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2026 Repress

Prologue: Wearied by our endless travelling under a burning sun, we stopped by the margins of a tiny stream, embraced by a timid vegetation. The scorching heat made our throat parched and weak: yearning to quench our thirst, we immersed ourselves into the waters without any hesitation, drowning our dryness and our exhausted limbs. I pointed my face, revived by water, towards the sky and I lingered on, admiring it: a flock of birds gently floated, drawing in the sky some abstract shapes. I sat beneath a palm tree, motionlessly admiring the show, the shades of the night approaching. 'The true joy of a moonlit night is something we no longer understand. Only the men of old, when there were no lights, could understand the true joy of a moonlit night.' --

UK-based DJ and producer Drum Dance returns with a fresh three-track dance 12” on his Into The Cosmos label. Opening title track ‘Space Ritual’ is an almost 12-minute-long journey beginning somewhere in dreamy ambient, dub techno territory before evolving into a deep meditative trance with hypnotic percussive rhythms, rolling dubbed out hi-hats and euphoric synths; like Balearic meets Black Ark. The track then veers off in a new direction; playful arpeggiated synthesizers and stripped-back electronic drums taking it somewhere resembling early house or a cosmic Italo disco dub mix.

Techno goes outernational on ‘Arp Sequence 3 Dub’; stuttering lo-fi machine sounds and samples collide with pitched calypso percussion, dubbed out roots steppers drums and a deep walking bassline before heating up into a driving frenzy of 4/4 drums, siren synths and run-away FX.

‘Cosmo Jam’ starts life like a raw, moody Detroit house jam; tape-saturated kalimba, electric keys and loose drums skipping in and out of time. The track eventually gives way to a more ruff UK broken beat sound; cosmic jazz keys weave around outernational percussion, rhythmic vocals and a heavy low-end.

DAYBREAKERS Records proudly presents ROOT DOWN 30, a celebration of one of Europe's most influential club institutions. Curated by legendary DJ, producer and tastemaker Rainer Trüby, the compilation marks three decades of Root Down, the Freiburg party that has quietly shaped dancefloors, record collections and musical conversations since 1996.

Long before genre boundaries dissolved into today's eclectic club culture, Root Down championed a unique musical vision. Jazz, Brazilian grooves, soulful house, broken beat, Afro-Latin rhythms and future-facing electronic sounds were brought together under one roof, creating a community that became a vital meeting point for adventurous dancers and deep music lovers alike.

Across thirty years, Root Down has hosted an extraordinary roll call of artists and DJs including Jazzanova, Gilles Peterson, Theo Parrish, Kyoto Jazz Massive, Jimpster, Laurent Garnier, Dixon, Peter Kruder, Richard Dorfmeister and countless others, helping establish Freiburg as an unlikely but essential stop on the global underground music map.

ROOT DOWN 30 captures that spirit perfectly. Handpicked by Trüby, the collection brings together a selection of artists whose music embodies the warmth, sophistication and dancefloor energy that have defined the party since day one. Featuring music and remixes from Jimpster, Osunlade, Da Lata, Jazzanova, Crackazat and more, the compilation moves effortlessly between soulful house, jazz-inflected club music, Brazilian influences, broken beat rhythms and deep electronic grooves.

ROOT DOWN 30 is a snapshot of an enduring musical philosophy. Thirty years after the first Root Down dancefloor came to life in Freiburg, the spirit remains unchanged: open-minded, soulful and rooted in discovery.

ROOT DOWN 30 stands as both a celebration of that remarkable journey.

Released on DAYBREAKERS Records.

Pressed to Olive-Green vinyl colour for its 30th anniversary! Released 30 years ago in 1996, Propagandhi's Less Talk, More Rock is the defining masterpiece of political punk. By injecting radical activism into fast-paced skate punk, the album boldly confronted the era's apolitical scene. With unapologetic anthems on veganism, anti-fascism, and gay rights, it endures as a foundational text for activist punk. 30th anniversary of the iconic sophomore album from Canadian band, Propagandhi Produced by Ryan Greene of Motor Studios (NOFX, Bad Religion, Nerf Herder) pro-feminist/animal-friendly/anti-fascist/gay-positive Ranked as one of the best political punk albums in history (Phoenix New Times) Features hit singles "The Only Good Fascist Is A Very Dead Fascist" and "And We Thought Nation-States Were A Good Idea"

byt’ continues its eclectic journey with the third release in its catalogue. This chapter sees the return of Telva, shifting into a new frequency with a story born between 11.11 and a full Taurus moon back in 2024 in Berlin. The composition recorded in a single take, is articulated through a dreamy, electronic, minimal house, and vocal infusion. Left as romantic and unrestrained as the artist’s reverie, it is preserved in its raw form to protect its intimacy.

“Every record I make is a guide towards a better understanding of all that I can be. 11:11 is a fragment of a special spark I experienced, which peeled back another layer of myself enriched by the lessons along the way, until finally holding it in my hands today. What started as an epiphany on Heideglühen’s dance-floor unfolded into a kiss of destiny, a fleeting delirious love affair, and a quest of passion that hugged my memory, compelling me to revisit my early days. An endeavor of surrender, no matter how unknown, unconventional or uncertain it all may feel. To finally have the courage to let it be messy, raw and true, so that I stand naked once again, while daring to honor the absence of order as part of the magic and mystery of life.” - Telva

Mining the rich seam between transcendental escapism and crushing physical pressure, Sciama delivers his first album for Samurai Music. Exploring an energetic pitch between half-time and full-tilt 170, the London-based producer sculpts brooding soundscapes of sheer peaks and deep pits, driven by unrelenting but light-footed forward motion and an imposing strain of sound design. As Sciama, Michael Watters has been marking out his exacting sound since 2019 with an assured run of albums on ASC's Auxiliary label. His second EP for Samurai — the Wave Interaction 12" released earlier this year — pointed to his current area of focus inspired by the teachings of electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram. Contemplating the relationship between precise electronic frequencies and human perception, Celetal Form now delivers the full findings of his exploration. Oram coined the term 'celetal' in her 1972 book An Individual Note of Music, Sound and Electronics, trying to sum up a connection between the celestial and electrical. It's this spiritual dimension contained within sound waves Watters is concerned with, and the shape of the music on Celetal Form follows suit. In an opening statement of abyssal ambience, 'Overload Into Silence' establishes an atmosphere that endures throughout the album. Caught between steely textures, vaporous reverb tails and subtle harmonic interactions, the glacial shift of the many layers under Watters' control reveals an intense amount of detail at play even before drums and bass come into play. From there on in, the intensity ramps up from one heavyweight stepper to the next. There is agile, brittle top-end percussion at work on the likes of 'Induced Resonance' and 'Consuming Pulse', perhaps the most closely connected to D&B, while 'Rational Echoes' and 'Scanning Waveband' deal in urgency and techno-coded tension. A half-time roll guides the huge kick drum undulations of 'No Panacea', and 'Celetal Emergence' opens up into more spacious surroundings to let the subtle microtonal inflections of the synth tones set a curious mood. The two 'Intermodulation' tracks bring Watters' exacting approach into sharp focus, pushing the drums back and foregrounding alien frequencies that coalesce into unfamiliar yet strangely uplifting forms. Throughout Celetal Form this uncanny sensation charges the music with a power that reaches beyond its immediate, surface level impact. This intentional reflection on Oram's visionary thinking charges the current sound of Sciama with energetic intrigue that stands apart and invites a mindful, maybe even spiritual, engagement.

