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Deaf Center travel through quiet pathways and grand boulevards in their fourth studio album “Through Time”.

Since their last full-length LP, “Low Distance” (2019), the duo has gradually shifted towards a more long-form electroacoustic sound which perhaps makes for their most immersive listening experience so far. Otto A Totland’s piano travels in less frequent rhythms than before, yet is felt even more as a relief in the quieter moments that contrast with Erik K Skodvin’s deep atmospheric worlds. There’s a searching quality within the record which feels like slow movements on the way towards something meaningful, capturing a sense of both peace and awe.

The latter part of the album takes a different turn: fluctuating electronic rhythms over deep strings create an ecstatic yet haunting duality. It is the first time a guest musician appears on a Deaf Center record: British composer and musician Simon Goff joins with violin and viola in the finale, “Further”, a hypnotising piece submerged in layers of strings and drones.

The subject of time is an ambitious one, yet Deaf Center manage to balance the humble with the grand in great warmth as seconds become minutes, hours become days and time seemingly freezes as a still-life moment.

The new album by Mecánica Clásica, Una Teoría del Ritmo, unfolds across nine tracks as an intimate and organic rhythmic landscape. Rhythm is not something to be counted or measured, it's an odd power that shapes life and nature. Embracing rhythm is a wild experience rather than a technical concept.

The album emphasizes its strong subjectivity: rhythm exists deep within the self and at the core of perceived phenomena and listening itself transforms that kaleidoscopic perception.

Moving against cold conceptualism, Una Teoría del Ritmo embraces a truly warm and intense space, seeking a path where listeners can feel a special energy through hypnotic, melodic and percussive sound waves in a cosmic and naturalistic way.

Respect The Craft returns with its sixth release, featuring Chicago House mainstay DJ Sneak and a rework from Tripmastaz. The record unites facets of Sneak’s style, shifting between raw house and acid experimentation yet remaining grounded in a direct, club-focused approach.

“Future” sets a tougher tone than typical for Sneak, anchored by driving drums, sharp 303 lines, and tribal-leaning percussion that fuel the track's momentum. On “No Reasons”, energy eases into a deeper house swing, with soulful vocal snippets atop a slower groove and acid accents adding subtle tension.
On the flip, “La Clave Boricua” stands out with looping Puerto Rican vocals, dense percussion and a rolling structure proven effective in larger rooms throughout Tripmastaz’s sets over the past 3 years. Tripmastaz’s “Spectral Pressure Dub” distils the original track, emphasising its funky bass and vocals, using subtle pads to expand the space over time.

With Future EP, Respect The Craft expands its catalogue with a release that strikes a balance between character and utility, bringing together established voices in a format that remains focused, effective, and built for the club.

The classic Fearless Iranians From Hell Die For Allah LP is now back in print after a twenty-five year hiatus. Remastered and repressed on nuclear green vinyl, this hardcore punk arsenal also includes all tracks from their literally explosive Blow Up The Embassy 7-inch debut. FIFH was a mysterious Texan monstrosity formed in 1983 by Iranian expat (and modern day hashashin) Amir Mamori, who gathered to his side various mutants and apocalyptic freaks from the San Antonio punk rock blast zone, even throwing in two Butthole Surfers rejects for good measure (including none other than the notorious Anus Presley himself). The subsequent recording sessions were a chaotic affair, as guitars were rarely in tune and the drums were seemingly scavenged from the trash. It was all directed by Amir who, with fanatical focus, would inspire the band on to victory from behind a stupifying cloud of hash smoke. The resulting releases were widely praised; from places like Maximum Rock n Roll and the Village Voice in the US, to Sounds and New Musical Express in the UK. They were even cited as forerunners of the musical genre known as Taqwacore. After touring the US in the late ’80s—and leaving in their wake crowd turbulence, police intimidation, and even bounties being place on the heads of the members—the band disbanded in 1989 upon the death of the Ayatollah Khomeini (may Allah have mercy on him). “We’re stoned as shit, and we’re ready to roll.” - F.I.F.H. ’87

Mukatsuku is back with the second instalment of this series with four more ambient techno transmissions from Japan . These Virgo cuts were made between 1996 and 200 and released on a limited CD only release from Form@ Records but as yet never seen light of day on vinyl. The rhythms are supple and lithe, with painterly synths swirling around up top next to deft cosmic flourishes. It's deep but uplifting, heady but propulsive music for body and soul. 'New Era' captures the optimistic spirit of its title, 'Metasequoia' is a slower, more horizontal dub, 'The Art Roots' is pure suspensory bliss and 'Time Graphics' is a delightfully delicate and light blend of melody and rubbery rhythm.

With Coalescence, The Third Room brings together artists from distinct yet interconnected techno lineages, united by a shared understanding of the music as both physical and introspective. Rather than staging contrasts, the EP focuses on convergence, where propulsion, atmosphere and restraint fold into a coherent whole. Rene Wise & Ignez open the release with Anjos, pairing Wise's tactile, percussive pressure with Ignez's expansive, oceanic pads. The result sits at the intersection of functional drive and elevated, almost devotional space, reflecting a new generation's approach to techno as both tool and inner landscape. Norbak's remix draws the track further inward, deepening its hypnotic pull and extending its energy into a more meditative, slow-burning form. On the B-side, Claudio PRC & Luigi Tozzi present Onirica, a deeply restrained and immersive composition rooted in atmosphere, spatial detail and subtle psychedelia. Unfolding with patience, it rewards attentive listening and long-form dancefloor contexts. Markus Suckut closes the EP by reducing Onirica to its bare essentials, applying his signature economy and precision to heighten tension and focus. Coalescence reflects The Third Room's vision of techno as a shared terrain, where different voices and generations meet, align and quietly reinforce one another.

Unreleased tracks not available until release date.

Trick Dice is the 2015 collaborative album from Richmond, Virginia rapper Nickelus F and producer Shawn Kemp AKA Lil Ugly Mane, widely regarded as one of the most enduring and understated releases of its era. The album captured a specific moment in underground hip-hop—unpolished, regional, and uncompromising—earning long-term respect from listeners, artists, and tastemakers alike. Over the last decade, Trick Dice has continued to circulate through word of mouth, remaining a reference point for fans of stripped-down, writer-focused rap.

This 10-year anniversary reissue presents Trick Dice in its most complete form to date. The standard edition is expanded into a double LP vinyl release and includes eight previously unreleased tracks recorded during the original sessions. The project has been newly prepared for vinyl to ensure fidelity and balance across the expanded track list.

- Nickelus F is a respected underground hip-hop artist with a decade-plus catalog and long-term credibility among tastemakers and peers

- Trick Dice is a collaborative album with producer Shawn Kemp AKA Lil Ugly Mane, marking a milestone project. It is a cult-favorite release with sustained organic demand.

- Expanded 2×LP vinyl edition including 8 previously unreleased tracks from the original recording era

- Bonus tracks curated and finalized specifically for this reissue

- Strong appeal to collectors and underground hip-hop audiences

Fresh from releasing projects on Method 808 and Future Classic, landing a huge collaboration with Chloé Caillet, and delivering an official remix for Fatboy Slim, PPJ are entering a new chapter in full force. Their expansive take on global street sounds, ranging from neoperreo to Miami bass, gets a cool re-coating.

