quête:yo yo ma

Italy’s own L.D.F. makes his debut on Shadow Pressings with a fresh slab of raw, analog funk—pressed strictly to wax and destined for selectors who still worship the turntable altar. With contributions from Detroit icons, Javonntte, Gary Romalis, & European groove architects Tilman & Böhm, the EP threads classic motifs through a modern underground sensibility—never nostalgic, always alive.

2026 Repress

DJ support comes from Roger Sanchez, Bob Sinclar, Claptone, Purple Disco Machine, Audiojack, David Penn, Sam Divine, Laurent Garnier, Chloe Caillet, Nicole Moudaber, Carlita, Groove Armada, Barry Can’t Swim, Bakermat, Danny Howard, Gorgon City and more!

Toolroom’s next Sampler showcases 4 big releases from Jesus Fernandez, Alex Preston, CASSIMM and Jewel Kid.

BCUC – Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness – have been channeling the spirit of Soweto for over twenty years. Indigenous funk, hip-hop consciousness, and punk rock energy fused into something utterly original and deeply rooted. Their mantra: Music for the people, by the people, with the people. From humble beginnings rehearsing in a shipping container, a stone's throw from the church where Desmond Tutu organized the escape of the most wanted anti-Apartheid activists, they kept believing in their dream of self-empowerment. Today they command festival stages worldwide: Glastonbury West Holts, Roskilde, Afropunk Brooklyn, WOMAD, Fusion, Sziget, FMM Sines, Beaches Brew, Boomtown, Colours of Ostrava, Couleur Café – to name just a few. In 2023, BCUC were honoured with the prestigious WOMEX Artist Award, an accolade usually reserved for more established artists, in recognition of their fearless work and transcendent live performances.

THE ROAD IS NEVER EASY

The Road Is Never Easy is BCUC's fifth album and their debut on Outhere Records. On this new offering, BCUC take listeners on another Afro-psychedelic journey into the soul of Soweto. It feels like a gospel sermon colliding with a punk concert, "guaranteed to touch untapped corners of your soul" (OkayAfrica). BCUC's music is deeply rooted in history and echoes the voices of the ones who came before. The road was never easy for the people of Soweto who originally came to work in the mines of Egoli, the City of Gold, Johannesburg. When apartheid finally ended after a long struggle, it was hoped that life would improve. But more than 30 years later, many of those initial hopes and dreams are still waiting to be fulfilled. This album is about that struggle. The album contains 10 brand new songs – a record for BCUC, whose previous albums featured an average of 3 songs. It represents the culmination of more than two decades of performing together and building a reputation as a powerful live act. These ten songs encapsulate that same live energy, each one building gradually and drawing you into BCUC's Afro-psychedelic stream of consciousness. It's a seismic tour de force through life in Soweto today. Songs like Amakhandela (Breaking All the Chains) connect history to daily life: "How is this precious metal inflicting so much pain in us," sing BCUC, "this government has been telling us we are free, but we don't benefit from being free." The album also talks about all the hopes and dreams that remain: "I have too many wishes and dreams in my head," BCUC sing in Um duma khanda, "I think I am losing my mind". The album ends with the soothing Matla a rona ke Bophelo, "our strength is life", praising the spirits and thanking the elders for protection. The Road Is Never Easy is about the harsh reality of life in Soweto, where "people always carry heavy loads". BCUC are street poets trying to deal with that burden: sometimes revolutionary, sometimes soothing, but always hopeful and compassionate. "When you are from Soweto you can't retreat nor surrender." (Sebenzela)

RECORDING

The album was largely recorded in Munich, Germany during tour breaks over two sessions, each three days long. It took place in a small studio located in a German WW II bunker converted into rehearsal spaces. The songs were recorded in one take altogether in one room, with only a few overdubs added, mainly backing vocals, by BCUC at Fourways studio in Johannesburg. BCUC have created their own distinctive way of writing, or rather, finding and creating their songs. The recording process is like an improvised live performance. They bring their ideas into a zone where the music, the rhythm and the spirits take over until the song starts to form. In this Afro-psychedelic zone BCUC create their unique poetry that feeds on the dreams still dreamt, the hopes, the fears and the temptations lingering everywhere. BCUC's songs need to breathe and time to build. The right take was the one when the song took over, and just like their live performances, no one knew beforehand where the song would take them. During the recording, BCUC just let it all flow out: inner turmoil, cries of rebellion, but also resilience and a search for healing, love, unity and compassion. You don't have to be from Soweto to feel the deep meaning and impact of this music. In these times of so much hate and division, BCUC are like a campfire for people to gather around.

PRODUCTION & ARTWORK

"BCUC have a unique magic," says Outhere's Jay Rutledge, who produced the album. "It blew our minds. It's like punk and pure gospel at the same time. Their music can make you dance and it can make you cry, all at the same time. And when the song is over, you feel you're not alone in this world anymore. We felt compelled to do this." The album cover is based on a matchbox design, matches being a common household item in South Africa even today. "These were the matches people used to burn government buildings and cars," explain BCUC. Little messages, addresses, or phone numbers used to be scribbled on the back of these boxes; each one a reminder of the strength, resilience, and resistance that once drove the struggle for freedom in Soweto. BCUC keep this flame burning. The Road Is Never Easy is a heavy spiritual road trip, a deep dive into the subconscious of Soweto and a quest for truth, justice and sanity in this crazy world. BCUC tackle the harsh realities of the voiceless, guided by the spirit world of their ancestors. Rather than reinforcing stereotypes of poverty, BCUC's portrayal of Africa is one rich in tradition, rituals and beliefs. "We bring fun and Afro-psychedelic fire from the hood," says vocalist Kgomotso Mokone.

Generic Flipper, the debut album by Flipper, remains the most absorbing full-length LP to emerge from the early San Francisco punk scene. A constant source of imitation for so-called "noise rock" bands, it has yet to be surpassed in its nihilistic glee.

Recorded between October 1980 and August 1981 and released in 1982 on the indispensable Subterranean Records, this album functions as a chaotic, sticky mass of individual personalities: the magma-like bass eruptions and dual vocals of Will Shatter and Bruce Loose, Ted Falconi's icy guitar scraping and the relentless beat of drummer Steve DePace. At times playful and taciturn, paranoid and absurd, Generic charts a deliberate path that willfully chances destruction.

In early '80s punk, when the hardening default was "faster-shorter-louder," Generic subverts the nascent hardcore scene with a strictly applied regimen of turgid-slower-heavier. The lyrics are bleak, yet unnervingly beautiful. "Ever" sets the tone with trademark restraint – "Ever wish the human race didn't exist? And then realize you're one too?" – while closer "Sex Bomb" is a churning, 8-minute epic with looping bass, saxophone accompaniment and electronic effects of dropping bombs.

