Cerca:ad man

For ALT014, Altered Circuits presents its first Various Artists release. In addition to the label's co-founder, three friends of the label appear on this heterogeneous, club-oriented 12''. Portal, with its breakbeat layered drum section and spartan bass hook, sounds like classic Innershades from the start. When the angular leads and slowly phased, ominous chords hit, we are reminded of the artist's fondness for the new beat genre and his ability to translate its tropes and conventions to the present. On Show You Love, Mr. Ho combines skippy two-step drums with an MS20 type of flat bass. After introducing a one-bar mid-bass arpeggiator, gently swelling pads, leisurely spread side riffs and reverb-drenched musings join, calibrating the vibe to lush and groovy. On the other side, Oshana treats groove as the focal point with her Hey Kiss Kiss contribution. Over its 6-minute course, the snappy 909 kick rarely relents while a bunch of often short, many a time looped sequences emerge and disappear, unfolding a hypnotic tapestry of textures. Rising talent Salomee closes the VA with Late Night Summer, a track capable of setting the floor in motion at any moment. It revolves around a portamento-heavy, neon-tinged lead that lingers long after the track ends and a sturdy, efficient one-note bass pulse.

From a club-friendly chrysalid onto deploying his wings as a full fledged pop artist in recent years, Saint Petersburgs Kito Jempere has enjoyed a journey unlike any other and his newest album, Part Time Chaos Part Time Calmness live-documents the chameleonic changes / game-changing paradox experienced this year between his life both as a musician and as a family man.

Better known for his work as a house producer which has earned him accolades from prominent dance music outlets throughout well over a decade of intense work both into and outwith the limelights, Kito has for all that never been focussed on writing solely discoid material, throwing as much effort over the years into multi-faceted parallel ventures, far and apart from strictly dance floor-oriented functionality. Yet, from this partition between various projects and mindsets, this is through a radical shift towards downtempo pop and out of the 4x4 loop that Kito got to fully assert himself as a musician, embracing the rejoicing variety of tone and mood of his tender loves, secret and not. The movie Ive never made but have the soundtrack for, Part Time Chaos Part Time Calmness is the fruit of change as much as change itself. A return to the simple means of his young self, his old trusty guitar from his late teens serving as the backbone to Killer Line and Love Myself But I Cant Make It Love, and the natural development to last years Green Monster, which
initiated these deep tectonic movements in Kitos approach to his art, PTCPTC is an intimate trip down the kaleidoscope of his present life. Joined up by an impressive cast of artists, including Jimi Tenor, Adam Evald and Hard Ton, Kito didnt just bin his old persona, he took it back to where it belongs. From the low-slung emotional folk of the opener, Killer Line, to the eerie flamenco-jazz hybrid Before Music Dies. via the broken soulfulness of Put Love Into Your Heart and anthemic 80s balearic breaks meets coastal synthwave vibe of Sounds of Love, the album pulsates with a refreshingly genre-unbound vision. To the naive, laid-back sonic bokeh of Footsteps,
succeeds the left-of-centre cinematic narrative of In The Countryside, which includes some fun nods to fictional brands taken from Tarantinos imaginarium (Red Apple cigarettes) or other movies like High Fidelity, after Nick Hornbys eponymous novel.

Freed from gridlocked programming and impersonal tropes, PTCPTC showcases a wide array of songs, beats, grooves old and new, some dating back to 2018 and improvised sessions with his 9-people Kito Jempere Band, all of which were finished within the same timeframe and with this all-inclusive momentum in mind. Through the epic synths of Absent Ascent. in revamping the universal classic Over The Rainbow with Celebrine, on the appeasing ballad Shorespotting feat. Evald or in the waves-ready closing cut Lovers, Jempere tells a tale of hard-earned emancipation and life-affirming freedom.

Out of the murky, mystic world of Komodo Kolektif slides the Gamma Knife.

In the corner of a dank, dark mind, a nebulous notion condenses and solidifies, featureless and blind...and from that Komodo Klay a new kreature is hacked, molded and (mal)formed.

“The foundations of some of these pieces were laid almost a decade ago, others more recently. All of them came into being as sketches intended as Komodo Kolektif tracks to develop but for various reasons this didn't happen. The Seven Heavenly Elements was first presented to the group in 2019 but partly through personal differences in musical taste as well as COVID throwing a spanner in the works it was put aside and never worked on collectively. The two Disciple of the Drum 'dubs' are essentially rhythm tracks using the rhythm and percussion of Disciple Of The Drone, also from 2019, stripping away the drone, the gamelan melody and finally, even the bass line, which was initially intended to be the fundamental driving force of at least one of these dubs. In the end neither of these two tracks became anything like the idea that I had in mind, but that's how creativity works sometimes. The vocal parts in Cantation Dub were added most recently, just a few months ago. Fire Dub is just an exercise in me trying to rein in some insane delays and barely managing. The Ghost of Water is an anomaly because many of the fundamental parts are taken from the same jam session recorded in 2015 that led to Djakarta 3001 from the first EP. If you listen closely you'll hear Graeme Miller on guitar (back when guitar was still featured in our weekly jam sessions). I discovered this unedited hour-long jam session on an older hard drive in late 2023 and decided to fashion something from it until what became Ghost of Water materialised: the heavily delayed saron instruments, the jaw harp, the percussion and so on. What makes the track an anomaly is that it is in some ways both the oldest and newest piece of the five. The Seventh Element takes one of the seven elements of The Seven Heavenly Elements (in this case the Mopho synth tuned to the Indonesian pelog scale and ran through the Boss DE-200's depth modulator) to which I then added some gong parts and field recordings from Bali.

Once complete, I realised with an album's worth of material sitting there which was more “Komodo Kolektif” than anything I would normally produce solo, there came the problem of trying to work out what to do with this distinctly Komodo-esque, non-Komodo material. I came up with the idea of releasing it under the name Komodo Kuts...but a part of me felt I'd be cashing in on the Komodo name so ditched that part entirely...but the kuts remained, which seemed appropriate when used alongside my Gamma Knife moniker (which has a long story of its own...in a nutshell I had a benign brain tumour which only 1 in 10,000 people get and which is most frequently removed with a gamma knife (radiation). In medical parlance the device used in this treatment is often shortened to GK machine. I had been using the DJ name GK Machine, which came from my signature GK Mackinnon, since 1994, in other words long before this diagnosis. In the end I had brain surgery in Spain without use of gamma radiation...but the synchronicity of the name connection fascinated me nevertheless. Sometimes the world works in mysterious ways).

Lastly, now that I've sent these tracks out into the world, I feel somewhat liberated and can move on from this fairly niche and specific sound. The gamelan instruments have been returned to Gamelan Naga Mas, from who we'd borrowed them, and the masks hung up. This does not mean that Graeme Miller and I won't work together again in future...I'm sure we will...it just means we won't be tied to working within the constraints of gamelan, synths, percussion and dub that we became known for. So stay tuned...surely something lurks around the corner” GKM, November 2024

Twisted Records is delighted to announce a different kind of collaborative mini album by two musicians highly esteemed for decades in the electronic music scene, Simon Posford and Raja Ram. 

‘Improvisations for Piano & Flute’ is, as the title suggests, a series of fully improvised compositions by the two legendary musicians. The 44-minute flow of this album is more contemplative and analog in nature than anything in the pair’s previous output in their three decades of collaborative work, yet equally mesmerising and consciousness-expanding.
 
In the early 1990s, Simon Posford was working as an engineer at Butterfly Studios when he first met Raja Ram, an Australian conservatory-trained jazz flautist who had been in the 60s/70s band Quintessence and who was at the time of their meeting part of the electronic music group known as The Infinity Project. After collaborating on many of the latter band’s productions, Posford and Raj (as he is affectionately known) in 1996 created the first track under the project name Shpongle, Rumours of Vapours. 
 
Less dance-focused and more atmospheric than their previous electronica tracks, this was the first of many creations under the Shpongle moniker, included on their now iconic first album Are You Shpongled? in 1998. Since then, they have produced six albums and performed elaborate live sets with an 17-member band around the world, including three sold-out shows at the iconic Red Rocks theatre in Colorado and three sold-out appearances at The Roundhouse in London.

This album is a significant departure from their usual output in its focus on the interplay of Raj’s lyrical flute playing and Simon’s noodling at the piano, with almost imperceptible synthesized atmospheric support that seamlessly unites analog and digital realities. 

These improvisations were recorded in Posford’s living room instead of the usual studio because the musicians found that it provided more of the desired ambience. With a synthesizer placed atop an antique Bluthner piano, either Raj or Simon would begin playing and the other would join in - nothing prepared, decided, or arranged: just live, in-the-moment inspiration. This spontaneity infuses each track with such magnetic energy that the listener is inevitably drawn into each note, phrase, and piece. 
 
The whole album is supremely chill and introspective, with a grand arc to the storyline of 8 tracks that Shpongle fans will recognize from the dynamic duo’s internationally prized discography.  