»Baby Ghost« is the debut album by double bassist and vocalist Jordan Sand. Released through Hallow Ground, it blurs the lines between different genres and modes of expressions, improvisation and composition and showcases the unique playing style the composer has developed. Sand blends her voice with the bowed harmonics and subharmonics of her double bass. At once conceptually rigorous and musically open-ended, Sand’s wordless meditations on death and what comes after are both visceral and explorative.

Sand is a boundary-crossing instrumentalist, performer, and session musician who has worked in folk, free jazz, pop, classical and new as well as experimental music. In 2020, she took a hiatus. When she picked up the bass again, she began stripping down the relationship to her instrument to its core elements, searching for a way to melt the sounds of bow and voice together. This resulted in the appearance of ghost notes, tones emerging from the addition or subtraction of two frequencies, and harmonics that she adds with her falsetto.

On »Baby Ghost,« Sand utilises this acoustic sound and the spontaneous precision of her improvisational practice for pieces that deal with the subject of dying. They move from more polyphonic improvisations toward abstraction, touching upon harsh noise and minimalistic bow-chants before returning briefly to a melodic soliloquy, and finally landing on an extended subharmonic drone. This progression reflects the journey of the spirit after death; the experience of visions, memories, ecstasies and terrors before the dissolution of the self.

Sand performs this process physically, blending her voice with her instrument to explore how the senses might dissolve and merge when they enter a state between life and beyond-or-between-life. Born out of the moment and dedicated to a lost friend, »Baby Ghost« is quite literally an otherworldly achievement.

Juxtaposing acid-tipped breakbeats with influences of acoustic behaviour in nature, Sully unveils a debut release for Critical Music with two-track 12” ‘Flux’ b/w ‘Chatter’. Sully says: "‘Flux’ and ‘Chatter’ were another attempt to take the groove and feel of the breakbeats I've been previously working with and build them from the ground up. The aim was to find space for the tonal elements to breathe and end up in a place I'd not been to before." Birdsong became an unexpected reference point during the writing process, with Sully using synthesis to analyse and recreate natural calls as compositional material. The resulting dialogue between acoustic behaviour and digital sound generation forms part of the release's underlying methodology rather than a surface aesthetic. "The contrast and contradiction of the organic world captured by digital processes is always a pull for me," Sully explains. "It never fails to inspire." Jack Stevens aka Sully has spent much of the last two decades developing a body of work that sits slightly outside the obvious cycles of revival that have shaped UK bass music. While his records draw from established rhythmic forms, they rarely settle within a single tradition, instead examining the shared characteristics between them. His releases have consistently explored the points where 2-step swing, breakbeat construction, and jungle's rhythmic vocabulary begin to overlap. Sully’s records retain a relevance that extends beyond the moment of their release, continuing to circulate through DJ sets and specialist record collections. This 12” adds another chapter to a catalogue defined by sustained investigation into rhythm, texture and soundsystem music.

This release closes the current run of much‑needed raids on the Digi Dub archives. Label boss Berwick emerged from the DIY ferment of Camberwell's squat era , blending reggae and rave influences into a stream of boundary‑pushing music and events under a tangle of ever‑shifting aliases. Nodding to the Far East stylings of Augustus Pablo, South‑Eastern Style finds Berwick, working under his Mudskipper alias, refracting Pablo’s melodic meditations through a mutoid bass filter, delivering six cuts of idiosyncratic, genre- agnostic electronics.

Some of Berwick’s Mudskipper material was partially exhumed for digital release in 2021, but the alias was only one of several he deployed during Digi Dub’s most fertile years and during the 90s Mudskipper material was released sparingly. It feels fitting, then, that this project finally gets its due in the form of a full vinyl release.

Beware Dub is the only track here to have seen daylight before, with a version originally appearing on the 1996 four‑track EP 4 Golems. It makes a fine opener: an agile bassline rolling through tunnels of processed skank, rocking in a haze of centrifugal breakbeat. Ambrosial Dub mounts an imperious, guitar‑laced groove onto a solid steppers march, while Pillars Dub drives another vigorous, sub‑heavy bassline forward in the mix alongside a mechanised rhythm track, shards of noirish piano and bursts of twinkling synth.

The second side opens with the cosmic skank of Stand It Dub, followed by the mutated one‑drop drift of Where There’s Dub, suspended in a canopy of gentle keys. Wasted Dub closes the EP in fine style, Berwick applying widescreen dubwise pressure: a robust low end topped with the distinctive twin twangs of jaw harp and slide guitar, coming on like Jah Shaka meeting Ry Cooder.

XKatedral ist stolz darauf, ein neues Album in voller Länge von Label-Mitbegründerin Maria W. Horn zu präsentieren. ,Melting Pillars of Snow" ist eine Sammlung neuer Kompositionen der renommierten schwedischen Komponistin, geschrieben für Kontrabassblockflöte, Sho, Percussion, E-Gitarre, Gesang und Elektronik, gespielt von Horn zusammen mit einem Kammerensemble bestehend aus Anna Petrini, Mattias Hallsten, Magdalena Meitzner und Mats Erlandsson. Das Album enthält außerdem eine Erzählung von Horn sowie einen Gastauftritt von Michael Gira auf der ersten Single ,Scythe of Saturn". Für ,Melting Pillars of Snow" ließ sich Maria von W. G. Sebalds Roman ,Die Ringe des Saturn" inspirieren, einer poetischen Reflexion, die einem namenlosen Erzähler folgt, der an der Küste von Suffolk in England umherwandert. Während sich die Landschaft allmählich verändert, thematisiert der Text auf vielfältige Weise den Lauf der Zeit und die Distanz zwischen Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft und spiegelt dabei sowohl weitreichende zeitliche Maßstäbe wie die Zyklen der Jahreszeiten und die tiefe historische Zeit als auch mikroskopisch kleine Momente und Fragmente wider. Mit den Kompositionen auf dieser Veröffentlichung beschwört Maria ein ähnliches Gefühl der Stille herauf - eine Umgebung, in der die Bewegung der Zeit selbst beleuchtet und beobachtet werden kann. Das Instrumentarium auf diesem Album ist Horns bislang ambitioniertestes: Sie ergänzt ihre gewohnte Palette aus maßgeschneiderter algorithmischer Synthese und elektronischer Bearbeitung um eine komplexe Auswahl an Perkussionsinstrumenten, Blasinstrumente, die an beiden Enden des musikalischen Spektrums spielen, sowie E-Gitarre, um so einen spiralförmigen, spektralen Klangteppich durch den gesamten Frequenzbereich zu weben. Die Perkussionistin Magdalena Meizner spielt spezielle Techniken auf dem Obertondreieck, dem Dubachi, den Pauken und dem Tam-Tam sowie auf gestimmten Weingläsern und gestrichenen Crotales. Die von Anna Petrini gespielte tieftönige Kontrabassblockflöte und das von Mattias Hallsten gespielte hochfrequente Sho fügen kontrastierende Akkordarrangements hinzu, die in strengen metrischen Strukturen eingebettet sind. Das Ensemble wird durch Mats Erlandsson vervollständigt, der auf E- und Akustikgitarren spielt und dabei von sanften Arpeggio-Figuren zu düsteren Drones und Feedback-Heulern wechselt.

