Suche:swell

One of the first punk bands to set up an "indie" label, they were also pioneers of "alternative" music, mixing punk with experimental sounds. Swell Maps released four singles and two albums in a brief but eventful career, in partnership with Rough Trade, topping UK indie charts and influencing acts including Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Stereolab, and Blur. The original line-up split in 1980, but still their studio albums, A Trip to Marineville and Jane From Occupied Europe, attract new generations of enthusiasts. In 2021, Jowe organised performances
with ten musicians to play a diverse selection of Maps material over two consecutive nights at London's Cafe Oto, and did it again at the Rough Trade launch for Jowe's book on Swell Maps in 2022. Concerts followed across the UK and Europe, with more planned. This ongoing project has resulted in a new studio album, C21, released through Tiny Global Productions. The material was composed at various times between 1979 and the present, including older songs never recorded professionally, a remake of Soundtracks' astonishing Jelly Babies and plenty of surprises. C21 offers memorable melodies, wild riffs with super hooks, yet never veers from their adventurous spirit, radical ideas and eccentric musical shapes. The current collective of musicians features: Jowe Head, David Callahan of Wolfhounds / Moonshake / solo fame, Jeff Bloom out from Television Personalities, Alternative TV's Lee McFadden, Lucie Rejchrtova (Crazy World Of Arthur Brown), Chloe Herington from chamber rock faves Chrome Hoof, and Luke Haines, who led Auteurs and Black Box Recorder and plays with REM's Peter Buck. SWELL MAPS will be performing throughout 2026 across the UK and Europe and are proud to present this stellar document, which maintains the group's devotion to D-I-Y ideals and impulses. The vinyl album covers were hand-screened and stamped by a feminist cooperative in Valencia, Spain and are offered in three randomly picked variants. The Guardian is going to run a 1400-word piece on the release.

Ivory Vinyl. The Swell Season ist zurück. Nach einer begrenzten Anzahl von ausverkauften Shows, unter anderem in der Radio City Music Hall in New York, kehrt das Duo mit neuer Musik zurück. Aus einer Studio-Session, die als Versuch begann, ein paar neue Songs für die Tournee zu schreiben, wurde ein komplettes Album, das passenderweise den Titel ,Forward" trägt - ihr erstes komplettes Album seit 16 Jahren nach dem großen weltweiten Erfolg ihrer Oscar-prämierten Rolle im Film ,Once". Die Geschichte und der dazugehörige Soundtrack wurden weltweit zu einem preisgekrönten Musical. Das Album besteht aus 8 Titeln, die von Glen Hansard und Markeeta Irglovae geschrieben wurden, die abwechselnd den Leadgesang übernehmen. Aufbauend auf dem Fundament und mit Respekt vor ihrer gemeinsamen Geschichte gehen sie als zwei Gleichberechtigte voran, die sich gegenseitig unterstützen und aufrichten. Begleitet von alten Bandmitgliedern und produziert von Sturla Mio Thorisson, schaffen sie für The Swell Season einen Sound, der sowohl alt als auch neu ist. In diesem Jahr tourt die Band erneut durch Großbritannien/Europa und die USA, wobei alle Shows entweder ausverkauft oder fast ausverkauft sind, einschließlich der prestigeträchtigen Royal Festival Hall in London.

Swell from San Francisco was formed in 1989 by David Freel & Sean Kirckpatrick First record in 1990. This a RSD exclusive Coloured LP reissue. First time released in 1997. It was the 4th Album of the Band.

Warehouse Find! Test Pressing!

An album crammed full of rare & unreleased tracks from the vaults of swell map founder Jowe Head. o Swell Maps formed out of various bedrooms in the mid -70s and became the pioneers of DIY punk. o Swell Maps founding members were Nikki Sudden, Epic Soundtracks, Jowe Head & Phones Sportsman o Includes demo versions of 2 of the bands Singles "Dresden Style" & "Read about Seymour". o Exclusive Liner notes by Jowe Head o Exclusive artwork originally designed by Epic Soundtracks & Jowe Head in 1977 o 2 Lps with printed inner bags in extra wide spine LP sleeve with cover sticker

The new Rotary Cocktail features a deep and effective techno bassline roller by youANDme and 2 remixes by Detroit legend Kenny Larkin and Brazilian hero Renato Ratier.

After an extended interval between releases, Data Arts Group owner/operator Document Swell (real name Simon Cotter), presents his first full length LP "Hybrid Emotion". Document Swell's first musical contribution to Data Arts Group is also the first vinyl release for the label and brings DAG into the new world of 2022 and beyond. Song-writing, and sound sketches for "Hybrid Emotion" took place over a time span of approximately 5 years in various bedroom studios and life-phases throughout northern Melbourne/Naarm, as well as small setups in the Berlin localities of Templehof and Schöneberg. Arranging and mixing was completed in Northcote, throughout that period of ample time in Melbourne's Covid-19 lockdowns. The album spans a rich tapestry of ideas and moods which can be perceived as something between Document Swell's classic playful dance floor style to a more reflective and brooding tone.

The opening track "River Heart", is built of rudimentary pitched percussion, warm Juno pads and randomised Blofeld synthesis to construct an electronic impression and nostalgic sense of life by the river. The title track "Hybrid Emotion" brings the album closer to the realm of the club with relaxed house grooves and moody but spirited melodies, along with hybridised vocal samples."Why Then Here" pushes the album's character towards something less human, with a more synthetic affection portrayed by repetitive vocal samples and individualistic synth tangents. "Now and Then" realigns the trajectory to a warmer and more predictable landscape with chugging Balearic rhythms, glassy synths and jottings of lush electric guitar. On the flip side, "Day of Thunder" drops things down into an animated variety of industrial darkness, with heavy weight kick drums, metallic percussion and bleak vocal messaging. "Little G", an ode to a well loved cat, lightens things up instantly with playful synth noodlings, disco beats and clatter from pots and pans. "Vergangenheit" exhibits Simon's explorations into the acid world, with 303 squawks, cassette crunched drums and shadowy synth pads. The closing track "Epic Sands" ends the album, not with an end note, but a sense of ongoing possibilities.