‘Improvisations for Piano & Flute’ is a salve for the soul, providing an atmospheric antidote to the relentless stress and fast pace of our increasingly complex world - a great way to kick back, tune in, and refresh.

Hip-hop legend Rakim is breaking new ground with his upcoming studio album, G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH), by flexing his skills both on the mic and behind the boards. Widely lauded as the best lyricist of all time, The God MC himself is blessing the culture with the next step in his historic career.

“I feel like the battery in my back has been reenergized,” Rakim said about his new album, which arrives nearly four decades after the release of his classic debut with Eric B., Paid In Full. Since then, he’s continued to shape the landscape and culture of hip-hop as we know it, inspiring rising artists with his hype live shows and incredible studio albums. And while he’s produced some of his previous work—notably “Don’t Sweat the Technique,” “Juice (Know The Ledge),” and “Paid In Full”—this feels like new territory for the 18th Letter, whose production and scratching talents are nothing short of remarkable.

G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH) is proof that Rakim is truly one of the most special artists we’ve known not just in hip-hop, but all of music. You can tell he feels that level of praise when speaking about the genesis of the album. “Having the ability to showcase my talents behind the boards coupled with the elite lyricism the world already knows and gives me infinite praise for alongside some of the best talents to ever do it is truly a blessing and for that I am humbled,” he said.

Rakim is more than an official triple-threat as an artist, because he’s also showing off skills as a curator. On this album’s seven tracks, he enlists a who’s-who of top hip-hop talent, including the dearly departed Nipsey Hussle, Fred the Godson, DMX, and Prodigy (of Mobb Deep). Rakim also linked with many of his contemporaries, such as Snoop Dogg, Method Man, KXNG Crooked, B.G., and Kool G. Rap, among others.

The album’s first single, “Be Ill,” is the perfect introduction, as it pairs Rakim’s raw rhymes and head-nodding production with slick guest features from Kurupt and Masta Killa. Elsewhere, Rakim slows it down for the soulful “Love Is The Message,” which features Nipsey Hussle, Planet Asia, Louis King, Snoop Dogg, Sally Green, Kobe Honeycutt, and the LA Grand Choir. And then there’s the chest-thumping “International,” a straight-up slapper with hard-hitting rhymes from Kool G. Rap, Tristate, and Joell Ortiz.

For fans of hip-hop, and especially of Rakim’s storied discography, there is so much to love on this record. You can hear his hunger as an emcee and producer on every track, as well as his desire to collaborate with so many respected artists. Despite having decades in the game and many classics to his name, it feels like Rakim is just getting started.

While the world awaits the July 26th release date, fans can catch Rakim performing live throughout the US from now until the end of year in support of G.O.D.S Network (REB7RTH). In addition to debuting new material, he’ll be performing all the classics from his beloved catalog.

Hip-hop legend Rakim is breaking new ground with his upcoming studio album, G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH), by flexing his skills both on the mic and behind the boards. Widely lauded as the best lyricist of all time, The God MC himself is blessing the culture with the next step in his historic career.

“I feel like the battery in my back has been reenergized,” Rakim said about his new album, which arrives nearly four decades after the release of his classic debut with Eric B., Paid In Full. Since then, he’s continued to shape the landscape and culture of hip-hop as we know it, inspiring rising artists with his hype live shows and incredible studio albums. And while he’s produced some of his previous work—notably “Don’t Sweat the Technique,” “Juice (Know The Ledge),” and “Paid In Full”—this feels like new territory for the 18th Letter, whose production and scratching talents are nothing short of remarkable.

G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH) is proof that Rakim is truly one of the most special artists we’ve known not just in hip-hop, but all of music. You can tell he feels that level of praise when speaking about the genesis of the album. “Having the ability to showcase my talents behind the boards coupled with the elite lyricism the world already knows and gives me infinite praise for alongside some of the best talents to ever do it is truly a blessing and for that I am humbled,” he said.

Rakim is more than an official triple-threat as an artist, because he’s also showing off skills as a curator. On this album’s seven tracks, he enlists a who’s-who of top hip-hop talent, including the dearly departed Nipsey Hussle, Fred the Godson, DMX, and Prodigy (of Mobb Deep). Rakim also linked with many of his contemporaries, such as Snoop Dogg, Method Man, KXNG Crooked, B.G., and Kool G. Rap, among others.

The album’s first single, “Be Ill,” is the perfect introduction, as it pairs Rakim’s raw rhymes and head-nodding production with slick guest features from Kurupt and Masta Killa. Elsewhere, Rakim slows it down for the soulful “Love Is The Message,” which features Nipsey Hussle, Planet Asia, Louis King, Snoop Dogg, Sally Green, Kobe Honeycutt, and the LA Grand Choir. And then there’s the chest-thumping “International,” a straight-up slapper with hard-hitting rhymes from Kool G. Rap, Tristate, and Joell Ortiz.

For fans of hip-hop, and especially of Rakim’s storied discography, there is so much to love on this record. You can hear his hunger as an emcee and producer on every track, as well as his desire to collaborate with so many respected artists. Despite having decades in the game and many classics to his name, it feels like Rakim is just getting started.

While the world awaits the July 26th release date, fans can catch Rakim performing live throughout the US from now until the end of year in support of G.O.D.S Network (REB7RTH). In addition to debuting new material, he’ll be performing all the classics from his beloved catalog.

"“adedemola,” the self-titled album from Fireboy DML, is a deeply personal statement, representing the culmination of years of artistic growth and self-discovery. More than just a collection of songs, it serves as a mirror reflecting the artist's journey through love, loss, and self-actualization. The creative process behind the album was anything but straightforward; it involved navigating the complexities of life, facing personal challenges, and enduring the pain of losing close friends. Yet, it was through these difficult experiences that Fireboy DML found clarity and purpose.

Inspired by love in its many forms—self-love, familial love, and romantic relationships—”adedemola” delves into the emotional depths that define human connection. Fireboy DML explores the importance of cherishing what truly matters, moving beyond the superficial pursuits that often distract from the blessings of family, health, and genuine relationships. In a world that feels increasingly divided, “adedemola” is a call to return to the basics: to embrace love, positivity, and the simple joys of life.

The album stands as the truest expression of the artist's identity yet, embodying the vulnerability and authenticity that fans have come to cherish. It's an invitation to sing, dance, and love with abandon, reminding us all of the power of love to heal and unite."

Dance and drama began for Paulo Alvarado in 1992 when Sabrina Castillo, Bettina Barckhausen, Joam Solo, Xavier Pacheco, and Alfredo Porras invited him to create the music for their choreographic and theatrical productions as an ethereal actor who is not seen but heard; a sound that is not merely an occasion to "musicalize" the stage production; music that does not merely adorn or incidentally accompany the movement and text, but that acts.

This is how he soon had the opportunity to work on the stage production of Sophocles’ OEDIPUS REX (Edipo Rey), the first of several plays for which Alvarado composed music at the request of Luis Tuchán one of the revered theatrical directors from Guatemala. With him, they also worked on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which carried the subtitle "Asesino del Sueño" (Sleep Murderer). Later, as an example of another area of action, and at the request of Dennis Leder one of Guatemala's leading artists from the past three decades and Ana Asturias who had worked with the Guatemalan Dance Company, he created the music for a dance-installation called, fittingly, "Lederana" mixing both words from their name. Around that time, he also began composing and presenting music for productions by Guatemalan authors, such as the drama by Rubén Nájera, "Sacra Conversación", directed by Joam Solo.

These pieces, contained on Side A of the album, represent only a very brief sample of an era immersed in theatre and other performative projects where more than forty theatrical and choreographic pieces where created in a span of three decades, and consist of his valuable contribution to the soundtrack of dramatic theater and contemporary dance in Guatemala.

Separately, the title piece of this album, ANTIGUA, found on Side B, was designed for the exhibition of
engravings, lithographs, and digital prints by Roberto Godoy, Antigua Estampa de la Vida Mía. It gathers musical extemporizations for the dance we invented at the moment of inaugurating the photographic exhibition by Rocío Villanueva, Los Mutantes de los Apegos; the fifth movement of my String Quartet No. 5 (version for six cellos); Exiliados en Tierra Propia(introduction to my song Púrpura de Vida y Sentimiento); and Las 56 (from the film Después del Fuego), dedicated to the young women wounded and killed on March 8, 2018, in a so-called "safe home" in Guatemala City. This LP unites many of Paulo's most experimental works and serve as a small tribute to his life, trajectory and to all those who, without reservation, dedicated and invested resources in his music catalogued by himself as one of the main ways to celebrate human life: art.

The 1998 Norwegian Black Metal classic ‘Soulblight’ re-issued! “Soulblight” is a worthy contender for one of the best Black Metal albums of the 90’s! 1997’s “Witchcraft” wass a challenging album to follow up with its cult status as one of the greatest Black Metal releases owing to its complex compositions and intricate orchestration. Yet Obtained Enslavement did exactly that, as “Soulblight” is a very different release but it maintained the quality and musicianship the band made themselves known for with “Witchcraft”.