4/5 REVIEW IN MOJO: “HEARTBEAT TONES DISSOLVE INTO BEAUTEOUS SHIMMER AND STELLAR SYNTH MEDITATIONS GIVE WAY TO CAREFULLY ORCHESTRATED ELECTRONICA.”

4/5 REVIEW IN UNCUT: “IT'S MASTERFUL, THOUGH IT WILL LEAVE YOU FEELING LIKE A SPECK OF GRAVEL IN A SELF-DESTRUCTING WORLD.”

NME - 8/10 review (w/c 14 October) "He’s mastered this stylistic skittishness and you’ll do well to find much dispute about his talent."

NARC - 5/5 review (October issue) "An immersive soundtrack to your own personal psychodrama."

WIRE - ONE PAGE REVIEW (October issue) "The sentiments it stirs to life are shadowed and ambiguous, simultaneously personal and impersonal. It is also fantastically immersive, dragging the listener into its turbulent undertows, then washing them back on dry land, intact but changed.’’

Virgins was recorded during three periods in 2012, mostly in Reykjavik, Montreal and Seattle, using ensembles in live performance.

While this album remains committed to a painterly form of musical abstraction, it is also a record of restrained composition recorded live primarily in intimate studio rooms. This record employs woodwinds, piano and synthesizers towards an effort at doing what digital music does not do naturally—making music that is out of time, out of tune and out of phase.

Some pieces go off the rails before forming into anything, others eschew crescendo
compositional structures or bombastic density while going sideways instead. It points to the ongoing development of Hecker's work. It suggests illusory memories of drug- hazed jams or communal music performance that may have never been performed or been heard.

It is an offering of music into the void, a gift of digital filler between distractions. Yet hopefully it also stands as a document of the enduring faith in the narcotic, enigmatic function of music as long-form expression.

Mixed by Valgeir Sigurðsson and Tim Hecker. Additional assistance by Randall Dunn and Ben Frost. Mastered by Mandy Parnell at Black Saloon Studios in London, UK.

For the label's latest, Oath is proud to present 'Honey Tangerine', the newest mini-album from producer extortionaire Olsvangèr, who serves up his signature blend of hyper-kinetic, ever-shifting dance music.

Olsvangèr's sound and musical journey are forever rooted in the liminal spaces that make up the broad-reaching and ever-shifting electronic music landscape, with his records consistently channeling that in-betweenness that imprints lasting impressions. A classically trained musician with a profound passion for house and techno, Olsvangèr's sonic palette is one of both broad and delicate brush strokes, applying an array of compelling motifs within amorphous arrangements that blend and blur perspectives. His records seek out the faraway fringes as much as focusing on the intensity found in the detail, creating cavernous soundscapes that are impeccably tuned and effortlessly free-flowing. Seemingly genreless, his records are anchored in all that is known and loved, yet due to the music's perspective situated at the intersectionality of electronica, a beautiful anticipation resides within every stanza of his tracks at what may come next. His musical language has found him releasing on the likes of Kalahari Oyster Cult, Hooj Choons and Craigie Knowes, and follows through within his imprint Tofistock, which has been pushing some of the most forward-thinking dance music of recent times.

'Honey Tangerine' touches upon the classic motifs of Olsvangèr's sound, and as always, the room for growth within the record's parameters remains truly endless. Over six tracks, Olsvangèr lays bare the directions of travel, with paths unravelling that feel well trodden yet with some that branch out towards new horizons. 'Source of Thought' opens up proceedings with a captivating ambience, where twinkling hues and lively tones paint the parameters of sound. The chuggy breaks that land deep within the mix drop in and out of view, allowing a deft balance between pure ambiance and rhythm to exchange dialogue between one another. 'In a Nutshell' shifts gears in atmosphere and energy, with all eyes placed upon the club. The shifting rhythm section lifts the acidic melodic features up above, with driving bass notes and a euphoric vocal like lead linking the depths to the heavens. 'Tulpa Nine' swings into heads-down territory, where the drums swing slow and the throbbing bass hits heavy. The auto-tune vocal line up above creates an atmosphere of hazy, smoke-filled rooms, where the party yearns for downtime in anticipation of the next shift in energy.

'Sunrise on the Lips' gives over further chill out room vibrations, where the lights remain low, and smiles reside all around. The enriching drums provide the basis for sitars and glossy keys to glide across the top ends, with the mind invited to dip deep within this enthralling ensemble. 'Zoom It Out' provides the release into the room, with the ante upped. A breaky house leaning number, this cut grooves through its chiming melodic section and groove-laden bass line, with the polyrhythmic drumming pattern doing much to keep the energy residing very high indeed. The record is wrapped up with 'Some Air', which gives over one final jaunt through the airy, slowed-down slipstreams. A wondrous beat is complemented by melodic elements that chime, absorb and quiver, glowing through the night with such charm and feel. An engrossing composition that demonstrates what Olsvangèr is all about - a crafter of sound, where adventure is sought and found, never wavering but curating new connections, feelings, and tones, with an eye on what might come next.

Whether softly undulating or boundlessly expressive, Olsvangèr's music remains a beautiful enigma that serves up both the glorious knowns and the captivating unknowns - 'Honey Tangerine' is yet another chapter in his glorious discography.

Lily Juniper's debut album, 'Bloom Gloom' is set for release via Friends of Friends. Co-written and produced by long term collaborator and partner yours.truly, the record holds a mirror up to ourselves and the world around us. Inspired by sounds of the early 2010's post dubstep and indie scenes and written with feelings at the forefront, the album explores themes of self discovery, nostalgia and the endless battle between light and dark, with each track telling a story of what it means to be human:

Per Hammar returns to his own Dirty Hands imprint with the four-track ‘Ontario EP’, once again showcasing his raw, robust and groove-led style.

Swedish producer and DJ Per Hammar has steadily carved out a reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary underground electronic music. As the founder of the acclaimed Dirty Hands imprint, Hammar has built a platform synonymous with deep, groove-led and uncompromising club music, while other productions have found homes on some of the scene's most respected labels including Sushitech, Kalahari Oyster Cult and Craigie Knowes. Here we see him returning to his own home and delivering stripped-back late-night tools, psychedelic excursions and deep, hypnotic dancefloor journeys. Hammar consistently balances functionality with personality, a quality that has established him as one of Europe's most respected underground talents.

Title cut ‘Ontario’ leads with Per laying down crisp, crunchy drums alongside dubby bass tones, fluttering stab sequences and intricate modulations, all delicately ebbing and flowing throughout the composition. ‘Off Disk’ follows, fusing organic percussive elements with weighty sub-bass, shifting synth flourishes and bubbling, delayed melodies that steadily unfold across the groove.

On the flip side, ‘Oops All Sixes’ shifts into more acid-tinged House territory, built around a squelchy acid bass hook and saturated drums, while sporadic, expansive delays and hypnotic reverberations drift atop the track’s raw, loopy foundation. ‘Airex’ concludes the release by diving deeper, stripping things back to oscillating percussion, a snaking low-end pulse and airy chords.

The Unwound album that ended all Unwound albums. Recorded in a moldering farmhouse basement at the crest of the new century, Leaves Turn Inside You is the no-wave response to Spector’s wall of noise call. Infinite layers of choppy guitar stabs and bridge scrapes, guttural bass thronk, thrift store synths, and monotone chanting wash over suffocating rhythms to deliver the world’s only choral grunge LP. This 25th anniversary edition has been remastered from the original analog tapes and is housed in a glorious silver foil jacket with added emboss, deboss, spot varnish, and a replica 12x24” poster . Reinvented for you.

