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Arriving two years after the first chapter, Absurd Matter 2 isn’t just a sequel, it’s an evolution, redrawing the boundaries established by its acclaimed predecessor. The Berlin-based Italian producer tempers his confrontational sonics with rare moments of introspection, shifting seamlessly between blown-out noise, warped hip-hop, mutant club experimentation, and weightless ambience. Textures disintegrate and reassemble, rhythms flex and crumble, and every detail balances on the edge of fantasy. It’s a poetic, layered response to Nino Pedone’s changing physical reality: the gradual hearing loss and perceptual renegotiation triggered by Ménière’s disease, which struck him in 2022. At first, the experience felt like betrayal, a brutal disconnection from the very sense that had shaped his life. But over time, the disorientation turned into a strange kind of focus. The silence between sounds became as expressive as the sounds themselves.
The first Absurd Matter was a visceral reaction to trauma; the second is more reflective – an ambiguous chronicle of sensory recalibration. Pedone doesn’t represent his altered inner reality through extremes, but through depth, zooming in on illusory distortions, tense rhythmic fluctuations, and fragmented sonics. Dense, immersive, and mystical, the album mirrors Pedone’s evolving relationship with perception itself.
Tinnitus-like feedback wails and noir-ish strings introduce “Repeater”, making it immediately clear that Pedone is painting a more delicately finessed image this time around. Fleshed out by raps from cult MCs billy woods and E L U C I D, the track is marked by subtle, sophisticated contrasts: the blurred, inverted rhythms that couch Armand Hammer’s haunted back-and-forth, and the glitchy interference that offsets the lavish orchestral phrases. Backwoodz associate Fatboi Sharif lends his Lynchian drawl to “Bandage Chipped Wings”, grounding Pedone’s lysergic rhythmic distortions with syrupy, horror-inspired couplets. Pedone also invites discomfort into “Crash Landing”, with droning, metallic tones that contradict South Central rapper ICECOLDBISHOP’s elastic flow. “Bitch, I don't give a fuck about anybody,” he squawks over Pedone’s incongruous rasping textures and time-warped beats, “cash out at any party.” Working alongside London’s Loraine James on production, Pedone reunites with Moor Mother on “I Saw The Light”, blending James’ soft-focus atmospherics with soundsystem-damaging, overdriven bass hits and rusted percussive snips. Moor Mother’s assertive words hover over the wreckage, tightening Pedone’s themes of overstimulation and altered awareness as they stutter and veer off course, vanishing into the backdrop.
Contrasting his more pensive experiments, Pedone’s dancefloor deviations are more concentrated on Absurd Matter 2 than ever before. He torches a stuttering dembow structure on “X”, obfuscating the rhythm’s familiar energy with disturbing audio hallucinations. On “Splintered”, he reunites with Kenyan prodigy Slikback, mangling neon-lit trance arpeggios with dissociated trap rhythms. He sharpens his skills to a fine point on “Oblivion Step”, observing 2- step through a lens of distortion and personal abstraction, shaking blipping synth leads over neck-snapping drums and counteracting the momentum with airless sci-fi soundscapes.
Perhaps the album’s most surprising moment arrives with “Viel”, which features vocals from Los Angeles-based composer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. Together, Pedone and Smith chance upon their notion of dub techno, fogging synth stabs and ghostly vocal traces into eerie harmonic distortions. On some level, it’s almost pop music, a far cry from the bleak dissonance of Absurd Matter and a hopeful way to reframe turbulence as transformation. Absurd Matter 2 doesn’t simply document a process; it enacts one. It doesn’t offer clarity; it invites disorientation. It’s not a map of the labyrinth, but a foghorn piercing the darkness.

Ben Pest and ARA-U unite for the next release on No Static / Automatic. Kaos Sympatic EP started life with the pair recording jams of various vintage studio kit, including an EMS VCS3, Roland VP330 and an Orgon Systems prototype known only as the “Silver Box”, which developed into full tracks over subsequent sessions. Ben Pest has been busy releasing high grade club tracks including collabs with Radioactive Man and Kursa for Asking For Trouble and Love Love Records last year, and with solo EPs dropping on Cultivated Electronics and Posh End music. Here he links with NS/A boss ARA-U, turning out some of their headiest material to date.