This release discards the openness and mystique of the orchestral arrangements in place of a more guitar and drum-oriented sound, but this works for the much darker and aggressive tone of “Soulblight”. The structure of the album is a highlight compared to its predecessor as it feels more conceptual and complete as a whole, rather than just a collection of songs.

This makes sense as the lyrics tell an epic tale of a great war against the ‘soulblight’, a story that can be followed through the music itself too, thus making it a conceptual album in many ways. Speaking of instrumental work, the iconic and untouchable classically influenced composition (it would be insulting to call it songwriting) of guitarists ‘Heks’ and ‘Døden’, with its weaving and developed melodies to the complex chord sequences and intricate structures, is still an aspect that is so unique to this band; the composers truly have a great understanding of music in its high-art form.

The performances delivered by the band are done with terrifying precision and clarity, unusual for the genre where commonly a ‘that will do’ attitude is employed; nowhere on this album can you hear sloppiness of any kind. Pest’s vocals are consistent and hair-raising, nothing about it sounds human and this works in favour of this otherworldly suite. Pytten has once again cemented himself as one of the greats in the Black Metal world and even just knowing this album was recorded in the infamous Grieghallen, adds to its grandeur and appeal. To conclude, “Soulblight” is a worthy contender for one of the best Black Metal albums of the 90’s. The world will likely never again see two Black Metal albums as perfect as “Soulblight” and “Witchcraft”, evil in its intent yet majestic and epic in its final form.

Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric is the third LP by RUDIMENTARY PENI. Recorded in 1992 but not released until 1995, it was the first music the band recorded after their already leftfield Cacophony album. It is an underrated and difficult masterpiece of truly outsider music. Full of harrowing and morbid songs based on repetition, repetition and repetition, pushing the listener into a trance like mood. Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric shows the most experimental side of RUDIMENTARY PENI testing the punk song concept, turning it into a mantra chant at times while sounding like only RUDIMENTARY PENI could. The album opens with lead track 'Pogo Pope', which sets the tone, with Blinko repeatedly singing 'Pogo Pope' ad nauseam, and the whole of the album has a continual loop of the phrase 'Popus Adrianus' running through its entirety. At the time Nick Blinko was experiencing severe delusions and believed that he was Pope Adrian the 37th and was detained in a psychiatric hospital under Section 3 of the 1983 Mental Health Act. The album is unhinged and challenging but 100% pure and idiosyncratic. This official reissue comes on a single sleeve with printed inner and 16 page booklet with Nick Blinko artwork and has been remastered from the original tapes by Arthur Rizk. Genre: Alternative / Punk

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of “Unorthodox Jukebox”, a limited Dark Red Vinyl edition will be released on the 17th June, with the pre-order going live on the 19th May. “Unorthodox Jukebox” is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. It debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200, The record also reached #1 in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the U.K.. It became Mars's fastest-selling album in the latter country in 2012, the third best-selling album in Australia in 2013, and the fifth best-selling in the United States in 2013. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that Unorthodox Jukebox was globally the fourth best-selling album in 2013. “Unorthodox Jukebox” also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 56th Grammy Awards.
Bruno Mars is a 21-time GRAMMY Award nominee and multi-GRAMMY winner. The celebrated singer, songwriter, producer, musician has sold over 171 million singles worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. His most recent critically acclaimed and RIAA certified platinum album, “24K Magic,” made an impressive debut atop the Top Digital Albums and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Additionally, the album and its lead single, “24K Magic,” simultaneously hit No. 1 on the iTunes Overall Albums and Overall Songs charts week of release. The single has since climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has also officially been certified Platinum by the RIAA.

Berlin bassist, composer, studio musician and sought-after sideman Thomas Stieger releases his solo debut album 'Choices'. Stieger's first album as a bandleader features guest appearances by well-known musicians such as trumpeter Randy Brecker, bassists Will Lee and Tim Lefebvre, drummer Wolfgang Haffner, as well as rising stars singer Alma Naidu and keyboardist Simon Oslender.
With his ambitious solo debut, Thomas Stieger, who has already played on over 100 recordings in various styles and released two albums as a member of the prog-fusion-cinematic-jazz band Marriage Material, shows his creative, very personal side.

'Choices' combines melodic groove tracks such as "Noemi's Song" and "Hissing the Flag" with the African-influenced "Chez Aly". The ballad "Resistance", the ode "Glimmer of Hope", the march "The Night You Changed Your Mind" and the title track are provided with string quartet arrangements. Stieger also jams to electro-dance grooves in "Night Ride", creates an atmospheric mood in "Lavender Skies" and closes with the beautiful "Ocean", sung by Alma Naidu.

Thomas started playing guitar at the age of ten and switched to bass at 15. He played in numerous bands and started his own jazz fusion projects. In addition to his work with the band Marriage Material, which he co-founded in 2018, Stieger played in various groups led by drummer Wolfgang Haffner and worked with many well-known artists and orchestras, including Gregory Porter, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Quasthoff and Sarah Connor.

Following his recent EP, The Circle of Life, on Pushmaster Discs, Milan's rising techno star Maike Depas returns with a brand-new release on his renowned The Innovation Studio Records. Titled “Sexy Devil Horse”, it is a powerful 10-track collection, featuring many iconic international artists from the Hard Techno space such as Etruria Beat’s headmaster Luca Agnelli, Dutch-based sensation OGUZ and the “Demon of hard techno” also known as Michael Katana, as well as Southern Italian talents CHRS and Gianni Di Bernardo.
This release marks a pivotal moment in Maike Depas’ journey to become one of the highest rated talents in the Hard Techno scene. It will also be followed by a key paradigm shift his label’s business model in 2025. For this occasion, Maike has lined up an amazing group of artists to celebrate those who have shared his musical vision along the way.

The title is meant to be provocative and captivating, just like its content: catchy and fresh enough to attract ravers and clubbers from around the world. Its artwork was created by the master Luden Works. It features a plastic female figure with an undefined appearance, yet with sensual curves and a powerful surge of energy, like a wave enclosed in a sphere, representing Maike’s and The Innovation Studio Records’ logos.
From the galloping rhythm of “Sexy Devil Horse” and “Hear The Sound” to the groovy and elegant “Ce Soir” there is an immediate feel about the artist’s singular touch and eclecticism. Same goes for the tangible contrasts which make a key element of this release, where the minimalistic mood of “StarKiller” and its maximalist counterpart “Dark Serenade” carry the listener through a full-spectrum emotional rollercoaster.
Hard Techno and Psy Trance vibes go hand in hand with ‘90s Trance and Rave echoes, creating a blend of recognisable and innovative samples that can resonate with many different types of audience and like-minded artists. This aspect is fundamental in the direction Maike and his team have decided to take.

It all comes from afar: starting with a classical musical background – playing the piano at Conservatory level for many years, including Berlin’s own Funkhaus. This theoretical and practical knowledge, mixed with a long-time passion for electronic music, made it easier for Maike to shape and cultivate his authentic sound since a very young age.

As part of its evolution, The Innovation Studio Records will officially open its doors to new talent and renowned artists starting in 2025. The team’s vision is to create an international reference point for quality and innovation, shaping a brand-new artistic movement based on combining the modern vision of our generation with our cultural heritage from the past, thanks to the team that we put together, both in terms of approach and technique.
It'll be a structure built from the ground up, combining the best of analogue technology in a modern workflow with the highest level of music hardware, audio monitoring and studio design. In their view, there are two types of productions: those that stay ‘inside the box’ and those that get into your heart.

The desire to unite instead of dividing, to join forces instead of competing, is the key to Maike’s success and a real drive to turn the studio lights on every single day. Despite playing a lot with dystopic, cyberpunk-like atmospheres throughout his artistic journey, music doesn’t feel like a means to escape reality for Maike. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

The definition Maike uses the most to describe what The Innovation Studio Records wants to become is “a mysterious display cabinet”: a place where an artists will never know what emotion will arise or what direction will be taken next. Although hard work, professionalism and common inspiration will ultimately still be its main fuel, a true sense of community and empathy will be crucial to shape the future Maike and his team have in mind for it.
In a very romantic way, the idea is to re-create the same atmosphere from the Italian Renaissance masters’ workshops. Places where different artists - with opposite backgrounds and styles - could all mingle and inspire each other, in order to foster the creation of something unique. A collective effort for a greater good.

About MAIKE DEPAS
Young hard techno DJ-producer Maike Depas (born Michelangelo De Pasquale) has seen the future of music and it’s called metaverse: “In the future it will blow up,” he predicts. “And it’s going to revolutionize the way we experience music.” Bowled over by Skrillex and Martin Garrix by the age of eight, and DJing at smaller Milan clubs by the time he was eleven, Depas went on to study composition and piano at the prestigious

Milan Conservatory before learning ‘life- changing” lessons from the best in the business at Catalyst’s 4-week Advanced Sound Design course in Berlin’s Funkhaus . His production gets inspired by huge 90s trance synths as much as pounding hard techno from artists such as Kobosil, In Verruf and Amelie Lens.
2024 marked the launch of MAIKE DEPAS 2.0, a tectonic audio-visual shift that entails a wide array of content from DJ sets livestreamed from Berlin’s Teufelsberg and other dystopic locations around Europe to cyberpunk-inspired outfits designed by Demobaza, a cyberpunk-inspired casual couture brand best known for their sustainable Dune X Demobaza collection. Over the course of a developing metamorphosis from a flesh-and-bone individual to a mysterious CGI character, Depas is another step closer to revolutionize the dance music scene through the metaverse.