Blossoms return with their 6th studio album, ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’. Featuring singles 'Meet Me In Love' and 'Joke About Divorce', the Wedding Cake, nickname for Stockport’s Town Hall where band member Tom Ogden got married, spans 10 tracks and follows up the 2024 number 1 album 'Gary'. The album, produced by Shawn Lee, was recorded entirely to tape & is due for release 2nd October 2026.

Living Weapon returns with Death In The Family, a full-length that confronts mortality, meaninglessness, and the aftermath of existence. The release broken down over 23 minutes toward an unresolved end — life examined at its start and its finish, with the universe indifferent to either. Recorded, produced, and engineered by Jeremy Martin over fall 2025 into spring 2026 — the band's first time tracking a full album internally. Mixing handled by Taylor Young of The Pit Recording Studio and Mastering by Nick Townsend. The album is introduced with "The Leaving Process” laying out the album's core idea: life as connection, not permanence — matter created and destroyed, briefly aware of itself in between.

2026 Repress

'Quiet Pieces' initiates Abul Mogard’s personal imprint Soft Echoes with a definitive self-portrait of calm, contemplative, and discreet inner landscapes made audible. It is the first solo album on vinyl in four years. RIYL Alessandro Cortini, William Basinski, The Caretaker.

While sifting through archived material left idle from earlier projects, a chance encounter with a late uncle’s trove of beloved 78rpm classical and opera records prompted the reworking and completion of what would eventually become the album. Spinning dusty records at 33 and 45rpm, Abul Mogard recombined their enduring spectres with unfinished sketches from his archive. The resulting soundscape blurs distinctions between his memories and those of another, exquisitely short-circuiting the senses with its waking, dream-like lucidity.

This was a process I hadn’t explored in my earlier works. I began sampling brief moments from these records, altering them with studio effects and playing them at slower speeds. In many cases, I wasn’t entirely sure how the original music sounded. These fragments, once further processed, became a source of inspiration for my new compositions. Over time, I realised that the old pieces from the archive and the new material derived from the samples naturally complemented each other.”

The resulting pieces hover over a threshold, a liminal space that harmonises the old and older material. Voluminous waves of quiet and loud undulate between consonance and dissonance, conjuring imagery of a decaying grandeur that humanity’s decadence has surrendered to the elements. Abul Mogard’s seemingly abandoned yet vast landscapes are nevertheless intimate with timbral frissons of red-lined distortion. Elusive, yet as tangible as sea spray or smog, they affect the olfactory senses with a rarified, synesthetic quality that modestly engages one’s emotional register – a hypnotic, distinguishing feature long hailed as one of the hallmarks of his work. A fidelity to memory and dream recall is sensitively probed in the journey from the stately symphonic stasis of 'Following a dream' to the almost industrial, untethered brutality evoked by a looming silhouette that’s never fully visible in 'Constantly slipping away', culminating in the foreboding coda of 'Like a bird'. Those pieces appear to shield the album’s sentimental core, where the tempestuous play of light and shadow of 'In a studded procession' escalates to breathtaking, panoramic climax, while 'Through whispers' evokes an out-of-body-like experience encountered with visceral poignancy.

Looking back, Mogard notes an unexpected influence: “I realise being inspired by Phill Niblock, whose work I had barely known at the time but explored after his passing in 2024. His album 'Boston Tenor Index' changed the way I approached dissonance. It encouraged me to push my sound further, to the edge of a space where I began to feel uncomfortable.”

The album artwork, created by longtime collaborator Marja de Sanctis, features a photograph taken at the Temple of Jupiter Anxur, an archaeological site overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Captured with an iPhone, the image traces the residual presence of construction techniques and architectural forms of the Romans, where material history is transcribed through contemporary tools. The convergence of ancient and modern technology aims to reverberate the site’s lasting spiritual presence – an echo persisting in what is now perceived as a quiet, emptied space. The spiral gestures towards infinity and light. Past and present dissolve into one another, reflecting 'Quiet Pieces' meditation on sound, memory, and time.

RIYL Alessandro Cortini, William Basinski, The Caretaker

The final installment of the GIANT SKY trilogy, Giant Sky III, will be released on October 2nd, 2026, preceded by the single "Fleeting Glimpse", which offers the first taste of the new album. A companion postlude album, The Further We Go The Deeper It Gets, will follow on October 16th, 2026. Together, the two records complete an ambitious body of work that has seen Viken explore a broader and more introspective musical landscape than ever before. "Fleeting Glimpse" provides an evocative introduction to the final chapter of the GIANT SKY trilogy. While Viken"s band Soup has become renowned for its emotionally charged, crescendo-driven soundscapes, GIANT SKY allows him to embrace an even wider palette of influences. Drawing from alternative art rock, post-rock, electronica, ambient music, indie, folk, and progressive rock, the project balances immersive atmospheres with memorable melodies. In an era increasingly dominated by algorithms, artificial intelligence and digital perfection, Viken has consciously taken the opposite path. GIANT SKY is built around the human element of music-making, embracing imperfections and authenticity as artistic strengths. "This album has been with me for a long time. Some of the ideas on Giant Sky III go back many years, and in a way it feels like a cross section of the last 25 years of my life as a composer. We live in a time where music is increasingly shaped by algorithms, AI and endless digital possibilities. I suppose this record is my way of walking upstream a little bit - taking the slower route, trusting the human imperfections, and letting the music find its own shape. It wasn"t a quick album to make, but I"m proud of what it became: ambitious where it needed to be, modest where it should be, and above all, honest." - Erlend Viken

The eponymous debut EP by London-based dreampop duo deary. The six-track release is available on 12" vinyl, CD with five additional bonus tracks/remixes and digitally. Their debut single 'Fairground', which came out at the end of January, was an instant classic. A mix of shoegaze beauty and trip-hop beats, it was amazing to see people falling in love with it in real time as it gained airplay around the world, a remix by Saint Etienne and hit number one on the Official Charts' vinyl singles chart. The EP includes the follow-up, the deliciously dark 'Beauty In All Blue Satin', and third single 'Sleepsong', plus three more tracks. The CD format adds a cover of Pretenders' "2000 Miles", the Saint Etienne "Fairground" remix and three more versions of that track (a.o. Live and Extended).