Tons of indie bands have attempted to recreate Flipper's mix of acidic guitar, metallic bass sludge and sardonically brilliant lyricism, using the seemingly effortless template they pioneered; however, the effect usually drives listeners right back to Generic. While most of their contemporaries wilt under direct comparison, No Trend, the Butthole Surfers, feedtime and Church Police are a few who can stand the frigid heat.

Top Tier Contemporary Analog Disco Boogie. Powered by a stellar array of vintage gear and a shared fascination with the grooves of yesteryear, the L.A.-based, cross-Californian duo Introverted Funk have returned to the Windy City's Star Creature Label for "Body's Groove," an airtight 12" EP that unifies a variety of global influences into one forward-thinking, hybrid slab of soul. Their debut two-sided 7" Tell You / Fan Out quickly sold out last year and the follow up continues the ride with a fresh flow of funk that draws on smooth downtempo R&B, cosmic, breezy synths and masterfully-executed disco with expert authentic studio wizardry, all urging you to take that first step into their Groove.

There’s this feeling that House Music is sometimes diluted into a pleasant, non-offensive and conformist formula. Well, Jackie Gritness - you may have heard of her big bro Gary - is bringin’ all the sweat, the attitude and the filth down - take it or leave it.

Jackie introduces herself from both sides on this well-strapped debut 12” - the slick swingin’ & sangin’
on the bass-heavy A side, and the raw clave trax and cunty snarls of the acid-laced B side.

No trace of over-production or tired sampling here: this is just Jackie, her mic and her lil’ groovebox -
gettin’ raw in the studio just like she does onstage. Only thing added is some wall-shaking mastering by New York OG Dietrich Schoenemann.

This is the kinda House that’s supposed to make regular folks wanna turn it off. This ain’t rated E for Everyone, it’s rated F for Freaks.

It’s music from the underground, for the underground - as it was first revealed on the runway of Glastonbury’s infamous NYC Downlow last summer.

And if that’s more than you can take - it’s alright. It’s not like Jackie will hold it against you.

Jackie Gritness
“Gary’s little sister.” His studio session resume reads like a House music who’s who - from David Morales to Fred P. He’s also been rockin’ clubs with the Playin’ 4 The City and MLIU crews - but she’s also been seen on Gideon’s fierce Homo-Centric Records. See, this bitch’s true feelings about House are stripped-down, bare-bones, and unapologetically sexual. With a radical ‘live’ attitude, she’s serving the realness with an irresistibly acidic zing.

Mannequin Records presents a special release that bridges two generations of electronic body music: DAF’s iconic track “El Que” reimagined by French techno and EBM pioneer Terence Fixmer.

A lifelong admirer of DAF, Fixmer has been playing El Que in his DJ sets for years, considering it one of the band’s most enduring and powerful pieces. His connection to the track and to DAF’s groundbreaking legacy is the core inspiration behind these two new remixes, created with both reverence and bold creative vision.

On the “El Que (Terence Fixmer Leather Remix)”, Fixmer remains close to the original’s raw, muscular pulse while injecting a sharp, modern club sensibility. The remix builds on DAF’s unmistakable rhythmics but adds a contemporary momentum that feels like a natural extension of the band’s DNA. “It was like imagining what I would do if I were a member of DAF today,” Fixmer says.

The second version, “El Que (Terence Fixmer Drive Remix)”, ventures deeper into Fixmer’s own territory: darker, hypnotic, and peak-time focused. Tension and release are crafted with surgical precision, taking the original’s spirit into a harder-edged, suspense-driven sound world. It’s a version built for late-night floors without ever losing the soul of El Que.

Fixmer explains:
“I’ve been playing DAF’s El Que in many of my DJ sets for years. It’s a track I deeply loved from the first listen. I’m super proud to have remixed DAF — one of my cult bands and a major influence on my sound and electronic universe. For the "Leather Remix", I wanted to stay close to the original while bringing modernity and club momentum. For the "Drive Remix", I pushed the track toward darker, peak-time and hypnotic techno, keeping the soul of the original intact. I wanted to make versions that make you think: ‘I know this track… but wait — what is this version? I want it!’ When I tested them, that’s exactly what happened.”

DAF remains one of the most influential bands in electronic music history. These new remixes by Terence Fixmer reinforce the timeless power of El Que while offering two striking, club-ready perspectives for a new generation of listeners.

»Music for Shared Rooms« is B. Fleischmann’s eleventh solo album and his first since 2018. It is also not an album, or at least not in the conventional sense of the word. These 16 instrumental pieces provide a kaleidoscopic glimpse of a forward-thinking musician at home in many different musical worlds, including experimental and abstract music, pop and more classically-minded compositional forms. These pieces were culled from an archive of roughly 600 compositions for theatre pieces and films written throughout the past twelve years. The Österreichischer Filmpreis-awarded composer, however, aimed for more than simply documenting his extensive work in and with different media. To do so, he edited and re-mixed the individual recordings for this release, taking them out of their contexts and reworking them for an audience who can experience them in a different setting. »Music for Shared Rooms« makes it possible for its listeners to engage with the sounds and to fill the spaces they open up with their own imagination.

Roughly speaking, music for theatre or film can serve two functions: it either takes the lead, or underscores what is happening on stage or screen. The marvelous thing about these pieces is that they manage to do both. Fleischmann’s work as a prolific producer has always drawn on contrasts, at times combining pop sentiment with rigid experimentation, the seemingly naive with the intricate and complex. This approach also marks the tracks collected here: bringing together acoustic elements and electronic sounds, at times working with conventional structures but always de- and re-contextualising them, Fleischmann constructs a vivid dramaturgy out of discrete singular compositions, letting them interact across the record.

Take, for example, the opener »Träumerei« and the following »Brenne«: after the soothing acoustic sounds of the former, the latter quickly picks up speed with hard-hitting drum machine rhythms. It’s a stark contrast sonically and stylistically, however both tracks are tied together by a certain harmonic sensibility. This sort of dramaturgical interconnectedness of varied musical materials is the thread that runs through »Music for Shared Rooms«. A droney piece for string instruments like »Sehnsucht« is followed by a trip-hop beat, before »Schock« lives up to its title with skittering beats and piercing high frequencies. The differences between the pieces may be striking, but the progression from one to the other is subtle. It goes on like this through different moods and tempos. There’s soothing-yet-eerie piano pieces like the »Für Elise«-inspired »Der Lärmkrieg«, gentle house grooves, joyful synthesizer excursions and, finally, »Die Erde ist mir fremd geworden«, a collage of abstract textures and concrete sounds.

