quête:art of gloom

Kercha’s debut album ‘Open The Door’ arrives this April via DNO Records. The Black Sea artist’s mystical, disorienting style has set the tone for the label since he dropped the inaugural release six years ago. Now, across 16 tracks — including collabs with Mystic State, Congi, NST, Khromi and Finnoh — his smoky sampledelic dubstep is tighter, heavier, and more curious than ever, with a new sense of danger and bubbling rage that feels fit for our chaotic times.

Themes of movement and change course through the LP. On the opening gambit ‘A Path Into The Unknown’, twinkling arpeggios emerge from the gloom like stars lighting the way. Tracks like the eponymous ‘Open The Door’ and ‘Mind Extraction’ deliver that classic Kercha sound, where left-field samples dart in at right angles. ‘Dangerous Road’ weaves between the call and response action of grotty stabs and devilish subs. ‘Take A Break’, featuring Mystic State, goes on the attack with searing acid. ‘Can’t Wait For Today’, though lethargic in its pace, sees San Francisco-based rapper Finnoh deliver stream-of-consciousness bars that skewer our present and nudge us to revolution.

Work took place over the course of several years, during which Kercha relocated with his family from Russia to Georgia, where he now resides in the capital, Tbilisi. “Sometimes I wrote music while travelling on a bus, sometimes late at night while my family was asleep, sometimes just sitting on the grass in a park, and of course in my home studio as well,” he says. “By the time the album was finished, it included music from different periods, and it may vary in sound and concept.”

Any major upheaval in life will result in moments of hardship, but also hope. Both can be found throughout ‘Open The Door’. There’s times when the darkness threatens to envelope everything: during the cold, crackling ‘Disclosed’ and the eerie, dystopian ‘Infection Of Lies’; on ‘Trigger Activation’, with its grunting lows and broken glass hook, and ‘Ballistics’, where a wall of sub-bass is pierced by shrapnel stabs.

The balancing light comes on ‘4 AM’, featuring Nottingham duo Congi, when clashing swords and cinematic strings, meet a soft Rhodes piano — the juxtaposition between heavy low-end and floaty keys and vox reflecting those moments of transcendence often found in the early hours. From the injection of garage energy on ‘Bubs’, with Edinburgh’s Khromi. And on with ‘My Feeling’, featuring South Russian vocalist NST, which closes the album on a deep but expansive note, bookending the experience with more starlight synth tones.

“It’s a reflection of my life journey and the changes connected with emigration and overcoming various difficulties,” explains Kercha. “This period means a lot to me, which is why the album includes tracks from the time of preparing to leave up to adapting to a new country.”

Still, he wants listeners to be able to derive their own understanding. “I think the essence lies in the ability to contemplate, not in any predetermined meaning,” he says. “I can only say one thing: thank you for appreciating what I do and for your support. I hope it inspires you to make the same firm decisions to change for the better as it did for me.”

Out via 4 x 12” vinyl, ‘Open The Door’ is a captivating artistic statement, showcasing the journey of an artist with a truly original signature sound — a rarity that should be treasured and celebrated.

Rhythms of postmodern realism at the very bottom of the DNO.

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.

The fifteenth release from electro label Gladio Operations once again brings us a multi-artist format, featuring new faces and a distinctly Spanish flavour.

This EP opens with the return of producer Cycloplex, with his characteristic minimalist sound.
This track, titled ‘EP01-A’, once again showcases his powerful and aggressive bass lines.
From Gerona comes one of the new and talented artists on the Spanish electro scene. David Pasajero makes his debut on Gladio Operations with ‘Dislektro’, a fluid journey of melodies and warm textures infused with acidic touches.

On the B-side we find Barcelona producer Dark Vektor, who needs no introduction, as he is one of the Spanish icons of electro sound. This artist also makes his debut on the label with ‘Te Voy A Dar Ahhhhh’, a dizzying track with suspenseful melodies and a powerful bass line that will keep you on the dance floor no matter what.

The Spanish duo Slit Observers is another of the label’s new faces and treats us to this vibrant track titled ‘Green Machine’, where we encounter dark passages with a perfect dose of acid and embellished with subtle vocoders.

The EP closes with a collaboration between German producers Intergalactic Noize Commander and Elektrotechnik, the latter an artist who has released music previously. ‘Informationen’ is a rough track, created in the most hidden German bunkers, featuring arpeggios and robust bass lines that dominate throughout the whole track, accompanied by gloomy vocals.

Desinteresse releases their second album Onschuld through Fabrika Records on September 9, 2025.

Desinteresse is a Dutch Coldwave act consisting of Bart Vranken (bass), Joppe de Swart (drums), and Sem van den Munckhof (vocals/synth/guitar). Formed in late 2022 as a duo, Bart and Sem released their debut album Voor Altijd in April 2023 and the EP Ik Wil Dood Als Ik Het Vergeet in November 2023, both on cassette through their own label DECADENCE. With the addition of Joppe in early 2024, they released their first work as trio in August 2024, the 7” single Grijze Dromen.

Desinteresse produces their music using original vintage equipment as a deliberate form of artistic expression and identity. Their live performances are a melancholic, but mesmerizing affair, where music and vocals amplify the weight of their message, emphasizing the non-existential and abandoned emotions that define their sound. An absolute delicacy for fans of Fad Gadget, The Normal, Joy Division and early work from The Cure.

The titles and lyrics are in their native Dutch. Onschuld (also the title of the opening track) translates to ‘innocence’. With other titles such as Niets Te Zeggen (nothing to say), Brekend Glas (breaking glass) and Grizje Dromen (grey dreams), this pensive album could be a good-bye to innocence, but it’s certainly the ideal companion for ruminations on gloom.

Across an extensive suite of enchanting miniatures, Matthias Kremsreiter and Christian Schoppik present the hypnagogic vision of Taghelle Nacht. Recording under their respective Roudi Vagou and Läuten der Seele aliases, Kremsreiter and Schoppik combine their distinct but equally accomplished instrumental practices into a new collaboration that weaves swooning samples amongst instrumental passages. They lead us through 16 vignettes that revel in the cognitive dissonance and seductive magic of moonlight at midnight.

Both artists have past form within the folds of contemporary experimental electronic music in Germany. Kremsreiter's work as alibikonkret has manifested on DIY tape releases created with a methodical, technically-minded approach. Debuting his Roudi Vagou pseudonym on Taghelle Nacht, he pivots to a more playful, instinctively felt method that allows the compositions to flow with a natural cadence. Schoppik has been a key figure in the celebrated dark-ambient-folk scene, not least as part of the group Brannten Schnüre. His work as Läuten der Seele includes the acclaimed 'water trilogy' of LPs between 2022 and 2024, with a greater emphasis on instrumental, atmospheric production, and a last, stunning collaborative album with Nový Sv?t's Jota Solo.