Die Guitar Gangsters könnte man getrost als die "older statesmen" des britischen Punkrocks bezeichnen, obwohl sie nie Teil der ersten Welle in den späten 70er waren. Gegründet Ende der 80er Jahre von den Brüdern Pete und Phil Ley hat die Band den musikalischen Schmelztiegel ihrer Heimatstadt London von Punk, Glam, Rock 'n' Roll bis Reggae förmlich aufgesogen. Ihr Debütalbum "Prohibition" erschien dann 1988 bei Link Records. Mehr als 35 Jahre und über 1000 Shows später haben die Guitar Gangsters noch mehr als genug Munition und Durchsetzungsvermögen um auf der "Revolution Street" ganz klar den Ton anzugeben! Wer ihr neues Album hört, wird keine Zweifel daran haben. Mit einer unglaublichen Spielfreude, treffsicheren Gespür für mitreißende Powerchord-Melodien, eingängigen Riffs, Hooks und stilsicheren Ausflügen quer durch alle Rockepochen ist "Revolution Street" ihr abwechslungsreichstes Album geworden_bleibt dabei aber immer unverwechselbar "Guitar Gangsters", eng verwurzelt im Punk Rock. Von klassisch, zeitlosen 77er Punk ("Suck it" up" / "Fake"), Pub- und Garagerock ("Without Prejudice"), RocknRoll und Glam bis zu dem einmaligen "80er feeling" in dem Gitarrenpop mit Punk und New Wave verschmolz ("Invisible"). Und mit "Car Crashed Heart" präsentiert die Band ein von den 50er/60er inspirierten Song, bei dem man förmlich "The Wanderers" auf der anderen Straßenseite erwartet. Da verwundert es auch nicht, dass mit "Baby Blue" die 70er und ein verlorener Rock-Klassiker von Badfinger neu zum Leben erweckt werden_.natürlich auf Guitar Gangsters-Art! Es gibt viel zu entdecken auf der "Revolution Street"! Nach knapp 45 Minuten Spielzeit endet in bester "The Clash"-Tradition mit "Warzone" das Album. Mit einer lässig-coolen Eleganz und großartigen Songwriting haben die Gentlemen des Punk Rocks ihr 12-er Magazin abgefeuert. Jede Menge Spaß, Singalongs und eine gute Zeit ist dabei garantiert! Die Revolution muss nicht immer blutig-aggressiv sein und Street credibility hat man halt, oder eben nicht. Klassisch schwarzes oder mehrfarbiges Splatter Vinyl am Start!

Die Guitar Gangsters könnte man getrost als die "older statesmen" des britischen Punkrocks bezeichnen, obwohl sie nie Teil der ersten Welle in den späten 70er waren. Gegründet Ende der 80er Jahre von den Brüdern Pete und Phil Ley hat die Band den musikalischen Schmelztiegel ihrer Heimatstadt London von Punk, Glam, Rock 'n' Roll bis Reggae förmlich aufgesogen. Ihr Debütalbum "Prohibition" erschien dann 1988 bei Link Records. Mehr als 35 Jahre und über 1000 Shows später haben die Guitar Gangsters noch mehr als genug Munition und Durchsetzungsvermögen um auf der "Revolution Street" ganz klar den Ton anzugeben! Wer ihr neues Album hört, wird keine Zweifel daran haben. Mit einer unglaublichen Spielfreude, treffsicheren Gespür für mitreißende Powerchord-Melodien, eingängigen Riffs, Hooks und stilsicheren Ausflügen quer durch alle Rockepochen ist "Revolution Street" ihr abwechslungsreichstes Album geworden_bleibt dabei aber immer unverwechselbar "Guitar Gangsters", eng verwurzelt im Punk Rock. Von klassisch, zeitlosen 77er Punk ("Suck it" up" / "Fake"), Pub- und Garagerock ("Without Prejudice"), RocknRoll und Glam bis zu dem einmaligen "80er feeling" in dem Gitarrenpop mit Punk und New Wave verschmolz ("Invisible"). Und mit "Car Crashed Heart" präsentiert die Band ein von den 50er/60er inspirierten Song, bei dem man förmlich "The Wanderers" auf der anderen Straßenseite erwartet. Da verwundert es auch nicht, dass mit "Baby Blue" die 70er und ein verlorener Rock-Klassiker von Badfinger neu zum Leben erweckt werden_.natürlich auf Guitar Gangsters-Art! Es gibt viel zu entdecken auf der "Revolution Street"! Nach knapp 45 Minuten Spielzeit endet in bester "The Clash"-Tradition mit "Warzone" das Album. Mit einer lässig-coolen Eleganz und großartigen Songwriting haben die Gentlemen des Punk Rocks ihr 12-er Magazin abgefeuert. Jede Menge Spaß, Singalongs und eine gute Zeit ist dabei garantiert! Die Revolution muss nicht immer blutig-aggressiv sein und Street credibility hat man halt, oder eben nicht. Klassisch schwarzes oder mehrfarbiges Splatter Vinyl am Start!

Das Ende einer Ära: Nach mehr als über einem gemeinsamen Jahrzehnt schlagen Kodaline mit ihrem
fünften Album „We Were Only Young“ das finale Kapitel ihrer eindrucksvollen Bandgeschichte auf. Es ist
ihr bisher emotionalstes und persönlichstes Werk, das von Herzen kommt und die harte, aber erfüllende
Reise durch das Leben einfängt, mit einem kontemplativen Blick auf das Erwachsenwerden, die Kraft von
Beziehungen, die Entwicklung und Stärke der Liebe, gepaart mit einem hoffnungsvollen Blick in die Zukunft
und der Zufriedenheit mit dem Abschluss

The final installment of the GIANT SKY trilogy, Giant Sky III, will be released on October 2nd, 2026, preceded by the single "Fleeting Glimpse", which offers the first taste of the new album. A companion postlude album, The Further We Go The Deeper It Gets, will follow on October 16th, 2026. Together, the two records complete an ambitious body of work that has seen Viken explore a broader and more introspective musical landscape than ever before. "Fleeting Glimpse" provides an evocative introduction to the final chapter of the GIANT SKY trilogy. While Viken"s band Soup has become renowned for its emotionally charged, crescendo-driven soundscapes, GIANT SKY allows him to embrace an even wider palette of influences. Drawing from alternative art rock, post-rock, electronica, ambient music, indie, folk, and progressive rock, the project balances immersive atmospheres with memorable melodies. In an era increasingly dominated by algorithms, artificial intelligence and digital perfection, Viken has consciously taken the opposite path. GIANT SKY is built around the human element of music-making, embracing imperfections and authenticity as artistic strengths. "This album has been with me for a long time. Some of the ideas on Giant Sky III go back many years, and in a way it feels like a cross section of the last 25 years of my life as a composer. We live in a time where music is increasingly shaped by algorithms, AI and endless digital possibilities. I suppose this record is my way of walking upstream a little bit - taking the slower route, trusting the human imperfections, and letting the music find its own shape. It wasn"t a quick album to make, but I"m proud of what it became: ambitious where it needed to be, modest where it should be, and above all, honest." - Erlend Viken

Baxter Dury’s eighth album, 'Allbarone', seemed to be done and dusted after release last autumn, yet super-producer Paul Epworth (Adele, U2) decided it was a good idea to work on extensions of five of tracks from the album. Not just extensions - full on electro-disco mixes that take tracks apart from the edges and reorder them into relentless dance floor tools built to perfectly soundtrack the small hours.

Each track finds a groove and takes its journey right through the middle of the original track, to create classic 12" extended remixes, adding a whole load of echoing dub over flickering percussion tracks, madly addictive basslines and gloriously languid disco rhythm tracks. From 'Kubla Khan’s hefty low-end groove to 'Alpha Dog’s deconstructed nightclub dub via 'Schadenfreude’s Eurodisco bass and fizzing hi-hat pulse, Paul Epworth’s phenomenal new mixes lift Baxter’s tracks up to another level.

YARN welcomes René Audiard for its tenth release with "Makes Me Feel", a four-track EP from one of underground electronic music’s most singular voices.