7" Vinyl Reissue on Reggae On Top

First LP in new series from Finland, this subdue jazz drone album has the quality of dusk, but is never darker than the Nordic summers. Atonal & forceful at times, still padded and invitingly warm, it has 4 classy pieces that enjoy being on the fringes while slowly capturing the ear when organs drone, the TR-808 thumps, the percussive double bass and the saxophone layers fog of melodic growing waves of groove.

XL Recordings is proud to mark the 10th anniversary of Archy Marshall’s (aka King Krule) A New Place 2 Drown with the release of a newly remastered instrumental edition.
Originally released on 10 December 2015, A New Place 2 Drown remains a singular entry in the Archy Marshall catalogue. Known to many for his work as King Krule, Marshall released A New Place 2 Drown under his own name, highlighting a different facet of his creative identity. An atmospheric blend of submerged beats, woozy textures, and diaristic storytelling, the project earned widespread acclaim upon release, including Pitchfork’s Best New Music.
Developed in parallel with a visual world shaped with his brother and longtime collaborator Jack Marshall, the quietly influential project stands as a multidisciplinary love letter to their home of South London, originally released alongside a Will Robson-Scott–directed short film and a book of artworks, photography, and poetry by the Marshall brothers.
The 2025 instrumental edition offers a newly illuminated perspective on the record’s sonic core, drawing fresh attention to the production craft that underpins the project. By stripping the songs back to their foundations, the release highlights the intricate textures, rhythmic detail, and atmospheric depth that have helped A New Place 2 Drown grow into a cult favourite over the past decade.
“A New Place 2 Drown evokes a septic world filled with flickering halogen bulbs, sticky synth keys, and corroded outputs. Marshall has made tremendous strides as a producer, gorgeously reproducing the gloom and loneliness of early '90s hip-hop and finding a way to integrate it into his own style.” - PITCHFORK

Contemplate, reflect, observe and record. Constanijn Lange presents a story of reminiscence and memory, partial witnesses of past and present journeys. Ideas and ideals of what has been and what could have been entangled between complementing poles of drive and meditation. The result is his rst full length album and a personal story that unfolds all its details the closer you get.

For over 4 years, David Coccagna aka Chaperone has been a constant part of Great Circles, as musician, art director, and muse. With Snapback Balaclava he once again fully embodies all of those roles, delivering three inspiring tracks, selecting his remixers with specific attention to their musical histories, and designing his cover art.

Across the A-side, Chaperone scrapes away at the grit - personal grit, the grit of anxiety, and Philly grit. These are meditations on loops, and loops on meditations. Each one appears on the surface to be a brief quote, but time dilation takes over, and minutes later we discover that Chaperone has welcomed us into and back out of his own healing moment.

Like Chaperone's P O N D release (GRCR-009), the B-side of Snapback Balaclava is a Great Circles extended family affair with a trio of diverse remixes that expose and exploit fragments of the chaos Chaperone so carefully contained.

Hitoshi Kojima (Thrive) reinterprets Pulse Feels Swells Beating with relentless syncopated rhythms and synth lines that hang like massive string drones. M//R lays down a signature percussion ensemble palette, zeroes in on otherwise peripheral elements of Grit Neglect, and then deftly navigates sea change with both. Matt Korvette and Sean McGuinness of Philly punk band Pissed Jeans open up the pit and finish the story, taking Femur Baseball Bat to its literal and brutal potential with monstrous vocals and kicks.

Stijn Hosman and Hessel Stuut are the minds behind the exciting new live/electronica act Polynation. Based in Amsterdam, the
guys are fusing moods of drums and analog basses with techno, ambient and world music. Beside a hand full of strong productions shared on this debut EP 'Allogamy', Polynation is foremost an energetic live-act. With their set up, consisting of acoustic drums and lots of analog gear, they are always trying to start a musical conversation based on interaction with the crowd and improvisation via their live-approach.
Early 2015, Polynation released their first single 'Dew' on the XXV anniversary compilation of Atomnation. In August, new track
'Anther' appeared via SoHaSo, the rising label of the legendary DJ Nuno Dos Santos. The best of all is yet to come: this November Polynation this six-songs EP that shows all the vibes of what the guys are capable of. "Damp" is a downtempo house track with a very strong base groove and a track like 'Why You' is more uplifting, produced for the peak time moments of their live performance.

Speedy Ortiz is proud to announce their sophomore album, Foil Deer, which will be released via Carpark Records on April 20th.

'Major Arcana' released in 2013 won them glowing reviews , features and several UK tours (highlights below):

- 4 PAGE NME FEATURE

- 9/10 LEAD REVIEW IN NME: 'One of the reasons 'Major Arcana' works so well is because it's addictive and fun. The guitars and bass sound incredible, like the last Deerhunter album without the Yankee Doodle Dandy'

8/10 Drowned In Sound : ' Speedy Ortiz are way too euphoric and glorious to suffer for their artfulness. Stripping away the frills, at heart Major Arcana is a mournful treasure that asks to be celebrated.'