Led by the magnetic vocalist Páula, with production from Povoa (individually supported by Four Tet, Ben UFO, and Barry Can't Swim, with recent releases on Live From Earth), the duo operates in maximalist mode: playful, sensual, and slightly unhinged.PPJ’s new era, JOKER, embraces a figure that appears everywhere from card decks to carnival culture as a symbol that mirrors their own DNA: funny, eerie, seductive, unpredictable. The EP leans further into club territory, but rather than polishing their edges, PPJ amplify them.

At the emotional core of the record sits “Coeur,” co-produced with Chloé Caillet. It begins with an MPB-tinged foundation flirting with bossa nova. It’s unmistakably Brazilian, bathed in sunset hues before being sped up and twisted into a dance-floor-ready electronic form. The groove shimmers with tension: warm percussion, elastic basslines, and Páula’s voice hovering between intimacy and tease. It feels like a remix of itself, romantic, but slightly untrustworthy.

If “Coeur” glows, “To Nem Ai” is a slow burner. A very deep and downtempo house cut, it unfolds slowly, almost luxuriously, guided by sensual vocals that feel whispered directly into the ear of the listener. A hypnotizing piano sample that feels like a late-night confession. It’s the kind of record that transforms a dancefloor into something tactile.

Elsewhere, “Me Pega” is a high-energy reinterpretation of the tech-house sounds from Santa Catarina, one of southern Brazil’s most feverish party states, twisted and accelerated for ferocious impact. Drawing direct inspiration from Sarro, a raw and vibrant Brazilian street dance, the track captures physical intensity in its purest form: sweat, bass pressure, collective release.

Its counterpart, “Tem Carnaval” channels Páula’s vivid storytelling into a thunderous ode to Rio’s carnival spirit, euphoric, chaotic, cinematic landed just in time for this year’s celebrations.

On “Sexy Doce,” rugged electroclash melodies collide with unexpected references. “It was inspired by Budots, which is dance music from the streets in the Philippines,” Povoa explains. “Then we mixed it with Páula’s Brazilian vocals. Baile funk is similarly from the streets, so there is a connection.” The result is raw yet futuristic, a cross-continental flirtation that feels both underground and explosive.

With this new EP, PPJ make music like they’re tuning into a dozen pirate frequencies at once. Pirate radio from Rio to Berlin to Manila intercepting fragments of street culture, sensuality, and chaos, and stitching them into something deliriously cohesive.
JOKER doesn’t just nod to club culture. It challenges it, twists expectation and leaves a lasting impression.

Between elegant and dark electronic beats and cosmic ambient breaths, seven tracks enveloped in the voice of a multi-talented artist, dedicated to deconstructing the song form and breaking down language to create an esoteric sonic world where the archaic, contemporary, and futuristic entwine like the gravitational dance of two galaxies about to merge. Born in 1992 in Gallura, with a jazz background that allows for absolute compositional freedom, Daniela Pes is a unique personality in today"s scene. Her distinctive features include the use of voice as an instrument and textual exploration: in Spira, the Sardinian artist sings in a language that does not (yet) exist. Ancient Gallurese words, fragments of Italian terms, entirely invented words form the organic molecules of an unprecedented language where verses are free from metrics, and words are not conveyors of a concept but pure sound, like beads of an articulated phonetic rosary, inaccessible rationally but intoxicating emotionally. Spira is an album of visionary music interpreting the sonic dramaturgy as utopia.

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present DEMON SPELL’s highly anticipated debut album, Blessed Be the Dark, on CD and vinyl LP formats. After the cursed EP Evil Nights in 2024, the coven of DEMON SPELL returns, unleashing a vision of dark, occult heavy metal born from dust, bone, and shadow. Appropriately titled Blessed Be the Dark, the Italians’ debut album is a descent into ritual fire and ancient doom, where the echoes of the grave sing once more. This is music for disciples of the timeless art of darkness.

With Blessed Be the Dark, DEMON SPELL deepen their devotion to a shadowed form of heavy metal rooted in the classic tradition yet veiled in occult and arcane tones, all performance with a provocative theatrical presence. Wholly untouched by modernity, their sound draws from the primordial essence of early heavy metal; one can imagine the cutoff year at 1985, or perhaps earlier. The record presents a more mature and refined vision of the band’s sound as first displayed on the quick-hitting Evil Nights, here exploring darker, more occult atmospheres while also offering raw, energetic passages that bring moments of levity and drive. Listening to DEMON SPELL in full-length form feels like entering an endless Sabbath, where past and present dissolve and the flame never dies. Blessed Be the Dark stands as a testament to heavy metal as ceremony—timeless, solemn, and possessed by the Spirit of the Night.

- 2026 repress / hot foil printed sleeve -

Limited Edition: Box with holographic hot foil logo print and five printed inner sleeves - No Repress

SHDW's label, Mutual Rytm hits a notable milestone at the start of 2024 as it turns two years old and hits its 20th release. To mark the occasion, the carefully curated compilation 'Federation Of Rytm III' arrives on February 2nd with a 30-track 5 x 12" boxset vinyl release and a further 6 digital bonus tracks.

Mutual Rytm is synonymous with serious, no-frills techno. It is a go-to for the world's most influential DJs and a home to some of the scene's most innovative producers. Over the last two years, it has explored several shades of sound, always with high-quality production and forward-thinking styles. A fine balance has always been struck between new and emerging talents and established names with plenty more to say, and that is the case on this collection which features the legendary likes of Blawan, Gary Beck, Colin Benders, The Advent and Dax J next to ANNE, Alarico, JakoJako, Chlar, LDS and many more.

Founder SHDW says, "I've poured my heart into curating a compilation of 36 tracks, a reflection of my deepest musical passions. The lineup is stacked with incredible artists, and it captures the label's essence - a fusion of artists spanning generations, united by a shared spirit and aesthetic, creating a seamless 'mutual rhythm'."

Although all 36 tracks stand alone as high-grade and club-ready dynamite, they also collectively form a versatile listening experience thanks to how they've been carefully assembled into a perfectly sequenced journey.

Each one dives into a different nuance within the world of techno and there is a range of moods from dark and driving to more energising and uplifting. The collection not only shows how far Mutual Rytm has come in a short space of time but also that it remains in a constant state of evolution and has a bright future ahead in 2024 and beyond.

SHDW's vision at Mutual Rytm was always to present a cohesive yet varied musical experience, and Federation Of Rytm III does exactly that.