Has it really been two whole years since the last Stank Soul Edits vinyl 45? There wasn't even the excuse of a pandemic this time! True, but Mako & Mr Bristow think you'll agree this one has been worth the wait with its double A-side payload of two soul-drenched sister-funk edits.

First up is One Sweet Bomb – which subtly tweaks the source material's arrangement and applies extra bass and additional drum leverage so it can go head-to-head with the best of the golden age of soul.

On the flip, Why Do You Bass Me Up? is an uptempo funk dancer that was released in its original form with no bassline whatsoever! If only it had had one though - what might that have sounded like? If only Mako knew a bassist who knew sixties-style soul basslines. Wait a minute...of course! Former Big Boss Man bassist and Mako's sparring partner before Mr Bristow - The Hawk - a man steeped in the playing and creation of sixties-style basslines! A quick phone call later and Hawk was sent a tweaked arrangement of the source material to 'sit in' with on his bass and see what he could come up with. The results are conclusive – it's another banger!

Writing music, for singer-songwriter and producer Fine, “feels like being entrusted with a secret.” On Rocky Top Ballads, the Copenhagen-based musician’s debut album, these secrets take the form of minimalist compositions that search for glimpses of beauty in the everyday. Recorded, produced, and mixed by Fine, the album is a mystical soundtrack to a captivating songwriter’s explorations of process and intuition.

“The whole album is about the moments when you see a crack in something,” Fine explains, “where you briefly see another side of yourself or of someone you've known forever.”

Fine grew up in Denmark’s rural Northern Jutland; there, her father’s guitar and banjo playing formed the sonic backdrop of her childhood. In the years since, her musical curiosity has led her to work across a range of styles and sounds. In her early twenties, she became part of Danish electronic trio Chinah, which released three albums. You might also have caught her sampled vocals on the joyfully rollicking Two Shell song “Home,” from 2021. Then, last year, she — along with Erika de Casier and Smerz — co-wrote three songs for the massive, critically lauded K-pop group New Jeans. Fine is also a part of Clarissa Connelly Canons group back home in Denmark, and writes music under the moniker Coined with composer and songwriter Astrid Sonne.

But Rocky Top Ballads is a turn back towards a more personal, stream-of-consciousness songwriting style. Fine wrote and recorded these songs sporadically over the course of the last few years. In light of Chinah’s collaborative, piecemeal production style, Fine craved a more organic, intuitive process for these songs. Her work on the record combines sample-based production with the sounds of instruments she and her collaborators could hold in their hands, ones that inspired free-flowing improvisation: electric and acoustic guitar, even the Ensoniq keyboard that was in her childhood home. The resulting songs are equally inspired by the country and folk of her childhood, the hazy beauty of Mazzy Star, the avant-garde pop of Dean Blunt, and the songwriting of ’90s singer-songwriters like Suzanne Vega.

Fine describes her songwriting process as a “magical thinking method”: being in contact with the present moment and pretending as if she already knows the song she’s about to write. Many of the songs on Rocky Top Ballads use the original takes of Fine’s vocals, an attempt to capture a song’s initial essence and avoid disturbing the song’s generative idea as much as possible. You can hear that well-preserved spark on songs like “Losing Tennessee,” a minimalist and wistful reflection on the inherent loss and change of growing older. She wrote other tracks, like the piano-led “Whys” and the woozy “Coasting,” through a process of cutting and layering her improvisations, carefully merging multiple musical snippets into newly seamless compositions. And the stunning closing track “A Star” is the product of a slow process of evolution: beginning as an understated expression of sincerity before dissolving into a rich, distorted guitar-driven exploration.

As a songwriter and producer, Fine’s work often peers into the universes of experience that can be hidden inside a fragmentary moment. Sometimes she explores this literally — as in “Days Incomplete,” which she built off a short sample from “A Star.” This impulse — to zoom in, to recontextualize, to excavate — threads throughout her lyrics, too. What happens, her songs ask, when we pay close attention to those everyday images and physical realities we might otherwise ignore: the sky, the rain, the sun, the sea? On the spacious and swoony “Big Muzzy,” with its gentle sway and Cocteau Twins-inflected vocals, Fine sings about watching the “summer turn blue”; the grooving, propulsive “Remember The Heart” is a love letter to the sea where she grew up. In her airy voice, Fine traces meandering melodies that continually unspool with fresh insights.

A particular mantra guided Fine’s songwriting throughout the creation of Rocky Top Ballads: “Everything has potential.” In these songs, small moments are worthy of deep contemplation, and gentleness can evoke worlds of emotion. The resulting songs offer a gift of momentary pleasure, flowing and unhurried as a gentle breeze.

Marissa Lorusso

Fred Ventura and Rafał Lachmirowicz, aka Also Playable Mono, have teamed up, All We Need being the pairing’s audio vision of italo disco.

Steady kicks and cascading cowbells pave the way for an infectious synthline before a vocoder-enveloped Ventura smoulders with a burning intensity. Bold chords and pulsating rhythms are at the robotic heart of “System Breakdown On Wikileaks”. Bombastic and brilliant, this electrified disco dreadnaught swings with the power of a wrecking ball; a power that only amplifies the track’s impacting message of our very civilisation’s future. Scaling notes spiral ever higher in the addictive groove of “In The Night”, A.P.Mono’s computerised words adopting the mantle of his machines. Circling samples introduce “The News”. Rhythms are clean and tight, snapping at the tails of soaring synthwork with Ventura’s smoky social commentary, coupled with the silken and sonorous Chelsea Muller, offering something better for us all.

Recorded in the 1980's and snapped up upon arrival in Europe by the Soho Boho's, Acid Jazzuals,Cuboppers, Jazz Massivists and Mojo Jazzmuziker, "Le-Le" by The Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble is a unique one off Spiritual Soul-Jazz outing with Avant Garde touches and more than a hint of Afro-Cuban Orientalism.

The percussion drenched title track has that special Worldwide Sound and the Cool Jazz Get Down Groove of "Wet Walnuts and Whipped Cream" is a DJ's delight, whether played over the Airwaves or to a crowded Dancefloor.

An adventurous jazz outfit that has been playing around Philadelphia since its formation in 1979. The Ensemble was founded by Warren Oree, an acoustic bassist, producer and composer who continues to lead the band. Eclectic and far from predictable, on this album the Ensemble has embraced a variety of acoustic and electric jazz styles combining them with African and Middle Eastern influences and mixed together with the "New Thing" have managed to make a timeless underground classic.

Bienvenue Recordings is back on wax with two originals and a deep driving remix from the home base. We are delighted to present Gratts ‘The Lifestyle EP’ via the label, a high quality addition to his plentiful repertoire of dance delights.

Gene Tellem met Gratts in the South Australian city of Adelaide in 2022 while visiting family and touring the country for some gigs. Gratts, originally from Belgium, also finds himself in the sun for similar reasons. Being from two different French speaking parts of the world, able to communicate in a familiar way but in a whole new place really laid down the vibe for this release. Songs as much for the radio as the club, for a cold wintry night or on the shores of an Australian sunset.

'Sunsets (FBI Mix)' is Gratts & Biancolato's tribute to Sydney veteran DJ Simon Caldwell's long running 'Sunsets' radio show on FBI Radio. Gratts and Caldwell DJ'ed together in Sydney on various occasions, whereas Biancolato is a veteran Melbourne DJ and producer. The track was inspired by the dubby West-Coast deep house sound from the turn of the millennium. Adelaide's Lesley Williams provides the vocal mantra.

'Sundays With U (Neapolitan Mix)' is a jazzy and percussive venture, loosely inspired by the West London bruk sound and Charles Webster. Andreas Poppelbaum, Gratts' studio neighbour in Berlin can be heard on soprano sax. The lyrics are performed by Italian friend Ambra, who delivers them in the Neapolitan dialect.

'Sundays With U (GT Remix)’ is Gene Tellem pulling at all the elements that make the original a scorcher, stretching it out, turning the stomp up, and offering a version for a deep dance floor moment. The voice, sax, atmosphere with the snap on the one. One moment it starts, and soon you won’t know how long it’s been that your eyes are closed, body moving through the room.

Limited edition Red Vinyl Repress of the massive ‘Les Dance’

The original artist has been rather popular over the years, a hero to many, known for floating in tin cans, sporting screwed up eyes and a screwed down haircut, a man who has fallen towards his home planet and questioned life on others.

Needless to say JCG has taken the finest elements of the track and reworked them to bring joy to any serious dancefloor, moonlit or otherwise. Funky tribal percussion, dramatic synths and echoes add depth and modernity to the sound and vision of the original and of course that all-important instantly recognisable bass stab is stronger than ever. Flip for a stripped up, not down, dub and the result is a superb record that will be played far more than just for one day.