*NME RADAR FEATURE: 'What's miraculous, though, is that Major Arcana doesn't sound at all self-pitying; it's torrid Slint-meets-Pavement rattle bolsters Sadie's relished words so that yelling along is an exercise in gleefully exorcising your own demons'

8.4 ON PITCHFORK: : 'There's the squalling, guitar-on-guitar carnage of Archers of Loaf, the grungy mysticism of Helium (Dupuis lifted the title Major Arcana from a book she was reading on black magic), and of course the deadpan wit of vintage Liz Phair ('I was never the witch that you made me to be,' Dupuis tells a burnt-out old flame on 'Plough', 'Still you picked a virgin over me').

Standard LP is gatefold, single black LP with chapbook, plus digital download card.
Deluxe LP Is as above but with metallic gold coloured vinyl, and sticker.(200 ONLY FOR UK)
CD comes in digipak with a folded poster approximating the chapbook in the LP.

Speedy Ortiz said they would get the flowers themselves. What a lark! What a plunge!

When considering Massachusetts' Speedy Ortiz, that line from Virginia Woolf comes to mind. Not only for the obvious echoes to DIY, a form and function that's characterized the band's nascency, but in the proto-feminist undertones driving much of their sophomore album, Foil Deer. "I'm not bossy, I'm the boss," Sadie Dupuis sings on "Raising the Skate," invoking in spirit one half of the Carter-Knowles clan and echoing the other's wordplay. And wordplay makes sense, considering Dupuis-the band's songwriter, guitarist, and frontwoman-spent the band's first few years teaching writing at UMass Amherst. She's drawn to the dense complexity of Pynchon, the dreamlike geometry of Bolaño, the confounded yearning of Plath-all attributes you could easily apply to the band's 2013 debut Major Arcana, which fans and press alike have invested with a sense of purpose and merit uncommon in contemporary guitar rock.

The group, including Mike Falcone on drums, Darl Ferm on bass, and new addition Devin McKnight of Grass is Green on guitar, have spent the last year on an almost endless cross-continental touring jag, tagging along with the likes of The Breeders, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, and Thurston Moore. That shift into full-time musicianship brought with it an attendant reordering of priorities when it came to songwriting, and the band members' lives in general. They would get the damn flowers themselves.

Dupuis wrote much of Foil Deer at her mother's home in the Connecticut woods, where the songwriter imposed a self-regulated exile and physical cleansing of sorts, finding that many of the songs came to her while running or swimming alone. "I gave up wasting mental energy on people who didn't have my back," she says. "Listening to our old records, I get the sense I was putting myself in horrible situations just to write sad songs. This music isn't coming from a dark place, and without slipping into self-empowerment jargon, it feels stronger." Many of the songs deal with a similar sense of starting over, editing out the unnecessary drama. "Boys be sensitive and girls be, be aggressive," she sings on "Mister Difficult."

And while their debut album was recorded on the fly, Speedy Ortiz spent almost a month in the studio on Foil Deer. Falcone's drums are taut, mechanistic; Ferm's bass ranges from the aggressive rattle of an AmRep classic to smoother, hip-hop inspired lines. McKnight, meanwhile, lends spacier, textural riffs to complement Dupuis' wiry, melody-driven guitar style. "The demos for our songs have always had tons of small details and production experimentation, but we never had any money to pay for more than a couple days in the studio, so the songs came out very live-sounding and guitar heavy," Dupuis says. It was recorded and mixed at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room with Nicolas Vernhes (Silver Jews, Enon, Deerhunter), with the record mastered by Emily Lazar (Sia, Haim, Beauty Pill), lending a more polished sound and a pop sensibility that will stand out to existing fans and new converts alike. For all the lyrical complexity and guitar-based excursions Speedy Ortiz have built their reputation on to this point, Foil Deer has a sense of light-footed fun. What's the point of doing things yourself if you're not going to enjoy the trip

Standard LP is gatefold, single black LP with chapbook, plus digital download card.
CD comes in digipak with a folded poster approximating the chapbook in the LP.

number 7 on limited green coloured vinyl !!

Two jewels in the crown of the soulful electronic music scene in NYC unite for a spellbinding EP on Rhythm Section International. ”Full Circle” is a brand new body of work from Musclecars & Toribio.

To call this 12” simply epic would almost be doing it a disservice. The breadth of musicality and execution of ideas contained across 3 compositions is nothing short of miraculous. I use the word composition intentionally: these are not merely tracks - these are 3 movements making up a concerto - with a dub thrown in for good measure!

The record kicks off with a soulful house behemoth, “ That’s My Story” featuring NJ legend Roland Clark on vocals giving sweet sweet testimony. In many ways, this track feels like a coming together of the trios influences. The lyrics contextualise it, giving it this intimate, confessional feel. The latin drums shuffling amidst the 909 kick drive it forward and the organ swimming freely amongst it all takes us to church. It’s a timeless track - paying homage to the various New York traditions laid down by Louis Vega, Timmy Regisford, Joaquin Claussell , Ron Trent et al - all heroes and collaborators of the composers who - with this effort - have surely now earned their place in the pantheon of American Soul Music.
‘
Be Honest’ maintains the confessional tone with the lyrics but takes things right back down in terms of tempo. Is it a love song, an ultimatum or a cry for help? Whichever way you interpret it, this track is Toribio’s time to shine as a lead vocalist and he hits all the notes, leaving not a dry eye in the house. This is a delicate tour de force, delivered with such raw emotion and vulnerability it allows the instrumentation takes a back seat - just a gentle groove, swelling strings and some unresolved chords are all that’s required to transform us to the main character of this story. We’re left hanging, and it’s oh so relatable.

