAm. In the Maya worldview, people's flesh is made out of masa. In order to make masa, corn must be dried, nixtamalized, ground, and mixed (often by hand) to create the right textured dough. I find much of my music work is a collision and a mixing of many elements, all worked into one product. In this way, I've worked these songs, transforming raw rhythms and sub bass into hand-mixed tunes. ‘Masa - EP' presents four delicious heaters. The title track explodes with a fiery double-time dubstep groove. Mambo horn stabs bite through a bass inferno. ‘Cenote' looks down upon a subterranean pool of sound—still on the surface but impossibly deep. ‘Minifalda', pure flirt and gyration, calls in cuica and other voices from a samba bateria. Finally, claves stitch across ‘Mestiza', a fusion of blooming lush orchestration and jagged 2step rhythm.
Around 1960, my grandparents were regular dancers at the Palladium in Los Angeles: young, Mexican, and falling in love to dance music, specifically big band mambo. My mom, consequently, is a fantastic dancer, and her mambo collection along with my dad's exotica records formed the base of my own vinyl collection. When I first discovered garage and dubstep, there was something indescribably familiar to me, something mambo-like about the syncopated offbeat hits and drama. Later, as I began stitching together mambo claves and 2step drums, I assumed I was trying out something totally new. The farther I go, the more I see that I was wrong.
Dubstep, garage and jungle share a parental lineage back to dub reggae, originating from Jamaica. Mambo hails from Cuba, and sister genres of salsa to NYC & PR, and bachata and meringue to the Dominican Republic. Yet, these musical genres of the Caribbean have not developed in isolation. Reggae, mambo, dancehall, salsa, even son jarocho from Veracrúz, Mexico (where my family is from), all developed together, influencing each other fundamentally. Ultimately, all musics of the Caribbean have come from West African polyrhythmic musical heritages. Garage, mambo, dubstep, and salsa are points in time along one musical continuum.
I feel very honored to be a selector working in Los Angeles (and elsewhere!). I hope I can share some music for the next generation of young people to fall in love to. "
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I'm moved by what Linda writes here. #1 Doing what you love, and finding you are part of something bigger. Creating for yourself freely and hoping to inspire others with healthy amounts of care, humility, freedom, self awareness and enjoyment. (It is inspiring and I'm honoured we are now a part of sharing Linda's music). #2 There's something wonderful about finding connection and a sense of place. A place physical, spiritual and in time. Music can help us all find connection and be part of a place. Wheel it up wherever you are.
The Liber series was always about the dancefloor. Dark rooms, loud systems, repetition, pressure and the point where the machinery takes over. Liber Eleven continues that idea. The tracks have been remastered and are now available again on CD, vinyl and download.
This is The Black Dog in full techno mode. Hypnotic, physical and built for big systems, with enough strange corners to keep things interesting when the lights go down.
The Liber series started with Liber Kult, Liber Temple and Liber Nox, followed by Liber Dogma and Liber Chaos. Eleven picks up that thread and carries it forward.
No nostalgia trip. No archive dusting for the sake of it. Just The Black Dog making techno...
Strawberry Guy’s new album ‘Give Me A Dream’ unfolds as a tender, fragile and intimate record. The 14 track album arrives as the ultimate hopecore long player, in a time when we need it most. It's a guiding light, healing for the mind, exploring the tight-rope balance that is making it through life intact. Strawberry Guy evolves from the dreamy indie-pop home recordings to a perfectly formed crystalline vision, utilizing an immersive studio approach. Shifting from sparse & fluid piano parts to rich, engulfing layered strings, infectious melodies and an exquisite rumination on manhood from fraught emotional states. Give Me A Dream is a big step up, brimming with ideas, glistening production, and a tender heart.