Black Truffle is back with a delicious new EP, "Gourmet Edits", which takes you on a four-course adventure through the vintage disco territory, blending Jazz-Funk and Latin elements.
Black Truffle's distinctive style is characterised by skilful reinterpretations of hidden treasures from the 70's with a passionate focus on preserving the essence of the original material...

'Disco Meringue' is a crispy piano-driven appetiser with Latin flavour. Its syncopated piano riffs imbue it with a jazzy vibe that makes it a great tool to seamlessly transition between disco, Latin, and modern deep house in your set.

'Drum Tartar' is a percussive tour de force that oscillates between groovy Jazz-Funk and spicy Bossa-Nova, culminating in a thundering drum break that continues for an impressive third of the track.
'Consomme' is the EP's bread and butter for the dance floor layering pulsing percussion, wailing organ riffs, crunchy guitars, curious vocoders and many sax and organ solos that keep on taking it higher and higher resulting in a sizzling high-energy banger.
For dessert, we have 'Souffle', a fluffy big-band Jazz number with a funky Disco beat that gradually develops into an ecstatic culmination with a choir.

The Holiday Album That Turned Mariah Carey into the Queen of Christmas: Featuring the Standard “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the Singer’s Blockbuster Merry Christmas Exudes Joy, Spirituality, and Conviction
Sourced from the Original Master Tapes, Presented in Audiophile Sound for the First Time, and Strictly Limited to 3,000 Numbered Copies:

Mobile Fidelity’s UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM LP Set Plays with Superb Detail, Openness, and Definition
1/2" / 30 IPS / Dolby SR analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

Mariah Carey didn’t become the Queen of Christmas just because of her fervent love of the holiday. Or as the result of a brilliant marketing plan. The iconic singer earned her title by way of her blockbuster Merry Christmas, a 1994 album that quickly joined the likes of Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song as an all-time holiday vocal classic. Featuring a balanced mix of inspired originals and well-chosen covers, Carey’s fourth studio record has only grown in stature as new generations discover its magic. Mobile Fidelity’s 30th anniversary edition reissue of Merry Christmas makes her spellbinding performances and upper-tier register come alive like never before.

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, the pioneering label’s UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM LP set of Merry Christmas plays with superb detail, depth, and dimensionality. Available in audiophile quality for the first time since its original release three decades ago, and featuring the bonus track “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” the nine-times-platinum set breathes with a newfound openness and transparency that enhance the spirituality, passion, and festive tenor of Carey’s singing.

Benefitting from superb groove definition, a nearly inaudible noise floor, and dead-quiet vinyl surfaces, the music takes on a heightened energy and anticipatory emotion synonymous with the holiday season. Carey’s signature vocals explode with liveliness and dynamics, the full scope of her acrobatic range presented in clear, transparent sound that practically places her on a small stage in your listening room. This collectible version also breathes with the kind of warmth, intimacy, and coziness you want from a landmark vocal album.

Recorded when Carey helped put “diva” back into everyone’s vocabulary, Merry Christmas gave the New York native another smash right out of the box. What nobody knew at the time was the degree of the album’s staying power — and how, many years removed from its initial promotion cycle, its legend would still grow and even spark a 2010 sequel. Having re-entered the Top 200 charts every year since 2019, Merry Christmas ranks as one of the three most commercially successful holiday LPs ever made and, in due time, will likely earn the top distinction in that class. A global blockbuster, it seamlessly ties together Christian, gospel, and secular threads and speaks to a boundless audience, independent of denomination.

Most obviously, the record remains inescapably connected to “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” an uptempo anthem that towers as a holiday standard and one of the biggest-selling singles in history. Punctuated with celesta chimes, sleigh bells, springy keyboards, and joyous beats, the song echoes the simple albeit engaging melodies and doo-wop style of beloved holiday classics of yore — and blends such elements with contagious dance-pop rhythms to create an atmosphere rich in joy, wonder, and excitement. Radiant with golden soulfulness and sincere conviction, Carey’s exuberant singing and on-point phrasing put it all over the top. And how.

The song stands as the only effort in Billboard history to top the Hot 100 chart during at least three separate runs. Carey’s blockbuster has already hit No. 1 during five runs, spanning every year between 2019 and 2024. That’s just one of the many records the singer holds — and only one of the multiple highlights from Merry Christmas, which includes two other Carey-penned originals, “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)” and “Jesus Born on This Day.”

Though slightly lesser known, Carey’s remarkable rendition of Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” further links her album with the big, lush, Wall of Sound heritage that helped inspire its production. Carey’s heartfelt take and transformation of the traditional “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” into an animated tune that even adults can believe, as well as her clairon reading of “Joy to the World” — cleverly augmented with bits of Three Dog Night’s 1971 hit of the same name — further reinforce her status as Queen of Christmas.

At the peak of her powers, Carey finds equivalent success when tapping more spiritual veins. Witness the reverence she brings to the timeless carol “Silent Night,” the piousness she invests in “Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child,” and the sacred feeling she conveys throughout “O Holy Night.” You’ll also never think of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Gloria (In Excelsis Deo)” the same way again after hearing Mimi pour her heart and soul into them, and pair the songs together.

Indeed, it’s Carey’s pliable voice, melismatic technique, and five-octave range — on display here in definitive fashion — coupled with her undeniable love for Christmas and understanding of the religious significance of the season that make Merry Christmas a must-have holiday staple. And on Mobile Fidelity’s LP, something you better add to your wish list.

Destroy All Neighbors is a twisted splatter-comedy about a deranged journey of self-discovery full of goopy practical FX, a well-known ensemble cast, and LOTS of blood. William Brown (Jonah Ray Rodrigues), is a neurotic, self-absorbed musician determined to finish his prog-rock magnum opus, facing a creative roadblock in the form of a noisy and grotesque neighbor named Vlad (Alex Winter).

He finally works up the nerve to demand that Vlad keep it down, and William inadvertently decapitates him. But, while attempting to cover up one murder, William's accidental reign of terror causes victims to pile up and become undead corpses who torment and create more bloody detours on his road to prog-rock Valhalla. The soundtrack is an infectious slice of progressive rock cues, EDM freakouts, 80’s synth pop and so much more by the brilliant Ryan Kattner & Brett Morris. Released in conjunction with SUB POP Records, and features an original song by MAN MAN, artwork by Johnny Dombrowski, and pressed on coloured vinyl.

The National veröffentlichen mit "Rome" am 13. Dezember ein komplettes Live-Album mit 21 Tracks auf Doppel-Vinyl, als Doppel-CD und natürlich digital. Das Konzert wurde am 3. Juni 2024 in Italien live (ohne Overdubs) aufgenommen wurde. Das Doppelalbum, welches von Peter Katis, einem langjährigen Begleiter der Band, abgemischt wurde, spannt einen Bogen über die mehr als 20 Jahre der Karriere von The National und zeigt, wie jeder Song auf der Bühne sein ganz eigenes und neues Leben entfaltet hat. Man muss diese Band live gesehen haben, die mittlerweile Stadien und große Arenen füllt. Warum das so ist, hört man auf "Rome". Aufgenommen in dem architektonisch beeindruckenden und nach dem berühmten italienischen Filmkomponisten benannten Veranstaltungsort "Parco Della Musica Ennio Morricone", zeigt die 21-Track-LP schillernde Versionen großer Songs wie "Bloodbuzz Ohio", "Don"t Swallow the Cap", "I Need My Girl", "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness", "England" und "Fake Empire" - so wie Live-Interpretationen neuerer Tracks wie "Eucalyptus", "New Order T-Shirt", "Tropic Morning News" und "Smoke Detector". Die Band ändert ihre Setlist von Abend zu Abend, spielt Klassiker aus zwei Jahrzehnten und kombiniert diese mit Tracks aus den letzten Alben - kein Konzert ist wie das andere und beschert den Zuschauern jedes Mal im wahrsten Sinne ein einzigartiges Erlebnis. "Rome" ist geprägt von Raritäten wie dem Show-Opener "Runaway", "Lemonworld", "The Geese of Beverly Road", "Lit Up" und einer Tour-de-Force-Paarung von "Humiliation" vom von der Kritik gefeierten Album "Trouble Will Find Me" mit "Murder Me Rachael" von dem früheren Album "Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers". Als Zugabe gibt es in Rom die Wahlkampfhymne "Mr. November", "Terrible Love" von High Violet und das abschließende Fan-Singalong "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks". In ihrer Live-Kritik bezeichnete der Guardian The National als "eine die Ära definierende Band auf dem Höhepunkt ihrer Kräfte... als dieses atemberaubende zweieinhalbstündige Epos zu einer gemeinschaftlichen Katharsis wird". Auch der Rolling Stone UK schrieb: "Es ist klar, dass die Band...ihren Platz an der Spitze seit einem Jahrzehnt verdient hat.... Eine Show, die einfach euphorisch ist und die Band auf einem neuen Höhepunkt sieht." Das Doppel-Livealbum "Rome" ist das Zeugnis dafür.