All these pieces create distinct situations through the juxtaposition of diverse musical elements, but are also bound together by a single vision. Writing music for theatre pieces or film requires a composer and his pieces to engage with people and their movements in space, which is exactly what Fleischmann offers on this record. He breaks down the fourth wall and invites his listeners into his world, a wide-ranging musical panorama. »Music for Shared Rooms« is indeed not an album in the conventional sense of the word, but more like a photo album in which each page opens up a new space to get lost in; recreates different scenes in which you can immerse yourself. These are shared rooms indeed.

Artist and multi-instrumentalist Flaer embraces the search for quiet miracles on first full-length LP Translations.

In 2023, Realf Heygate - who makes music as Flaer - released his debut mini-album Preludes, composed on his mother’s piano and his childhood cello.Returning to ODDA for his debut full-length album, Heygate is now looking in another direction. A record that embraces transition and movement, Translations is in many ways more internal, less rooted to a single place and reflective of the process of laying new foundations in Cornwall.

Like Preludes, Translations is coloured with found sounds and field recordings, from the starlings which can be heard singing through the open window of his studio, to the brittle recordings of his mother, who was a linguist, learning Spanish on a set of language tapes. In both cases, Heygate embraced the translations and memories inherent to the sounds.

“When I digitised my mother’s tapes, they warped and stuttered in a very similar way to the starling’s song,” he explains. “They had this uncanny rhythm and pulse that I couldn’t quite decode, but was saying something." These decayed transmissions hint at loss, resisting clarity in favour of the ineffable.

Translations is also a record of ambiguities and in-betweens, suggested by the double meaning of the album’s opening track ‘Entre’. At once intricate and expansive, threaded with birdsong and acoustic guitar motifs, this and ‘Starling Descends’ (a reference to Vaughan Williams’ ‘The Lark Ascending’) act as a bridge away from the pastoral themes of Preludes towards a more assertive sound. At times intimate in its textured instrumentation and at others more overtly grand in orchestration, reflecting awider palette of influences.

“Flaer began in many ways when I picked up my mother’s instruments, seeking a form of reconnection. Where words evaded me, they became the tools through which I found a language for grief – and above all, for love.”

Recorded between 2023 and 2025 – what Heygate calls “A gradual process of sowing and harvesting ideas rather than a single intense creative period” - each track follows a rhythm similar to the small maquettes and sculptures he has been working on in his visual practice, whereby structures and melodies form intuitively in moments that are as rare as they are fleeting.

“It's that feeling of searching that I really enjoy,” Heygate continues. “I never know what the destination of the composition is going to be, and I never really find what it is."

Translations is released on limited edition off-white vinyl LP (500 copies worldwide) with one of five signed and numbered handmade risograph prints. It's also available as standard black vinyl LP and digitally.

First time reissue of JP free jazz rarity, pre-Seikatsu Kōjyō Iinkai group.

The single album self-released by the quartet Shūdan Sokai in 1977 is one of the most vital documents of mid-seventies Japanese free jazz, documenting Tokyo’s free scene at the precise moment when it began to shift to a handful of tiny venues on the western fringes of the city. In Free Jazz in Japan, Teruto Soejima identifies the extant venue Aketa no Mise in Nishi-Ogikubo as the pioneer of this decamping from the centre: a cramped basement beneath a rice shop, seating just 20 people. Musician-run, operated on a shoestring, these spaces offered a vital site for community, creativity, and a small measure of financial independence — “even though it was in a basement, in spirit it was a loft.”

Among the most active of the new venues was Alone in Hachiōji, nearly an hour from Shinjuku, in a district shaped by universities, lower rents, and a thriving counterculture. Originally opened in 1973 as a jazu kissa, Alone was unusually spacious and equipped with a stage, grand piano, and drum kit. Around 1974, Junji Mori and Yasuhiro Sakakibara began working there, booking free jazz players on weekends and establishing the venue as a crucial hub. Mori recalls early appearances by figures including Kazutoki Umezu, Toshinori Kondo, and others who would define the scene.

In early 1976, Umezu and pianist Yoriyuki Harada — recently returned from New York’s loft jazz environment, where they had played with musicians such as David Murray and William Parker — formed Shūdan Sokai with Mori and drummer Takashi Kikuchi. The name, meaning “mass evacuation,” pointed to their self-chosen exile in Hachiōji. With Alone as their home base, the quartet developed a music characterized by an infectious sense of enjoyment and a willingness to integrate free jazz with elements of song structure. Harada switched between piano and bass; the group experimented with rap-like vocal pieces, jabbering nursery rhymes over bass rhythms.

They returned to Alone on December 24 to record Sono zen’ya (Eve), releasing it on their own Des Chonboo Records, partially funded by advertisements from local businesses printed on the rear cover. The closing “Ballad for Seshiru,” dedicated to Harada’s newborn son, unfolds over a delicate piano melody that moves into emphatic chords as intertwining alto lines rise and spiral.

Alone closed in September 1977, and Shūdan Sokai soon dissolved, later morphing into the expanded Seikatsu Kōjyō Iinkai Orchestra. What remains is a recording rooted in a specific place and moment: a fiercely independent scene sustained by small rooms, close listening, and collective commitment.

French duo Froid Dub keeps twisting its slow-motion dub DNA and hits hard with the release of Positive and Natural on Delodio— instant classic that grabs you from the very first spin with its “minimal maximal” drive. Hypnotic and raw, this eight-track manifesto glides across the holy trinity: 808, 303 and tape delays—colliding true-school dub synths, club culture and experimental twists. A masterclass of a record that flaunts its roots and stays deeply personal. Froid Dub once again proves its singular talent for pumping up a dance floor at an average of 85 BPM.

Bloody Red Colored 7''

Bloody massive exceptional big release !! Do Not Miss that pearl !

An album you say ?
Oh yes... A bloody overview of the Scuderia scene over the years !!!!

Surprise.

Again !


A good one.

Again !


LOVE HARDCORE

Bleaching Agent and Miles J Paralysis are two artists who operate steadily in their own lane. They collide on this release to deliver two contrasting originals, each handed to the other to be reimagined.

Both based alongside us in West Yorkshire, we are thrilled to present this shared vision in the form of the first Dream Space 12”.

Bleaching Agent’s Hollis captures the spirit of the bleeps & bass forged in the industrial north of years gone by, elevated with lush harmonies and slick vocal work. One that’s fit for late-night floors and hazy summer evenings alike.

Miles J Paralysis takes Hollis into a different space, chopping the melody into an infectious and hypnotic flow. All melded together with his signature dub-tinged, grooving percussive work.

On side two, Miles drags us into deep territory with Inhibited Orgy. Further exploring the otherworldly sound of his Paralysis moniker, that many of you will now be familiar with after a breakout year.

Bleaching Agent closes off the record with his own take, stoking the energy levels to create a stomping, anthemic chugger that is sure to ignite any dance floor.