On Taghelle Nacht the precise ingredients of each piece soften at the edges as tape loops and swathes of reverb seal the joints between spellbinding melodic refrains. Opening track and lead single 'Gleisende Lichter' sets the tone with ghostly murmurs, spine-tingling string refrains and splashes of cymbal that cut through the gloom with stark clarity. A lilting romanticism stirs at the heart of the orchestral samples that populate the likes of "Grenzu?berschreitung" - old-world beauty sometimes buried in dust, elsewhere rendered with startling clarity. 'So Süß' lets buzzing, sustained drones and dissonant sweeps of extended technique glide in and out of each other. Granular processing subtly breaks apart the mellow swell on 'Komischer Anruf', and forlorn sax calls out into heavy-hearted space on 'Glaskopf Mit Watte'. At every turn a new scene is painted, distinct from the last and yet all bound up in the pervasive, pale blue light cast over the sleeping landscape Kremsreiter and Schoppik have sculpted.

Snatches of song drift by like dreamlike fragments, and achingly tender flourishes fleetingly appear and retreat - ideas and expressions momentarily caught in the light before retreating into the shadows once more. This is the evocative world of Taghelle Nacht - an unsettling depiction of the surreal blend of memories and imagination that merge into each other once the sun goes down.

2025 REPRESS ON TRANSPARENT GREEN VINYL


Compiled by Philip King “And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.” NICK KENT, NME. All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure. Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms, ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course) these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother of invention. At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records). The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased track You Will See, released April 12th 2025. There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk / underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now. Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP. Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7” and lost until now. The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the main refrain. The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive, robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner. All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

The latest release from the Villains Inc. camp delivers an Italian-made electro gem.

And as the saying goes: Villains do it better! After the soulful "Time To Go Back EP" back in 2022, the "Generation V EP" (limited to 300 copies) marks the arrival of fresh talents joining the collective. This new wave steps in after the tragic loss of some of the label key figures, carrying the torch and keeping the Villains Inc. spirit alive.

Side A opens with "Vaccin", a hypnotic yet funky electro-bass track by Deepvision and Lefka. Despite their young age, the duo U.A.G.L.I.O. shows remarkable musical maturity and delivers a powerful debut. Expect to hear much more from this awesome team in a near future.

Next comes "FM Resistance" by Jack Bags (half of Dr. Boomer). A synthetic ride of swirling URish style sequences, darkened by moody strings. Breakdance moves guaranteed on the dancefloor!

On the flip, Index Case teams up once again with the late X-Beat (RIP) to provide a furious "Against" anthem, calling for "revolution against the government, against the police". The frantic rhythm and unsettling atmosphere push the track into gloomier territory in a powerful way.

Closing the record, Antizer0’s founder Zora Neti concludes the 12" with "Stereocash_(Pt.2)", a downtempo storm built upon eerie voices and mental sororities. A haunting yet masterful finale.

The legacy of the original V members lives on. Special mention to Simonloop aka Urbanmagic, one of the OG Villains, whose artwork on the B-side captures the grit of the music and makes the vinyl worth owning on its own.

From start to finish, Generation V EP is a masterclass. Crafted with the unmistakable Villains Inc. sound by label owner Gab.Gato, it’s pure underground quality. This record is dedicated to the memory of X-Beat and Yo Flava. Once a Villain, forever a Villain. Support the underground!

"Bordeaux-based emerging talent Salomee deals in menacing and moody atmospheres, drawing on a range of techno, electro, house, and the ill-lit corners in between. Hypnotizing and neon-tinged melodies drive her tracks: these are bare bones, high on repetition, and very compelling. They come backed by elaborate and agile drum rhythms, composed with a rawness that references the most seasoned inspirations. The Before Time Began EP sees the artist further develop her sangfroid aesthetics with four tracks that assuredly reach beyond bunkers and basements. On Sacred Gatherings, several entrancing, alternating arpeggios work up a spark against a backdrop of tightly choreographed kicks and SH101 patterns. When the cut rises to a peak, a salvo of vocal chops drops - a rare event in Salomee's discography, even though the samples are rearranged beyond recognition. Before Time Began utilizes a similar palette, but this time, an undercurrent of melancholy seems to propel the track. A leisurely modulated, dubby sub segment amplifies the theme. By The Sea combines dark bass sequences and strings as gloomy as a fog horn with vivid 909 drums. The highs of the lavishly programmed hats and claps and the intense lead provide a slug of energy. It is a rendition of trance, manipulating both the genre's and the artist's signifiers. On Love Prevails, a slowly filtered, heavily delayed lead is spread atop a Bristol techno style beat. An array of cinematographic chords and subtly mixed gasps inject this closing track with a precarious balance, one that explores the tension between yearning and relief."

It is the year 1995 and it’s summer, the second extremely hot summer after 1994, and the asphalt on Gladbacher Straße in Cologne is glowing. Ravers in much too wide and much too colorful clothes doze off in the glaring midday heat. These are the last days of the legendary Delirium record store, a socio-cultural biotope that would later become KOMPAKT. In June 1995, the store moved deeper into the Belgian Quarter, to Brabanter Straße 42 near Friesenplatz.

Wolfgang Voigt liked to wear too-big sunglasses even back then, just as he already had the master plan for the next few years, the new store, the renaming to KOMPAKT, and the upcoming takeover of the musical world order by minimal techno in his head. On less sunny days, the musician Wolfgang Voigt was tinkering with his very own label Profan, a new sound, new pseudonyms and masquerades. His alter ego Mike Ink had grown tired, another self, one of many, was now pushing forward to become the next torch in the storm.

By early 1995, the first Grungerman EP, "Hout," had been released on Profan. A nucleus of ambient loops that already announced the sonic aesthetics of GAS, stoic rhythmic structures that would shape the coming decade of minimal house and techno, and an all-encompassing gloom and heaviness that didn't want to fit at all with the gaudy reality of the nineties between Loveparade, Mayday and VIVA House TV. This probably most hedonistic decade of the 20th century had celebrated, besides techno, above all a rough guitar music called Grunge, coined and immortalized by a depressive, hyperactive and narcoleptic young man with matted blond hair who had taken his own life a year before. In no other track has Wolfgang Voigt packed these inner and outer contradictions of his art as well as of the mid-nineties more ingeniously than in "In Tyrannis". From wall to wall there are four steps.

"Klang" by Wolfgang Voigt originally comes from the first and only GAS EP on Profan, "Modern", from the spring of 1995 and is one of the most beautiful exhibits of Voigt's sound of those years, which relentlessly runs its course somewhere between glistening sunrises on Ecstasy and bad drugs in the dark Liquid Sky Cologne. With "Hocker DJ 1" and "Hocker DJ 2" there are two more musical references to this myth-enshrouded place in Kyffhäuserstraße, where for a few years the entire, so-called Sound Of Cologne had literally settled down.


Wir schreiben das Jahr 1995. Es ist Sommer, der zweite extrem heiße Sommer nach 1994, und der Asphalt auf der Gladbacher Straße in Köln glüht. Raver in viel zu weiten und viel zu bunten Klamotten dösen ihren Rausch aus in der grellen Mittagshitze. Es sind die letzten Tage des legendären Delirium Plattenladens, eines soziokulturellen Biotops, aus dem später die Firma Kompakt hervorgehen sollte. Im Juni 1995 erfolgte der Umzug tiefer hinein ins Belgische Viertel, in die Brabanter Straße 42 in der Nähe des Friesenplatz.