The EP kicks off with ‘Err Hello’, it’s wholly discordant, lairy, and unapologetically weird. ‘‘Get A Grip’ drifts in with hallucinatory wafts of sound over a warped riff, building into a granular, distorted headfuck of a hoover-bass moment. This one will make the subs rattle on the right side of distortion. On the B Side title track ‘Kaos Sympatic’ gets stuck in with a big broken beat and guttural sub that transforms into a techno drop to drive this track home. Finishing up, ‘Slapback’ serves up a cut of high energy electro funk, coming off like classic ERP on heat. Limited edition purple vinyl.

In the heart of a post-apocalyptic city, Spacelunch was making his way through the ruins, wearing a heavy armour of metal plates and flickering circuitry. Cat settled on his shoulder, listening intently to every sound. This time, they weren't just looking for an artefact — their target was the Singularity Echo, a mysterious device created right before the catastrophe. Legend had it that the scientists of the past, sensing the impending collapse, had put all their accumulated experience and knowledge together to create it. It was said that one day “Echo” would awaken and allow descendants to touch the wisdom of the ancients, learn the secrets of forgotten technologies and, perhaps, avoid the fatal mistakes of the past.

— We’ve been wandering around for how long? — muttered Cat, looking around warily. — And nothing.

— Sitting up there complaining, aren’t you? — Spacelunch grinned, deftly bypassing the debris and intertwined roots that poked out from under the asphalt.



Suddenly, a glow flashed before them, gradually taking the form of a palm-sized transparent crystal. It floated in the air, surrounded by silver lining that wove into intricate patterns, like a network of ancient runes. The symbols on its facets, flickering, cast soft reflections on the debris around them. As the professor slowly reached out his hand, the crystal shone brighter, and the low whisper of distant voices cut through the silence. Their minds were enveloped by the echoes of past events, filling their minds with images of the vanished world.

The friends froze for a moment, overwhelmed by shock and a sense of profound change.

— Well, — said Cat, not hiding his surprise. — It seems we've gotten a little smarter.

— A little? Now we have what has been lost for an era.

— So, we have a new adventure ahead of us. Where do we start?

The ghost town, once seemingly lifeless, now seemed to come to life: every collapsed building and every corner sparked with traces and clues as if the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for a sign.

2025 repress.

There are certain albums which shake the world immediately upon release, and others which come from far underground and whose shocks and aftershocks rise to the surface gradually over the years, gaining momentum and power. "Ten Dubs That Shook The World" is of the latter type. Since its original vinyl release in 1988, the prescient impact of this Australian homemade dubwise solo massive byAnthony Maher aka Sheriff Lindoh as become ever-more apparent and influential. With its dual island combination of Jamaican dub and UK industrial and post-punk, and the twinning of spaced electronic drums and effects with some very fine, superbly rooted bass lines, the tectonic "Ten Dubs" has proven to be a durable, doubly-solid shaker. This 2025 repress is dedicated to the original producer John Blades, founder of the Endless Recordings label, who along with Maher and Richard Fielding constituted The Loop Orchestra. Available on LP vinyl or CD; the CD version features bonus tracks. EM Records is also pleased to announce that we are preparing Lindo's first release since "Ten Dubs" was launched 37 years ago. From deep underground in Australia, rising, reverberating and resonating across the globe, "Ten Dubs That Shook The World" vibrates on.

Fetter’s Body of Noise erupts at the threshold between ravey hypnosis and avant-pop experiment, slithering through the hinterlands of unconscious desire. Nine shape-shifting tracks conjure haunted landscapes where beauty refuses clarity and dancefloor logic warps underfoot. Vocals swoon, drift, and demand—stacking into fragments that multiply and weave through saturated pulses and shimmering, snarling synths.

Opening track "Like a Rose" traces a dreamer’s transition into the unstable physics of a perplexing but familiar dream world, where they gradually become lucid. “Beast” follows up humming with shadowed urgency, threading a path through self-sabotage and metamorphosis. “Spathiphyllums” drifts a while in a lush lostness, aching for something new before fracturing into wild, cathartic collapse. Side B’s “Do I Exist? (D.I.E)” and “The Longing” spiral into existential wonder, searching for a human origin story—both personal and collective—against a backdrop of uncertainty, while “Headache” thrusts forward as an absurd and insistent manifesto to stay the course and harness one’s own power within the madness.

Body of Noise is crafted not only for sweating bodies in motion, but for distorting time and opening psychic portals, where surrender becomes strategy and uncertainty transforms into ecstatic navigation. Rooted in all-hardware improvised production and shaped by Fetter’s years of boundary-blurring visual and performance art, their debut LP feels alive and in flux. Reminiscent of a spectral pop chorus trapped in a loop of broken machinery, or a lost broadcast from a dancefloor in a parallel realm, Body of Noise is a journey into chaos, transformation, and a bold refusal to be contained.