Limited to 150 copies.

LS002 marks the first vinyl chapter of 20, Eitan Reiter's two-decade retrospective, distilled through key collaborations and remixes. Featuring Patrice Bäumel, Infected Mushroom, Shpongle, Red Axes, and Echo, this six-track release connects psychedelic heritage with contemporary indie dance and deep electronic aesthetics.
20 (Part 1) is a 12-inch vinyl edition featuring exclusive vinyl cuts, available only on this pressing. The selection reflects Reiter's ability to honor his roots while maintaining a distinctly modern sound,blending psychedelic foundations with cluboriented precision.

A1 - Eitan Reiter - Blue Planet (Remix) Vinyl Cut
The A-side opens with a spacious, atmospheric rework of Blue Planet, balancing restrained tension with melodic clarity.
A2 - Eitan Reiter - X-Vision feat. Echo Vinyl Cut
Echo's vocal performance anchors the track, presented here in a refined vinyl cut that enhances its emotional depth.
A3 - Eitan Reiter & A. Balter - E0E (Eitan Reiter Remix) Vinyl Cut
A driving, hypnotic groove where rhythmic focus meets evolving textures.
A4 - Infected Mushroom & Yahel - Electro Panic (Eitan Reiter Remix) [Vinyl Cut]
A confident reworking of a psytrance classic, reshaped into an 80s-leaning indie dance format.
B1 - Eitan Reiter - Eat You (Patrice Bäumel Remix)
Patrice Bäumel heightens the track's underlying tension with a slow-building, immersive reinterpretation.
B2 - Out of Orbit & Shpongle - No Disco (Red Axes Remix)
Red Axes flip the original into a dark disco framework, adding weight, swing, and late-night character.

LS002 presents a vinyl-focused snapshot of Eitan Reiter's collaborative output, with each track adapted for turntable playback.

Dj T-Kut Team Leader of Skratcher Madrid, Skratch Elementz & Tablist Lounge Spain, publishes a new volume of Skratch Practice. After the success of the previous volumes, this time it will be called Skratch Fu-Finger Practice. Side A consists of 12 seamless loops at 100 BPM and Side B consists of 12 seamless loops at 133 BPM. This vinyl is a perfect tool for battle routines, freestyle scratching, in which you will find classic original sounds, phrases, Fx sounds and much more. This Battle Breaks & Scratch Tools vinyl promises hours of practice and is focused both for DJs who are beginning and advanced DJs. This work is published on 12" and 7" vinyl in black plus a limited edition in colour oxide blood for 12" and gold for 7". The 7" vinyl sides A and B consist of 6 loops per side at 100 BPM. Artwork: Adolfo Gerrero Mastered: Le Jad Producer: Dj T-Kut I hope you enjoy it and Happy Skratching!

The album Lo-Fi Ghibli, featuring covers of Studio Ghibli songs in a lo-fi hip-hop style, became a worldwide hit and made Grey October Sound known not only in Japan, but overseas too. The series was even discussed on Japanese television, and it has become commonplace to see tourists visiting Japan carrying the 'Lo-Fi Ghibli' LP from record stores to the till. P-VINE is thrilled to announce the release of the highly anticipated sequel, Lo-Fi Ghibli 3. For this new release, Grey October Sound's producers have arranged Ghibli songs that are completely new, even if songs included in the previous volume. The visual imagery, including the album cover, continues to be created by illustrator Rika Nagatani. Playing this record will instantly provide you with a relaxing time of nostalgia for the Ghibli films.

Let's see now – you just love that hugely fertile foundation period of Jamaican pop music from the birth of ska, through the spectacularly brief two year heyday of rocksteady up to and including the arrival of the first incarnation of reggae a.k.a. early or 'boss' reggae. But you're also aware that the pioneers of these sounds (including The Pioneers!) won't be creating music in these styles or touring forever – so what do you do?

Well, if you're Neil Anderson, owner of Original Gravity Records, the creation bit isn't a problem. You put forth period-authentic style material from a 'roster' of acts – such as Junior Dell & The D-Lites - that in reality consist mostly of yourself (you are a multi-instrumentalist and lyricist after all!) and whichever extra musicians and session singer you rope in for a given track. In the case of Junior Dell & The D-Lites that singer was Adrian Dell – soon to be dubbed (no pun intended) 'Junior' - first appearing on 2021's uptempo ska tribute to Salvadoran retro-dancing internet sensation Aranivah, entitled Miss Aranivah. And you keep putting out stuff so profusely and effectively that there are clamours for you to tour 'the band' which - er - doesn't really exist. What a botheration! Still, maybe your session singer could become – well - a permanent singer? Maybe you can rustle up assorted bredren to become the rest of the band and...you know what? That might just work!

And so, in the blink of an eye, Junior Dell & The D-Lites becomes a bona fide actual live band fronted by a young Jamaican singer playing fresh 60s/70s-style Jamaican music with an energy last seen and heard in, well, the 1960s and 70s. And it tours so effectively that there are clamours for 'the band' – or more accurately, now – the band - to release an album. Wait...what now? And, by the way, you've got a European tour coming up in April wouldn't it be great if the album was ready to tour by then? Pressure drop? Pressure rise more like!

Then again, Junior Dell & The D-Lites have done so many sure-shot singles to date that assembling them along with a new cut, an extended version of one of the singles and re-recordings of two of the label's previous singles that were originally by 'label mates' The Regulators should be a cinch. So expect all the hits: bluebeat banger 20 Flight Ska, the euphoric ska bounce of the aforementioned Miss Aranivah and the title track, a de rigueur smattering of covers (opener Jump Around, midway markers Praise You and Just Can't Get Enough, and one of the re-recordings, closer Don't Look Back In Anger), early reggae groovers Cool Right Down, Last Night Reggay, Can't Stop The Reggae (in a new extended form) and crowd-pleasing new one Mi Try along with the other Junior Dell re-recording - the gorgeous Why Why Why which nods to the period of reggae between the sound of '69 and the arrival of roots.

Don't you brag and don't you boast but that's a Whole Lotta Skankin' going on! Do the ska, do the rocksteady, do the reggay, why– it's another scorcher!

Always a dancefloor friendly act, The Remixes (originally issued 25 years ago) is the sound of the Roses biggest tunes revisited by many of the foremost names in UK dance music at that time – including legends such as Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne and fellow Mancunians 808 State and A Guy Called Gerald. With fully restored artwork, including notes from the remixers, this 2LP set features some tracks that have really stood the test of time. “808 State turns ‘Made of Stone’ into an aggressive, high-pitched piece of electro-pop. Rabbit in the Moon earns points simply for…. making over ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ into a slow acid house excursion. Elephant dares to twist ‘She Bangs the Drums’ into an echoing, spooky vocoder workout.”