Wolfgang Voigt trug schon damals gerne zu große Sonnenbrillen, so wie er bereits den Masterplan für die nächsten Jahre, den neuen Laden, die Umbenennung in KOMPAKT sowie die anstehende Übernahme der musikalischen Weltordnung durch Minimal Techno im Kopf hatte. An weniger sonnigen Tagen tüftelte der Musiker Wolfgang Voigt an seinem ureigenen Label Profan, an einem neuen Sound, neuen Pseudonymen und Maskeraden. Sein Alter Ego Mike Ink war müde geworden, ein anderes Ich, eines von vielen, drängte nun nach vorne, um die nächste Fackel im Sturm zu werden.

Anfang 1995 war die erste Grungerman EP “Hout” auf Profan erschienen. Ein Nukleus aus ambienten Loops, die bereits die klangliche Ästhetik von GAS ankündigten, stoischen rhythmischen Strukturen, die das kommende Jahrzehnt Minimal House und Techno prägen sollten, sowie einer allumfassenden Düsternis und Schwere, die so gar nicht zur knallbunten Realität der Neunziger Jahre zwischen Loveparade, Mayday und VIVA House TV passen wollte. Dieses wohl hedonistischste Jahrzehnt des 20. Jahrhunderts hatte neben Techno vor allem eine raue Gitarrenmusik namens Grunge gefeiert, geprägt und unsterblich gemacht von einem depressiven, hyperaktiven und an Narkolepsie leidenden jungen Mann mit verfilzten blonden Haaren, der sich ein Jahr zuvor das Leben genommen hatte. In keinem anderen Track hat Wolfgang Voigt diese inneren und äußeren Widersprüche seiner Kunst wie auch dieser Zeit Mitte der Neunziger genialistischer verpackt als in “In Tyrannis”. Von Wand zu Wand sind es vier Schritte.

“Klang” von Wolfgang Voigt stammt ursprünglich von der ersten und einzigen GAS EP auf Profan, “Modern”, aus dem Frühling 1995 und ist eines der schönsten Exponate des Voigtschen Sounds dieser Jahre; ein Track, der irgendwo zwischen gleisenden Sonnenaufgängen auf Ecstasy und schlechten Drogen im dunklen Liquid Sky Cologne unerbittlich seine Bahnen zieht. Mit “Hocker DJ 1” und “Hocker DJ 2” finden sich zwei weitere musikalische Referenzen an diesen mythenumrankten Ort in der Kyffhäuserstraße, an dem sich für einige Jahre der gesamte sogenannte Sound Of Cologne im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes niedergelassen hatte.

repress !

ARCHIELONG LP album consists of 8 intensely rolled tracks dating between 2012-2020. The release unfolds on 4 discs of 180gr, with gatefold covers, coated in Sani Stranskiʼs artwork.

Throughout ARCHIELONG LP, we are absorbed by what typically characterizes his narrative: a peculiar style of story in constant development. Structure and flow are a hallmark feature of his selections, adding one more trippy, eerie minimal style on top of the other, creating a rich and quirky haunted sphere

A – The opening track, I HEAR VOICES THROUGH THE PIPE sets the scene for whatʼs to come, stirring the imagination with its dreamy, cinematic, organic sounds in disguise. The track provides a guidebook to distilling story, emotion
and image into sonic form.

B – EXCESS ALL AREAS – hypnotizes the dancers with endless, reverberating grooves and a punchy 4/4 beat, introducing the audience to his gloomy world of emotions.

C – LA MANIA – lights up some dark pitched atmosphere around you and makes you feel like you are on the mythical La Mania club dancefloor in complete harmony, surrounded by strange and beautiful trippers. The song is like a painting, with frames that evoke flashbacks.

D – NEW LIFE – is a perfect minimalist setup of a percussion loop, throbbing chords and a sinewy walking bass, and itʼs almost intimidatingly heady. Its militant kick and incessant hi-hats propel the beat – definitely a dancefloor highlight.

John Ghost (Ghent, Belgium) is the sextet led by guitarist/composer Jo De Geest. As a group, they draw influences from jazz, rock, and contemporary classical music. Minimalism, electronics, and an overall cinematic quality characterize their instrumental sound. The ensemble's sound can be described as a symbiosis of Hidden Orchestra, Portico Quartet, and James Holden.



After the critically acclaimed “Airships Are Organisms” (4-star reviews in The Guardian and Financial Times, as well as airplay on BBC 6 and Worldwide FM) John Ghost is back with “Thin Air . Mirror Land”, to be released on October 6 via Sdban Ultra, the label of ECHT!, Black Flower, Glass Museum, STUFF. and more.



For this album, they continued their fruitful collaboration with legendary producer Jørgen Træen, known for his work with Jaga Jazzist, Electric Eye, Kaizers Orchestra, and numerous projects on the Hubro Record Label. The result is an album with a slightly more somber tone, focussing on a broader range of instruments and an emphasis on percussive elements."Thin Air . Mirror Land" unfolds as an aesthetic refuge in stormy times. It is a musical urge for introspection in a chaotic reality, and a longing to reconnect with a natural environment.



During the creative process, Jo drew inspiration from the music of artists such as Hans Zimmer, György Ligeti, Magma, The Residents, Disasterpeace, James Holden & The Animal Spirits, Do Make Say Think, William Basinski, and Jóhann Jóhannsson. The album title "Thin Air . Mirror Land" and the song titles are driven by a fascination with the artwork of Edvard Munch. Jo found inspiration in Munch's painting "The Storm" (1893) as a catalyst for the writing process, exploring a dystopian backdrop and the intriguing interplay between comfort and unrest. Heavily inspired by the music, Jaak De Digitale created the gloomy artwork for the album.



Members of the band are Jo De Geest (Endlingr), Rob Banken (Rapidman, HAST), Wim Segers (Compro Oro, PAARD.), Karel Ceulenaere (Black Flower), Lieven Van Pée (Echoes of Zoo, De Beren Gieren) and Elias Devoldere (Nordmann, Elias) who went through a thoughtful studio process, with the result being a conceptual and slightly dystopian atmosphere.

More than a decade after the release of ´Land Lines', the mythical Humboldt County, California based duo of Brian Pyle and Merrick McKinlay reappears seemingly out of nowhere with 'Atheistsaregods'. With past releases on such cult-like labels as Root Strata, Weird Forest, Blackest Rainbow or Digitalis, Starving Weirdos were an indelible part of a sprawling and loose network of artists in Northern America whose DIY work ethic and extreme activity revolved around shoestring-budget constant touring, numerous limited editions on CDR, tape and vinyl and a relentless drive to push the boundaries of genre.

Out of that cauldron, Starving Weirdos stood out as one of the most persistent and visionary acts, developing a mind altering body of work that went from warm soundscapes through droney digressions, freeform improvisation and raucous noise summoned from a myriad of instrumentation and low budget processing - vocals, keyboards, violin, flute, percussion and an assortment of less identifiable sound sources. 10 years on their legacy remains a timeless and wildly under-appreciated one, but hopefully this new album will shine a light on their idiosyncratic approach. As time itself was never a constraint. This is music suspended outside of it.