Mystic Force was a progressive power metal band from Baltimore, Maryland. After releasing several demo tapes, they signed a contract with the German label Rising Sun Productions. This resulted in two albums, “The Eternal Quest” (1993) and “A Step Beyond” (1995). Their third album, “Man Vs. Machine,” followed in 2001 on Siegen Records. After Mystic Force broke up, drummer Chris Lembach and guitarist Rich Davis formed the group Shift and recorded two albums with them. Rich then started his own solo project (for which he played all the instruments and sang), before looking for suitable fellow musicians again and releasing the CD “Inside The Upside Down” in 2024. Mystic Force was originally formed in 1984 by guitarists Rich Davis and Marc Rouchard together with bassist Keith Menser. After numerous line-up changes in the early days, they finally found suitable bandmates in Chris Lembach (drums) and Bobby Hicks (vocals). In 1987, Mystic Force released their first 4-song demo, followed by “Blind Vision” a year later. After selling large quantities of self-produced cassettes (the first 4-track demo is said to have sold over 5,000 copies), it was time for their first vinyl release. In 1990, the album “Take Command” was released on the English label C.M.F.T. Records, which included the first demo and four brand new tracks: “Take Command,” “Awakened By The Dawn,” “Immortal Souls,” and “Silent But Deadly.” Later that year, the 12“ single ”Shipwrecked With The Wicked“/”Eternal Quest" was released in a limited and numbered edition by the band's own company, Pro-duction. The widespread distribution of Mystic Force's material (also via underground distributors such as Oliver Jung's “Demolition”) led to an increasing number of labels taking an interest in the band. Ultimately, the choice fell on Rising Sun Productions, who released the debut album “The Eternal Quest” in 1993, featuring tracks such as “Shipwrecked With The Wicked,” “Another World,” and “Answers Of The Mystery”—a forgotten gem of progressive power metal somewhere between Fates Warning and Hades.

Black w/ Orange Splatter Vinyl. VALVE Videospiele und IPECAC RECORDINGS pflegen eine Partnerschaft, die fast 15 Jahre zurückreicht, als wir die PORTAL 2-Soundtracks veröffentlichten. Seitdem wurden einige der bedeutendsten Videospiel-Soundtracks veröffentlicht, darunter TEAM FORTRESS 2, DOTA 2 und die gesamte HALF-LIFE-Reihe. Diese gehören zu den meistverkauften physischen und digitalen Veröffentlichungen des Labels Ipecac. HALF-LIFE: ALYX wurde ursprünglich digital als Serie von 11 Kapiteln von 2020 bis 2022 veröffentlicht, und die physische Veröffentlichung vereint diese in zwei verschiedenen Formaten: 4CD-Falt-Digipak mit allen 72 Songs der Serie 2LP Gatefold 180gr Vinyl mit 21 vom Komponisten ausgewählten Songs sowie einer Download-Karte mit allen 72 Songs. Es gibt ein anderes Cover als bei der CD sowie ein 24x36-Faltposter. Die Standardvariante ist schwarz mit orangefarbenen Sprenkeln und die Indie Store-Variante ist orange mit schwarzen Sprenkeln.

Orange w/ Black Splatter Indie Exclusive. VALVE Videospiele und IPECAC RECORDINGS pflegen eine Partnerschaft, die fast 15 Jahre zurückreicht, als wir die PORTAL 2-Soundtracks veröffentlichten. Seitdem wurden einige der bedeutendsten Videospiel-Soundtracks veröffentlicht, darunter TEAM FORTRESS 2, DOTA 2 und die gesamte HALF-LIFE-Reihe. Diese gehören zu den meistverkauften physischen und digitalen Veröffentlichungen des Labels Ipecac. HALF-LIFE: ALYX wurde ursprünglich digital als Serie von 11 Kapiteln von 2020 bis 2022 veröffentlicht, und die physische Veröffentlichung vereint diese in zwei verschiedenen Formaten: 4CD-Falt-Digipak mit allen 72 Songs der Serie 2LP Gatefold 180gr Vinyl mit 21 vom Komponisten ausgewählten Songs sowie einer Download-Karte mit allen 72 Songs. Es gibt ein anderes Cover als bei der CD sowie ein 24x36-Faltposter. Die Standardvariante ist schwarz mit orangefarbenen Sprenkeln und die Indie Store-Variante ist orange mit schwarzen Sprenkeln.

Jeder Künstler muss seine eigene Stimme finden. Gia Margaret fand sich selbst erst, als sie ihre Stimme verlor. Aufgrund einer Stimmbandverletzung, die sie jahrelang am Singen hinderte, entwickelte sie andere musikalische Ausdrucksformen und meisterte die Grammatik einer komplexen, heimeligen Form der Ambient-Musik, die von Ernest Hood begründet und von The Books perfektioniert wurde. Angeführt von sanften Klaviermelodien, die wie Atem auf Glas hauchen, jetzt, da ihre physische Stimme geheilt und ihre künstlerische Stimme geschliffen ist, schließt sich der Kreis mit Singing, ihrem ersten Gesangsalbum seit There's Always Glimmer aus dem Jahr 2018. Die Musik auf Singing zeugt von derselben Sensibilität für Details, die sie in ihrer Stille entwickelt hat. ,Es gab eine Zeit, in der ich wirklich nicht wusste, ob ich jemals wieder singen würde. Als ich dann geheilt war, stand ich unter großem innerem Druck, stark zurückzukommen", sagt Margaret. ,Ich wusste nicht mehr, wer ich war. Es fühlte sich an, als würde ich neu anfangen und mich wieder mit diesen sehr alten, alten Teilen meiner selbst verbinden." Dieses Gefühl der Vermischung von Entfremdung und Wiederentdeckung ist auf dem gesamten Album spürbar. Im Opener ,Everyone Around Me Dancing" beobachtet sie eine Party von den Seitenlinien aus und ist sich bewusst, wie ihr Körper sie von gemeinschaftlicher Freude abhält, ihr aber gleichzeitig neue Wege der Selbsterkenntnis eröffnet. Ausgeschlossen von der Szene ist sie ,näher am Boden, am Planeten". In ,Alive Inside" ist sie so weit entfernt von der Quelle, dass sie zu jedem betet, der sie hören könnte (,ein Gott, ein verstorbener Freund, ein Geist"). Wenn ihre Stimme anschwillt, scheint sie in einem Netz aus Verzerrungen gefangen zu sein; es ist, als würde sie in ihrem Streben die Grenzen des Sagbaren ausloten. Der Entstehungsprozess von ,Singing" war ein Prozess des Lernens, jedem dieser Gefühle zu vertrauen. Das Album wurde teilweise in London mit Guy Sigsworth von Frou Frou aufgenommen, der Margaret dabei half, die Vielzahl ihrer Ideen für ,Good Friend" zu vereinen, einem Highlight des Albums, das unter anderem gregorianische Gesänge von ILA und Turntable-Scratches enthält . David Bazan und Amy Millan sind ebenfalls zu hören, ebenso wie Kurt Vile und Sean Carey, während Margarets langjähriger Kollaborateur Doug Saltzman einen Großteil des Albums spielt und co-produziert. Deb Talan, ehemals Mitglied von The Weepies, steuert ihre Stimme, ihr Klavier und ihre Gitarre zum abschließenden und definitiven Statement des Albums ,E-Motion" bei. Gia Margaret singt stets. Jede Note dieses Albums singt ein warmes Requiem für ihr vergangenes Ich; jede Ebene singt ihr zukünftiges Ich ins Leben. Auf dem gesamten Album wendet sie die Lektionen der Sprachlosigkeit an - die quasi-rationalen Wege, auf denen wir kommunizieren, ohne zu kommunizieren, die Art und Weise, wie formlose Klänge wie ein Skalpell zum Kern der Dinge vordringen können - auf ihre eigene künstlerische Stimme.