Across years of dub techno, minimal and leftfield electronic experimentation, René has developed an approach to stripped-down music that feels anything but limited. Where minimalism can often become an exercise in taking things away, his work finds possibility in what remains. "Makes Me Feel" is a particularly fitting example: immersive, at times strange, but always full of feeling.

‘Lovin’ opens the EP in familiar Audiard territory: murky low-end, locomotive groove, reduced rhythmic compositions and an understated framework swimming in a pool of detail. 'Possession' lets in more light. Vocal echoes, persistent rhythms and occasional string phrases give it a cinematic quality, while a groove that seems to circle endlessly takes on an almost shamanistic pull. The EP’s 11-minute behemoth, 'Flesh', fills most of the release’s B-side while making a convincing case for patience and sophistication. There are echoes of minimal’s golden age here, but Audiard never mistakes repetition for standing still. Tiny rhythmic fragments sit alongside expansive orchestral gestures, with samples working at every scale of the arrangement. Warmth and cinematic drama run through the track, but it's the playful programming underneath that keeps it moving. 'Night' closes the record on a different note, recalling Audiard’s work with Ali Çakır in Düve. Percussive samples, accordion and Middle Eastern guitar phrases bring a more acoustic character to his reduced 808-infused broken beats, making for a playful, occasionally melancholic ending with a distinctly microtonal feel.

What makes René Audiard’s music so rewarding is how readily you recognize his hand in it. There is a particular grain to the sounds, a way of placing details within a groove, and a willingness to follow an idea wherever it leads. Across “Makes Me Feel”, those instincts give four quite different tracks a shared identity. Even when working within familiar forms, Audiard makes them sound entirely his own. It’s the holy grail of music production: a personal sound signature. And a thoughtful addition to YARN’s growing repertoire of reduced, sophisticated dancefloor music.

Tooloop Records celebrates its tenth release with "Orbis EP", a four-tracker from label affiliate Stab9. The record captures a moment of evolution in both Stab9’s sound and the label’s sonic identity, reflecting a broader vision of the Tooloop universe through expanded arrangements, deeper exploration and a more immersive presentation.

Opening the EP, ‘Source’ establishes its atmosphere through a constantly evolving arrangement, moving through several distinct phases while maintaining a sense of fluid progression. Carefully shifting textures, unexpected bass changes and subtle variations in dynamics reveal new details with each turn. Title track ‘Orbis’ shifts the EP towards warmer tones, built around classic house-inspired sounds, melancholic pads and polyrhythmic bass movement. Its rolling low-end and intricate percussion subtly tilt the track towards techno territory, reflecting the circular motion suggested by the track’s title. ‘Beastro’ gradually ascends through a restrained growling bassline and fractured hi-hats, dropping into an engine-cut moment in the middle of the track - a brief suspension before the groove returns, pulling the track back into motion. ‘True Story’ unfolds through a walking bassline, intricate hi-hats and smeared percussion, creating a sense of movement through a world of morphing textures and atmospheres. Its restrained melody embraces the idea of “less is more”, closing the EP with the bittersweet beauty of mono no aware.

With "Orbis EP", Stab9 presents a deeply personal approach to electronic music, where detailed studio craftsmanship meets the physical energy of the dancefloor - the label completing one full turn, and opening the next.

If you've yet to succumb to the charms of Children of Zeus - and there can't be many out there who haven't - then this "odds and ends" LP offers a neat introduction. Five of the seven tracks have been plucked from the Manchester crew's previous full-length excursions, while the other two - seductively soulful two-step garage reworks of "Vibrations" and "Slow Down" by fellow Manchester resident Zed Bias - have previously been almost impossible to get hold of. Setting aside the club-ready remixes, what "Excess Baggage" proves is that Children of Zeus are one of British music's most essential outfits right now, delivering sensual and life-affirming cuts that brilliantly blend the best aspects of hip-hop, R&B and modern soul.

Norway's Aura Noir was formed in 1993 by Aggressor & Apollyon in pursuit of a more thrash- based form of black metal than much of what was coming out at the time - particularly in their homeland - citing bands such as Slayer, Sodom & Kreator as inspirations along with purveyors of the scene such as Venom, for a dirtier, stripped down, violent black/ thrash metal sound. Their first official release was the 'Dreams Like Deserts' EP on Hot Records, & from there-on the band became a truly cult act, releasing a string of albums among ongoing live performances over the subsequent decades. All members of Aura Noir have had illustrious careers to date, with Carl-Michael Eide (Aggressor) notable for his work in Ved Buens Ende, Dodheimsgard, Virus, & Fleurety, as well as being part of other scene icons such as Ulver & Satyricon in their formative years. Apollyon, currently also seen in Coffin Storm with Darkthrone's Fenriz, previously featured in Dodheimsgard, as well as Lamented Souls & Immortal. Completing the trio is Blasphemer, formerly of fellow Norwegian legends Mayhem, as well as being current mainman in his recently established band, Ruim. Originally released in 2012, 'Out To Die' was the band's fifth full length release, & a continuation of the savage raw & ugly feast offered by its predecessors, containing eight relentless tracks in praise of the old thrash masters & early primal black metal forefathers of the 80's. 'Out To Die' features additional guest lyrics by Dirge Rep (Gehenna/Enslaved), & Fenriz, whilst the fittingly underground cover art was created by the prolific artist, Costin Chioreanu.

The Modern Jazz Quartet had become a jazz institution by the time Pyramid was recorded. Formed out of the rhythm section of the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band (1946 -48), founding of the members The MJQ , pianist Lohn Lewis and vibraphonist Milt Jackson , brought a sophisticated blend of jazz and classical music to audiences around the world. Active from 1952 through to 1997 (with a seven- year break in between), the MJQ's 38- year reign counts as being among the most enduring ensembles in jazz history. Presented here is their classic album Pyramid , featuring three compositions by the quartet's pianist John Lewis (including his hit 'Django), alongside jazz standards by Ellington, Ray Brown ('Pyramid'), and Jim Hall; plus, a unique take on the Nancy Hamiton & Morgan Lewis' popular standard, 'How High The Moon'.




[d] Vendome [Original 1952 Version]



[h] Django (John Lewis) [original 1954 Version]

Across the cosmic boundaries via spiritual exploration and in the void between shimmer and shadow you will find the astral soundscapes of Birds Of Pandaemonium...

Emerging from Brooklyn's late-night music ecosystem, 'Hazy James' Armstrong and Tim Wagner met nearly 20 years ago through the city's DJ and club scene. Each with different but complementary musical backgrounds which included a mix of folk, guitar, DJing, synths, drum machines, country rock, disco, jazz, and rhythm-heavy club music (being just a few!), the duo began various musical endeavours together & "exploring the darkness while pursuing light" which eventually lead to the birth of Birds Of Pandaemonium.

It was only a matter of time that the stars aligned (via an introduction from Shane Watson of Causeway) to bring the Birds onto the musical radar at Sprechen which led to the release of 3 renowned E.Ps and ultimately, their debut album, Eudaemonia. Obscure covers including Idris Muhammed's Loft classic 'Could Heaven Ever Be Like This', the rave defining Born Slippy by Underworld and the post punk/new wave 'On Islands' by New Musik sit alongside original songs shaped by fresh reflections on life, grief, and love with elements of dream pop, shoe-gaze & gothic pop to give wistful and pulse-driven listening experience that is hazy, romantic, and deliberately genre-blurring.