Like its cover, Nicolas Remondino's Hìeratico plays in the rich shades of crepuscular spaces. A night-tuned, percussion led album where prepared drums are accompanied by flickers of spoken word, acoustic instruments and muted electronics,

The title translates to 'hieratic', for Remondino a "black and gold" term laden with dualities and complex connotations. A sense of teetering between sparkling light and richly coloured darkness imbues the music, the compositions simulating a sense of heightened acuity as they convey us through a spooky elemental soundworld. The opening title track begins with a metallic shimmer, a drum skin activated in a way that sounds like it's being smelted. A cushioned rhythm enters, a smothered timbre akin to hearing something lurking around the garden. On "litho non-danse", percussion cracks like branches and dried foliage under foot.

Remondino recorded initial outlines for the pieces at Giuseppe Ielasi's studio in Milan, before fleshing out these ideas with his own additional instrumentation and contributions from a globe-spanning network of collaborators. On "blue hymne", chiming percussion equal parts jubilant and sinister heralds spoken word from Limpe Fuchs. "Tombal" opens with Massimo Silverio whispering in the Carnic dialect, a minority language from the Carnic Alps. Around, Marco Baldini, Pierre Bastien and Remondino construct a somber soundscape that cranks and sighs in the crevices.

Hìeratico is an album of hybrids. Diverse voices, accents and dialects deliver its lyrics, the instrumentation underpinning it crosses idioms. The drumkit at its core is modified to amplify its resonant tones and harmonics. Inspired by natural substances and phenomena: stone, wood, wind, earth, metal, grass, rain, clouds and bark, Remondino explores how percussion could evoke their materiality, treating drums as lucid textural instruments as much as rhythmic timekeepers. It gives the album a finely shaded depth and clarity as it conjures the vibrancies that reside in darkened corners. Hìeratico dwells in a sensation that crosses borders, the speckles of light in the oblique night sky. Listening is an aural equivalent to stepping into a pitch black forest and waiting for your eyes to adjust, a lightless void turning into a spectacular tableau of shadows and glows. Daryl Worthington

Dave Wallace is one third of Aquasky, as well as a founding member of Mad Dog and Fugitive. He also released his own EP’s on Moving Shadow and R&S in the 90’s and more recently an EP on TeeBee’s Subtitles label as well as a return to the rave with various Fugitive tracks and remixes on Vinyl Fanatiks over the past few years.

But one track has always alluded a release, there was always something that prevented it from being released. Originally written in 1995, it wasn’t until 1996 that he sent it to LTJ Bukem who went nuts for it, advising Dave to speed it up from its original 156bpm so he could play it. Upon doing so, it was also sent to Fabio and the pair of them played it on Kiss, Radio 1 and various gigs and festivals across the world. Dave was just in discussions to release it when Dillinja made a Bladerunner track using the same samples. In light of that and how the hierarchy worked in the 90’s drum and bass scene, Dave decided to pull the release and the track went back into the DAT draw… for 26 years!

This track has been requested by many to be pressed since Vinyl Fanatiks started as it had such a huge fanbase, so many people loved the track after hearing it either back in the day or on copies of mixes uploaded in recent years to the internet. An extremely desired track! But there was never a B-side to it… until Dave stepped into his Fugitive guise and brought the track up to date with one of the baddest basslines we have released on the label.

Join us as we take you on a ride from the smooth to the ruff!


Its all an expression!

On 6th October, multi BRIT-nominated DJ/producer Joel Corry releases his debut album, ‘Another Friday Night’ via Asylum / Atlantic Records, with the pre-order going live on the 18th August.

To be released on both vinyl & CD, as well as via streaming/download, ‘Another Friday Night’ is a collection of Joel’s most iconic records of the last five years, including breakthrough hit ‘Sorry’, ‘Lonely’, multi-platinum UK #1 single ‘Head & Heart’ ft. MNEK, ‘BED’ w/ RAYE & David Guetta, ‘OUT OUT’ w/ Jax Jones, Charli XCX & Saweetie, plus fresh 2023 cuts like ‘Dance Around It’ with Caity Baser and the anthemic ‘0800 HEAVEN’ with Nathan Dawe & Ella Henderson, ‘Another Friday Night’ toasts a remarkable run of releases that’s seen Joel become one of the UK’s biggest and most impactful dance acts.

“My debut album ‘Another Friday Night’ is the biggest moment of my life”, says Joel Corry. “Everything I have dreamed about and worked so hard for has come together with the release of this record. It has been an incredible journey and I am so proud to have reached this moment in my career. I want the songs to make people feel good and bring happiness to their days, and the album includes everyone’s favourite bangers from over the years, as well as some really exciting new material. This is the ultimate Joel Corry playlist, perfect for Another Friday Night.”

Ahead of the release of ‘Another Friday Night’ on October 6th, Joel has also announced a special headline show at London’s Ministry Of Sound on Friday 29th September – his first London headline date since playing at former 5000-cap venue, Printworks, in autumn 2021.

Fans who pre-order ‘Another Friday Night’ will be granted early pre-sale access to tickets on August 24th, before general sale opens on August 25th

Bob Stanley’s latest compilation “Wednesday Morning 6AM” literally turns back the clocks.

In the late 70s and early 80s, there was a parallel world of hits that people only heard when their clock radio went off. BBC Radio 2 had little time for the Top 40 music played by Radio 1 and beamed into living rooms by Top Of The Pops. Radio 2 effectively created a chart of its own playing singles or album tracks that their DJs enjoyed and wanted to share with their listeners. These tracks were given multiple plays on rotation and became earworms for millions of listeners.

“Wednesday Morning 6AM” is the warming soundtrack of eating breakfast or driving to school or to work in the cold and dark early hours to the sound of Art Garfunkel’s ‘99 Miles From LA’, Dolly Parton’s ‘The Bargain Store’, Hoyt Axton’s ‘Evangelina’, Paul Simon’s ‘Train In The Distance’ and Air Supply’s ‘Lost In Love’.
Other featured artists include Gilbert O’Sullivan, Crystal Gayle, Carly Simon, John Denver, Lou Rawls, Lindisfarne, Bob James, Stella Parton and Dionne Warwick.
The 2-LP version includes the bonus track ‘Danny’s Song’ by Anne Murray.

José González has delivered a new album, Against the Dying of the Light, a companion and further meditation on the themes of his critically acclaimed album, Local Valley. Where Local Valley turned inward toward place, language, and personal reflection, this new record widens its gaze, becoming an urgent call to preserve the light of humanity with all its flaws, at a moment when, technology increasingly shapes how we think, feel, and relate to one another.