The title of the fourth full‑length by A SECRET REVEALED already serves as a dark omen: "The Ruin I Summoned Forth" sounds powerful, oppressive, and inescapable. And that very weight permeates all eight songs of the album. The band from Würzburg crafts a sonic landscape defined by immense emotional force, urgent intensity, and a density that feels almost impossible to contain. Their wall of sound is never an end in itself, but the foundation of an existential expression that hits immediately and resonates long after. Stylistically, the quintet moves within the tension field of post‑metal - a sound that doesn’t deny its core roots, yet highlights more clearly than ever their affinity for black metal, melodic death metal, and modern, forward‑driving heaviness. Time and again, fragile, searching passages open up, giving the massive sound room to breathe, occasionally interwoven with subtle, almost folkloric accents. Fittingly, the opener 'Disheartened' sets an early exclamation mark: with Nikita Kamprad of Der Weg einer Freiheit as guest vocalist, the track gains additional depth and sharpness. "The Ruin I Summoned Forth" marks the band’s third release on LIFEFORCE RECORDS, following "Sacrifices" (2019) and "When The Day Yearns For Light" (2021). Their debut "The Bleakness" was released in 2015 via Bastardized Records. Across all four records, a clear narrative thread emerges: A SECRET REVEALED consistently strive to craft strong thematic arcs and a massive, uncompromising sound that grips listeners from the very beginning and leaves a lasting impact. Once again, the band presents a cohesive work in which individual elements rise into an overwhelming whole, until, in the end, the inevitable unfolds: "The Ruin I Summoned Forth".
From a Beaumont Bar is Pug Johnson's third full-length album and his most complete collection of heartbreak songs to date. Rooted in classic country storytelling, the record draws from the bars, backroads, and late nights that shaped him, turning years of lived experience into songs full of regret, humor, longing, and hard-earned perspective. Written with the benefit of hindsight, these stories don't try to rewrite the past—they simply tell it. From barroom anthems and dancehall shuffles to slow-burning ballads, From a Beaumont Bar captures the moments after love has gone wrong, when all that's left is memory, acceptance, and another round. While Beaumont, Texas provides the backdrop, the album's themes reach far beyond one place. It's a record about heartbreak in all its forms, told with the wit, warmth, and honesty that have become Pug Johnson's calling card. Rich with pedal steel, fiddle, accordion, and timeless country grooves, From a Beaumont Bar is both a tribute to traditional country music and a reminder that the best songs don't just tell stories—they make you feel like you've lived them.
The vibraphone may have gone quiet, but the groove hasn't. Roy Ayers passed away on March 4, 2025, in New York City, at the age of 84, but the man they called the Godfather of Neo-Soul left behind a vault deep enough to keep dancefloors moving for generations. BBE Music now hands the keys to Berlin's own Delfonic, whose second volume of reworks digs even further into that treasure chest for six fresh, floor-ready reimaginings. The series began when Delfonic shared a spontaneous edit with BBE founder Pete Adarkwah, and listener demand for a vinyl pressing turned the idea into a full official release. Volume 1 sold out fast and moved through collector circles at speed; Volume 2 arrives with even higher expectations attached, and record heads who missed out the first time won't want to sleep twice. Everything here is pulled from deep, previously-vaulted Ayers sessions. The reworks draw from BBE's celebrated Virgin Ubiquity compilations, a trove of unreleased Roy Ayers recordings cut between 1976 and 1981. These are the rarer cuts serious collectors have been chasing for years, now given a second life courtesy of BBE Music Delfonic is the alias of Markus Lindner, a Berlin lifer. He's been DJing professionally since 2004, building his name across Berlin and wider Europe with a sound rooted in hip-hop but stretched across many genres. For anyone who needs the primer: Ayers pioneered jazz-funk through his group Roy Ayers Ubiquity and was widely regarded as the godfather of neo-soul. His breakthrough came young; he got his first vibraphone mallets at age five after watching Lionel Hampton's band, and by 1963 he had his own recording contract. His records have been sampled for decades by artists including Mary J. Blige, A Tribe Called Quest, Common, and Kanye West, cementing him as one of the most sampled figures in soul-jazz history; a status that only grows with every year that passes. About BBE Music: This is a label with real archival credibility on Ayers specifically. BBE has held the license to the Virgin Ubiquity sessions since 2004, and this rework series is a natural extension of that decades-long relationship. Buyers trust the BBE stamp on soul-jazz reissues and edits precisely because of that history and the care, thought and quality that goes into every physical release, as BBE celebrates 30 years of real music for real people.
Earlier this year, Blue Hour released his debut album Selva, a record steeped in the imagery of lost and forgotten worlds. Now, rather than let that world stand still, Blue Hour opens it up, inviting a handpicked crew of fresh talent to step inside and make it their own.