Agua De Florida serves as an uplifting, fast paced finale to the concerto and this one’s all about the trumpet - masterfully performed by Melbourne born, London based virtuoso Audrey Powne. If Herb Alpert was making house music - I imagine this is what it would sound like. Throbbing bass and noodling synths join the melee and crank the joy up to 11. If the EP is a story arc over 3 tracks, then we’re definitely not left hanging with this one. All is resolved, things are moving onwards and upwards and the circle is complete.

Space Ghost returns with Dance Planet – Be Free Edition, a remastered, recut and expanded edition of his beloved 2022 album. Featuring refreshed artwork, newly remastered audio, and a brand-new digital remix package from not even noticed, RAMZi, Crystalline Reality, and Space Ghost himself, this is the definitive version of a modern house classic.

Rooted in uplifting, soulful 4/4 traditions inspired by forebears like Larry Heard and Blaze, Dance Planet flows effortlessly between ambient reflection and warm, driving club cuts. The remaster brings added depth and clarity — from the lush swells of “Afterglow” and the tripped-out breaks of “Dream Weaver” to the R&B-tinged groove of “UFO. ” Dancefloor staples like “Back To The Source” and “Soul Shower” retain their warmth and punch, while “Emotional Healer” and “Be Yourself (Motivational Mix)” continue to deliver Space Ghost’s signature affirmation: don’t be afraid to be yourself, don’t be afraid to let go.

Pressed on 140g black vinyl with new artwork and including a download code for the full extended album + remixes. A timeless, feel-good house LP — restored and expanded for collectors and selectors alike

Steal Vybe are back on the cultured Seasons Limited label, this time with Stephanie Cooke adding some fantastic vocals. 'Change' first came back in 2017 in limited quantities on white label only, and now it gets a full release with some new remixes, original remixes and a fresh version from Steal Vybe. That one is balmy, soul-drenched and sun-kissed with a loved-up feel that swells the heart. The Dino & Terry mixes focus on pairing things back a little and going deeper, while French house legend Franck Roger ups the ante with some heftier drum weight.

Patience moonlights as one of the most underworked muscles of the modern human. Time meanders at the same pace as always but yet everyone seems to be living their lives as through they are stretching it out like elastic jelly through their fingertips, ignoring the virtue necessary to ride each moment. At the end of patience always lies a reward. DJ Teeth, a veteran disciple of time, presents a sonic palette to Kasra V's V-Sion imprint that is for only the most determined. Symphonic synths and acid swells ebb and flow, vocal samples move like auditory hieroglyphics scrawled on cave walls, and other hidden messages appear, but only for those who wait. Patience will be rewarded.

Shaped from fragile, emotionally charged piano motifs that distort, disappear and transform into dense, cinematic textures, 'CANALS' is a debut that's finely matured, the result of years of friendship and growth. Italian artist Vanja Sturno and Montréal-based Belgian-Spanish composer Pablo Geeraert (aka Sanea Ima) have worked together extensively on various projects up until now, but 'CANALS' is their first official release as a duo. Having both studied music academically, the pair were eager to work more intuitively, so applied their well-honed set of skills to sound that, instead of fitting into a conceptual box, reflected more personal experiences.

Back in 2023, Geeraert travelled to Rome to support his friend at a difficult time and, during the trip, received some bad news of his own. The complicated feelings unconsciously surged through a series of delicate Ryuichi Sakamoto-inspired piano improvisations and a new project began to coalesce. They didn't realize it at the time, but once the record was finished, Sturno and Geeraert began to understand that the entire process had been a form a joint catharsis - a release of pressure. They were able to function so effortlessly and swiftly because they had already provided the space for each other to resonate emotionally and the music flowed from that point.

So the album's title, while remaining ambiguous, suggests its formation: a sequence of eight interconnected channels that feed a creative whole. On the first segment, Sturno and Geeraert's initial recordings can be perceived most nakedly, the melancholy, Satie-like phrases floating peacefully for a moment before the tranquility is agitated by stormy distortions and swelled into thick waves of harmony. The piano provides the record with its emotional anchor, offering focus and clarity as multi-dimensional noise wells up around it before inevitably dissipating, leaving gentle, unadorned sounds once again.

And the familiar instrument is reshaped into a wheezing artificial organ on the animated 'CANALS III', punctuated by percussive, tape-warped pitch fluctuations that seem to bite into its very essence. Gauzy acoustic granulations snowball into a powerful, bass-heavy crescendo on the fourth part, setting the tenor for the album's second half. But after the crushing 'CANALS VI', possibly Sturno and Geeraert's heaviest track, a brief tremolo-heavy vignette that ripples through experimental rock and ambient music's braided history, the duo clear the air with a jazzy diversion, introducing soft woodwind blasts as a palate cleanser before an epic, widescreen finale.

It's an album that's best absorbed as a whole, a vortex of ritualistic, rhythmic repetitions that Sturno and Geeraert appropriately refer to as "spiral listening".

WRWTFWW Records is proud to present THE GENTLE PEOPLE - Soundtracks for Living (Expanded Edition), ?the ultimate Lounge/Chill Out classic from 1997, reborn! Available as a limited edition white vinyl 3LP in heavyweight 3-panel gatefold sleeve.

When The Gentle People first glided into the mid-90s on clouds of strings, sugar and sine waves, they sounded like visitors from another, more glamorous planet. Signed to Richard D. James and Grant Wilson-Claridge's cult label Rephlex, this multinational "E-Z-Core" lounge unit took the aesthetics of 50s/60s easy listening and exotica and gently smuggled them into 1990s club culture.