Right from the start with the echoing percussion, dissonant keys and processed vocals of 'Haiku Nagasaki', 'Atheistsaregods' draws a continuous flux of psychedelic elevation that goes from the gloomy electronic motifs not unlike the early Cluster vibes of 'Invocation' into the dank percussive maze of the appropriately titled 'Barulho do Samba'. The self titled track induces a sense of post-apocalyptic vertigo via hallucinatory scraps of voice, suspended synth tones and reverberating field recordings, connecting into the droney mystics of 'Dudukahar (Reed Prayer)'. Coming full circle, 'For Vinny' brings back the echoing percussion amidst hypnotic cello lines until it drifts off into the unknown. With the same palpable sense of urgency, Starving Weirdos feel as vital as ever. And even if we didn't realize it we were in need of them. Welcome back.

This is the second volume of the compendium of artists connected through their dark sounds called “Atlas of Penance”. Its main objective is showcasing the different explorations of occult aesthetics from around the world.

The EP opens the A side with a gloomy, feet-dragging, post-punk track by Hanging Freud, goes to a dream-like techno-ebm rave with Kenny Campbell and finishes this side with an industrial infused half tecnho/half electro track of Syndikat Kommando 98, a project by Viktor Lenis (Cute Heels, Modernista).

The B side is no less stronger, starting with a straight up techno banger by the prolific producer Drvg Cvltvre, moving on to a genre defying track filled with experimental elements fuelled with modular sythesis and harsh kicks by Black Potion, and ending the EP with an anxiety inducing dark ambient track by Dim Garden.

As the artwork on the EP depicts, "Darkest hour before dawn" is a dusky scenario representing the Dutch environment known as "the polder" in the lower lands. It questions all kinds of actions taken or not taken to protect, restore, conserve, innovate, or modestly leave the landscape to its own more murky outcome. The darkest hour, full of gloom, will be available around the spring equinox?

Portrait of tracks separately:


"Darkest Hour before dawn"

Is this piece supposed to be an ode to the ancient Dutch hardcore movement, that once and probably only then would be experienced to such intensity or is this still maybe just a little near reminder of it? Anyway starts this unlit track slowly and remains that way but maintains a fat-pumping pulse, possibly reminding of a soldier walking a death march. Settling up those launch pads further down the piece, near the bridge for shooting off some drum-fire 909 snares as if it rocketed. Then, suddenly, the extended delay of that snare turns into a psychedelic drone beside, attending to, or paranoidly chasing comrades soul in his journey throughout and above like a trustful partner?

Arp's LFO that is out of sync with the beat and is being outpaced by it seems to slow everything down even more; meantime creating a pulling, buggy-like effect to the due of all this.

The ascending and descending ghost-pad drawing into the grid of the (tone) key, thereafter parking in them for a while and cycling out again, creating a spatial flow of disturbance and anxiety.

Finishes it with a mountain-big reverberation of organized destruction and chaos. What at first sight seems like simply an innocent route appears to actually be a bit more complex one.


"Lovely memories"

The quite monotonous structure of Lovely memories catchy and groovy song is scanning through your brain files; revisiting, memorizing, and purposely lacking these few "dots above the I" that in some cases you'd gladly be feeling like to square fit it in yourself, of course, when necessary. Connecting the puzzling, dazzling flashbacks together to finally wrap up and perpetuate the pictured events for good, leaving traces of melancholy, loveliness, and perhaps even faith to it.


"24 hours"

Dinginess of 24 hours supposes to be felt in the guts.
The beat, steady with that snare on the 4 & 12, might not be one of the greatest inventions. However, the TR-08's drum line here lays a solid and fertile foundation for a reasonable house track.

Slightly detuned synths weave a scarf pattern around your upper body, and the lower layers carry a warm blanket for the underbelly, providing you with that cozy sense of consolation. Acidy pokes wring itself sneaky and penetrable around, slicing through the song's already solid flesh. Therefore, balancing its bitter sweetness throughout with these soft-hard saw-tooth drops of sourness.

"24 hours" conveys a dispatch or intercommunication that there is little time left to take actions/charge to fix and restore. Something big is about to come if it hasn't arrived already...


"At night"

This remarkable story is a bit out of ordinary.
At night appeared in the artist's dream just the night before his sick father was raised from death in the hospital and got just another year to live before actually passing away completely and anyway. ; ))
And thus also dedicated to the man.

Following up 2021’s compilation 'and felt like...', ' ...it wasn't really me' can be seen as the missing part of a diptych, only separated by the passage of time, yet whole in spirit. Again, a familiar company of singular artists showcase remarkable unity in diversity. Similar to its predecessor, a rustic gloom glues everything together into a seamless whole, enabling the collective to transcend each unique contributors' musical voice elegantly.ambient

Please welcome TYSHER, based in the region of Nuremberg with his first vinyl release on his brandnew label, heavenly inspired by artists like Stephan Bodzin, Anna and Innellea.

The Resurrection EP is a world where energy, rhythm and atmosphere combine to create feelings of wonder, euphoria and positivity.

Released as limited vinyl only, so you better get your copy

Barren wastelands, a distant moon.
Far screeches: gloomy rituals.
Piercing cries.


The deepest indigo, a desolate and rude imagery.
Yoga-darśana : this is a den of iniquity.


Hyperlacrimae’s savage sound shows the Italian duo’s roots in industrial music with the addition of a strong dark-infused oniric attitude.
Straddling post-industrial sounds and a personal style with tribal and catacombic features.
A sort of mystical and distorted ritual, a wild dance with an ancient and primordial flavour.
The LP oscillates between a raw intense dynamism - fully demonstrated by “Kobra”, the album’s climax, “Kogawa No Gotsu” and “Blood Ties” - and a sense of perdition, evinced in reflective acts like “Incubus” and the outro “Korekore-Matakawa”. There’s also room for the distressing atmosphere of “In My Poison”, a contemporary example of obscure Industrial’s heaviest face.
The remixers Shrouds, Impure Secretion, Scarpa participate with three reinterpretations of great impact.


Recorded and Produced by Erminio Granata & Carmine Laurenza
Vocals by Carmine Laurenza
Mastered by Hyperlacrimae at Red Dungeon (Naples)
Artworks and Photos by Nullam Rem Natam (Athens)
Design and Layout by Erminio Granata

Somewhere close to Manchester’s ever changing city centre, as the sun fades and peeks through the newest glass facade, you’ll find Shaking Hand. One part in shadow, the other basking in prisms of light as they sketch out their own sonic landscapes in the dusty redbrick mill they call home. One that is just about clinging on from the encroaching developments that surround them.

Against this back-drop where buildings are constantly torn down & built back again, the three piece craft away. Pulling from early post-rock, and 90s US alternative rock, crafting their own brand of Northwest-emo. Assembling something new, yet nostalgic. Looking ahead towards the transforming horizon. Shaking Hand’s music is built on tension and release – quiets that stretch, louds that overwhelm. Repetition that feels both hypnotic and destabilising.

The band’s musical DNA runs through experimental guitar outfits like Women, Slint, Sonic Youth, Pavement, and Ulrika Spacek, balanced with the melodic sensibility of Big Thief and the dynamic intimacy of Yo La Tengo. Their compositions push against structure: sudden jolts of tempo, polyrhythms that almost fall apart, and riffs that unravel into something fragile or ecstatic. Yet, as Ellis notes, there’s an underlying warmth too: “Like walking through an empty city late at night but catching flickers of life in the buildings you pass.”