A truly unique listening experience that delivers broad strokes of sunsetting psychedelia and bleary-eyed optimistic, astral dream-pop across all 8 tracks.

Is it balearic? Not really, it's pretty much a genre all on its own (answers on a postcard).

DJ DIE SOON is the apocalyptic alter-ego Daisuke Imamura, whose performances of masked malice have been a fixture in the Berlin underground for the past decade. His latest record My Brothel The Wind takes inspiration from Sun Ra at his most grotesque, conjuring a distorted phantasmagoria with an eclectic crew of compatriots like Rully Shabara, Sara Persico, and longtime collaborator Kiki Hitomi. Film director Hiroo Tanaka’s visual contributions in the album art, poster, and music video complete the album’s narrative, telling a story not of villainy but of phantom caprice in a dying world.
My Brothel The Wind shows DJ DIE SOON as an alchemist of distortion, transmuting the club-forward beats of his 2020 debut Kappa Slap and the seething horrorscapes of DIEMAJIN, his 2022 collaboration with Tokyo vocalist MA. Imamura’s obsession with noise stems from his upbringing in Tokyo, where he grew up hearing the deafening roar of trains every day. “The buildings were really tall, so the sounds reflected so much and it was so loud that you couldn’t even have a conversation on the phone. Hearing this noise every minute when living in this flat, it became a normal thing,” he says. While most would content themselves with avoiding loudness, DJ DIE SOON seeks to unpack its visceral potential.
DJ DIE SOON’s subterranean productions form a monstrous gestalt with the eclectic contributions of his network of co-conspirators. “Unfinished” and “Directions” are pulsating chimeras that highlight animalistic vocalizations from Hitomi and Shabara; Italian MC Franco Franco’s verses snake underneath the noisy onslaught. The tectonic textures of “Dandelion Crackers” are courtesy of multi-instrumentalist Laure Boer’s handmade stone synth. Sara Persico’s mangled vocables hang as fleshy reminders of human fragility on “SAQ4IME”; in the Hiroo Tanaka-directed music video, the track’s sonic uncanniness is made cinematic, with an ambient dread that references Hiroshi Teshigahara’s 1964 psychological thriller Woman in the Dunes.
While Sun Ra’s intergalactic Moog reached for the stars, DJ DIE SOON plunges into the depths of hell. “Everybody, Shake Your Body, We Chill At Party” feels like the sonic equivalent of a wax museum burning to the ground, rigid smiles melting into the fire. Rather than a vision of the future, My Brothel The Wind is a laugh-cry of despair in the face of a Hadean present. DJ DIE SOON confronts the world with a new hand-made mask, reborn in the ashes.

Dead Poet Society haben mit ihrem aufsehenerregenden Debütalbum „-!-“ (ausgesprochen „The Exclamation Album“) aus dem Jahr 2021 und ihrem ebenso gefeierten zweiten Album „FISSION“ aus dem Jahr 2024 – beide erschienen bei Spinefarm – die Aufmerksamkeit der Rockwelt auf sich gezogen (und gehalten). Die Band verzeichnet weltweit insgesamt 200 Millionen Streams, mehrere Top-10-Radio-Singles und Platzierungen in wichtigen Playlists und trat bereits auf großen Festivals rund um den Globus auf, darunter „Welcome to Rockville“, „Sonic Temple“, „Graspop“, „Reading and Leeds“ und „2000Trees“. Dead Poet Society tourten bereits mit Alt-Rock-Größen wie Badflower, Biffy Clyro und Highly Suspect sowie weiteren Künstlern. Die Band hat sich endgültig als intensiver Live-Act etabliert, den man nicht verpassen sollte, und erhielt Lob von Medien wie der „New York Post“, „Riff“, „Rock Sound“, „American Songwriter“, „New Noise“ und „Guitar World“. Mit ihrem unverwechselbaren Sound beschreiten sie ihren ganz eigenen Weg – und genau so gefällt es ihnen.

Ltd Edition! Pat Todd & the Rankoutsiders — hervorgegangen aus der Asche der legendären Lazy Cowgirls und angeführt von einem Frontmann, dessen Name seit Jahrzehnten für das raue Herz der amerikanischen Underground-Musik steht — melden sich mit ihrem neunten Album „I’ll Dream Alone“ zurück. Zwölf Songs voller lauter Gitarren, schnörkelloser Storytelling-Tradition und der bekannten Mischung aus knurrendem 70er-Jahre-Punk, Country, Blues und klassischem Rock, die die Band seit den Lazy-Cowgirls-Tagen zum Maßstab für Authentizität in der amerikanischen Rock’n’Roll-Szene gemacht hat. Aufgenommen und produziert von Gavin Ross in den Steady Studios, Burbank, CA — demselben Studio wie die letzten beiden Alben. Pat Todd hat die Songs so geschrieben oder mitgeschrieben, wie es bei den Rankoutsiders Tradition ist — manche jahrelang live erprobt, bevor sie endlich aufgenommen wurden („Ambition Street“), andere direkt im Studio entstanden, mit Texten, die erst zum Schluss dazukamen („We’re Outta Time“, „The World It Don’t Need You“ und der Titeltrack „I’ll Dream Alone“ selbst). Das Album reicht von der an Velvet Undergrounds „Loaded“ erinnernden Ballade „Mediocre Heart“ über den treibenden Soul-Beat von „Beyond the County Line“ bis zum Update eines 60er-AM-Radio-Rockers in „The Last Of Me“. Gitarrist Nick Alexander übernimmt bei „It Ain’t All My Fault“ – nach wahren Begebenheiten – ausnahmsweise den Leadgesang, unterstützt von Stephen Vigh, Kevin Keller und Pat Todd. Den Auftakt macht die erste Single „Desire Has Left Town“, gefolgt von „We’re Outta Time“ als zweiter Single und „Blood & Gunpowder“ am Release-Tag. Die Band unterstützt die Veröffentlichung mit einer Europa-Tournee vom 9. Oktober bis 8. November 2026 und bringt „I’ll Dream Alone“ direkt ab Release quer über den Kontinent auf die Bühne.