Soundtracks for Living was their defining statement: an album that "takes the lounge scene and runs away with it entirely… blissful and heavenly," as one contemporary review put it. Imagine KLF's Chill Out or Space growing up on French 60/70s pop, bossa nova, soundtracks, vocal harmony groups, library music and easy listening then slipping out for a late-night date with dub, ambient techno and bubble-bath pop. That's Soundtracks for Living: a record that can score cocktail hour, 4am taxi rides, and daydreams in headphones with the same effortless grace.

The Gentle People - Dougee Dimensional, Laurie LeMans, Valentine Carnelian and Honeymink - began in early-90s Brixton, throwing dress-up theme parties before taking their audio-visual universe into the studio. For them, music was "a way of life": soothing to the ear, rich in pop hooks, and pitched somewhere between the playfully idiotic and the hyper-intelligent. Their debut on Rephlex was the single "Journey", later blessed with a shimmering Aphex Twin remix that pushed their sugar-coated sound even further into outer space.

This Expanded Edition of Soundtracks for Living finally gives this glambient lounge-pop milestone the treatment it has always deserved. Spread lovingly across 3LP, it features new mastering from the original sources, allowing every harp glissando, string swell and analog squiggle to float in high-fidelity widescreen. The core album is complemented by a bonus 12" of unreleased and rare material, offering a deeper dive into the Gentle world: alternate takes, lost interludes, and secret soundtrack cues for lives not yet lived.

Crucially, "Journey" appears here in its original version, Gentle Instrumental and the cult Aphex Twin remix, reuniting band and labelmate in one place and underlining the quietly radical nature of the project: this was lounge music that could sit next to braindance, acid and IDM and still steal the scene.

Pressed on limited edition white vinyl, Soundtrack for Living (Expanded Edition) invites long-time fans and new listeners alike to step back into The Gentle People's universe - a place of fondue parties, bubble chairs, star-lit elevators and endlessly rewinding sunsets, where "the pathway to the stars" is never quite out of reach.

In an era that often reduces the 90s to big-room bangers and grunge guitars, Soundtracks for Living remains a quietly subversive reminder that the decade was also about imagination, camp, softness and utopian possibility. As later writers have noted, The Gentle People weren't just a curiosity on a weird label; they became unlikely icons of a whole loungecore moment, gracing TV, compilations and magazine spreads, and proving that tenderness could be as futuristic as any drum machine.
In conjunction with this release, WRWTFWW has also unearthed The Gentle People's Peel Sessions, a 4-track EP from their 1997 BBC on-air performance, available on vinyl for the first time ever !

Nick Bike rides again with a new trip out on his Chosen Spokes label, and as always, these are on the money mixes for dub disco heads. 'Kiss Me Say It' is devilishly slow and purposeful with rotation dub and funky bass riffs rising and falling to irresistible effect. The strings bring sophistication and the chords a golden charm that swells the heart. The groove feels ever on the rise but never boils over. The flipside dub is even more focused, with the diva vocal doused in echo for a spaced out vibe. Pure perfection.

Following the release of Chris Liebing's 'Evolver' album this spring, German duo FJAAK rework 'Higher Things' which appeared on the full-length, releasing via CLR on 29th May 2026. Long established as a formidable force within Techno, FJAAK are known for crafting high-impact, floor-focused tracks, often via their self-titled imprint, with the Berlin artists now joining a star-studded cast on Chris Liebing's latest full-length, including photographer and film director Anton Corbijn on photography, and collaborations with Charlotte de Witte, Luke Slater, The Advent, Speedy J, Terence Fixmer, Pascal Gabriel, and
Daniel Miller.

Their remix reshapes 'Higher Things' around a rattling dub techno framework, where molten chords soften the weight of mechanical kicks while resonant stabs and swelling textures steadily intensify. The result is a hypnotic yet forceful reimagining, balancing atmospheric depth with anthemic, warehouse-ready pressure.

The original version of Chris Liebing's 'Higher Things' appears on his debut solo LP, 'Evolver', released 27th March 2026 on CLR. Marking a distillation of over three decades at Techno's core, the album pairs introspective depth with immediate, floor-driven impact, bringing together contributions from the likes of Luke Slater, Charlotte de Witte, Speedy J and The Advent, while ultimately remaining rooted in Liebing's singular vision, channeling the raw, industrial energy of classic club spaces into a refined, forward-facing long player.

Ampoule's Pub returns with a fresh remaster of the classic 'Summer' and a brand new track titled 'The Fragile Root'

'Summer' was originally released 20 years ago on the Vertical Form label - a result of a multitude of completely live and improvised studio sessions, that gently swell and evolve over the tracks 16 minutes.

'Fragile Root' is a brand new track, think vintage idm - intricate rhythms and melodies crossed with massive dub chords.

Mastered by Dubplates & Mastering

“So Help Me God is the long-awaited second album from Kelsey Lu, arriving June 12 2026 via Dirty Hit. Moving between shadow and release, the 10-track record follows her groundbreaking 2019 debut Blood and is co-produced by Lu, Jack Antonoff and Yves Rothman, mixed by Oli Jacobs, with contributions from Sampha, Kamasi Washington and Kim Gordon. Across the record, Lu blends distorted guitars, choral swells and dark electronic pulses into a sonic landscape that moves between devotional intensity and cinematic scale. So Help Me God expands Lu’s singular creative universe - where music, visual art and performance converge into one multidisciplinary project, marking the return of one of contemporary music’s most singular voices.”