About Fetter:
Fetter makes clubby self-destructing noise pop to dance and weep to. Oscillating between ethereal and pounding, their all-hardware, largely improvised live sets take listeners through a foggy wilderness of saturated rhythms and menacing synth lines, a golden voice guiding the way through. Fetter is the stage moniker of multimedia artist Jess Tucker. Their performances take place in clubs as well as galleries, often incorporating video, installation, and interactive performance art elements to create other-worldly surrounds of mesmerizingly unhinged bodies and faces.

Following up a string of releases on labels such as Mana, Sun Ark, Orange Milk Records and Abyss, Other People are honoured to present the new album Fobia by Argentinian musician and sound artist aylu, real name Ailin Grad. Inspired in part of Grad's many collaborative projects over the last few years, Fobia sees her collecting and rearranging the music and sounds fostered within these to create an intimate, spiritually charged album that turns personal struggle into collective resistance and resilience. What initially started as a way for Grad to process her own experiences with agora- and claustrophobia, and an attempt to navigate feelings of shame and a perceived demand to keep these feelings bottled up and hidden from the world, she began to realise how mental health struggles are not isolated incidents but part of broader systems of collective suffering and injustice. “It took a long time for me to discover that my issues were part of a system that produces these kinds of symptoms and that it takes a lot of courage to find a way around them. I have the feeling that more and more people suffer from these kind of things in some way or another, and what was at first taught as something you should be silent about and keep private, I discovered that the more you talk about it and share it with people you trust, the more you realise that it’s part of something much bigger.” This tension and constant pull between fear and joy, light and dark, is present throughout the album. From the strained breathing featured in opening track Yodo echoing the suffocating feeling from claustrophobia interspersed with the lighter textures of Obelisco Elysium and Prospero offering up a sense of relief, to the almost cacophonous, immersive soundscapes of El Sol Mal, mirroring the complex, often contradictory emotions when navigating mental health challenges. Fobia invites listeners to move through pain with honesty, finding strength in shared experiences.

Hailing from Detroit, Ryan has earned great respect over the years as a deej with a deeeeeeep
bag of records. This EP is a perfect reflection of that ethos - with tracks that will have you
covered no matter what time of night you're dropping the needle on this thing.

The A is heavyweight, peak time, disc jock business. Sarah O leads vocals to the A1, woozy,
dubbed out, blissy joy ride that is the club mix of "Between Dreams." It would sound at home on
all your favorite dancefloors, but especially those outside. The Great Outdoors baby: the biggest
room there is!

Next comes the mighty Acid Mix of the title track. Cop now so you won't HAVE to Shazam it the
next time you're hearing Mike Servito or Josh Cheon DJ!!! And the A side is wrapped up by 24
Hour House Music. A jittery proto house work out perfect for a night drive in YOUR city!!!
The B side gives us a more of a downtempo vibe, perfect for life's breeziest occasions. LA
legend Benedek lends his considerable talents to all 3 tracks, while Steven Grady and Noah
Triplett for the EP's final track - "Love Dub." All reminscient of Ryan's work as part of Symptoms
of Love, this side feels more like you're in a dream than between them.

This is the story of an artist in search of sound and breath: an artist who dares to question the rhythm of silence—an invitation to rethink music, sound, and musical collaboration. This is the story of a journey that, after opening countless paths, has finally found its vessel—and its messengers. Three artists of profound musical truth and radical freedom, merging into an exceptional trio that crosses genres and transcends words in a journey toward pure emotion.

Le Rythme du Silence is the culmination of this long search. Yom delivers it here with violinist Théo Ceccaldi and cellist Valentin Ceccaldi—kindred spirits in sound. “I’ve been working on this idea of the ‘rhythm of silence’ for years,” Yom explains. “I first heard the phrase from a Sufi master, describing the foundation of meditation. It struck something deep in me. I’ve practiced meditation for a long time, and we often think of it as a kind of stillness—opposed to noise and life. But in truth, the rhythm of silence enables meditation. It means accepting that the world continues to move and live around you, even as you try to be still. I wanted to compose from that place. To imagine sound as vibratory matter—the primal substance of creation. That required letting go of fixed structures: forgetting melodies, abandoning the idea of a constructed solo. I needed to leave behind music as a system, and touch sound as a living, breathing entity. It took years. Many projects led me elsewhere. But with the Ceccaldi brothers, I finally found the right resonance. Working with them was simply obvious—it was indredibly powerful.”