The result is a remix companion that reimagines Selva through fresh eyes and ears. Each remix artist brings their own sonic fingerprint to the source material, some peeling back the original's dense atmospherics to expose skeletal rhythms underneath, others pushing further into the album's dreamlike haze. What emerges isn't a simple tribute, but a genuine dialogue: new talents in conversation with an album that was already asking questions about memory, erosion, and what gets left behind when a world disappears.
It's a fitting extension of Selva's original premise: if the debut album conjured ruins and jungles swallowed by time, this remix project treats those same soundscapes as living, mutable spaces, ready to be excavated, reinterpreted, and given new life by a new generation of voices.
LUCIANO LAMANNA — A CARLO Blackwater Label — 2026 Distributed by Triple Vision More than ten years in the making, A CARLO is a single-sided EP by Luciano Lamanna for Blackwater Label, dedicated to Carlo Giuliani and to the memory of the events that unfolded during the G8 protests in Genoa in 2001. This record is the result of a long process, one that began more than a decade ago and has remained unfinished until now. Two tracks, both carrying the name and memory of Carlo, finally complete a circle that has been open for years. The first track, “Il Giorno del Sole”, was previously released on physical CD through Blackwater Label. The second, “Amore Infinito”, arrives more than ten years later, completing the dialogue between the two pieces and giving the project its long-awaited counterpart. Together, the tracks form a deeply emotional and personal statement: melancholic, haunting and at the same time driving and hopeful. Lamanna moves through the industrial language that has always characterised his work, while “Amore Infinito” explores a darker, more intimate territory, evoking the emotional intensity of Coil. A CARLO is not intended as a historical reconstruction or a conventional political statement. It is an act of memory.
At the foot of the mountain. Our gaze is inclined toward the summit.
Toward the ascent. The destination that awaits us.
From the valley, we look up at the summit: our destination. But also the path: the true destination.
We can already trace our route, and we are already imagining ourselves walking up there. Along the small ridge, just above the tree line. There, we take a short break and look for the exact spot in the valley where we were standing earlier. It is strange to grasp that we have actually climbed this mountain. To look down from up here at the place where we were just moments ago – the same place we looked up from, toward the place where we are standing now.
And now, knowing what it is like to be up here, we remember what we imagined it would be like back then. What we believed it would mean to stand here.
Along the way, our gaze wanders back and forth. Up toward the mountain, down into the valley, sometimes only at our shoes. We keep walking, one step after another. Our thoughts detached. Our body functioning purely mechanically.
Step left. Step right. Step left. Step right.
Our mind has completely detached itself, and our thoughts race at an immense speed. They summon the most different moments. Moments from our lives. Moments that shaped us, that made us who we are. Or are we perhaps simply trying to understand who we are and how we got here?
It is strange that reaching the summit and looking down could make us believe that we have finally reached, or are striving toward, some superior, triumphant position. When in fact, it is really only about looking at the path we inevitably have to take. Processing impressions from a certain distance. Reconsidering what we have experienced, without losing sight of what lies ahead.
Our gaze turns back toward the summit.
Is there a destination?
An ascent? A summit? A descent? The return?
Or is it only about the insights we encounter along the way?
Am Fuß des Berges. Unser Blick ist zum Gipfel geneigt.
Auf den Aufstieg. Das Ziel, das uns erwartet.
Vom Tal aus blicken wir auf den Gipfel: unser Ziel. Aber auch den Weg: das wahre Ziel. Unsere Route kann man jetzt schon abstecken, und wir stellen uns bereits vor, wie wir dort oben laufen. Über den kleinen Grat, leicht oberhalb der Baumgrenze. Dort machen wir eine kleine Pause und suchen genau die Stelle im Tal, an der wir vorhin noch standen. Es ist verrückt, zu begreifen, dass wir diesen Berg tatsächlich hinaufgestiegen sind. Von hier oben auf den Ort hinunterzusehen, an dem wir eben noch waren – an denselben Ort, zu dem wir hinaufgeblickt haben, als wir noch dort unten standen. Und jetzt, da wir wissen, wie es ist, hier oben zu sein, erinnern wir uns daran, was wir uns damals darunter vorgestellt haben. Was wir geglaubt haben, es würde bedeuten, hier zu stehen.