WRWTFWW Records is honored to announce the first ever vinyl release for esteemed Japanese producer, composer, and environmental music luminary Yoshio Ojima’s rare forgotten album Club, previously only released as a limited edition of 50 cassettes back in 1983. The electronica/proto-techno/experimental gem is available as an LP reissue supervised by the artist, sourced from the original masters and housed in a heavy 350gsm sleeve. Only 500 copies were made.

A precious and sought-after item among collectors and enthusiasts of early Japanese electronic music, Club is a stunning and timeless collection of avant-garde electronica, proto-techno, mecha-ambient, and ear-pleasing experimentations from Yoshio Ojima, the ambient/environmental master behind the pivotal Music for Spiral albums released in 1988 (aka Une Collection Des Chaînons I and II reissued on WRWTFWW), and producer of Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Pier & Loft, Motohiko Hamase’s #Notes of Forestry, and Satsuki Shibano's iconic Rendez-Vous.

Filled with quirky minimalist acid-synth-and-drum-machine-handiwork, bouncy collages of beautifully childlike techno and pre-IDM, and the irresistible DIY charm of humble beginnings, the 8-track album is a fun, adventurous and risqué-but-catchy-in-the-most-peculiar-way piece of Japanese electronic music history neatly capturing the incredible creative energy boiling through the country’s scene in the 1980s.


Experience the roots of Japanese electronica!

The 40th Anniversary Edition of this holiday classic offers a delightful blend of nostalgia and fresh takes. The original version remains as timeless as ever, with its catchy melody and bittersweet lyrics that perfectly capture the essence of love and heartbreak. The 'Pudding Mix' offers a playful, slightly altered version, adding a new layer of festive charm while still staying true to the original's spirit. A live rendition from Wembley Arena in 2006 brings a burst of energy, with the crowd's enthusiasm amplifying the track's warmth and excitement. For those who appreciate the finer details, the instrumental version removes the vocals, allowing the lush synths and intricate production to shine. This holiday classic never gets old. With these different versions, you can enjoy the song in many new exciting ways.

The 40th Anniversary Edition of this holiday classic offers a delightful blend of nostalgia and fresh takes. The original version remains as timeless as ever, with its catchy melody and bittersweet lyrics that perfectly capture the essence of love and heartbreak. The 'Pudding Mix' offers a playful, slightly altered version, adding a new layer of festive charm while still staying true to the original's spirit. A live rendition from Wembley Arena in 2006 brings a burst of energy, with the crowd's enthusiasm amplifying the track's warmth and excitement. For those who appreciate the finer details, the instrumental version removes the vocals, allowing the lush synths and intricate production to shine. This holiday classic never gets old. With these different versions, you can enjoy the song in many new exciting ways.

Back in 2018, Argentinian producer Fernando Pulichino released ‘Search of Indigo’ on Leng, a shuffling slab of colourful, Balearic-adjacent dub disco featuring his own distinctive lead vocals and backing vocals from Luca Gasparini. Six years on, the track returns renewed and refreshed thanks to a string of new floor-friendly reworks by LTJ Xperience and Pulichino himself. Fernando kicks off the EP with his ‘AM Mix’, an inspired re-invention that re-frames the song as a hard-wired, acid-fired chugger – all restless, razor-sharp TB-303 lines, low-slung bass guitar and sparkling piano riffs. On the digital version of the EP Pulichino has also offered up his ‘PM Mix’, a deliciously Balearic disco dub rich in colourful synth sounds, elastic bass, flanged guitars and sun-bright piano licks. It's LTJ Xperience’s trio of remixes that lie at the heart of the EP though. The Italian producer, real name Luca Trevisi, initially made his name as a downtempo and nu-jazz producer before perfecting a trademark style of chugging, slow-motion hedonism that draws influence from both deep house and nu-disco. His main Remix foregrounds many of these trademark elements, in the process delivering a bongo-rich chugger laden with delayheavy bass guitar sounds, head-nodding drums, heady guitar loops and echoing vocal snippets. On the Dirty Mix, Trevisi reaches for tight, short TB-303 ‘acid’ loops, a more sparse and heavy rhythm track offering a more heads-down, dubbed-out affair that should delight those who love late night and early morning hypnotism with flashes of wide-eyed sonic bliss. Then, to round things off, Trevisi delivers a heady, atmospheric and spaced-out Dub full of jazz guitar licks, bubbling electronics, vocal snippets and effects-laden bass. It’s a winning combination.

Skylla is the debut solo recording of Italian-born and London-based composer, bassist, and vocalist Ruth Goller. This
album of otherworldly detuned bass harmonics and dense vocal arrangements was initially released in 2021 by longtime collaborator Bex Burch's Vula Viel Records, and quickly went out of print. Since then Goller's notoriety has only grown, and her follow-up record, SKYLLUMINA, was released by International Anthem in early 2024 and met with high praise.

Skylla is the genesis of her sound, and it is a sound that is hard to place. Listeners could be convinced that these recordings came out of contexts as disparate as 80s Downtown NYC or some mysterious Bjork-adjacent project of the Icelandic 2010s. It's hard to imagine a person making this music despite the fact that its elements are instantly recognizable.

The 40th Anniversary Edition of this holiday classic offers a delightful blend of nostalgia and fresh takes. The original version remains as timeless as ever, with its catchy melody and bittersweet lyrics that perfectly capture the essence of love and heartbreak. The 'Pudding Mix' offers a playful, slightly altered version, adding a new layer of festive charm while still staying true to the original's spirit. A live rendition from Wembley Arena in 2006 brings a burst of energy, with the crowd's enthusiasm amplifying the track's warmth and excitement. For those who appreciate the finer details, the instrumental version removes the vocals, allowing the lush synths and intricate production to shine. This holiday classic never gets old. With these different versions, you can enjoy the song in many new exciting ways.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Member Little Richard is a musical institution. The Architect Of Rock ’n’ Roll’s 1970 return. Pressed on opaque pink vinyl. Mastered by Grammy®-winning engineer Michael Graves. Lacquers cut by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl/Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis. Packaging contains liner notes from Bill Dahl. Some successful recording artists are lucky to enjoy a lengthy career and perhaps one successful comeback after their popularity wanes over time. Rock ’n’ roll pioneer and absolute legend, Little Richard, achieved several. In the ’50s he racked up a non-stop string of smashes for Specialty Records with producer Bumps Blackwell like the blistering cuts, “Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally,” and “Rip It Up.” The Georgia Peach was deemed too uninhibited and unpredictable for TV variety shows to present to the nation, but the records were undeniable hits. He was clearly, an artist far ahead of the culture and times. Little Richard returned in 1970 with The Rill Thing and instead of sticking around his adopted home of Los Angeles, Richard set out for Rick Hall’s FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record the album for Reprise, joined by Bumps, who was now his manager. The opening track, “Freedom Blues,” was released in April of 1970 and hit #28 on the charts. The second cut, “Greenwood Mississippi,” was also released as a single in August and also made a Billboard appearance. The marathon title track (running a whopping 10 minutes and 20 seconds) was an intense funk jam that was captured in one take. The album also featured covers of tunes by The Beatles and Hank Williams—it was a different sound by far than the savagely rocking attack he’d ridden to fame like a rocket at Specialty close to a decade and- a-half earlier, but it was every bit as effective. The Rill Thing bore the slogan “The Little Richard Sound” on its labels. “He was at his peak with his vocals on there,” says guitarist Travis Wammack admiringly. “He was just singing his booty off!” The Rill Thing is back as a 12" long player, and pressed on opaque pink vinyl with a printed inner sleeve that includes liner notes by Bill Dahl.

The Equatoguinean Norberto de Nöah established in Madrid in the early 80s, where he became a firebrand of African culture in the vibrant Movida. In 1988 he self-released his first solo album, a blend of homeland sounds —modern and traditional— with new synth and drum machine touches. The vanished album finally gets its well-deserved reissue.

Edition of 500 albums on vinyl (Bandcamp download code included) - Original artwork with new 14 pages insert and poster

In the mid-1980s, the European media, music industry and public became increasingly interested in African music. This was a period of international success for King Sunny Adé, Salif Keita, Youssou N’Dour, Ray Lema, Touré Kunda, etc. Spain, with its own particular conditions, wasn’t oblivious to the phenomenon and the Equatoguinean Norberto de Nöah may be its best exponent.

Norberto moved in the early eighties from his hometown in the island Fernando Po (now known as Bioko) to its former colonial capital, Madrid. While studying dramatic arts, he created and led the band Nohkis, made up of African and Spanish musicians. In 1985 they released the maxi-single “Mujer española” / “África, ¿dónde está tu gloria?”, and the song “El loco”, was released on a compilation LP called Esto es increíble, both on the label Lollipop. According to the journalist Patricia Godes, they were first artists to record an African music record in Spain. It received positive reviews and a great impact on the most independent side of Madrid’s La Movida movement. Very soon afterwards, Nohkis’ band split up.