Early ideas like ‘Night Owl’ and ‘Sundance’ grew out of George’s lockdown “bedroom years,” where new tunings (open E, drop D, and stranger Pavement-inspired set-ups) opened up uncharted textures. Later, in grim rehearsal rooms, the murky epic ‘Cable Ties’ and the hypnotic ‘Mantras’ absorbed the gloom and grit of the band’s surroundings.

The album was recorded with producer David Pye (Wild Beasts, Teenage Fanclub) at Nave Studios in Leeds, housed in a converted church. “The live room was huge and perfect for capturing our sound,” says George. Determined to bottle their onstage energy, the band tracked the foundations live, layering vocals and guitars later. Soviet-era microphones, odd mic placements, and even phone-recorded demos fed into the mix. “You’ve got to watch out for David though,” Freddie laughs. “He made me play four tambourines in one hand, really hurt, man.”

Lyrically, the record drifts between abstraction and lived moments. George’s words often spill out instinctively, words falling into place before their meaning becomes clear. “A lot of the lyrics look like they’re buried in abstraction,” he says, “but when I look back I can see what they were about — whether that’s an emotional response at the time or just an observation of what was happening around me”. There’s contrast at the heart of it all – optimism vs. doubt, the lightness of youth vs. the monotony of work, a city in constant redevelopment vs. the people drifting through it.

The album artwork is taken from unused plans for the 1970s redevelopment of Los Angeles by architect Ray Kappe, entitled ‘People Movers’. Hypothetical buildings for real people, it feels a complement to the band’s own constructions. One thing’s for sure, Shaking Hand’s debut is built to last.

Extremely Rotten Productions and M.N.B. Records resurrects the corpse of FUNEREAL and presents for the first time on vinyl the 1994 album “The Misery Season”.
From the remains of Chicago death metal demo legends, CONTAGION, rose the even gloomier and dark death metal band FUNEREAL and their sole album testaments to misery and heaviness that was created within their short 2 year existence and are perfectly encapsulated on this majestic recording. Complete with amazing cover art by Greek artist Dimitri Patelis.

JAPAN & PORCUPINE TREE SYNTHESIST RICHARD BARBIERI RETURNS WITH NEW STUDIO ALBUM 'HAUNTINGS' GATEFOLD 2LP EDITION, PRESSED ON CLASSIC BLACK VINYL. Richard Barbieri remains one of contemporary music's most distinctive voices. Emerging as a key architect of the late '70s/'80s synthesiser revolution with David Sylvian's art-rock ensemble Japan, his visionary synthesiser programming expanded the horizons of electronic music & left a lasting mark on artists from The Human League & Duran Duran to Gary Numan & Talk Talk. His subsequent & ongoing tenure with Steven Wilson's legendary progressive outfit Porcupine Tree across albums such as 'In Absentia' (2002), 'Fear Of A Blank Planet' (2007) &, most recently, 'Closure/Continuation' (2022) further affirmed his status as one of the most intuitive & unique musicians of his generation.

'Hauntings' is Barbieri's first studio album since 2021's 'Under A Spell', deepening the pensive, dark instrumental aesthetic of its predecessor. A diverse collection of immersive sound worlds, both dark & uplifting in equal measure, 'Hauntings' is influenced by a nostalgia for the past & future, & for things that didn't happen yet still manage to haunt the mind & soul. What is real & what is simulation? The album finds Barbieri at the height of his powers, his deft keyboard & sonic architecture conjuring a shadowy, creeping Lovecraftian atmosphere. The music wanders through the streets of a gloomy lamp-lit Victorian London & drifts into grain-speckled snapshots of Belle Époque Paris. These journeys into the past are contrasted with nihilistic but euphoric forays into the future, "Traveler" & "A New Simulation" bristling with the itchy modern anxiety that often runs through his best work. Contrasting the sound designs & electronics of Barbieri, the album features performances from renowned musicians Morgan Agren (drums & percussion), Percy Jones (bass guitar) & Luca Calabrese (trumpet). This 2LP 45 RPM edition of 'Hauntings' is presented in gatefold packaging & pressed on classic black vinyl.

On her new album, Two Whole Summers, Half A Life, Lisa Bassenge is once again accompanied by her trusted fellow musicians, pianist Jacob Karlzon and bassist Andreas Lang, with whom she has already realised numerous projects. Typical of Bassenge, the repertoire comprises a seemingly wild yet harmoniously connected mix of pop, singer-songwriter and jazz elements. The spectrum ranges from Elliott Smith to Duran Duran, from Billie Holiday to Björk. ‘It's always about the expressiveness of the songs – that's the common thread for us,’ emphasises the Berlin-based artist. The album features a track by Hank Williams as well as Madonna's ‘Frozen’ and “Catch” by The Cure. Two original compositions are also part of the recording: the title track ‘Two Whole Summers, Half a Life,’ a tribute to the power of friendship and youth, and the neo-folk ballad ‘I'm Getting Old.’ Both works impressively underline Lisa Bassenge's own artistic signature. For over two decades, Lisa Bassenge has stood for stylistic openness and a characteristic voice that lends new nuances to every song. Despite all the diversity, jazz remains the tonal basis. The Scandinavian-style relaxed sound of Karlzon and Lang lends the interpretations a soft, atmospheric depth.

Als Nachfolger von ,High Art Lite" ist ,Ruins" ein Album, das von Trauer, Reflexion und Transformation geprägt ist; eine Platte, die sowohl die Schwere des Verlusts als auch die seltsame Schönheit, die damit einhergeht, einfängt. Geschrieben nach einer selbst auferlegten Pause vom Songwriting, repräsentiert es eine Veränderung im Fokus und in der Perspektive von Joseph Oxley aka TVAM. ,Ich wollte mich von dem entfernen, was ich dachte, dass ich machen sollte", erklärt er. ,Der schlechteste Rat, den man geben kann, ist: ,Was nicht kaputt ist, muss man nicht reparieren.` Es ist immer kaputt. Es muss immer repariert werden." Im Kern beschäftigt sich ,Ruins" mit Verlust nicht als Leere, sondern als Präsenz, als etwas, das die Welt um einen herum neu gestaltet. Auf dem Album ringt Oxley mit den Dualitäten der menschlichen Erfahrung: der Spannung zwischen Gesagtem und Ungesagtem, zwischen Humanismus und Nihilismus, Öffentlichkeit und Privatsphäre, Verzweiflung und Akzeptanz. ,Hoffnung und Verzweiflung heben sich nicht gegenseitig auf", sagt er. ,Sie können nebeneinander existieren - das macht es real." Irgendwo inmitten eines Lebens voller Wiederholungen, Wiederaufführungen und Neustarts lebt TVAM und schafft Werke, die unsere Erinnerungen berühren und gleichzeitig mit unseren Ängsten spielen, und schafft eine Welt, in der Rundfunk zu Performance wird. Seit seinem Debütalbum ,Psychic Data", das aus einem kleinen Schlafzimmerstudio in Wigan hervorgegangen ist, hat TVAM den Sound und das Spektakel der Nostalgie im modernen Leben definiert, vom Slogan ,Porsche Majeure" bis zum Wahlkampf ,Semantics". Seine Musik wurde in die Tagesplaylist von BBC 6 Music aufgenommen und in Fernsehsendungen wie der bahnbrechenden Serie ,Succession" vorgestellt. Musikalisch ist ,Ruins" expansiv und immersiv. Dunkel, aber magisch, ist es voller hallgetränkter Synthesizer, zerbrochener Texturen und hämmernder Snares. Gitarren verweben sich mit neu entdeckter Zurückhaltung durch den Mix und schaffen Raum für Atmosphäre und Emotionen, die im Mittelpunkt stehen. ,Broken Reality"-Texturen kollidieren mit treibenden Rhythmen und erinnern an den cineastischen Puls von The Sisters of Mercy aus der ,Floodland"-Ära und die melodische Melancholie von The Cure aus der ,Disintegration"-Ära. Das Ergebnis ist ein Album, das Schönheit in Dissonanzen und Licht in Trümmern findet.