Unterwegs wandert unser Blick hin und her. Hinauf zum Berg, hinunter ins Tal, manchmal nur auf unsere Schuhe. Wir gehen weiter, einen Schritt nach dem anderen. Unsere Gedanken losgelöst. Unser Körper funktioniert rein mechanisch. Schritt links. Schritt rechts. Schritt links. Schritt rechts.
Unser Geist hat sich völlig losgelöst, und unsere Gedanken rasen mit einer ungeheuren Geschwindigkeit. Sie rufen die verschiedensten Momente herauf. Momente aus unserem Leben. Momente, die uns geprägt haben, aus denen wir geworden sind, wer wir sind. Oder versuchen wir vielleicht einfach nur zu verstehen, wer wir sind und wie wir hierhergekommen sind?
Es ist schon seltsam, dass das Erreichen des Gipfels und der Blick nach unten uns glauben lassen könnten, dass wir endlich eine überragende, triumphale Position erreicht haben oder anstreben würden. Dabei geht es doch eigentlich nur um den Blick auf den Weg, den wir zwangsläufig beschreiten müssen. Eindrücke mit etwas Abstand zu verarbeiten. Erlebtes noch einmal Revue passieren zu lassen, ohne den Blick nach vorne zu verlieren.
Unser Blick wendet sich wieder dem Gipfel zu. Gibt es ein Ziel? Einen Aufstieg? Einen Gipfel? Einen Abstieg? Die Rückkehr? Oder geht es nur um die Erkenntnisse, die uns unterwegs begegnen?
'When Southern Lord picked up and re-released their 2010 debut LP Unsilent Death after its smaller first pressing sold out, they offered a comparison of 90s AmRep bands and early Cro-Mags going faster than either. That sort of works. So does Eyehategod's songbook played by 2013 Converge. This music is more suffocating than it is Suffocation; it also pulls largely from hardcore and comes with plenty of raw emotion attached to it.'' PITCHFORK
NAILS is beyond brutality. These grindcore tyrants of the American underground have triumphantly returned with their 2nd full length “ABANDON ALL LIFE”! Like the band's debut album: “Unsilent Death", was recorded with CONVERGE’s Kurt Ballou.
These 10 tracks of barbaric rage have no resemblance to the laughable retro party metal that passes as extreme music in today’s world. Abandon All Life viciously carpet bombs the listener with a horrifying brand of Death/ Grind/ Hardcore chaos.
Bludgeoning beatdowns, grinding blasts, hyper-distorted vocals, hard-hitting metallic chugs and early death metal riffs intensifies to a climatic end where the guitars wail and militant drum breakdowns send us marching. With profound hatred, the howling war cry of ABANDON ALL LIFE shows NAILS as a band without equal in their class.
''A swirling, savage and harrowingly sincere listen from start to finish, the record introduced the world to the band in the most brutal and brilliantly harsh manner possible. The new version of the album also features tracks that were never released from the sessions over a decade ago and completes the story of one of the most influential and affecting crossover releases of the century so far.'' ROCK SOUND
'When Southern Lord picked up and re-released their 2010 debut LP Unsilent Death after its smaller first pressing sold out, they offered a comparison of 90s AmRep bands and early Cro-Mags going faster than either. That sort of works. So does Eyehategod's songbook played by 2013 Converge. This music is more suffocating than it is Suffocation; it also pulls largely from hardcore and comes with plenty of raw emotion attached to it.'' PITCHFORK
Love is not soft. It was never meant to be. It sweats, it pulses, it burns through skin. It lives in the space between bodies. In friction, in tension, in heat that doesn’t ask for permission. LOVE AS A PHYSICAL FORCE is not about romance as an idea, but as an experience. Something you feel at 5AM, when the night has already taken everything from you, and still asks for more. Across four tracks, DJ Hermano moves between intimacy and impact. From the longing of Vem pro meu amor to the rupture of No encontrarte nunca mas, love reveals itself as contradiction: tender and aggressive, distant and consuming. The collaboration with Cuerpos brings a raw edge. Where visceral collides with desire. Voices don’t just sing; they confront, they provoke, they touch. On the B-side, the body takes over. Friction Lovers and Desire and Heatwave at 5AM dissolve the emotional into the physical. Where connection happens through movement, sweat, repetition. This is not love you write about. This is love you survive. A record for the late-night moments, between the club and sleep. For the moments where the line between pleasure and exhaustion disappears. For when desire becomes the only language left. Love, here, is not a promise. It’s a force.