“So Help Me God is the long-awaited second album from Kelsey Lu, arriving June 12 2026 via Dirty Hit. Moving between shadow and release, the 10-track record follows her groundbreaking 2019 debut Blood and is co-produced by Lu, Jack Antonoff and Yves Rothman, mixed by Oli Jacobs, with contributions from Sampha, Kamasi Washington and Kim Gordon. Across the record, Lu blends distorted guitars, choral swells and dark electronic pulses into a sonic landscape that moves between devotional intensity and cinematic scale. So Help Me God expands Lu’s singular creative universe - where music, visual art and performance converge into one multidisciplinary project, marking the return of one of contemporary music’s most singular voices.”

Key To World Peace is the third release by Prophetic Justice Ministry - aka Australian musician Sam Perry. An atmospheric, cinematic album that belies a striking pop songwriting nous at its core, its conductor Prophetic Justice Ministry is at the centre of a new wave of creative, rule-bending Melbourne artists. Romantic, smudged and hazy, Perry emerges from behind a wall of
half-light with a clutch of earworms and affecting emotions.

Recorded in home studios in Belgrade (Serbia), Christchurch (New Zealand) and Melbourne (Australia) over the course of three years, Key To World Peace offers a dichotomy in approach. Shifting on a dime between ambient, filmic washes of sound and more traditional song structures, the approach feels natural, casually acid-tipped and emotionally revealing. While Perry’s
distinctive keys and production melding with melody is evidenced in Melbourne group Who Cares?, as Prophetic Justice Ministry there’s a heightened sense of mystery and space being used.

Swirling in a psychedelic fog with dry iced chords falling down like melting stars, the album pulses with an ominous, distorted intro that sculpts air into blocks of sound before Psyop offers a glimpse through the gloom at the artist navigating through crushed, shoe-gazing chords, singing a consolation into an abandoned building. Side A’s more abstract tone veers from industrial tracks (T-A) to pastoral, impressionistic pieces (Trance) before album highlight Life’s A Party showcases the effortless, classic songwriting lurking in Prophetic Justice Ministry. Built on the tension between the upbeat lyrics and suppressed, rich delivery, the song lopes on an alluring loop with acoustic guitars and Perry’s voice walking a tightrope between irony and sincerity. The song blooms into a bright burst of light, almost inducing synesthesia in the listener and reminding a little of The Beta Band’s most outre and catchy moments.

Opening Side B, Naked Shine’s scintillating guitar is punctuated by a sub bass swell that offsets the yearning vocal performance. With palpable sensitivity the song is shepherded into short, atmospheric passages before Love Drum’s direct delivery: Perry’s vocal and guitar, dancing over a hint of distortion feels like Syd Barrett at his most casually brilliant. Carrying on the tradition of a single cover on every Prophetic Justice Ministry release, here Lana Del Rey’s Mariner’s Apartment Complex is given a stripped back but faithful treatment. With a sound that feels like a hushed, Chris Isaak classic it’s testament to Perry’s own compositions that the cover doesn’t outshine the rest of the album. Album closer and single Spirit House Party combines a classic chord progression with Perry’s double-tracked vocal into a murky but brilliantly catchy chorus. While nowhere near as lush in its production, there’s something in the atmosphere of Prophetic Justice Ministry’s vocal sitting in the mix just so that reminds us of The Electric Prunes’ Holy Are You-era work with David Axelrod.
Key To World Peace flits between displaying a spectrum of blurred emotional resonance in its instrumental passages and vulnerability in the shape of raw, melodic songwriting. With his first release outside of Australia and vinyl debut, Sam Perry’s Prophetic Justice Ministry is a beguiling dance in and out shadows.

2026 Repress

Chlar delivers his debut record for SHDW & Obscure Shapes' Mutual Rytm imprint.

Emerging as artist of note for both now and the future, Chlar continues to craft and shape his sound as he curates his own high-octane approach to techno. Combining dynamic performances taking in three and four deck mixes with his own up front productions and his talents as a former mastering engineer, the Swiss talent has become a respected name amongst his peers. After releases on Lobster Theremin and his own Bipolar Disorder imprint, the Berlin-based DJ, producer and label boss heads to SHDW & Obscure Shape's blooming label Mutual Rytm to deliver six precise and powerful cuts across his 'Optimized Groove' EP.

"As the names states, 'Optimized grooves' is a collection of tracks designed to match specific parts of the event/night. From 'Night Genesis' at the origin of the night through to tracks like 'Maximum Performance', a peak time bomb, and 'Spirit Enhancer' - an uplifting and warm production elevating individuals to higher labels after hours of spiritual connection'" - Chlar

Opener 'Early Morning Acceleration' sets the tone early and dives into a looping ride through slinking hats and bustling arrangements - combining classic influences with forward thinking touches to reveal a dynamic slice of techno. Next, 'Maximum Performance' fuses swelling low-ends, sharp percussion and vibrant leads, while 'Love Blaster' delivers an all out fiesta armed with rolling drums, sharp whistles and rich chords. On the flip, B1 'Night Genesis' sees hypnotic loopy vocals balanced by tough kicks and luminous synths, before 'Spirit Enhancer' showcases a soulful trip as resonant electronics work around the track's tunnelling groove. The digital EP comes with a bonus exclusive production in 'Synaptic Discussion', a euphoric and impactful closer which brings things to a close firmly in the peak time hours.

Chlar 'Optimized Grooves' drops via Mutual Rytm on 9th September 2022.

Black Truffle is pleased to present Radis, the first recording by the Oslo-based trio of Andrea Giordano (voice and organetto), Kalle Moberg (accordion) and Jo David Meyer Lysne (guitar and snare drum). Now based in Norway, Giordano is a native of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region in the north-west of Italy and her exploration of the Piedmontese language provides the starting point and conceptual anchor of the trio improvisations heard on Radis, which make use of the words of 20th century Piedmontese poets Nino Costa, Bianca Dorato and Oreste Gallina. As the musicians explain, the project is an attempt to preserve the beauty and singularity of a language at risk of extinction.