Portland, Oregon dark rock trio HOAXED return with their stunning new album Death Knocks. Three years in the making, the group—featuring vocalist/guitarist Kat Keo, drummer Kim Coffel, and new bassist/vocalist April Dimmick—have honed their stygian craft to perfection. "We've added another element to the writing and collaboration process," says the band. "April comes from a classic heavy metal background, and her influence is in these songs. We've also had experiences on tour that have helped shape these songs. You can hear influence from the bands we toured with and learned from. We played together for three years as we wrote this album, and we learned a lot about our styles, and our sound evolved naturally together on stage. So, when we sat down to write this album, it didn't feel like a departure or a change." Anchored by the witchy spell of opener "Where the Seas Fall Silent," the rock-hardened groove of "Kill Switch," and the dimly lit power pop of "The Family," HOAXED upped the tempo, sawed the edges (Dimmick's raspy menace intimidates), and strengthened their ties to the golden gods of heavy metal. Indeed, cyclical riffs, dynamic rhythms, and bottom-heavy bass propel Death Knocks through its filmic, hard-nosed gloom, but Keo's sorcerous vocal hooks seal the deal. Often smartly paired with Dimmick's angels' n' demons, her performance effuses fragility and potency across the album's alluring expanse. HOAXED recorded Death Knocks at Falcon Recording Studios with producer/engineer Gabe Johnston (Unto Others, Vintersea) and enlisted Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Kreator, and more,) for mixing and mastering. In total, the group spent eight days in February and March tracking Death Knocks. While most bands spend months ironing their metallic mettle, Hoaxed's expeditious time at Falcon engendered a polished, big-sounding force befitting their larger-than-life songs. Short: Portland, Oregon dark rock trio HOAXED return with their stunning new album Death Knocks. Three years in the making, the group—featuring vocalist/guitarist Kat Keo, drummer Kim Coffel, and new bassist/vocalist April Dimmick—have honed their stygian craft to perfection. FFO: Ghost, Tribulation, Bloody Hammers, Khemmis, Unto Others, GGGOLDDD, Katatonia. Pallbearer

The wild lunar landscape of Lanzarote is the dreamy frame in which Populous paints his new album, “Isla diferente”.

An instrumental trip between cumbia and latin ambient music through the mysterious and magical landscape of Lanzarote, with some gloomy vocal interventions from Fuera (Italy), Javier Arce (Costa Rica), Eva de Marce (Mexico) and Esotérica Tropical (Puerto Rico).

An organic mixture of sweet ethereal melodies and experimental electronic sounds which the artist himself labeled as “latin ambient”.

With her sophomore album JAWBREAKER, Sam Quealy cements her status as one of pop’s most daring new voices. Like the cult candy it’s named after, JAWBREAKER is bold, addictive, and dangerously fun — a sugar-coated explosion of chaos, glamour, and emotion.

Produced alongside longtime collaborator Marlon Magnée (La Femme) between their Paris home studio and the legendary Studio Ferber, the album marks a striking evolution from Blonde Venus (2023). Here, Quealy trades the sharp edges of techno-pop for a lush, disco-infused sound, blending live instrumentation and cinematic sheen with her trademark anarchic energy. The result is a record that feels liberating, hedonistic, and deeply human — a vibrant antidote to modern gloom.

From the euphoric escape of “LONDONTOWN” to the dark romance of “LOVE LASSO”, and the shimmering pop fantasy of “GIRLS NIGHT”, Quealy channels a thousand versions of herself — club queen, rock diva, dreamer, and provocateur. The ethereal duet “BY MY SIDE” with Magnée closes the album in a haze of tenderness and light.

A multidisciplinary artist — singer, dancer, performer, and visual visionary — Quealy extends her universe through spectacular music videos and high-energy live shows that merge fashion, choreography, and raw emotion. On stage, she’s magnetic: a whirlwind of hyper-femininity and power, commanding every room with unfiltered authenticity.

With JAWBREAKER, Sam Quealy delivers a fearless pop statement — an exhilarating fusion of sensitivity, chaos, and self-expression that confirms her as a genre-defying visionary ready to take over the world.

Repress !

In 1991 Coil released the third of their early classic full-length albums “Love’s Secret Domain”, seemingly casting aside the gloom and funeral beauty of its predecessors in favour of a painstakingly multi-layered hallucinogenic electronic beast, which unlike some of their fellow ex-industrial contemporaries’ releases of the time wasn’t an attempt at easy accessibility or (the-gods-forbid) danceability, but a vibrating psychedelic masterpiece unrivalled in their discography and still a landmark album. artwork by Steven Stapleton released in co-production with Infinite Fog Prod.