ATA00BS will be released in a Number Stamped Edition, with Full Cover Art made by Pepe and will be Sealed / Shrinkwrapped.
'Keep it simple' 103636;"Reissue- Tracklist A1. Unknown A2. Pain Is Full B1. Damaged Memory B2. Damaged Memory ( Iori Remix ) Shortinfo: Roberto Bosco has selected Kiny's music to better prepare his first 12, consisting of four tracks, named 'Damaged Memory'.The track Unknown (A1) leads off the dance of the release on Last Drop Records imprint. It's a proper exploration in an unknown sonic territory to most of the people, and also a difficult element to make out for those who are novice to the visonary component in the musical poetic of Kiny. The track starts with rounds of recurring sirens, almost deafening, framed by dark and ghostly noises. Something not easily identifiable, ambiguous and unknown, as the title itself says, is perceptible in its sound. All this helps to shape a bad presage that fades away into the mystery. On the same side we find Pain Is Full (A2) that, according to the producer, was born in a moment of pain which can be overcome only by fighting. In fact, the track is characterized by a more combative and insistent tone, made up by the sound of snare and tom entering since the start and determining an atmosphere of contrast able to shake the listener until the end. Shouts of encouragement suggest an initiation rite in which there is struggle for survival. The titletrack, Damaged Memory (B1) has more quiet register with less ghostly vocals, perceived at times, unlike the previous tracks. The sounds have a vanished effect, such as when you create a halo on a white sheet with the dust of a pencil just sharpened. You will hear a sort of democracy among the sounds held together by the voice, a metaphor of a damaged memory, as the title itself recite, that always makes the same process till the end: it commences by recalling but then forgets. Last, is the version of the producer Iori, Damaged Memory (B2), on the same side.
YARN welcomes René Audiard for its tenth release with "Makes Me Feel", a four-track EP from one of underground electronic music’s most singular voices.
Across years of dub techno, minimal and leftfield electronic experimentation, René has developed an approach to stripped-down music that feels anything but limited. Where minimalism can often become an exercise in taking things away, his work finds possibility in what remains. "Makes Me Feel" is a particularly fitting example: immersive, at times strange, but always full of feeling.
‘Lovin’ opens the EP in familiar Audiard territory: murky low-end, locomotive groove, reduced rhythmic compositions and an understated framework swimming in a pool of detail. 'Possession' lets in more light. Vocal echoes, persistent rhythms and occasional string phrases give it a cinematic quality, while a groove that seems to circle endlessly takes on an almost shamanistic pull. The EP’s 11-minute behemoth, 'Flesh', fills most of the release’s B-side while making a convincing case for patience and sophistication. There are echoes of minimal’s golden age here, but Audiard never mistakes repetition for standing still. Tiny rhythmic fragments sit alongside expansive orchestral gestures, with samples working at every scale of the arrangement. Warmth and cinematic drama run through the track, but it's the playful programming underneath that keeps it moving. 'Night' closes the record on a different note, recalling Audiard’s work with Ali Çakır in Düve. Percussive samples, accordion and Middle Eastern guitar phrases bring a more acoustic character to his reduced 808-infused broken beats, making for a playful, occasionally melancholic ending with a distinctly microtonal feel.
What makes René Audiard’s music so rewarding is how readily you recognize his hand in it. There is a particular grain to the sounds, a way of placing details within a groove, and a willingness to follow an idea wherever it leads. Across “Makes Me Feel”, those instincts give four quite different tracks a shared identity. Even when working within familiar forms, Audiard makes them sound entirely his own. It’s the holy grail of music production: a personal sound signature. And a thoughtful addition to YARN’s growing repertoire of reduced, sophisticated dancefloor music.
Fall Collection pulls from the vaults. Four tracks, some long out of print, one never
before pressed, all of them worth the dig.