Yom first rose to prominence reimagining Jewish traditional music with his 2008 debut New King of Klezmer Clarinet. Since then, his path has led through rock (With Love, 2011; You Will Never Die, 2018), electronic utopias (The Empire of Love, 2013), meditative and sacred soundscapes (Prière, 2018), and countless unclassifiable hybrids (Unue, 2009; Green Apocalypse, 2010). It was inevitable that he would eventually cross paths with the free-spirited Théo and Valentin Ceccaldi—two artists who also place collaboration and genre-blurring at the heart of their artistic development. Their projects are always bold, demanding, and full of life (Kutu, Tricollectif, ONJ, Velvet Revolution, Grand Orchestre du Tricot, Lagon Noir, Constantine, etc.). And so, when the three met within the iXi string quartet, something clicked.
“I was seated between the two of them in the quartet,” Yom recalls, “and I could feel their energy flowing from both sides—it was wild! They’re so tuned into each other, they don’t need words. It’s like they’re connected by musical Wi-Fi. The groove happens instantly. They’re precise when they want to be—thanks to their experience in pop-influenced projects —but they can also let go completely, diving into pure sound. That’s exactly what this project needed.”

Without a single rehearsal, the trio formed instinctively. They began performing Yom’s compositions live, unfolding them into a single continuous piece, where clarinet and strings stretch the limits of sound and breath.
Bowed, plucked, or prepared with clothespins, the Ceccaldi strings engage in a playful and intense dialogue with Yom’s custom B-flat clarinet. Through their imaginative listening and fearless invention, air and space open into a vast new soundscape—one that lies somewhere between meditation and healing music.

“When Yom shared the concept of the rhythm of silence, we were immediately drawn in,” says cellist Valentin Ceccaldi. “There’s a deep intensity and spiritual commitment in his music that really spoke to me. With this trio, we’re trying to dive into the core of sound—but also to create a kind of communion with the audience. It’s like gradually turning up the volume on silence, and realizing it’s made of countless tiny sounds—the music of particles in motion" This stripped-down intensity demands full presence—body and mind—of these three musicians, vibrationally connected in a state close to trance. With them, we enter a journey - not religious, but sacred nonetheless.
The Rhythm of Silence becomes an echo of our most intimate, most distant inner landscapes.
An album—and a trio—to return to without end.

At daybreak, as sunlight travels through the atmosphere and begins to reach Earth’s surface, daylight gradually emerges. This marks the transition from night to the beginning of a brand-new day. As the temperature rises—especially after clear, calm nights—relative humidity decreases, and mist, formed of tiny suspended droplets, begins to evaporate. Warm air rises and cool air sinks, creating an interplay of temperature, humidity and sunlight that gives way to a soft, diffuse glow. The sea breeze slowly clears the morning mist, setting life in motion once again as the world wakes up.

‘Daybreak’ is Sven Wunder’s fifth full-length album, seamlessly continuing the progression of his musical oeuvre. It takes the listener on a vivid maritime expedition, beginning the moment the first rays of light break the darkness of the night and embarking on a lush journey through the early hours of the day and far beyond, until the light slowly fades and night falls once again. True to Wunder’s now-distinctive artistry, ‘Daybreak’ is marked by elaborately crafted compositions and elegant pop-jazz arrangements for flute, percussion, brass and strings—supported by a decisive rhythm section, all of which add depth and build on his body of work, continuing to unfold his creative path.

Parallax explores the shifting boundary between human intuition and algorithmic logic, a space where two perspectives converge and blur until the center is lost. Composed through a hybrid system of voltage-controlled hardware and digital manipulation, the five tracks apply FM synthesis, granular processing, and bit-level degradation to rigid electro structures. Sequences are shaped by modulation instability and clock drift, gradually disrupting pattern integrity and simulating a loss of systemic control. Precise yet disrupted grooves hint at a deeper malfunction, as if something is corrupting the system from within. Parallax is the gap between the human who creates and the algorithm that imitates.

A cosmic journey in 8 parts: live drums and percussion looped through analog synths and vintage effects, unfolding into lush solos, deep basslines, and otherworldly textures. Anti-Planeting is Cappellato’s most exploratory statement yet—an album born of live experimentation, pressed for deep listening.