Jeder Künstler muss seine eigene Stimme finden. Gia Margaret fand sich selbst erst, als sie ihre Stimme verlor. Aufgrund einer Stimmbandverletzung, die sie jahrelang am Singen hinderte, entwickelte sie andere musikalische Ausdrucksformen und meisterte die Grammatik einer komplexen, heimeligen Form der Ambient-Musik, die von Ernest Hood begründet und von The Books perfektioniert wurde. Angeführt von sanften Klaviermelodien, die wie Atem auf Glas hauchen, jetzt, da ihre physische Stimme geheilt und ihre künstlerische Stimme geschliffen ist, schließt sich der Kreis mit Singing, ihrem ersten Gesangsalbum seit There's Always Glimmer aus dem Jahr 2018. Die Musik auf Singing zeugt von derselben Sensibilität für Details, die sie in ihrer Stille entwickelt hat. ,Es gab eine Zeit, in der ich wirklich nicht wusste, ob ich jemals wieder singen würde. Als ich dann geheilt war, stand ich unter großem innerem Druck, stark zurückzukommen", sagt Margaret. ,Ich wusste nicht mehr, wer ich war. Es fühlte sich an, als würde ich neu anfangen und mich wieder mit diesen sehr alten, alten Teilen meiner selbst verbinden." Dieses Gefühl der Vermischung von Entfremdung und Wiederentdeckung ist auf dem gesamten Album spürbar. Im Opener ,Everyone Around Me Dancing" beobachtet sie eine Party von den Seitenlinien aus und ist sich bewusst, wie ihr Körper sie von gemeinschaftlicher Freude abhält, ihr aber gleichzeitig neue Wege der Selbsterkenntnis eröffnet. Ausgeschlossen von der Szene ist sie ,näher am Boden, am Planeten". In ,Alive Inside" ist sie so weit entfernt von der Quelle, dass sie zu jedem betet, der sie hören könnte (,ein Gott, ein verstorbener Freund, ein Geist"). Wenn ihre Stimme anschwillt, scheint sie in einem Netz aus Verzerrungen gefangen zu sein; es ist, als würde sie in ihrem Streben die Grenzen des Sagbaren ausloten. Der Entstehungsprozess von ,Singing" war ein Prozess des Lernens, jedem dieser Gefühle zu vertrauen. Das Album wurde teilweise in London mit Guy Sigsworth von Frou Frou aufgenommen, der Margaret dabei half, die Vielzahl ihrer Ideen für ,Good Friend" zu vereinen, einem Highlight des Albums, das unter anderem gregorianische Gesänge von ILA und Turntable-Scratches enthält . David Bazan und Amy Millan sind ebenfalls zu hören, ebenso wie Kurt Vile und Sean Carey, während Margarets langjähriger Kollaborateur Doug Saltzman einen Großteil des Albums spielt und co-produziert. Deb Talan, ehemals Mitglied von The Weepies, steuert ihre Stimme, ihr Klavier und ihre Gitarre zum abschließenden und definitiven Statement des Albums ,E-Motion" bei. Gia Margaret singt stets. Jede Note dieses Albums singt ein warmes Requiem für ihr vergangenes Ich; jede Ebene singt ihr zukünftiges Ich ins Leben. Auf dem gesamten Album wendet sie die Lektionen der Sprachlosigkeit an - die quasi-rationalen Wege, auf denen wir kommunizieren, ohne zu kommunizieren, die Art und Weise, wie formlose Klänge wie ein Skalpell zum Kern der Dinge vordringen können - auf ihre eigene künstlerische Stimme.

Julia Cumming’s solo debut Julia opens with an unadorned declaration of independence: her voice and a piano uniting for a liberating proclamation of self that rejects doubt, misogyny, and the notion of being “too much.” Julia unlocks a creative door years in the making for the New York–born multi-instrumentalist and Sunflower Bean bassist, culminating after nearly two decades of bands, releases, labels, and relentless touring. As Sunflower Bean’s Headful of Sugar era ended in 2023, Cumming decamped to Los Angeles, where a two-year, deeply healing collaboration with producer Brian Robert Jones — her “second artistic puberty” — took shape. Drawing freely from formative influences: Burt Bacharach, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, and Brian Wilson. Julia emerges as a joyful, anti-cool coming-out: a celebration of the dorks, the misfits, and the enduring truth of being enough.

Julia Cumming’s solo debut Julia opens with an unadorned declaration of independence: her voice and a piano uniting for a liberating proclamation of self that rejects doubt, misogyny, and the notion of being “too much.” Julia unlocks a creative door years in the making for the New York–born multi-instrumentalist and Sunflower Bean bassist, culminating after nearly two decades of bands, releases, labels, and relentless touring. As Sunflower Bean’s Headful of Sugar era ended in 2023, Cumming decamped to Los Angeles, where a two-year, deeply healing collaboration with producer Brian Robert Jones — her “second artistic puberty” — took shape. Drawing freely from formative influences: Burt Bacharach, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, and Brian Wilson. Julia emerges as a joyful, anti-cool coming-out: a celebration of the dorks, the misfits, and the enduring truth of being enough.

"FEELING FULLY YOURS" PRE-ORDER ONLY EDITION:
Heavyweight Vinyl / Original glued prints on Thick Cardboard 700 gram / 2 Separated parts hand-glued / Glossy lamination / PVC outer sleeve / Bandcamp Limited Edition 30 pages paperback booklet printed on "Favini Tintoretto Bianco" 350 gram cardboard / "Watoji" Japanese hand-bound with black cotton / hand painted cherry red fore-edge / Full interview to Jym Marks by Tony Higgins printed on 90 gram "Fedrigoni Constellation Snow"/ full album lyrics printed on 90 gram "Favini Seaweed Paper"and exclusive full format B&W picture printed on high quality photographic paper, Books front cover printed on 300 gram Moldmade paper.

5th solo-album from former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist! 1st album release in over 5 years. Guest appearances from Doro, Matt Barlow, Ronnie Romero & Dino Jelusick. Gus. G. will be touring extensively all over the world during 2026. Gus G. is featured as a playable character in the mobile-game Rock Kommander. The game has a global reach with hundreds of thousands of downloads, and will be promoting Gus G. and Firewind extensively throughout 2026.

Das fünfte Soloalbum des ehemaligen Ozzy Osbourne-Gitarristen! Das erste Album seit über fünf Jahren. Mit Gastauftritten von Doro, Matt Barlow, Ronnie Romero und Dino Jelusick. Gus G. wird 2026 ausgiebig auf Welttournee gehen. Gus G. ist als spielbarer Charakter im Handyspiel Rock Kommander vertreten. Das Spiel hat eine globale Reichweite mit Hunderttausenden von Downloads und wird Gus G. und Firewind im Laufe des Jahres 2026 ausgiebig promoten.

Swedish producer Robert Leiner’s landmark 1994 album ‘Visions Of The Past’ finally gets a vinyl LP reissue on Apollo, the ‘ambient division’ of R&S Records. Long regarded as one of the pivotal ambient/electronic long players, the album has stood the test of time and serves as a reminder on how potent the early ambient techno releases were.

Leiner was a central figure in the early European techno and ambient landscape, carving out a distinctive sound that bridged atmospheric depth and rhythmic intensity. Known for his releases as The Source Experience and contributions to the R&S/Apollo catalogue, as a producer and engineer, Leiner’s work resonated across the underground, earning him a reputation for visionary, emotionally charged productions that stood apart from his contemporaries.