The A-side opens with Ty Tek’s Dirty Fusion, originally released on Gourmet Recordings
in 2005 alongside the Audio Soul Project remix two years later. Both have been
fetching serious money on the secondary market for a reason. This is tech house from
when that phrase still meant something, the walloping cadence, the sci-fi pads, the
seismic synths rolling underneath. You hear it once and it stays with you.
Departed by Wasted Chicago Youth follows. Justin Aulis Long and Mazi Namvar
started from a remix brief and promptly ignored it, building something new from scratch
in a single session. Organs, wailing lead, disco break, 808 subs, a plastic bass line
threading through all of it. Somewhere between an angry Metro Area and a more
psychedelic Jitwam, but really it’s just WCY doing what they do.
Love Thy Enemy by Wasted Chicago Youth appeared on the Chase The Devil EP back
in 2009. The bubbles, shuffles, and wobbling chords hold up, and the vocal samples hit
differently now than they did then.
ASP’s Cloud Dub closes the record. It appeared on Dubs Vol. 2 as a digital release in
2022 and has never been on vinyl, and that’s where the subsonic acid bass line and
the layered string, piano, pad, and organ groove finally get room to breathe. Deep
house the way Chicago made it in the early nineties. Bare, musical, and raw.
Track A1 written by Ty Tek. Remixed by Audio Soul Project
Track A2 written by Justin Aulis Long and Maziar Namvar
Track B1 written by Justin Aulis Long and Mazi Namvar
Track B2 written by Audio Soul Project.
Copyright Control
Fresh Meat Records 2026
Die Legenden der elektronischen Musik, Soft Cell, bestehend aus Sänger & Frontmann Marc Almond und Multiinstrumentalist & Produzent Dave Ball, veröffentlichen mit "Danceteria" ihr sechstes und letztes Studioalbum - zugleich ein Liebesbrief an das New York der frühen 80er Jahre, wo Soft Cell ihre ersten drei Alben aufnahmen. "Danceteria" ist ein großartiger, stilvoller und verspielter Abschied von 47 Jahren gemeinsamer Musikgeschichte von Marc & Dave als Soft Cell und präsentiert Darbietungen, die für die Karriere dieser Electro-Pop-Legenden prägend sind. Mit Anklängen an Sparks und die Pet Shop Boys sowie Texten, für die Lady Gaga töten würde, nimmt das Album den Hörer mit auf eine lebendige Reise durch einen Tag im New York der frühen 80er Jahre – eine Reise, die rund um die Uhr von der Nacht über den verschwommenen Tagesanbruch bis zum direkten Wiedereintritt in den Club führt.
"Danceteria" ist gleichermaßen eine Hommage an den verstorbenen, großartigen Dave Ball. Dieses letzte Album gehört zu den letzten Werken, an denen Ball als Co-Autor und Produzent mitwirkte, bevor er am 22. Oktober 2025 auf tragische Weise viel zu früh verstarb. Marc Almond führte die Reihe der Nachrufe an und bezeichnete Dave als "geniales musikalisches Genie". Die weltweiten Medien und Musikstars wie Neil Tennant & Chris Lowe (Pet Shop Boys), Daniel Miller (Mute Records), Cabaret Voltaire sowie Richard Norris aus Daves Techno-Duo The Grid würdigten ihn voller Anerkennung und Wehmut als Pionier der elektronischen Musik. Dave stellte "Danceteria" zwei Tage vor seinem Tod fertig, und ganz in seinem Sinne wurde die Veröffentlichung des Albums wie geplant durchgeführt. Auch aufgrund von Daves Tod muss "Danceteria" zwangsläufig das letzte Soft Cell-Album sein, wie Marc erklärt: "Ohne Dave kann es keine weiteren Aufnahmen von Soft Cell geben; das wäre schlichtweg unmöglich. Die traurige Realität ist, dass Dave Ball die eine Hälfte von Soft Cell war, und abgesehen von Live-Auftritten kann ich ohne ihn keine Soft-Cell-Songs schreiben."
When everything just aligns… then it feels like it is meant to be. I think we have all experienced that feeling; a feeling of completeness and that ‘full circle’ moment. Nihil Young lands his debut album packed full or memories stemming from the day he met his wife, to more recent times and the birth of his first child.