Fittingly, the first sound we hear on the opening piece ‘Fiorìa’ is Giordano’s unaccompanied voice. She sings a poem from Oreste Gallina as a kind of floating cadenza, the accompanying silence sensitizing the listener to the pellucid quality of Giordano’s voice and the unique sound of the Piedmontese language. The voice dies away and into the silence swells a single tone, sounded by Moberg’s accordion and—special guest on this opening piece—the alto saxophone of Mario Gabola. Extended techniques and preparations create unexpected timbres from the acoustic instruments: Gabola’s saxophone is augmented with tin cans and springs and Moberg’s unorthodox techniques allow the accordion to generate wheezing, buzzing textures and patterns of microtonal beating. Giordano’s voice returns, picking up the thread of the languorous opening melody, coexisting for a while with the shifting drone before the piece takes an unexpected yet organic left-turn into a delicate saxophone solo of sorts.

Recorded in several locations across Italy and Norway over the course of three years, Radis documents an ensemble who have developed both a distinctive sound-world and a remarkably sensitive group dynamic. Moving from folkish duets between accordion and Giordano’s organetto (the small accordion used in Italian folk music) to episodes of metallic guitar scraping from Meyer Lysne, the music is both quietly contemplative and gently chaotic. Ensemble roles shift with disarming ease. If on ‘Profij dëspers’ Meyer Lysne’s prepared guitar adds a haywire noise element to a lyrical episode of organetto and accordion, the next piece, ‘D’antorn a lor’, is grounded in chiming guitar chords of stunning beauty; once Giordano’s joins, the result calls up the most spacious moments of Maria Monti’s Il Bestiario. Throughout the seven pieces, the trio explore countless possibilities of group interaction and the margin between conventional euphony and pure abstraction: at times the voice floats against silence or seems almost disconnected from the gentle clatter of the instruments (sometimes reminiscent of Nikiforas Rotas’ haunting settings of Cavafy), while at other points the instruments touch on conventional harmonic accompaniment. What is perhaps most striking of all is the way that voice and instruments relate to each other, the extended technique reframing the voice as a kind of abstract sound object, while the melodic beauty of Giordano’s voice lends a contemplative, almost melancholic air to the wheezing and scraping of accordion and guitar.

Captured in gorgeously intimate recordings, Jim O’Rourke’s careful and beautifully spacious mix highlights the wealth of textural detail in each element. Accompanied by notes, session photos and the text of the Piedmontese poems, Radis is a work of stunning beauty that demonstrates the vitality of exploratory music in Norway today.

Capturing the full scope of the Straw Hat Crew’s journey into the Grand Line, this collection brings together the massive, high energy score by award winning composers Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli. From the shores of Loguetown to the snowy peaks of Drum Island, every moment of the voyage is brought to life through soaring orchestral arrangements and unforgettable pirate anthems.

2LP Audiophile Black Vinyl: Two 12 inch records pressed on high quality black vinyl for a classic look and superior sound fidelity, delivering every orchestral swell with crystal clear precision.

Double CD Set: Two discs featuring the complete original score and songs, presented in a premium compact format.

Premium Packaging: A double gatefold jacket for the vinyl edition and a three fold digipack for the CD, both showcasing vibrant cinematic artwork of Luffy and the Straw Hat Crew.

Complete Soundtrack: Over 40 tracks spanning the entire second season, including character themes, emotional moments and epic battle motifs.

Whether at home or on your own journey, this release is the perfect way to keep the spirit of adventure alive, immersing you fully in the world of One Piece.

Netflix’s epic high seas pirate adventure, ONE PIECE, returns for Season 2, unleashing fiercer adversaries and the most perilous quests yet. Luffy and the Straw Hats set sail for the extraordinary Grand Line, a legendary stretch of sea where danger and wonder await at every turn. As they journey through this unpredictable realm in search of the world’s greatest treasure, they will encounter bizarre islands and a host of formidable new enemies

Rob Clouth returns to Mesh with Cicada, a follow-up to his EP earlier this year and a continuation of his ever-curious approach to the outer limits of electronic music.

An artist who has spent much of his career committed to a dialogue between scientific phenomena and music built for big soundsystems, Bichillo signalled a segue into a more free-running idea of creativity - one that didn’t pander to unrealistic expectations and, essentially, brought the fun back to Rob’s production process. A theme also explored in a link-up with long-time collaborator and label boss Max Cooper on their recent joint EP 8 Billion Realities, out now on Mesh.

Cicada, he continues to expand on this universe, prioritising experimentation over concept, and arriving at some of the funnest music he’s ever made.

Like a field of insects, ‘Cicada’ opens with cross-rhythmic layers of animated glitches, soon joined by huge bass swells that gradually build into a maximal tranced out build-up and a swarm of vocal chops. ‘Core’ builds a quietly dramatic symphony of machinist built sound - a soothing polyphony of computers singing. Leaning into an off-kilter 2-step, ‘Gummy Clusters’ swirls into a hazy blur of distorted voices and acoustic rhythms. Closing things off, ‘Grefuser’ puts pedal to the metal with a high BPM storm of pointillist drums and melancholic leads.

Cicada is music that twitches and mutates, but most importantly, breathes fun into the circuitry.

‘Cicada’ lands Friday 20th March via Mesh.