Afterwards, Norberto would concentrate on his solo career, and Norberto de Nöah and The Böhöbé Spirits Müsic was released in 1988, definitely a solo album. Norberto created his own label, Kilimandjaro Productions, and composed, arranged and produced all the songs of the LP. Moreover, he sang and played all the instruments: a vast selection of organic instruments, a Yamaha RX-5 drum machine and a Roland D-50 synthesizer.

In the album he exposed his deepest roots, updating the lexicon of traditional Bubi music, the musician’s ethnic group, a compendium of ceremonial melodies that ancient troubadours composed for the court. Doing so he showed new possibilities to one of the oldest ethnic groups in the world. Besides all this, he was also inspired by American music such as funk, R&B, Latin American music and also by a wide range of African and Caribbean rhythms.

Mixing the traditional and the avant-garde in a spontaneous and natural way, the music contained in the record’s grooves flows freely and takes you to places full of magic and mystery, while still transmitting new and exciting sensations. Even more, according to the Equatoguinean musician and writer Baron Ya Búk-Lu based in Madrid, the album’s sound was “the perfect combination of all characteristics that defined the Equatoguinean Afropop music made in Madrid during the 1980s”, a story that still needs to be told in all its depth and intensity!

Following the release of two LPs and several singles, the activity of Norberto de Nöah and Kilimandjaro Productions (and the subsequent Bananas Podridas) ceased. Nevertheless, Norberto’s links to music continued, as a promoter and DJ in Madrid’s nightlife.

Norberto de Nöah contributed greatly to changing Spain’s musical landscape, breaking barriers and mental frameworks. He was the first to make contemporary and popular Guinean music known to the Spanish public.

The repercussions in the African market of a Spanish (and Bube) speaking African musical project, where English and French dominate, was very difficult. In addition, the passage of time and changes in phonographic formats have diluted the memory of Norberto's legacy. Now it’s time to reverse the situation and break all the outdated frontiers!

Norberto de Nöah and The Böhöbé Spirits Müsic, as every important music piece, was at the same time part of a universal phenomenon of recognition of African music and a very personal project, based on the artist’s nostalgic and heartfelt need to show and homage his ethnic group, the Bubis. In this process he also refreshed his hometown music legacy, giving it a new air and opening the door to lots of other great Equatoguinean artists coming afterwards, as well as being an inspiration for many musicians in Spain.

"Because it's the passion for music that drives the person behind the decks, a dj's debut is bound to exude authenticity. It's often themselves they're recounting in music, posing on the slip mats their DNA and what makes them who they are.

When you're just starting out, you're faced with a multitude of routes to take and styles to play. When you know just how devastating it can be to step out of line and empty the dance floor even faster than it filled up, it often takes a lot of audacity to break the unity of a funk evening with a punk track.

Over time, to evolve is to find oneself facing only two roads.

On the first one, to satisfy the greatest number of people and not lose the credit for his fees, the dj adapts to the trend. Whether he likes what he's playing or not, the road has become a freeway and, indeed, a very comfortable one. The audience already knows everything there is to hear and doesn't come to hear anything else. Thirty seconds, or even a minute of each track, is more than enough. Everything has to flow quickly. Everything is marked out and secured. Those who respect the regulations will (normally) make the journey without accident. Several times a week, several times a month, several times a year. Curiosity disappears altogether.

And then there's the other road. Where nothing is expected nor sometimes even ever heard. The road of an unquenchable passion for diggin' and the desire to always know more and more. A passion billed at the price of hours of research-finding spent in the discomfort and possible disappointment of never coming across anything exciting, as well as nights exploring platforms and multiplying clicks resulting in a good old headache. Until that moment of grace happens when, after thousands of fruitless shakes, the nugget stands alone in the sieve, without the slightest doubt as to its quality.

Coming from places never mentioned for their music, sometimes classics of their genre, they are also rarities miraculously saved from total disappearance, as much as current marvels, but threatened to never leave the immensity of the web. Even if the possibility of a text with substance is never excluded, they can tell long stories or be destined solely to make you dance till you're dehydrated. Scintillating with spirituality, some can also vaporize energy and replace it with a pure emotion capable of touching hearts in the bareness of simple percussions.

This road is marked by sincerity, singularity and surprises, but always in a communion between the dj and the audience, who embark on it together, with mutual confidence in the promise of hours of sharing and discovering. "

SECOND DEATH debut with a 9 track MLP. Following the steps of London bands NO and PERMISSION from which the band shares half its members with additions from local bands SUBDUED and LAST AFFRONT. Pulling similar musical threads as their previous groups, their distinctive dissonant brand of hardcore is dense and claustrophobic, like there are too many notes crammed into too small a space, riffs poking out at odd, uncomfortable angles like the corners of a hand-me-down bureau in a cramped London bedsit.

"It's a game of hopscotch while drunk on sleep deprivation. It's a dance based on inaudible, but irrepressible rhythms. It's interaction dressed up like a call & response game wrapped up in a sparring match full of agitation and confusion. It's a manic pursuit over wobbly scaffolding, broken roof tiles or a creaking suspension bridge. It's an irregular movement that snaps, roars, drips, defies, tumbles, slithers, cajoles, interrupts, sizzles, triples, dodges, throws curveballs, causes panic, restores order, well kinda, and stutters and mutters. It's like Jaap Blonk's invented Onderlands: a language that sounds familiar, but that ultimately defies comprehension. It's part application and part imagination, it's a mystery and a trap. It's a system, perhaps, and an attempt at something, probably, but it's not, definitely not, a holiday. The idea!" - Guy Peters Ken Vandermark (US) and Terrie `Ex' Hessels (NL) have been playing together for years. For example, the Chicago reed player has been a guest with The Ex almost 100 times and the two are also part of Lean Left, an explosive improvising quartet with Andy Moor and Paal Nilssen-Love. It took them until 2014 before they went on stage for the first time as a duo. A dozen concerts followed on various international stages and resulted in their first LP `Scaffolding' recorded upstairs in the Witte Villa, Wormer. Released in 2019. This new release is the result of an blasting tour in Poland, 2021. Recorded live in the SARP Social Club in Poznan. `This is not a holiday!' Eight improvisations; eight musical adventures!

Originally scheduled for release way back in March 1996, "The Raw Factor" by North Carolina native Omniscence is one of the last of the unreleased mid-90's albums to see the light of day. Despite being awarded The Source's coveted "Hip Hop Quotable" and dropping two well-received singles ("Amazin" and "Touch Y'all"), record label politics meant the full-length "The Raw Factor" album was never released and fans were left wondering what might have been.

28 years later, "The Raw Factor" is finally being released on vinyl, CD and digital stores. Featuring punchline-driven lyrics from Omniscence delivered in his unmistakable cadence, and backed by head-nodding production from Fanatic, the album is a must-own for fans of 90's Hip Hop.

Omniscence haunted the same early 90's cyphers and stages that many lyrical greats from the era had to cross. With a gruff delivery and equal adeptness with punchlines and metaphors, his high finish at the 1994 edition Battle For World Supremacy at the New Music Seminar assured heads across the culture were watching. After this, Omniscence locked in with producer Fanatic (who also laced tracks for Notorious B.I.G., Ma$e and Michael Jackson). The result was "The Raw Factor" album, fifteen plus tracks of jazzed out boom-bap, replete with crackin' drums.

Now Below System Records has not only given the album its first deluxe physical release (including 2xLP, CD and digital) as well as a slew of bonus/unreleased tracks.
















p Touch Y'all (Remix) feat. Sadat X
















p Touch Y'all (Remix) feat. Sadat X
















[p] Touch Y'all (Remix) [feat. Sadat X]

Denovali presents the new album of the prestigious Swedish pianist and composer Matti Bye. Matti is well-known for his regular performances at various silent film festivals and screenings worldwide, where you can see him perform solo and with artists such as Lau Nau. Bye has been involved in several collaborations, including Hydras Dream, where he recorded and released an album with Anna von Hausswolff. Additionally, Matti is recognized for his scores in projects like ”Young Royals," ”Tove," „The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared,“ and "A Traves de tu Mirada” among many others.

Matti Bye's third album, "Capri Clouds", moves through the element of the air and further into space. A lone piano sounds, echoes - sometimes like a waltz. We have the sound of the wind with us and the sound of the sea below us as we fly, and above we hear the stars and planets spinning. A piano from the past, as if Satie met space - as if Spiritualized and Satie talked to each other across timeand space.These songs go straight to the heart and to the senses, and create images in your head. Stories from your own memory bank, as well as new visions – music to lean into, meditatively and hopefully longing. But there is also an undertone of something dark and desolate. Musically, Matti Bye moves within the realm of neo-classicism, but he is also approaching romanticism. References to composers suchas Schubert and Beethoven are to be found here, as well as to post-romantic bands such as Kraftwerk and The Cure. In this third album of a trilogy – the first was "Bethanien", the second "The Forgotten Land" – Bye continues his musical journey. Here we encounter a brighter and lighter production. Anders af Klintberg has brought "Capri Clouds" up from the underworld and the dreamscape, towards clouds and skies.