The Just Joans' new album Romantic Visions of Scotland finds the Glasgow band in characteristically melancholic form, pairing shambling indie pop with sharp observations on romantic pratfalls and everyday dis-appointments, all delivered with sardonic Scottish wit, fronted by siblings David and Katie Pope, whose wry lyrics and heartfelt vocals remain at the heart of the band’s distinctive sound.
Originally inspired by a grandiose exhibition title spotted on Glasgow buses in 2019 for a show at the Nation-al Museum of Scotland called Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland, the new album arrives six years later as a collection of semi-autobiographical snapshots from the Central Belt of Scotland. Whilst some of the details have been exaggerated for comic (or tragic) effect, the songs are based on personal experience of mundane failings, bitter regrets and missed opportunities that make up an unremarkable life.
Recurring themes of nostalgia for a bygone era and the fear of being left behind by lovers, friends and peers run throughout the album. Musically and lyrically, the band channels Village Green-era Kinks, with nods to The Television Personalities, The Smiths and Dolly Mixture.
In the past they have always recorded by themselves in a variety of bedrooms, living rooms – and the occasional toilet. For the first time they have abandoned their DIY recording practices to create what songwriter David Pope calls, “a corporate behemoth in an actual studio.” The album was recorded at Chem19 in Blan-tyre with Paul Savage, who is best known as a founding member of local legends The Delgados. He has also produced and recorded the likes of Teenage Fanclub, Arab Strap and Camera Obscura, and has captured a slightly more muscular version of the band while retaining their ramshackle charm.
The album artwork by vocalist and painter Katie Pope depicts Motherwell Train Station – an ordinary, boring place that speaks to the subject matter of the songs, but with a hint of potential escape. As David Pope ex-plains, “For me, the painting reminds me of the ending of Billy Liar in which Billy tries and fails to leave his hometown for the bright lights of London. Half the band also live in Motherwell, so it seemed appropriate.”
Funded by Creative Scotland, the recording allowed the band to bring in bass and cello arrangements, adding depth and a sheen of musical proficiency to their signature sound.
About The Just Joans - The Just Joans were formed in Glasgow in 2005 by songwriter David Pope. Early demos were collected together and released as a loose concept album, Last Tango in Motherwell, in 2006. Chris Elkin joined on guitar and was followed shortly after by David’s younger sister, Katie, on vocals and Fraser Ford on bass. Over the years they have released EPs and albums on WeePOP! and Fika Records and have gained a cult following as Scottish pop miserabilists.
The current line-up consists of Katie Pope (vocals), David Pope (vocals, guitar), Chris Elkin (lead guitar), Fraser Ford (bass), Arion Xenos (keyboards) and Jason Sweeney (drums).
Press Quotes:
“They fit snugly into the scratchy, low budget Scottish indie tradition of The Delgados and Arab Strap… There’s mischief in this miserabilism.” - Mojo 4*s
“Glasgow’s The Just Joans have documented the romantic pratfalls of a generation of indie kids with sardonic wit and a shambling musical style where Stephin Merrit lies down with The Vaselines.” - Uncut
“Funny and sad, it’s the kind of song that made Red House Painters, The Magnetic Fields and The Wedding Present’s early albums so easy to embrace; an unpretentious sharing of relatable gloom.” - Record Collector

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

Dharmacide is a Spanish band known for their eclectic fusion of genres, blending elements of shoegaze and dreampop music. Their sound is marked by intricate guitar riffs, powerful drumming, and deep, emotive vocals that create a unique atmosphere. The band, with members of Alcalá Norte and Depresión Sonora, has made a huge impact on various stages, performing at renowned venues and festivals, including iconic spots in their home country as well as internationally, earning praise for their high-energy performances and thoughtful compositions. Their latest singles have been produced, mixed and mastered by Mark Gardener from Ride. "Tougher Than the Rest" is their awaited second album. They take a step forward with a darker sound with gloomy riffs and ethereal voices in which they describe perfectly how the sound of a night full of random events -that surely, we all have experienced- would be like. Their sound is influenced by today's bands like Diiv, Warpaint or Beach House but also by classic artists like Cocteau Twins, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds or Tom Waits. 'The Cigs, The Light, The Coffee and Crying' is the first single in which we find a powerful reverb-laden riff with a solo vocal melody in the middle of the chaos until breaking into a powerful chorus. Their debut LP "Cult Band Member" (2021) is sold out and the growing interest in the band anticipates that copies of this new album will not last long.

Effortlessly picking up from their excellent demonstration cassette, it sees the band refining their sound even further. An audio amalgamation combining the profoundness of early Ulver, with the gloom of old Katatonia and exalted boldness of Fields of the Nephilim, thus adding unique elements of nostalgia and atmosphere to their own melodic interplay of guitars and excellent musical framework.

The album contains strong signs of a band that knew at a young age how to draw their canvas. Very Scandinavian in nature, and influenced by the American landscape of the Pacific Northwest, it firmly put Agalloch on the map and raised eyebrows about what a band from North America would be capable of. As a person that grew up checking out records based on their cover-artwork alone, this album is particularly notable for such an experience, considering the wooden cover with a gold emblazoned logo engraved. This is music that glorifies the night sky, envisions campfire magic, heralds nature over humans, arcane arts & poetry, and worships the beauty of a crackling fireplace. It could be the soundtrack for a lone wanderer striving through a wintry storm, only to end up knocking on a faded
wooden door to find shelter in a desolate cabin. In many ways the sound of forlorn times.

If you are looking to fill your heart with woodsmoke and the fire of
the mountain's spirit, look no further.

"Pale Folklore was a watershed moment in American heavy music, when a few young musicians with a shared love of underground death metal - and broad personal tastes beyond - turned their already virtuosic talents toward a fresh hybrid of metal and neofolk through a gothic lens." - Daniel Lake / author of USBM: A Revolution of Identity in American Black Metal

Effortlessly picking up from their excellent demonstration cassette, it sees the band refining their sound even further. An audio amalgamation combining the profoundness of early Ulver, with the gloom of old Katatonia and exalted boldness of Fields of the Nephilim, thus adding unique elements of nostalgia and atmosphere to their own melodic interplay of guitars and excellent musical framework.

The album contains strong signs of a band that knew at a young age how to draw their canvas. Very Scandinavian in nature, and influenced by the American landscape of the Pacific Northwest, it firmly put Agalloch on the map and raised eyebrows about what a band from North America would be capable of. As a person that grew up checking out records based on their cover-artwork alone, this album is particularly notable for such an experience, considering the wooden cover with a gold emblazoned logo engraved. This is music that glorifies the night sky, envisions campfire magic, heralds nature over humans, arcane arts & poetry, and worships the beauty of a crackling fireplace. It could be the soundtrack for a lone wanderer striving through a wintry storm, only to end up knocking on a faded
wooden door to find shelter in a desolate cabin. In many ways the sound of forlorn times.

If you are looking to fill your heart with woodsmoke and the fire of
the mountain's spirit, look no further.

"Pale Folklore was a watershed moment in American heavy music, when a few young musicians with a shared love of underground death metal - and broad personal tastes beyond - turned their already virtuosic talents toward a fresh hybrid of metal and neofolk through a gothic lens." - Daniel Lake / author of USBM: A Revolution of Identity in American Black Metal

The thirteenth release on the Gladio Operations label bears the signature of the great Spanish producer Boris Divider. This artist needs no introduction, as he is considered one of the pioneering producers of the electro scene in Spain, and active since the 2000s, releasing mainly on his label Drivecom.

After betting in recent years on more experimental and hypnotic sounds close to IDM, Boris returns to the pulse of the rhythms more rooted to the dancefloor with this EP titled “In Fragments”. Undoubtedly, this work brings us back to the artist’s classic sound, which is reflected in “Content Location”, a track that envelops us with arpeggios and firm and forceful bass lines and well-developed masterful vocoders. The second cut we find is “In Fragments”, track that gives title to the EP and that lowers the pulsations to a softer and more emotional state.

The B-side opens with “Dynamic Algorithm”, where we get back to our dancing posture and enter dark territories, ready to explore a dynamic of sequences brimming with intrigue and suspense. We continue with “Fragmented”, where the Spanish artist delves into a journey of ambient sounds, with certain tensions in some passages. The EP closes with “Memories of Us”, where we discern his classic sound with subtle arpeggios and delicate sequences that flow in harmony with gloomy

Erik K Skodvin summons his alter ego Svarte Greiner for a dive into the dark, wintery Swedish forest with the score to the psychological thriller/horror film “From Darkness” (orig: Ur Mörkret).