While José has always embraced technological advancement, he questions the assumption that every new possibility must be pursued to its maximum potential, especially when progress comes at the expense of human flourishing, attention, and empathy.

Keeping in the tradition of folk music as protest, José’s new single — sharing its title with the forthcoming album — urges listeners to resist systems that dehumanize and divide: “Disconnect from every algorithm, every perverse incentive that drags you down. Let’s rebel against the replicators, against the dying of the light. Kill the codes that feed the hate, keep the codes that make you thrive, celebrate the **king fact that we’re alive.”

Across the album, González works within a deliberately minimal framework, pushing his familiar palette to new heights through subtle variation, restraint, and detail. Each song unfolds with its own distinct character, proving how much emotional and musical range can be achieved within self - imposed limitations. Written in English, Swedish, and Spanish, the record reflects his Swedish - Argentine roots and frames its humanist message as a global one rather than a purely personal or political statement.

José González is one of the most quietly influential artists of our generation. The Swedish - Argentine artist has built a singular musical world from hypnotic, minimal guitar work and his unmistakably gentle voice — a sound that has become deeply personal to millions of listeners worldwide. With billions of streams across platforms and hundreds of thousands of physical records sold, González’s songs often act as emotional landmarks. Ask almost anyone, and they can name at least one of his tracks tied to a defining moment in their lives.

The history of house and disco music is full of gospel soul singers creating anthemic bangers for the dance floor. Annie and the Caldwells, a family band from West Point, Mississippi, are the latest to join their ranks.

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This collection — featuring remixes from musclecars, Kornél Kovács, Alexis Taylor (of Hot Chip), and disco icons Nicky Siano and Justin Strauss — follows the release of the Caldwells’ wildly acclaimed debut Can’t Lose My (Soul) Luaka Bop, Spring 2025. Hailed as “a masterpiece” by The Guardian (★★★★★), and one of the best albums of the year by The Times, MOJO, UNCUT, and The Economist, Can’t Lose My (Soul) found fans all over the world — like Sir Elton John, who called their album “A great, great record that I insist you go out and buy.”

“I was blown away when I first heard the original version of ‘Wrong’,” says Kornel Kovács, whose remix of “Wrong” appears on this white label. “Deborah’s voice floored me, as well as the background singers. One of the greatest vocal performances I’ve heard, let alone worked with. The result is a club-ready take that’s become a highlight in my recent DJ sets.”

Producers Brandon Weems and Craig Handfield (of musclecars) had a similar experience when they heard the family for the first time: “We quickly fell in love with the groovy bassline and the choir vocals,” said Craig. “We thought it’d be fitting to put our own spin on it, while paying homage to those jive brothers from Tulsa. The uplifting keys paired with the punch of the drums, rounded out with that organ…this one is sure to bring a joyful noise!”

Annie Caldwell and her family have since performed in more than twenty countries on four continents, and recently made a star turn on the UK's preeminent music program Later... with Jools Holland. They’re hitting the road again in 2026. Watch this space.





c Wrong You Dropped a Bomb - Extended Wooden Dance Floor Mix (A Nicky Siano Production) 6:48

Lenxi's debut album on Nous'klaer Audio receives a well-deserved remix treatment, breathing new life into its original dream world. Kindred spirits Polygonia, oma totem, Human Space Machine, and Daisy Moon each reimagine the material through their own distinct sound. A powerful and diverse collection of reinterpretations: From intricate, hypnotic textures to driving, dancefloor-ready energy, each remix opens a new pathway towards a vibrant second life primed for club systems and festival stages alike.

Analogue electronics of crispy drum-driven madness on the A-side and an organic dark ambient drone on the B, live-jammed & recorded directly to cassette tape. Cover is DIY-printed with purple flock. Caution is advised!

DeepLabs opens 2026 with an exciting new release, “Förvandling,” from Tarik Hensen—the collaborative project of two exceptional producers, Martinou & Ben Kaczor.
This release completes a full-circle journey: rooted in Detroit techno, traveling through Malmö, and landing in Basel, where these influences converge into a singular, immersive statement.
Longtime admirer of both artists’ solo works, Luke Hess joins the project with his own interpretation of Förvandling, bringing his distinct Detroit-informed perspective to the release.
Förvandling is the Swedish word for “transformation,” describing the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly.
The title reflects the evolution of techno itself—how it shifts and reshapes across cities, communities, and eras while retaining its core spirit.
Varp refers to the vertical warp threads in woven fabric—essential structural lines that hold everything together.
The track mirrors this concept: hypnotic percussion and immersive ambience interlace with melodic tones, unified through Tarik’s live dub mixing approach, creating a rich, fluid tapestry of sound.
Malm translates to raw ore, the unrefined material that, when forged with alloys, becomes durable metal.
True to its name, the track channels a deep, raw warehouse energy—refined into a functional gem through harmonious stabs, textured layers, and driving momentum.
Closing the EP, Luke Hess’s remix of Förvandling draws from elements across the original works while incorporating new audio stems from the DeepLabs studio.
The result is a seamless transformation of Tarik Hensen’s aesthetic into Luke’s unmistakable Detroit sound—an adventurous, atmospheric journey crafted for extended DJ sets and immersive dancefloor moments.
Tarik Hensen and Luke Hess invite you to weave these tracks into your curated selections and allow them to transform the dancefloor in unexpected ways.

Mr Bongo proudly presents, ‘AFIM’, the second solo album by one of Brazil’s most exciting new talents, Zé Ibarra. You may be familiar with the hypnotic, entrancing tones of Ibarra’s vocals through his work with the Latin Grammy award-winning, four-piece, Bala Desejo and the band Dônica. He has also toured with the musical titan, Milton Nascimento, performing guitar and vocals, which is quite the honour and a testament to Ibarra's craft. As a solo artist, he has performed headline solo shows in Japan, Portugal and the US, as well as recently completing a support tour with the great, Seu Jorge.

‘AFIM’ is comprised of eight tracks, featuring Zé’s own compositions as well as cover versions of tracks by contemporaries and friends, Sophia Chablau, Tom Veloso, and Dora Morelenbaum. It combines elements of MPB, jazz, pop and progressive rock in a bold, authoritative style. The album represents the intersection between different facets of the artist, from the stripped-down, intimate, guitar singer-songwriter, to dense arrangements with sweeping strings sections. Writing this album allowed Ibarra "to explore sides of myself that had not yet been organized in an album: a certain darkness, a more cinematic musicality, a desire for new soundscapes.

The album features the single, 'Transe', a song with an instantly comforting tone reminiscent of classic Brazilian songs of the past (think Caetano Veloso). It is built on a rhythmic guitar that supports dynamic sound layers, opening space for Ibarra's intense interpretation. Cinematic atmospheres that lend an air of mystery come courtesy of string arrangements by Jaques Morelenbaum.