'Visions Of The Past’ captures this duality perfectly with expansive ambient passages that drift into hypnotic techno, while layers of intricate sound design and pulsating low end create a timeless and immersive listening experience. Tracks unfold with patience and precision, like the 12-minute-long marine epic ‘Aqua Viva’, balancing introspection with kinetic dance energy, and the new age ambience of ‘Dream Or Reality’ and ‘Northern Dark’ embodying the forward-thinking ethos that defined Apollo’s golden era.

Three decades on, this long out of print album finally returns on vinyl format, freshly remastered and restored, reaffirming its status as an essential document of electronic music’s evolution and Robert Leiner’s enduring influence.

‘Visions Of The Past’ by Robert Leiner is available on Apollo Records from 7th November 2025.

Artist and multi-instrumentalist Flaer looks to the landscape to explore pastoral melancholy on debut release, Preludes. It is released in a second edition black vinyl, with an alternate cover artwork.

Ensconced in his family home in rural Leicestershire in the early months of 2020, painter and musician Realf Heygate (b. 1994) picked up his childhood cello for the first time in several years and began to play. Setting himself parameters to only record onto 4-track tape with acoustic instruments – cello, piano and acoustic guitar – he assembled a suite of instrumental compositions that form the basis of Preludes, his debut album as Flaer and the inaugural release on Odda Recordings.

Channelling the tension and unease between the pastoral idyll of the English countryside and the darkness which lurks beneath the surface, the mini-album draws inspiration from the analogue aesthetic of 1970s folk horror films, weaving field recordings of birdsong, church bells and the natural environment into chimerical melodies that reflect on Heygate’s childhood experiences of rural England.

“It was really important not to isolate the sound from its environment,” he explains, describing the compositional and recording process as “site-specific”. Developed over a series of intuitive musical enquiries, the mini-album’s uncanny quality emerges from combining raw demo takes with overdubs of almost orchestral grandeur.

Heygate points to the final track as indicative of the work as a whole: “‘Follow’ really is the mantra for the release and embodies the practical approach I was taking to music making: not to force the music but see where it takes you.”

As a painter, Heygate’s practice takes artefacts through sequences of reproduction that embrace the fluctuating materiality of the copy. Since obtaining a degree in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins in 2017, he has exhibited solo at Peter von Kant and Springseason galleries in London, and has participated in group shows at Saatchi Gallery, Cob Gallery and Senesi Contemporanea.

Describing his artistic practice as one of self-erasure, music instead provides Heygate with a more personal and autobiographical outlet. Where the two worlds combine is on Preludes’ striking artwork, which features paintings of 13th century stone carvings from the font of the church in the town where he grew up.

Speaking to a time where people were connected to the land in a more profound way, each symbol is assigned to a track on the album, which Heygate likens to giving them a title.

“To add that one juxtaposition might open a whole new interpretation or language that might be hard to find otherwise,” he explains.“Over time it might reveal itself to you, which is why I'm excited about it being released. To throw them out there and see what comes of it.”

"Throughout her life, my mother wrote ghost songs. Songs without melodies, without music, written on loose sheets of paper and stored away in folders. Why did my mother, who isn’t a musician, choose this form of expression? And why do I, her son, devote my life to producing music without words?

Le disque de ma mère, an album composed from these texts, the oldest dating back to 1984 and the most recent to 2018, seeks to translate the poetry of this situation."

With the collaboration of Blandine Rinkel, who gives voice to these texts, Superpoze creates a powerful album of songs that speaks to us about transmission, imagination, and secrecy.

After their recent LP Mirages (Kraak Records, 2025) with French turntablist Guilhem’All, the group continues to explore collaborations with artists and instruments from diverse musical traditions. Building on decades of uncompromising acoustic exploration, Razen delves deeper into their practice with five improvisational pieces that unfold slowly in time and space. The duo’s radical core - Brecht Ameel and Kim Delcour - finds in Van der Harst a longtime kindred spirit, united by the impact of sound, intonation, and the sheer joy of playing.

To be released on April 24 via VIERNULVIER Records, the artwork for Stained Glass Starling was created by American visual artist Robert Beatty (Oneohtrix Point Never, Christina Vantzou, The Weeknd, Tame Impala). The physical release comes with a 16-page booklet including artwork and an interview.

A long-standing artistic kinship lies at the heart of this project, with first encounters dating back to the early 2000s in Belgian musical improv theatre. Van der Harst’s lifelong experience in improvised music and music theatre, spanning back to the 1980s, combined with a vast arsenal of rare and historical instruments, opens new tonal territories within the Razen universe.

These explorations are not incidental: his family roots in the former Dutch East Indies — through his great-grandfather — provide a quiet backdrop to his enduring affinity for Asian musical traditions. Instruments such as erhu, Javanese kacapi, and others introduce timbres
that bring the music its most pronounced Asian inflections to date.

Yet despite this shift in colour, the underlying ethos remains unmistakably Razen. Working from sound rather than form, the ensemble approaches music as painters approach a canvas: adding layers, contrasts and shades with care. There is no soloist’s ego here; all voices are equal, echoing principles found in gamelan traditions.

Over the decades, Razen and Dick Van der Harst have crossed paths repeatedly, notably through cult theatre productions by Belgian theatre maker Eric De Volder, including Zwarte vogels in de bomen (2002) and Huis der Verborgen Muziekjes I–II (2000–2006). Recording an albumtogether had long been a shared aspiration — a wish that crystallised after a 2024 concert at Concertzaal Miry in Ghent, part of the Ruiskamer series by VIERNULVIER Art Centre.

Late Bush presents “Hoarses” on the label Vlek Records, an original repertoire in which he blends electronic music - power ambient, IDM, avant-pop - and early music, which share the same affective intensity, a taste for ornamentation and a form of sonic excess.

At the heart of this material, AI-cloned voices, both human and spectral, extend the idea that any baroque interpretation is a reconstruction of the unknown. They contrast with organic strings recorded with Echo Collective, in a temporal and radical hybridization, creating a fluid and unstable material, between memory and simulation.

One of the conceptual starting points is essential: we have no sonic trace of baroque music as it was played. Only scores remain, and sometimes contradictory indications, a sensitive archaeology, even an imaginary projection.

Everything that is played today is therefore, in fact, a reconstruction, an interpretation of a vanished material. According to this logic and to pursue this reflection, the cloned voices, transformed by AI, are not a rupture but propose a natural continuation of this chain of reinvention, of this relationship to the invisible, to the indefinite. They do not aim to replace a human voice, but rather to embody the fact that any baroque restitution is already a fiction.

The project does not seek to imitate the real, but to play with the thresholds of the plausible, of the spectral. The music then becomes a fluid material, manipulable, alterable, and the performers, musicians or machines, are its vehicles.

The strings, carried by the sensitive and expressive interpretation of Echo Collective, breathe into the project a vibrant authenticity. Their presence brings an organic and tactile dimension that contrasts with the fluid and intangible aspect of the voices and the electronics.

With their third studio album New Thing, Reggae Workers Of The World take a bold step forward while staying deeply rooted in the timeless sounds that define them. Scheduled for release in March 2026 on Badasonic Records, the album captures the full scope of this transcontinental supergroup’s musical identity: soulful, genre-defying, and driven by classic songwriting.