The film is director Philip W. Da Silva's debut and is set largely at night, deep in a Swedish nature reserve where mining used to take place. Loss, mental health and Nordic mythology come together in a story that revolves around the search for a missing woman. The score follows an eclectic and atmospherical path throughout the narrative with an uneasy underlaying vibe; although one with occasional points of refuge in the otherwise vast darkness. There is a gloomy, barely tangible sound of Nordic folk tradition buried in the music, even if it comes across in a different, more abstract way, where the various instruments are often used more as sound sources that are improvised (and abused) into becoming their own element. Skodvin performed and recorded the majority himself. In addition, he commissioned free improviser Axel Dörner to participate with his unique, custom-built electro-acoustic interface, which, along with Claudio Puntin's processed reeds and additional electronics, has been built into the elaborate backdrops to create an entire world that balances on the border between the approachable and the elusive - not unlike the journey of the protagonists. Skodvin's partner in Deaf Center, Otto A Totland, appears on piano in the stand out piece “What have you become?”.

The result is a harrowing yet deeply melancholic journey through the human psyche. One that echoes through the dark forests, cabins and lost mines of the desolate Swedish woodlands.

“It is presumed that as humans mined ore in the 1800s, they had many mishaps and dug too deep, leading them to assume they had unleashed some evil spirit that was guarding the ore. She was referred to as "Cave Wraith". It was said that she employed darkness to lure miners to their deaths. They prohibited villagers from visiting during the darkest months of the year. Some used sacrifices to subdue the evil entity.”

The vinyl is released in an edition of 150 numbered copies, with screenprinted artwork on black cardboard inside a screenprinted PVC sleeve, incl. Riso-printed insert with liner notes by Mike Lazarev, 180g vinyl.

White vinyl. The record is housed in a gatefold jacket, designed as your own personal treasure chest. Akupara Games and Black Screen Records are over the moon (and down in the crypt) to announce the soundtrack release of the game hit Cryptmaster on vinyl. For the music, sound expert Surasshu, part of the duo Aivi & Surasshu (i.a. Steven Universe), has teamed up with Stemage and Catton Arthur to virtuously solve the puzzle of a perfectly fitting game score. SAY ANYTHING in this bizarre dungeon adventure where words control everything. Fill in the blanks with text or voice to uncover lost abilities, embark on strange quests, and solve mindbending riddles. Can you conquer the crypt and uncover the mystery at the heart of Cryptmaster? In the ancient past, four brave heroes banded together to destroy a terrible evil, giving their lives to save countless others. But now their eternal rest has been disturbed by the Cryptmaster, a capricious necromancer in whose thrall they must ascend through the buried strata of the city above them - the gloomy Bonehouses, mysterious Sunken Sea and freakish Downwood. With the enigmatic Soulstone in hand, the four adventurers must recover their memories, solve whimsical puzzles and defeat outlandish enemies. From fishing and card games to bardic rap battles, finding the right word is the key to success. Who knows, maybe you'll even remember a little more than you bargained for. Surasshu, veteran of television and game music, brings out the best in the Cryptmaster soundtrack, featuring his peers Catton Arthur on bass and Stemage on guitar. From laid back accordions of the Bonehouses, to the shredding guitar of battles, to the piper's haunting melody, this album features enough musical morsels to keep all kinds of dungeon-crawling deviants tapping their toes.

Gold-braunes Farbvinyl (140g) mit zusätzlicher schwarzer Flexidisc mit zwei neuen Tracks in braunem Sleeve.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - die verrückte Soundcollage / 2000er Skratch-Odyssee des Musikgenies Kid Koala - wird zum 25-jährigen Jubiläum von Ninja Tune neu aufgelegt. Als wahrer musikalischer Visionär kombinierte Eric San alias Kid Koala eine sinnliche Herangehensweise an sein Handwerk mit wildem Humor und verlieh seiner Kunst damit eine völlig unnachahmliche Qualität. Als leidenschaftlicher Turntablist (Turntablism": die Kunst, Plattenspieler als Musikinstrument zu benutzen, um originelle Sounds, Mischungen und Rhythmen zu kreieren) nahm San Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ausschließlich mit Plattenspielern auf, indem er Vinylplatten von Hand auf einen Achtspurrekorder aufspielte. Das Ergebnis ist ein exzentrischer, fröhlicher Streifzug durch seinen einzigartig verdrehten und brillanten Verstand. Die neue Auflage ist erstmal auf Single LP mit umgedrehtem Artwork erhältlich inklusive einer Flexidisc mit zwei neuen Songs.

Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.

At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.

There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.

The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.

The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.

At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.

There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.

The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.

The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

Bruch once again proves to be a grim and bighearted crooner and multi-layered genre-bender between repetitive pulsating electronic music and brilliant organ minimalism, between destructive rock'n'roll and world-embracing pop. Bruch is Philipp Hanich's alter ego as a music producer. Born and raised in Munich / Germany, he has been living and working in Vienna / Austria as a visual artist and musician for 20 years now. He is equipped with a long pedigree of DIY-counterculture, gathered since the early 2000s whilst touring with different bands, creating off-spaces and co-running the labels Totally Wired Records (2012-2016) and Cut Surface (since 2016). The Harbour of the Broken Hearted (THOTBH) can be a state of mind, ramshackle but transcendent. Oscillating between the repetitive pulses of electronic music and organ-orchestrated minimalism, Bruch throws out comforting loops of sound just like fishing nets, that suck you into his stories unwaveringly. His evocative and unadorned vocal style adds to Bruch's depth, soul and sincerity. Drifting and driven amidst uplifting gloom. At times, solemnly striding against foggy and dogmatic black-and-white-thinking, rearing up in opulent resistance, then again just hopelessly beautiful and achingly wistful. Occasionally, Bruch's laid-back observations can also end in a wild ride. By introducing The Crusher, Bruch enters the harbour with full sails of self-reflexion - and we realize, sometimes it's all just about having to endure yourself. Or_ is it all about love? In the end, each and every of THOTBH's songs turns out to have a cathartic quality. Bruch's THOTBH might not be a safe space, but it accepts us as we are. With our doubts, our own frailties and our shortcomings. No need for embarrassment within the fragile. No need for shame and fear in expression. No need to shy away from creating something beautiful. You better learn to spell ,Sehnsucht" - as it turns out to be the everlasting keyword!

Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.

At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.

There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.

The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.

The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

PHONOLAB is the new collaborative project from Anglo-Italian musician, solo artist and producer Gaudi and experimental electronica composer Eraldo Bernocchi Both fearless creators known for pushing the boundaries of sound for almost four decades, the duo's new album 'Disturbia' is set for release on the 11th April via Subsound Records and features contributions from heavyweights including Gerald Casale (Devo), Flowdan, Bill Laswell and the late Mark Stewart (The Pop Group).

With its eclectic blend of electronic innovation, deep basslines, and cutting- edge sound design, 'Disturbia' challenges and captivates listeners with its bold, genredefying vision, resulting in a deeply immersive and forward-thinking sonic experience. The title of the album was created by late post-punk pioneer and lead singer of The Pop Group, Mark Stewart, who was recording with PHONOLAB, shortly before he died. Some of the disruption and creative defance Stewart embodied can be heard throughout the album including tracks such as the glitchy 'Lapis Lazuli' and album title track, 'Disturbia.' The album acts as a homage to one of the most infuential post