XKatedral ist stolz darauf, ein neues Album in voller Länge von Label-Mitbegründerin Maria W. Horn zu präsentieren. ,Melting Pillars of Snow" ist eine Sammlung neuer Kompositionen der renommierten schwedischen Komponistin, geschrieben für Kontrabassblockflöte, Sho, Percussion, E-Gitarre, Gesang und Elektronik, gespielt von Horn zusammen mit einem Kammerensemble bestehend aus Anna Petrini, Mattias Hallsten, Magdalena Meitzner und Mats Erlandsson. Das Album enthält außerdem eine Erzählung von Horn sowie einen Gastauftritt von Michael Gira auf der ersten Single ,Scythe of Saturn". Für ,Melting Pillars of Snow" ließ sich Maria von W. G. Sebalds Roman ,Die Ringe des Saturn" inspirieren, einer poetischen Reflexion, die einem namenlosen Erzähler folgt, der an der Küste von Suffolk in England umherwandert. Während sich die Landschaft allmählich verändert, thematisiert der Text auf vielfältige Weise den Lauf der Zeit und die Distanz zwischen Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft und spiegelt dabei sowohl weitreichende zeitliche Maßstäbe wie die Zyklen der Jahreszeiten und die tiefe historische Zeit als auch mikroskopisch kleine Momente und Fragmente wider. Mit den Kompositionen auf dieser Veröffentlichung beschwört Maria ein ähnliches Gefühl der Stille herauf - eine Umgebung, in der die Bewegung der Zeit selbst beleuchtet und beobachtet werden kann. Das Instrumentarium auf diesem Album ist Horns bislang ambitioniertestes: Sie ergänzt ihre gewohnte Palette aus maßgeschneiderter algorithmischer Synthese und elektronischer Bearbeitung um eine komplexe Auswahl an Perkussionsinstrumenten, Blasinstrumente, die an beiden Enden des musikalischen Spektrums spielen, sowie E-Gitarre, um so einen spiralförmigen, spektralen Klangteppich durch den gesamten Frequenzbereich zu weben. Die Perkussionistin Magdalena Meizner spielt spezielle Techniken auf dem Obertondreieck, dem Dubachi, den Pauken und dem Tam-Tam sowie auf gestimmten Weingläsern und gestrichenen Crotales. Die von Anna Petrini gespielte tieftönige Kontrabassblockflöte und das von Mattias Hallsten gespielte hochfrequente Sho fügen kontrastierende Akkordarrangements hinzu, die in strengen metrischen Strukturen eingebettet sind. Das Ensemble wird durch Mats Erlandsson vervollständigt, der auf E- und Akustikgitarren spielt und dabei von sanften Arpeggio-Figuren zu düsteren Drones und Feedback-Heulern wechselt.

Dire Straits' arresting self-titled debut arrived in the midst of punk's reign but couldn't have been further removed from the era's slash-and-burn style. Recorded in West London in February 1978, the band's tasteful, jazz-inflected set embraces folk, blues, and pub rock while also tracing a direct line back to the beat-oriented sound of early rock n' roll. Country and roots accents further distinguish the British quartet's stripped-down music from any 1970s peers, as does the transparent production, which has remained revered among audiophiles the world over – and which has never been better than on this meticulous pressing.

Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity's 180g 45RPM 2LP version of Dire Straits features natural tonalities, superb balances, you-are-there imaging, deep-black backgrounds, and pristine clarity. Even if you've heard this album hundreds of times before, you've never experienced it with such lifelike sonics and premium richness. This numbered-edition collector's set immerses you within the smoky, laidback atmospherics of every song. This is how all vinyl should sound.

Crucial to every arrangement, Mark Knopfler's winding guitar lines emerge with supreme transparency and multi-hued textural detail. His intricate playing comes across as if it's being transmitted via his 60s-era Fender Vibrolux amplifier placed right before you. The cleanliness, dimensions, and live feel are that good. His bandmates, too, benefit from the extra groove space afforded by this 45RPM edition. Rhythms skate and swirl; percussive effects resonate with crispness and attack; the leading edges of notes naturally decay.

Dire Straits' strong, well-edited batch of original material further enhances the overall enjoyment and makes the record one whose pleasures go far beyond the organic sonics. Just as Knopfler's narratives pour forth with poetic and surrealist texts, the musical settings – an intoxicating combination of easygoing shuffles, back-hall boogies, and pop-honed ballads – mirror the old-fashioned soulfulness inherent in the classic recordings of the late 50s and early 60s. The lyrics are equally captivating.

Drawing from his time as a youth in Newcastle, Leeds, and London, Knopfler invests tunes with an autobiographical slant and emotional connectivity that become obvious the moment he opens his mouth to sing. "Down to the Waterline," "Wild West End," and "Lions" all feature colloquial touches that add to their reach. By extension, "In the Gallery" functions as a tribute to Leeds sculptor Harry Phillips (father of future Knoplfer collaborator, Steve Phillips) while the record's breakout smash, "Sultans of Swing," pays homage to struggling bar bands.


Through it all, Dire Straits performs with a subtle cool and clever poise that no band ever matched. Just how good is the chemistry? Bob Dylan heard the quartet and invited Knopfler and drummer Pick Withers to play on Slow Train Coming. But even Dylan himself didn't hear Dire Straits sound this magnetic back in its original heyday. Now, everyone can.

“Danny Elfman’s musical score was to die for, and
it was incorporated into ‘Wednesday’’s joyfully
bleak coming-of-age story so brilliantly.” -

 Double LP on Purple Goth with Smoky Shadow
vinyl, with full colour gatefold sleeve and inner
sleeves.
 Composed by four-time Oscar nominee, two-time
Emmy winner Danny Elfman (‘Milk’, ‘Big Fish’,
‘Men in Black’, ‘Good Will Hunting’, ‘Live from
Lincoln Center’, ‘Desperate Housewives’, ‘The
Simpsons’) and three-time Emmy nominee Chris
Bacon (‘The Tick’, ‘Bates Motel’, ‘Smash’,
‘Gnomeo & Juliet’, ‘Sherlock Gnomes’,
‘Immanence’).
 Elfman also composed music for Tim Burton’s
‘Beetlejuice’, ‘Batman and Batman Returns’, ‘The
Nightmare Before Christmas’, ‘Mars Attacks!’, ‘Big
Fish’ (for which Elfman earned one of his four
career Oscar nods) and ‘Alice in Wonderland’,
among others.
 Chris Bacon is a protege of the great James
Newton Howard, and won an HMMA for ‘Gnomeo
& Juliet’, which he shared with James and Bernie
Taupin (Elton John).
 Online - Promoted through all Lakeshore Records social
media.

"Surface Noise Isn’t A Crime" continues NOREPRESS’ exploration of texture, pressure, and imperfect sound as core elements of underground electronic music. Across four tracks, the release moves through Deep Tech House, Dub Techno, Electro, and Breakbeat without settling into fixed genre boundaries, balancing functionality with experimentation throughout.

A1. Tvardovsky feat. Andrey Zverev – Flute Meditation opens the record with a dense, slowly unfolding trip built on dub space, electro tension, and hypnotic Tech House movement. Organic flute phrases drift through layered percussion, evolving bass pressure, and spacious analog textures, creating a strange collision of futurism and nostalgia. The track resists obvious peak-time formulas, choosing gradual transformation over immediate impact and rewarding deeper immersion with every transition.

A2. Osman Öz – Regrets moves into softer territory without losing rhythmic weight. Warm breakbeat structures, airy melodic fragments, and fluid low-end movement give the track a calm but persistent momentum. Osman Öz keeps the arrangement restrained and precise, allowing groove and atmosphere to carry the emotional core of the composition naturally.

On the B-side, Kirill Matveev appears under his Natural Piece Of Aloe alias with two contrasting interpretations of the project’s dub-informed language.

B1. Salto Mortale is playful, unstable, and constantly mutating. Rhythms stretch and reorganize themselves around shifting tonal fragments, while the arrangement moves with the loose unpredictability of an improvisation session. Despite its complexity, the track never loses control, maintaining a strong forward pull through every unexpected turn.

Closing the record, B2. Columbo Beat, Kirill Matveev - Sundub pushes deeper into darker territory. Acid sequences slice through heavy dub atmospheres while rugged drums and saturated low-end pressure drive the track forward with raw physical energy. Distortion, space, and movement interact continuously, turning the track into a hypnotic late-night tool designed for more adventurous dancefloors.

"Surface Noise Isn’t A Crime" captures NOREPRESS at its most confident: raw textures, deep space, broken edges, and timeless club influences reconstructed into a modern dub-driven framework.

NOREPRESS is a division of MixCult Records