His unique cover version of Sophia Chablau's 'Segredo' is equally compelling, taking Sophia's punky-indie original in a different direction and making it feel like his own. 'Essa Confusão', a song celebrating the intensity of love and co-written by Dora Morelenbaum, is steered into epic, 70's AOR, singer-songwriter territory with wind arrangements by Ibarra, Jorge Continentino and strings by Jaques Morelenbaum.

The album is the result of the collaboration of experienced musicians and long-time partners of Ibarra. Fellow Bala Desejo and Dônica member Lucas Nunes co-produced the album. The core band featured on the record consists of Lucas Nunes on organs, Alberto Continentino on bass, Daniel Conceição and Thomas Harres on drums and percussion, Rodrigo Pacato on additional percussion, Chico Lira on Fender Rhodes and Guilherme Lírio on guitar.

The overall feel of the record is archetypically quintessential without slipping into retro mode. It is a stunning album from one of the finest musicians of his generation. A true star of Brazil’s blooming contemporary scene.

Get The Hose is the fabled, long awaited debut release from Montreal duo Plumbing, featuring Martyn Bootyspoon aka Jason Voltaire (Fractal Fantasy/LuckyMe/Fool’s Gold Records) and Stephen Ramsay of Young Galaxy (Paper Bag Records/Smalltown Supersound).

Born in 2018 as a live, analog hardware-based studio project, the duo worked quietly on the periphery of the left-field electro scene, only venturing out to do occasional, legendary winter warehouse DJ sets and a still-vaunted live set at MUTEK in 2021, which was so visceral that it knocked every person present into their seats simultaneously.

As cheeky and playful as it is gritty, relentless and overdriven, Plumbing’s new EP showcases their love of the raw and grimy, bare-bulbed basement aesthetic of underground dance music, where Paranoid London, Drexciya, MMM and Blawan meet to steal your drink and ignite the dancefloor.

It’s getting hot in here, it’s time to Get The Hose…

Nicaraguan-American artist Dagmar Zuniga makes music that feels both intimate and expansive: songs drift like disrupted signals, carried by harmony, tape hiss, and a strong sense of touch. Her debut solo album in filth your mystery is kingdom / far smile peasant in yellow music — written and recorded in New York, Norway, and Athens, Georgia over a period of five years on her longtime companion, the Tascam 424 — was uploaded to Bandcamp and YouTube in January 2025, quickly garnering over two hundred thousand views and the attention of artists such as Mount Eerie, who invited her to tour with them that summer. This year, what was once a jewel of tapped-in algorithms and message boards will meet the world at large, with in filth arriving digitally on March 4, and physically on April 10, via AD 93.

in filth is an atmospheric, devotional collage where one voice multiplies into a chorus of selves, sometimes delicate, sometimes severe; an effect created by Zuniga’s masterful layering of texture and complex harmonies. Synths glitter out like spears of sunlight from beneath clouds of moody, time-distorted guitars, and songs spin about themselves like tightly-wound music boxes, making use of a kind of hypnotic repetition, before melting apart into their components or slipping into the following track.

Zuniga began recording to tape as a teenager, drawn to the physicality of the medium — how a tape recording is fragile, mutable, and alive. Though her ethereal sound may draw easy comparisons to other female pioneers of psychedelic folk, she is influenced just as much by the darker sounds of Syd Barrett and The Fall. Like Barrett, Zuniga is a painter, and she is interested not only in recording music but in creating a full, self-contained artistic universe: she creates her own artwork, merchandise, music videos, and bootleg tapes of new and unfinished music that she exclusively sells at live shows (“If something is not material, it does not exist,” she insists). Her world has not gone unvisited, garnering her a monthly show on NTS Radio ‘World of Pain’, as well as a forthcoming appearance at Rewire Festival in April 2026.

Though Zuniga’s work explores themes of solitude and suffering, the suffering in her songs is not borrowed or displayed; it is held, then opened outward through empathy — an exacting practice of attention that insists on shared ground. Solitude, in her work, is not withdrawal but a starting point for connection. Likewise, over time, her recording process has become increasingly communal, with in filth featuring musicians Hayes Hoey, Austyn Wohlers (Tomato Flower), and Zach Phillips (Fievel Is Glauque). Newer recordings widen the circle even more. For Zuniga, collaboration is a way to “find a place between worlds,” echoing Badiou’s idea of love as a vision refracted through the prism of difference. Meaning emerges there — in the space between voices, between artist and listener. “I hope my music helps people work through difficult experiences,” she says. “The same way it helps me.”

Brighton four-piece Lime Garden return with their self-reckoning second album 'Maybe Not Tonight' So Young Records (the record label launched by So Young Magazine).

'Maybe Not Tonight' unfolds as a full night out, charting the pleasures and perils of partying and impulsive decisions.

Vocalist and guitarist Chloe Howard says: “The album is about a night out, from start to finish. As the night progresses, you’re having a great time, until your ex walks in with someone else. You hate the way you look but rather than going home, you press the big red button and get even more drunk. Eventually, you take yourself home full of melancholy, chaos and anger.”

Following their critically acclaimed 2024 debut 'One More Thing', which captured the raw live energy that earned them slots at festivals including Glastonbury and Green Man, Maybe Not Tonight sees Lime Garden expand their signature “wonk-pop” sound upwards and outwards. The result is their most intoxicating and luminous material to date.

Bristol experimental band SUGAR HORSE are delighted to announce that their third album, Not A Sound In Heaven, will be released on 10th April 2026 via Fat Dracula Records.

To celebrate the news, the band are sharing the bruising lead single ‘Secret Speech’, available to stream on all good digital service providers from 12th February 2026.

Also announced today are a run of April 2026 UK album headline tour dates and an appearance at StrangeForms Festival 2026, with tickets on sale now (see below for full listings).

“We are fortunate enough to live in what is generally known as ‘The West’,” says front man Ash Tubb of the lyrical themes behind the new track. “I say fortunate with gritted teeth, because I know—as I’m sure the reader knows—that living in the West isn’t always rosy. The vast majority of people struggle everyday to feed, clothe and house themselves. Let alone receive adequate healthcare, schooling and workers’ rights.”

“We are, however, where all the world’s wealth is hoarded. We are at the centre of Empire. The people outside of this empire—those of the Global South—have had their resources extracted and their populations exploited by our own governments, with very little given back in return. This won’t go on forever. It will inevitably end, as all great empires do.”

“We in The West have a choice to make in the meantime; either help create a new, fairer world, or let the greed of our ruling classes become the undoing of all of us.”

The first glimpse of new material from the quartet, ‘Secret Speech’ starts as Not A Sound In Heaven means to go on—a politically-charged wrecking ball of a song that smashes its way through the often unbelievable chaos and brutality of the 21st century with vitriolic malice.