On December 6, 2024, Randomer will return with a new EP titled MTY-012: Everything Happens for No Reason, released via Anetha’s label, Mama Told Ya.

After a reflective hiatus, the UK prodigy is highly anticipated and ready to deliver meaningful music. The EP features five emotionally charged tracks—four produced by Randomer and one co-produced by Randomer and Anetha. Presented on a single vinyl, the release conveys a deeper message: life’s unpredictability can be embraced, reminding us that we can find our way even in chaos and randomness.

Torn between the meaningful and the meaningless, Randomer channeled his time into crafting music shaped by his extensive study of melodies, subconsciously

seeking to bring harmony to the world. The result is a cathartic journey across five tracks, each evoking a broad spectrum of emotions and inviting listeners to explore the depth of their feelings. Drawing from the music that deeply influenced him, Randomer traverses various genres and moods, seamlessly blending techno, trance, techstep, and sacred choral music in a perpetual act of personal reinvention.

Let the choir sing I Saw the World Melt (A1) right before my eyes, and let the people chant my melancholic melody. Nervous Breakdown. Lost in the riffs with dis ting from London, DHM Jam (A2) fuels me with adrenaline, I’m flying through memories, urged to move on. Yet, I’m still trapped : the clock shows Home Invasion (A3)—better start running. We will survive. But where’s my harmony? I Can’t Believe (B1) it. Why me? Why us? In this trance state of mind, I have so many questions, but those voices on the other side won’t answer. We’re doomed anyway, so why not plug in like the Two Perfect Machines (B2) we are, until the end.

For this new EP, Australian visual artist Nic Hamilton has been commissioned to create a poignant artwork alongside two melting teasers for MTY-012. As always, the design is expertly crafted by Diplomatie Studio, while the mastering is entrusted to Six Bit Deep, ensuring a polished and immersive listening experience.

Well-versed in vintage vernaculars, Oakland-based producer/musician Mike Walti is about to return with his sophomore offering under the Organi moniker – as new album “Babylonia” follows 2020’s “Parlez-vous Français?,” a landmark in vibe acquisition ever since.

Wyldwood Studios is a portal. It’s a secret gateway to analog spheres. Cross the threshold and you’ll feel the difference: you can pick any ol’ time, any place, any tongue or vibe, in fact. Hit the dancefloor in 1967, feel that plushy loveseat in the early 70s. It’s a welcoming place where better, saner vibes are still within reach. Fueled, at least in part, by those long-classic 12”s on the walls – just imagine the sepia-tinted countenance of Melody Nelson alongside actual Birkin sans wig, right next to Shadow’s immortal crate diggers, forever blurred –, and channeled through ancient time travel devices such as the MCI 416B only to arrive on classic 2-inch tape (MM1000 aka Ol’ Bessy), it’s a haven for all things organic, for all things imbued with that warm élan. Built and run by Oakland’s own Mike Walti, countless artists from many different genres have felt that flair, creating sonic spheres and moving back and forth along the malleable axis that is space-time. Capturing magic.

Emerging from this unique portal back in 2020, Walti’s aka Organi’s first studio album was a stunning answer to its titular question – “Parlez-vous Français?” It was a soothing, somewhat psychedelic trip so magnétique and alluring that it immediately brought back those bits of Franglais you never knew you remembered. Whereas the debut LP indeed felt like a spontané voyage to the French Riviera ca. 1968, its follow-up “Babylonia” is so much more than linguistic confusion and ancient Akkadian Rhythms. Using that hidden portal near Alameda’s finest port to access all kinds of remote regions and sonic spheres, it’s super tight and feels, well, decent, even though, just like the ol’ Babylon, it’s full of surprising tongues and dreams, schemes and melodies.

“Where do we go from here?,” someone asks in opening “Organii-“ – all majestically cinematic boom bap, buoyant bass, sick strings. A fittingly massive opener that feels like cracking open a cold one after long weeks at work (that ecstatic “ahhhh”), it perfectly sets the tone for another half hour of pure time traveling, globe-spanning bliss. Whereas that certain prédilection pour all things French makes “La Rockette” so tempting and tantalizing (think MalMalNonBien), the sophomore album’s Berlin-based guest singer Nana Lacrima soon takes us elsewhere: title track “Babylonia” spins ever so softly, like a magic lantern, with images of dreamier Stones Throw funksters or Savath y Savalas looming over the steady flow of an arrangement that washes you clean like an ancient, unpolluted River Euphrates or Brazil’s actual Amazon. A sexy Portuguese-flavored anthem, occasional guest singer Alix Koliha also enters the scene to add yet another layer of French chic to this Brazilian landscape. Next, we’re back at the Riviera, but the “Italiano” version of it, splendido sunsets and bell towers in the distance, the ragazze laughing and shaking it up, perhaps even some Portofino Gin so you can really feel that “me ne batto il belin,” as your fingers align form some half-serious “ma che vuoi?”

Tim Maia-penned “Padre Cicero” (1970) deals with the stunning transformation of the titular hero – “De reverendo a lutador,” and what a soaring, sensual hook –, and Organi’s take on Elephant Memory’s “Old Man Willow” (now an “Old Man Waltz”) perfectly underlines what Walti’s Wyldwood endeavor is all about: Easy-Going Experimental Dream Pop, fueled by Gainsbourg, Broadcast, Stereolab, etc.

Later on, even though something seems to be tres complique in “Remembering Anna,” it all sounds carefree like a spontaneous Friday afternoon with a bottle of fine wine. Right before the outro, key album guest Yea-Ming Chen (of Yea-Ming & The Rumors) returns to the mic, adding her dark and dusky trademark timbre to melancholy anthem “Pictures Of Your Face”. Reminiscent of Nico and Trish (rip & rip), it’s a track that’s both dark and strangely propelling, hypnotic and hip-shaking.

A third generation Bay Area native, Mike Walti aka Organi has been running Wyldwood Studios in Oakland CA for some 15+ years (recording artists like Tommy Guerrero, Spelling, Why?, Latyrx, Del, Dan The Automator, and Big Freedia, to name but a few). A multi-instrumentalist who’s obviously in love with the 60s/70s, he loves to work with analog equipment (“We just love us some analog!” “Just listen to those relays purr…”). Recorded and mixed by Mike Walti at Wyldwood, “Babylonia” will be released on vinyl/digital by Alien Transistor.

M_Sessions - Reworks is offering a contemporary version of Mania D., Malaria and Matador’s music for the 40th anniversary. Bringing the past into the now and into the future.
Monika Werkstatt seemed the perfect choice for new interpretations. Founded in 2015, comprising female electronic musicians and producers from the entourage of Monika Enterprise and Moabit Musik. The loose collective played dozens of improvised concerts around Europe and released a studio album and live recordings in everchanging artist constellations. The M_Sessions involved Pilocka Krach, Beate Bartel, Midori Hirano, Mommo G, Lucrecia Dalt, Antye Greie-Ripatti, Natalie Beridze, Annika Henderson and myself. Here the form of interpretation is focussing on keeping the freedom of their improvised work and adapting it to the collective appropriation of songs. I cannot imagine a better reinterpretation of the material with its real life ups and downs and with its enthusiasm. (G.Gut)

"The three, reunited: Malaria, Matador and Mania D, unter einem Dach, but gutted, replaced with electronic hearts, new beats, new beasts, the time has changed, yet the politics, the problems, the heartache remains the same. 2021 sees the anniversary of the 3 M’s and therewith the production of an album of songs, covering a selection of the bands’ finest output, this time assembled by a new set of feminist misfits; producers, fangirls, instrumentalists, under the strict guidance of original members Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. M-Sessions features: AGF, Lucrecia Dalt, Sonae, Midori Hirano, Islaja, Natalie Beridze, Pilocka Krach, Annika Henderson (Anika), Lupe, Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. Beginning in West Berlin, in 1979, with the inception of Mania D, spawning Malaria! and later Matador; in a time when music was essential to movement, to escape, to space, to the scene and to the rebellion of the people; three bands stood for trial and error, trial and terror, anti- conformity, and anti-consumerism, for girl power and sticking it to the man, and for just doing whatever the hell they wanted. The three, their existence slightly staggered, with different members, different grudges, different heartbreaks, different instrumental expressions, were joined by a string of barbed wire, piecing pigeon hearts, within the playground that was the desolate ex-capital, now again capital, Berlin; a place where artists and freaks could run free amongst the wrinklies and army dodgers; no microscopes, no rules, no property developers." (ANNIKA HENDERSON)

Mads Lindgren aka Monolog, a traveler in sound across the European continent. Danish, but resident in Berlin, and working intensely in the studio and on stage alongside taking care of jobs in the audio industry for Native Instruments and Ableton. Previously Monolog had releases on Ant-Zen, Ad Noiseam, Hymen, and Ohm Resistance, as well as the Subtrakt label, which he is managing.

Music is written & produced by Monolog
Field recordings in track Forgotten Circle 10 by Andrii Nidzelskyi
Mastering and lacquer cut by Noel Summerville
Artwork & release production by Dmytro Fedorenko
Design by Zavoloka