Brooklyn Sway's 8th installment arrives from outside with more unexpected debuts and riotous returns to form. Experienced Barcelonian Larry Lan's epic 10-minute opener 'WTNG' is minimal goes post-punk, repurposing well-known, undisguised lyrics into an aggressive take on early Perlon and explanation enough for his recent album drop on Cadenza. BKS vets N/UM return with 'A Free Woman in Queens' showing off a reduced side of their sound adjacent to mid-00s minimal with plenty of character, its stripped intro giving way to a fuller, dubbed-out second half, with the cheeky vocal and instrumental touches joined by a swelling pad. Featuring spoken vox from Mari Blue and the debut of BKS co-head Asha Jasz alongside DeWinter and Jay Prouty, 'Acid in Your Coffee' takes the dirtier route, with layers of zapping electronics, an insistent single-note acid bass, and synths drifting between tones and textures all veering off like its vocals before eventually returning to center. LA/Bucktown scallywag $coe brings it home with 'The Devil is a MF Liar', an acid jam whose profanity-laced vocal samples don't require divine intervention to decipher. Bookended by a pair of interludes, the first on the power of repetition and the last in memoriam BK legend Big Sexy in his own words, and again featuring striking artwork from notable NYC street artist Fumero, BKS keeps that Sway from going astray.

Spectral Bounce’s latest offering comes direct from Norway, courtesy of Anders Hajem — co-founder of Boring Crew Records. To date, the Oslo producer’s previous releases have been vessels for the exploration of myriad dance musics, seeing the artist fluently turn his hand to soulful house, dub techno and 2-step.

SPEC07 — the Myr EP — is a much more focused affair, finding Hajem in techno mode across 4 potent cuts typified by undulating drums and swelling echoes. Despite its emphasis on percussion, atmosphere has not been sacrificed for rhythm: vivid FX and meticulous attention to detail bring these tracks to life beyond the context of the dancefloor. This is music that can be stepped into and explored, productions that reward repeat listens.

Opening at full throttle, “Myr” is a jackin’ percussive workout, harnessing punchy drums for maximum effect. Its pulsating low-end runs in tandem with trembling synths that perpetually reflect and refract in the stereo field. Atop its rolling drums, hardgroove-inflected “Sprett” utilizes timestretched vocals, cavernous reverb and ecstatically quivering tones, elevating this 2000s-era framework to new heights. “Existence” brings things to a deeper and more hypnotic place: delays are turned up, siren calls reverberate and timbres ebb and flow. Hajem goes more chasmic still on “Concussion”, hitting the brakes for a much slower cadence and allowing space for a truly expansive listening experience. Heady and mystical, entrancing and otherworldly — listen close enough; beneath the dizzyingly shifting pulses and rattling drums you’ll hear incantations, while bass tones pulse in the depths.

SPEC07 — immerse yourself!

Credits:
Art by Susanne Janssen
Mastering & Cut by Marco Pellegrino @Analogcut
Words by Cameron Leaf

Duality Trax welcomes the newly formed 9 Hours Ahead to the label with their debut release, complete with a remix from progressive royalty Bliss Inc. Landing in early 2026, Smooth Sailing traces a blissed-out sonic journey from the combined minds of San Francisco’s Namastrange and Amsterdam’s Breeze. Their cross-continental connection threads throughout the EP, with subtle nods to the vast ocean that separates them. The title track opens the release with a gentle drift: airy synths, angelic pads, and tribal percussion guiding listeners steadily out to sea. Meridian Space picks up the momentum, driven by a pulsating, everexpanding bassline. Namastrange’s whispered vocals weave between swelling orchestral pads, before the track mutates into a mind-bending acid line - perfect for a heads-down, eyes-closed dancefloor moment.

The B-side turns up theenergy with Transatlantic Dreams, a dancefloor-minded cut that nods to the golden era of San Francisco progressive and the Hardkiss legacy. Lush piano melodies, breakbeat interludes, rave stabs, and glimmering gated vocals collide in a warm, nostalgic swirl. Closing the EP, Bliss Inc. delivers a psy-tinged reinterpretation of Meridian Space - a dark, brooding acid workout that pulls the original into deeper, murkier waters.

Already in its title, Plume Girl’s debut thoroughly lets things go and takes them in – all at once. “In the End We Begin” is the first solo full-length from Sowmya Somanath, a Hindustani classical singer/composer and half of alt-pop duo Felt Out. Plume Girl’s music takes inspiration from the semi-regular musical form of the rāga (translated as ‘tinting’), invoking mood and atmosphere, each rāga thought to have its own distinct nature and personality, brought to life through improvisation. String swells and Somanath’s searching vocalisations envelop every track’s own blissful chamber. Exploring imagined binaries along the way — eastern vs. western, traditional vs. experimental, acoustic vs. electronic, Sowmya sees music as a curious dialogue between divine Self and an invisible reality. Beneath the illusion of a chromatic world, there remains a blissful oneness.

Plume Girl’s songs sit between ambient Hindustani music and emotionally-encumbered pop. In front of backdrops comprising sundrenched drones or glitches, sketched out beats, and criss-crossing glissandi or flutes, Somanath both murmurs intimately and spirals upwards into soaring choruses. The lyrics ponder innermost thoughts, never more literally than on the blissful emo folk closing track: ‘In my heart I know / what’s in my heart / I know what’s in my…’

“When I began writing this music, I was fresh off of an experience that completely twisted my reality,” explains Somanath. It was the end of a years-long relationship, and the blossoming of a long-buried love hidden in plain sight: “a best friend of a decade, my musical partner, someone who had always seen me completely…At once, I felt grief and loss. At once, excitement and love.”