How do you capture the machinations of the geo-political industrial war machine—and all the horrors that go with it—in the studio, without seeming trite or crass? That’s the question that Sugar Horse have posed themselves on their forthcoming third album Not A Sound In Heaven, and they must surely be one of the only bands in existence capable of delivering on just that premise with both musical substance and cutting philosophical insight.

“Ever since I was born I can remember visions of war, famine, and death being beamed directly into my living room via the magic of television,” says Tubb of the record. “These visions were accompanied by newsreader narratives designed to either humanise or dehumanise the people involved. We humanise our government’s allies and dehumanise their enemies. This is taken as common sense, or even wisdom to some degree. People watch the news and accept it as fact, simple and true.”

“As a person gets older they move in one of three different directions with this acceptance of reality; They embrace what they’re being told, they fall into a kind of trust free nihilism or they learn that there are deeper narratives at play.”

“Not A Sound In Heaven is an aged acceptance of the latter. An acceptance of sitting at the centre of a global empire of both military and economic dimensions. An acceptance that the stories we’re told as a nation, or what’s generally in the zeitgeist, isn’t necessarily reality itself.”

“How does a person cope with the weight—and, frankly, the guilt—of a society that perpetuates such distinct inequalities? A society that thinks a bit of killing abroad is fine, as long as it improves the lives of people at home. You can see why so many choose to embrace it. Hell, nihilism seems pretty sensible. Once a person decides upon pursuing a degree of truth however, things get a bit depressing. Beyond depressing...maddening.”

“This album explores this kind of breezy, frivolous subject matter in a manner that will no doubt be uplifting to the listener and massively financially rewarding for the artist.”

The new album follows on from their standalone AA single ‘What’s Your ETA? Let’s Have A Tear Up’/‘Would You Like Me To Be The Cat?’ which was released late last year as a surprise double drop.

Mit bisher über 30 Millionen Streams ihres Katalogs und einer Tournee-Geschichte, die das Download Festival, Graspop, Resurrection sowie Tourneen als Support für Electric Callboy und Bury Tomorrow umfasst, sind As Everything Unfolds sicherlich keine Neulinge in der Szene. Die Band, angeführt von der Powerfrau Charlie Rolfe, ist bekannt für ihre emotionsgeladene Musik sowie ihre dynamischen Live-Auftritte. Nun veröffentlicht die Band ihr drittes Album "DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE?" über Century Media Records. Das Album, benannt nach den Lyrics der Single "SET IN FLOW", zeichnet sich durch die bekannte und beliebte musikalische Intensität der Band aus, gepaart mit emotionalen Texten, mit denen sich Fans und neue Hörer gleichermaßen verbunden fühlen werden. Charlie, die sich nicht scheut, über die Inspiration hinter den Tracks zu sprechen, wechselt mühelos zwischen heavy Growls und klarem Gesang und lässt die Musik wie eine Achterbahnfahrt zwischen verschiedenen Genres wirken. Mit einem Feature von Dani Winter-Bates von Bury Tomorrow auf "WHAT YOU WANTED" würdigt die Band ihre Freundschaft und Tournee-Geschichte mit der britischen Metalcore-Band - ein Track, der sicherlich zu einem Fan-Favoriten werden wird. Nach dem Erscheinen des Albums müssen die Fans nicht allzu lange warten, um die neue Musik auch live zu erleben, denn die erste Festivalankündigung für den Sommer steht bereits fest.
Mit "DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE?" definieren sich As Everything Unfolds erneut als Band ohne Grenzen und als eine Gruppe, die man in der alternativen Musikszene im Auge behalten sollte - ihre größten Momente liegen vielleicht noch vor ihnen. Das Album wird als Standard-CD-Jewelcase, als trasparent-petrolgrüne LP sowie als digitales Album erhältlich sein.

How do losers dance? According to Helmut, almost weightlessly, with soft feet, warm gestures, sometimes alone, sometimes together. Content Creatures, Helmut's fourth album, evokes the pop archetype of the "beautiful loser", who had almost disappeared from view in so-called late capitalism. In a present in which even suffering is often similarly instrumentalised and tailored to clicks like a competitive sport, this album sets a counterpoint: those who listen to it suddenly want to be enchanting losers again, useless and joyfully messing up, losing something beloved, having their hearts broken, giving up a dream, sinking into beauty.
You don't sink alone. Comforting harmonies envelop you, the voices of friends appear, accompany you for a while and then disappear again. Warm grooves, floating synths and delicate guitar lines characterise an indie sound that remains open and breathes.
Self-produced for the first time in his home studio in Neukölln, 'Content Creatures' sounds thoughtful and light at the same time. The album will be released digitally and on vinyl on 10 April 2026 on Berlin-based label St.Vladimir. There are four songs on one side and four songs on the other. The cover is adorned with an exceptionally pretty guinea pig. Helmut shows the special in the seemingly ordinary: a child's pet, the most ordinary of all, is his cover star and headstrong protagonist.

Wie tanzen Verlierer? Wenn man nach Helmut geht, dann fast schwerelos, mit weichen Füßen, warmen Gesten, manchmal allein, manchmal gemeinsam. Content Creatures, Helmuts viertes Album, evoziert den Pop-Archetypus des "beautiful loser", der im sogenannten Spätkapitalismus fast aus dem Blick geraten war. In einer Gegenwart, in der sogar das Leid oft ähnlich durchinstrumentalisiert und auf Klicks getrimmt ist wie ein Leistungssport, setzt dieses Album einen Kontrapunkt: Wer es hört, möchte auf einmal gern wieder ein bezaubernder Verlierer sein, nutzlos und freudvoll abkacken, etwas Geliebtes verlieren, das Herz gebrochen bekommen, einen Traum aufgeben, in Schönheit versinken.
Man versinkt nicht allein. Tröstende Harmonien legen sich um einen, die Stimmen von Freundinnen tauchen auf, begleiten einen ein Stück weit und verschwinden wieder. Warme Grooves, schwebende Synths und feine Gitarrenlinien prägen einen Indie-Sound, der offen bleibt, atmet. Erstmals in seinem Neuköllner Homestudio selbst produziert, klingt "Content Creatures" bedacht und leicht zugleich.
Das Album erscheint digital und auf Vinyl am 10.04.2026 auf dem Berliner Label St.Vladimir. Es hat vier Songs auf der einen und vier Songs auf der anderen Seite. Das Cover ziert ein außergewöhnlich hübsches Meerschweinchen. Helmut zeigt das Besondere im scheinbar Gewöhnlichen: Ein Kinderhaustier, das normalste von allen, ist bei ihm Coverstar und eigensinnige Protagonistin.