Formed by Vic Ruggiero (The Slackers), Jesse Wagner (The Aggrolites), and Nico Leonard (The Badasonics), Reggae Workers Of The World unite the musical spirits of New York, Los Angeles, and Charleroi into a seamless collaboration. Across 11 tracks, New Thing moves freely between reggae, ska, soul, mento, rhythm & blues, and early rock ’n’ roll, reflecting both the trio’s deep roots and their creative freedom.

The album is enriched by an exceptional list of guests, including Efren Santana (Hepcat), David Hillyard (The Slackers), and renowned harmonica master Steven Troch, who all appear on the title track “New Thing.” The result is a warm, organic, and vibrant record—equally suited for vinyl collectors, radio programmers, and live audiences.

Ahead of the album release, the first single will debut as a Japan-exclusive 7” vinyl on January 18, underlining the band’s strong international reach and collector appeal. Following the release of New Thing, Reggae Workers Of The World will return to the road with a European tour in April 2026, reaffirming their reputation as a powerful and authentic live act.

long content, you may need to expand row to see all... Karajans legendärer Dvořák auf recyceltem Vinyl
Die unverkennbare Kraft und Leidenschaft von Dvořáks Sinfonie Nr. 9 „Aus der Neuen Welt“, eingefangen in Karajans legendärer Aufnahme von 1977 mit den Berliner Philharmonikern, erscheint nun in einer limitierten Edition auf recyceltem Vinyl (ReVinyl / Farbe: Red Appeal) – ein beeindruckendes und nachhaltiges Format. Jede zu 100 % aus recyceltem PVC hergestellte Schallplatte besticht durch eine einzigartige, rot-marmorierte Optik, die sie zu einem echten Unikat macht. Hier trifft eine zeitlose Interpretation auf einen neuen Standard für umweltbewusste Audiophile. Diese Einspielung wird weithin für ihren lebendigen, dramatischen Schwung, ihre üppige emotionale Tiefe und ihre erstklassige orchestrale Präzision gefeiert und gilt als Meilenstein in der Geschichte der klassischen Musikaufzeichnung. Karajans Interpretation offenbart feinfühlig, wie Dvořák die musikalischen Eindrücke seiner amerikanischen Zeit in das unverwechselbare Gefüge seines mitteleuropäischen, romantischen Stils einwebt.

Transparent grünes Vinyl. Mikromoon sind fünf erfahrene Musikerinnen und Musiker aus Saarbrücken, die in zahlreichen Bands aktiv waren/sind (u.a. Blind, Pure Bug Beauty, Britney und Oaks) und in dieser Formation seit 2022 Songs ins Universum senden. Ihr Sound ist eine exklusive Mischung aus Indierock, Wave, Postpunk, Folk, TripHop, Grunge, Pop und einer Prise Psychedelik. Mit ihrem Debütalbum "The Nearest Distance" formulieren sie ein trotziges Gegengift zur allgemeinen Weltlage. In acht intensiven Songs tauchen wir ein in eine Welt aus hoffnungsvollen und melancholischen Klängen, die zwischen bedingungsloser Liebe, hemmungsloser Wut, gnadenloser Isolation, Identitätsverlust und dem Finden inneren Friedens oszillieren.

Nevertheless, the latest album from Hammock, exists in a state of awakening. Across 11 ambient guitar string, and piano works, ethereal light crests and contrasts with darkness, giving shape to physical forms and feelings. Amidst sorrow and grief, melodic motifs and refrains echo from the past to reanimate dreams and faded memories. As Nevertheless asks questions of permanence and purpose, beauty takes shape in the intangible_the traceless connections that gave, and give, meaning. "Nevertheless has been one of those words that has outlasted my upbringing," says Hammock's Marc Byrd. "Being from the deep South, I most often heard it said or read at funeral services. It's meant to imply a type of sacred pause . . . a space of in between. Between the grief of being broken by the world and the impossibility of moving into a future that feels more like empty space and less like solid ground. This album is for a friend who lost a daughter and a son to addiction within a couple of years of each other. Requiem for Johan sets up the context for what is to follow throughout the rest of the album. . . a passage through the aftermath of devastation. Unfortunately, and fortunately, these seasons of loss are what we all share in common. Nevertheless . . . we limp on."

The North Carolina trio Setting brings together their substantial collective skills as musicians and their collaborative mindset to bear in their inventive and rich improvisations. Known for work in Mind Over Mirrors, Califone, Black Twig Pickers, Pelt, Peeesseye, Sylvan Esso, and Jake Xerxes Fussell, multi- instrumentalists Jaime Fennelly, Nathan Bowles and Joe Westerlund subvert expectations while creating a sense of wonderment. Their intricate interplay of synthesizers, cassette loops, banjo, keyboards, electronics, zithers, and a litany of percussive instruments form a tactile amalgam of celestial transcendence and terrestrial rhythm, a loamy pulse fluidly guiding every minute fluctuation in feel. Setting"s self-titled album is a definitive statement of their improvisational acumen meeting compositional rigor, a robust wellspring of hypnagogic grooves and mosaiced textures. The eponymous album from Setting is the product of three intuitive players and deep listeners, artists who use those skills to create transformative music. The trio shirk any broader categorizations, as their unique dynamic pieces are alight with arrangements urgent and smoldering, patient and emotive.

The North Carolina trio Setting brings together their substantial collective skills as musicians and their collaborative mindset to bear in their inventive and rich improvisations. Known for work in Mind Over Mirrors, Califone, Black Twig Pickers, Pelt, Peeesseye, Sylvan Esso, and Jake Xerxes Fussell, multi- instrumentalists Jaime Fennelly, Nathan Bowles and Joe Westerlund subvert expectations while creating a sense of wonderment. Their intricate interplay of synthesizers, cassette loops, banjo, keyboards, electronics, zithers, and a litany of percussive instruments form a tactile amalgam of celestial transcendence and terrestrial rhythm, a loamy pulse fluidly guiding every minute fluctuation in feel. Setting"s self-titled album is a definitive statement of their improvisational acumen meeting compositional rigor, a robust wellspring of hypnagogic grooves and mosaiced textures. The eponymous album from Setting is the product of three intuitive players and deep listeners, artists who use those skills to create transformative music. The trio shirk any broader categorizations, as their unique dynamic pieces are alight with arrangements urgent and smoldering, patient and emotive.

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER: THE LONG-LOST RECORDINGS OF BIRMINGHAM ROOTS REGGAE PIONEERS NATRUS Mastered from the original tapes by Guy Davie at Electric Needle Mythology, the label founded by music writer, author and broadcaster Pete Paphides, is thrilled to announce the archival release of newly-discovered recordings by Birmingham reggae band Natrus. Comprising members of the same family – seven in total – Natrus were a ubiquitous presence of the live circuit within and beyond the West Midlands in the late 1970s. Used as an ad hoc “Wrecking Crew” by local producer and promoter Toney Owens, NATRUS frequently provided live accompaniment to visiting Jamaican artists such as Sugar Minott, Johnny Osbourne and Freddie McKay. With an age span ranging from 9 to 25, NATRUS’S live work had to be structured around the educational obligations of their younger members. But when they weren’t playing live, they would frequently hone their own compositions at Owens’ studio in Saltley, Birmingham.