‘Compass’ takes you on a real journey of melodic music expertly written and crafted by Nihil from instruments all through to lyrics and songwriting – he has used all of his skills on this body of work – and he does not disappoint! AT ALL!
The album features collaborations alongside Rowland Giles, Leo Wood, Lasada, Jordan Arts, FRDRK, Adriana Stone, TYGR TYGR and more… Each track sounding as special as the last. THIS IS COMPASS….
Carl Cox drags Renegade Soundwave’s “The Phantom” back onto the dancefloor with a fierce, high-pressure rewire built for peak-time systems. Running at 130BPM, the mix combines pounding techno kicks, snapping breakbeats and metallic percussion with dark, rolling bass and flashes of rave-era synth energy. Chopped vocal chants and distorted samples cut through the rhythm, steadily increasing the tension before the track erupts into a relentless, warehouse-sized groove. Raw, physical and deliberately uncompromising, it preserves the original’s rebellious industrial spirit while giving it the weight, momentum and modern production power of a full-blooded Carl Cox club weapon.
Mr C breaks into Renegade Soundwave’s “Probably a Robbery” and escapes with a hypnotic, acid-soaked rewire designed for the darker reaches of the dancefloor. Opening with clipped percussion and shadowy vocal fragments, the track gradually locks into a muscular groove as a snarling 303 line twists, bubbles and mutates across the mix. Layers of machine-funk rhythm, metallic drums and psychedelic electronics steadily intensify, creating a raw tension that rarely lets up. Spacious enough to draw DJs deep into the journey but relentlessly physical when it hits full force, this is classic British electronic mischief rebuilt as a tripped-out, late-night acid workout.
It’s one thing to edit a song; extending sections, taking parts out, even adding a kick. Karizma uses his Knevrm!nd moniker to completely re-imagine tracks, producing completely new music and re-arranging vocals to create something completely different.
After building up a substantial catalogue of these in demand cuts we thought it was time to make some available on vinyl for the first time.
Knevrm!nd Vol.1 comes blasting out of the gate with four essential jams from the vault.
Veerus & Mattia Saviolo bring their A-game for the brilliant ‘Move Your Body’. The Italian compatriots aren’t new faces to Drumcode. Veerus has earned his stripes via five fantastic EP over an eight-year period, highlighted by ‘Hypnosis’, ‘System’ and ‘Cycle’. Meanwhile Mattia Saviolo is a recent debutant dropping the excellent ‘Parallel Dimension’ on A-Sides Vol.10. When Veerus suggested a collaboration to Mattia, he didn’t mince his words. “Yes, but it has to be a bomb!” Over two days the pair locked in to build an outstanding peak-time production from the ground up. “We started completely from scratch, with no ideas prepared in advance and no project exchanges before meeting. In just two days the track was finished and everything happened very naturally. We both brought our own vision into the process without stepping on each other’s toes, which made the collaboration feel effortless from start to finish,” Veerus shares. ‘Move Your Body’ has a distinct charismatic appeal not commonly found in techno tracks, highlighted by a stomping riff throughout and tension-filled break, before it turns into a pumping cut in the final stanza. A straight-up belter! Accompanying it is a captivating solo track from Mattia, ‘Mindframe’. An absolute gem, file under futuristic techno that sounds like no other.
HUMAN is a vinyl-only electronic music label based in Manchester, focused on music, art, fashion, and culture. We press records we believe in with no shortcuts.
HUM001 is the label's debut release, featuring E-Funk / Twisty by Scarper.
Scarper is a London-based producer and DJ known for blending melodic electronica, broken rhythms and left-field club ideas into a sound that’s entirely his own. Over the past decade, a deep catalogue of albums, EPs and remixes has taken shape, alongside work in advertising, gaming, TV and short film.
‘E-Funk’ is a hybrid club weapon - part 2-step, part house, part breaks, all energy. A certified floor starter that lives in the bag and lands every time, especially when the room hits its stride.
‘Twisty’ is probably the most dancefloor-ready cut, but the solid broken grooves dancing around acid bass lines and bleeps on each of these nine thumping tracks could work any room at the right moment.