During their collective lifetime, NATRUS released one very limited edition single Mash It, with a stellar guest vocal from deejay Ranking Glad(Stone). Featured alongside Mash It on this release are a selection of recordings previously thought lost by the group who laid them down. They were only discovered after Toney Owens’ alerted Needle Mythology’s Pete Paphides to the existence of some 60 quarter-inch reels featuring all the music recorded by Owens over a period of ten years or so. When Paphides finally tracked down NATRUS rhythm guitarist Owen Taylor, he was stunned to hear of their existence. After a meeting with Taylor and his siblings, Needle Mythology collaborated with NATRUS on the restoration and remastering of the tracks featured on this, their very belated debut album. As well as Mash It and its original flipside Come From Africa, highlights on ‘NATRUS’ include a superb version of Slim Smith’s The Time Has Come and the deep roots entreaties of Freedom Inna Babylon, both showcasing the soulful vocal of lead singer Fitzdonald “Fitz” English and the almost psychic sense of musical attunement that percolates right down the the formidable rhythm section of Beverley Stewart (bass) and Clinton Gordon (drums).

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present WHIRLWIND’s highly anticipated second album, 1640, on CD and vinyl LP formats. WHIRLWIND was originally conceived as a studio-project by Mark Wild, from Körgull The Exterminator among other extreme metal bands, to satisfy his will to make a classic heavy metal album, a style that changed his life during his childhood – influenced mostly by ‘80s German metal bands like early Running Wild, early Helloween, Accept, Heaven’s Gate, Gravestone, Tyrant, Grave Digger, Steeler, and Stormwitch among others, but also all kinds of classic heavy metal like Mercyful Fate, Manowar, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest. In 2022, WHIRLWIND released their debut album, 1714, marking the band’s beginning. WHIRLWIND also established a live lineup to bring their songs to life onstage, with musicians from other known bands, like Redshark, joining as permanent members of the band. The album immediately generated a big buzz in the underground scene and led them to perform at some of the best-known festivals in Spain like Pounding Metal Fest and Skulls of Metal, alongside such bands as Visigoth, Attic, Omen, Tentation, Mindless Sinner, Witchtower, IRON CURTAIN, and Phantom Spell. Now arrives WHIRLWIND’s second album, 1640. Like its predecessor, the album is focused on historical and epic episodes of their homeland; specifically, this album revolves around the Thirty Years War that took place around Europe and the inner conflicts within Spain.

Musically, WHIRLWIND deliver a masterclass in cruising, classy Teutonic metal, running from more traditional-minded mid-tempo stompers to surging, up-tempo gallops of glory. Riff and lead form a lethal tandem, balancing both energy and color, while the rhythm section stays locked in no matter the dynamic. The production, too, of 1640 honors the mid ‘80s with authenticity – underground in spirit, Big League in execution. All told, the album is true heavy metal for true heavy metal people: no more, but definitely no less. By the blood in their veins, WHIRLWIND are marching to victory, ready to explode!

Als Global Kryner 2004 die erste CD präsentierte, stand die Musikwelt Kopf. Es war Liebe auf den ersten
Blick. Die Idee war genauso einfach wie genial: man nehme den legendären Oberkrainer-Sound eines Slavko
Avsenik, verschmelze ihn mit Welthits, nehme eine Prise Jazz und jede Menge Spielwitz dazu und fertig
ist die Rezeptur. Die Süddeutsche Zeitung machte Luftsprünge und fabulierte gar von einer „eierlegenden
Wollmilchsau“ in Sachen Musik. Und mit „verkrynern“ war obendrein ein neues Zeitwort geschaffen. Was
folgte war ein Ritt durch alle Radio- und TV-Formate, wie er selten gesehen wurde. Hunderte Konzerte in
Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz, Benelux, Frankreich, Italien, Slowenien, Kroatien, Serbien, Ukraine bis
nach Mexiko. Nach heißen und durchaus fordernden Jahren des Tourlebens verabschiedete sich die Band
2013 von der Bühne.
Doch die Liebe ist nie erloschen. Im Gegenteil. Jetzt kommt: Global Kryner „2nd Love“! Bereits
im Sommer 2024 beschlossen die Global Kryner rund um Musikkabarettisten und Klarinettisten Christof
Spörk und Oberkrainer-Akkordeon-Urgestein Anton Sauprügl, neu durchzustarten. Posaunist und NeoFischzüchter Martin Temmel musste nicht zweimal gefragt werden. Markus Pechmann, mittlerweile einer
der gefragtesten Jazztrompeter des Landes, engagierte mit Sängerin Miriam Kulmer ein veritables Stimmwunder. Neu zur Band gesellte sich außerdem „Mister Groove“, Jazzgitarrist und Liedermacher Andreas
Haidecker. Aber Obacht: es wird kein Abnudeln alter Hits geben. Die Band bereitet sich in akribischer Kleinarbeit auf ihr Comeback vor. Neue typische „Verkrynerungen“ müssen dabei sein, ja, natürlich!
Aber diesmal gibt es eben auch eigens komponierte Songs zu hören. Man darf gespannt sein. Alles mit
viel Liebe zubereitet, nur eben nicht zum ersten Mal, sondern quasi „2nd Love“!

Your favorite weed sludgers are ready to come back with their fourth studio album, the aptly titled "Stoned Villains," out in April on your beloved Heavy Psych Sounds Records. The band's distinctive sound emerges immediately after the first listen: seven tracks of heavy, sulfurous doom-sludge, with influences ranging from the '90s to Turin-inspired hardcore punk, the scene in which our "villains" were formed and raised. Heavy and cutting guitars, a seismic rhythm section, and Gingerzilla's voice barking out ungraceful tales of weed abuse and uncontrolled eating. The song titles perfectly describe Tons: a band that doesn't take itself too seriously and uses irony as its strong point.

Dancing Waters is a musical fusion where the Mediterranean soul meets the deep-rooted mysticism of Cental Asia. Inspired by the surprising resonance between the work melodies of Balearic Islands and Pitiüses Islands and the haunting beauty of Persian and Byzantine melodies. QANAT weaves together the rich traditions of the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, and Persia. The project blends old Balearic work songs with the modal textures of Middle Eastern and Central Asian music -including influences from Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, and the ancient region of Khorasan. At the heart of the project is the remarkable melodic kinship between Balearic field songs-once sung during rural labor-and the ancient echoes of Byzantine chant. QANAT bridges these traditions, crafting new musical landscapes through original compositions, instrumental dialogues, and vocal ornamentations that celebrate the shared soul of these distant-yet-connected cultures.

Pink vinyl, limited to 350 copies. Your favorite weed sludgers are ready to come back with their fourth studio album, the aptly titled "Stoned Villains," out in April on your beloved Heavy Psych Sounds Records. The band's distinctive sound emerges immediately after the first listen: seven tracks of heavy, sulfurous doom-sludge, with influences ranging from the '90s to Turin-inspired hardcore punk, the scene in which our "villains" were formed and raised. Heavy and cutting guitars, a seismic rhythm section, and Gingerzilla's voice barking out ungraceful tales of weed abuse and uncontrolled eating. The song titles perfectly describe Tons: a band that doesn't take itself too seriously and uses irony as its strong point.

Cathartic avant-rock, literate DIY folk & experimental composition exploring displacement, love, climate change, belonging & the places we call home - RIYL Jim O’Rourke, Richard Youngs, This Heat, Richard Dawson, Flying Nun. ‘Real Home’ is the new album by the Manchester-born, London-based artist Kiran Leonard. His sixth album proper (not including innumerable tour-only CD-Rs and short-run cassettes), since his precocious debut in 2013, ‘Real Home’ finds Leonard invigorated by inspiration and experience, making passionate, literate, and mercurial music that explores displacement, love, memory, climate change, connections to home and more. Encompassing songs recorded after moving to South London, ‘Real Home’ reflects on ideas of belonging and domesticity through folkloric, stream-of-consciousness songwriting. Across nine tracks, Leonard traces lived impressions of the household and the city, expressing sentiments of dislocation, alienation and stasis, but contentment too. Infusing the avant-rock effervescence, terraced dynamics and visionary lyricism of his music with what he defines as a greater sense of openness, Leonard is as versatile, fervent and imaginative as ever on ‘Real Home’, yet his music is somehow more intimate, affecting, and acutely expressive. Shaped by dual considerations of simplicity and formalism, ‘Real Home’ is by turns beautiful, allusive, and ruminative, an album on which Leonard considers what his songs have resembled in the past and what they mean now. In recent years, Leonard has crafted eloquent chamber music inspired by the likes of James Joyce and Clarice Lispector (‘Derevaun Seraun’), responded to contemporary politics and communication breakdown in the digital age (‘Western Culture’), and compiled solo works and ensemble recordings for a longform ode to Jonas Mekas and to one of Leonard’s enduring themes; home (‘Trespass On Foot’). On ‘Real Home’, Leonard reiterates this abiding thematic focus yet ascends to new, different heights, in music of cathartic delicacy and dissonance where all the myriad dimensions of his work to date seem to crystallize. There are sinuous songs about struggle and defying the pace of city life through drift and diversion (‘Pass Between Houses’), stirring songs of intense feeling and crescendo, described as a form of speculative detective fiction (‘Theatre for Change’). There are touching solo piano ballads (the title track), symbolic contentions with carbon capture and climate change (‘Utopia of Bog’), modes of experimental minimalism (‘Void Attentive’), and other profuse feats of compositional range, embroidered with wild tendrils of narrative and lyrical depth. A record to pore over, and get lost in. Exemplifying the vast aesthetic scope of Leonard’s music, lead single ‘My Love, Let’s Take The Stage Tonight’ is inspired by country lodestar Hank Williams, Russian poetry and a late period love poem by William Carlos Williams. Yet for Leonard, the song signals a sense of accessible materiality, and is the product of a more linear approach to writing songs: “My imitation of the great Hank Williams, in spirit if not in substance…This is one of the best efforts on Real Home at a song-as-object. Looking at it now I realise I was trying to write a song that made itself known as a song to the listener, and I wonder whether that’s crucial if you want a song to transcend its context. And that this is either accomplished through a total openness – by being inviting, by laying the tricks of the song out plain to see, as Williams and his many ghostwriters did so well – or by adopting a knowing aloofness, positioning oneself against the listener but letting it be known that that’s what it’s doing. In this song I try both, but mostly the former: as in, I wanted to write a song where every line follows on from the next.” Imbuing the endlessly elaborate and inventive qualities of his music with a newfound streak of candid, clear-cut melodicism, Leonard has reached a special place in his artistry, on a record that feels familial, and expresses closeness. Assembled with affiliates including Lauren Auder, Otto Willberg, Jasper Llewellyn (caroline), Tom Hardwick-Allan (Shovel Dance Collective), Magda McLean (caroline, The Umlauts), Alex Mckenzie (caroline, Shovel Dance Collective), Isabelle Thorn (Dear Laika) & more, the recording process had a significant influence on the subject matter of ‘Real Home’, in sessions defined by close-knit camaraderie and artistic eccentricity: “The theme of the home obviously recurs throughout the record; the album was mostly recorded in domestic spaces with friends, and the name of the album is Real Home. I like the qualifier ‘real’, like you’re getting past the cloak of the word and towards the thing-itself…also nearly all the percussion in this record was recorded on items from my dad’s shed (jam jars, sandpaper, blocks of wood, etc). Real home record!” ‘Real Home’, like anything by Kiran Leonard, is a record of dazzling multiplicity. Yet it’s a companionable prospect with a central premise; a collection of songs where listeners old and new can find a home. An album led by a scene; of Leonard standing at the threshold, ready to welcome you inside. “Exceptional songs that linger” - The Guardian // “An autodidact of amazing talent & energy” – Pitchfork // “A ridiculous amount of talent…confrontational, celebratory, provocative or perverse – he manages all of these emotions & more” - The Quietus /

Onna Last Live 1983 includes the final performance by the original line-up of Onna, the psych-rock project of revered Japanese manga artist, Keizo Miyanishi. Onna’s legend has largely rested, until now, on one self-released and self-titled seven-inch from 1983. Reissued by Holy Mountain in 2009, its rediscovery, along with several archival live and studio sets that leaked out across the 2000s, signalled to a wider audience the power of Miyanishi’s strikingly hypnotic songwriting. With Onna Last Live 1983, though, we hear the group’s perfect line-up performing at its peak.

While Miyanishi was the core member and conceptualist of Onna, the other members of the group would also go on to make significant contributions to the Japanese underground. Guitarist Michio Kurihara would eventually be known for his membership of YBO2, Ghost and White Heaven, and collaborations with the likes of Boris and Damon & Naomi. Drummer Ken Matsutani formed Marble Sheep & The Run-Down Sun’s Children and The Mickey Guitar Band, while also running the Captain Trip label. Joined by the late bass player Yasui Yutaka, to whom the album is dedicated, this quartet only performed live in 1983; the live set here was recorded at Silver Elephant.

It’s a different line-up to the Onna duo that’s documented on their single. After Miyanishi and fellow manga artist Mafuyu Hiroki recorded that material, Miyanishi decided he wanted to start playing gigs; Hiroki left, and Kurihara, Matsutani and Yutaka joined soon after. This line-up allowed Miyanishi to significantly expand Onna’s powers, leading to a sound that Kurihara once described to Ptolemaic Terrascope magazine as “repetitive and heavy, yet quite orthodox.”

The songs here are simple yet deeply effective in their repetitive power, generally revolving around two or three simply strummed chords for guitar. Bass and drums repeatedly lock into mantra-like grooves as Kurihara’s guitar scales the walls, with Miyanishi’s consumptive moans and sighs sent torquing through FX. The cumulative effect of the seven songs here is very heavy indeed; if the prologue “Always…” drifts beautifully through five minutes of placid, beseeching melancholy, the epilogue, “Never Seen A Light Like This”, spirals out into sixteen minutes of glazed-over psych-rock, completely monomaniacal and thrilling in its slow-motion tumult.

Throughout, you can hear Miyanishi and co. reaching for something ineffable, something beyond and between the notes. It’s a phenomenal performance; it’s also no surprise that the group disintegrated after this show, given its intensity. Matsutani and Yutaka left after the Silver Elephant show, with Miyanishi and Kurihara continuing through the first half of 1984 firstly as a duo, and then a trio with new drummer Yoshiki Ueonyama. Kurihara left soon after. But Onna Last Live 1983 is proof plenty of the powers of the original Onna quartet, sending their Rallizes/Velvets dream-mantras off into darkened, stormy skies.