Releasing music – or art in general – goes beyond merely showcasing one’s performance skills or pursuing fame. Often, artists feel compelled to share certain works as a way to grow and transition into the next phase of their journey. The material may not always be easily digestible, but it is within these complexities that deeper meanings and innovative ideas emerge. This is what “Anti-planeting” embodies within Cappellato’s current musical landscape: a yearning to break free from a mindset that has long influenced society on this planet. Each track on “Anti-Planeting” carries a title that contributes to the overall narrative, revealing different aspects of the artist’s personal journey. Through these subtle feelings and intuitions, the album unfolds, gradually unveiling a complete puzzle that reflects the artist’s exploration and musical growth. “Anti-Planeting” is a fully realized album consisting of 8 tracks that emerged from these live experiments. The foundation of this project revolves around the use of live drums and percussion samples, which were then processed through an Electroharmonix 45000 looper and a Kaoss Pad II.

A1 - Course Of Action
Opening the EP with a thoroughly entertaining, unique breakbeat workout of the ilk we've come to appreciate from Eusebeia, we are treated to sharp snares ripping into the mix backed by a lethal apache break dripping with old school appeal. An ever-evolving atmosphere is guided by intense vocal samples and shimmering synth backdrops, interspersed with intense melodies and darkly effects to complete a mesmerising collage of sound.

A2 - Embracing Imperfection
Next up we see Embracing Imperfection, a sci-fi inspired track littered with a detailed myriad of synthwave-esque melodies, transporting you to an ethereal episode of the X Files as Eusebeia flexes atmosphere and breaks intertwined with synths and whooshing FX. The breaks are superbly effective as ever with distinctive cymbal hits and echoed samples adding flecks of detail to an impressive composition.

AA1 - Point Of Isolation
A tense introduction punctuated by a reverberating melody evoking enigmatic mystery slowly unfolds, as Point of Isolation displays Eusebeia's diverse repertoire of breakbeat editing techniques. Darting metallic snares and deep kicks & basslines ebb and flow, a tangled maze of rippling energy lifted straight from the soul. This track is equally suited to the headphones and the dancefloor, causing ructions to both.

AA2 - Soul Searching
Closing the EP, Soul Searching sees Eusebeia release a gradually enveloping system of seductive breakbeats, twisting and intertwining with a whole host of vivid soundscapes delivered through pulsing synthwork and jostling micro-melodies. Throughout the track, the distinctively thick breaks are the true star of the show, encompassing the sensibilities of Spatial perfectly. Until the next time.

Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial / Red Mist)

RedNilo is an Italian-Moroccan duo composed of Reda Zine and Danilo Mineo, two musicians based in Bologna linked by a deep passion
for world music, particularly African music. Their ongoing and tireless musical exploration has led them to collaborate for over a decade
on numerous artistic and recording projects. Their new album, eponymously titled RedNilo, features six tracks characterized by a sound
reminiscent of Gnawa, Hassani, Tuareg, and experimental rock. The psychedelic, raspy riffs of the electric guitar, the repetitive rhythms
of the percussion, and the rhythmic-melodic lines of the guembri represent and evoke their journey. The resulting sound material is the
culmination of their journey and their encounters with masters, artists, griots, artisans, and instrument makers in the Draa Valley in
southeastern Morocco, bringing together the two musicians' urban and experimental backgrounds and souls. The album's artwork was
designed by Moroccan artist Aali Wica, initiator and mentor of their spiritual and artistic journey to the southern African continent,
across the long black snake.
Réda Zine, a musician and documentary filmmaker born in 1977 in Casablanca, launched his musical career in the 1990s, contributing
to L'Boulevard, Africa's largest independent festival. Raised in the Casablanca medina, he was introduced to Gnawa music by various
Maallems. After studying at the Paris 3 Sorbonne University, he founded Café Mira, a project that has performed at several international
events.
From 2011 to 2014, Zine was artistic director for Creative Commons (Middle East and North Africa), where he won the #CC10 Korea
award in 2012 with the project "It will be Wonderful," which brought together musicians from over 12 countries. He has also been
involved in exhibitions on music and censorship, participating in events in major cities such as Paris, Buenos Aires, and Seoul. In Italy,
he continued his musical research with the Hardonik project and was part of the Afrobeat group Voodoo Sound Club, recording the
album Mamy Wata. Zine collaborates with artists such as Seun Kuti and has initiated educational activities related to Gnawa music,
contributing to initiatives such as the African Symphony Laboratory for improvisers. He is the co-founder of Fawda, a Gnawa-based
project, and is part of the Gnawa Rumi collective, which explores the music of the Moroccan diaspora in Italy. He directed the documentary "The Long Road to the Hall of Fame" about Public Enemy, which won an award at the Pan African Film Festival in 2015.
Danilo Mineo graduated as a national educator from the AMMnationalscholl music academy in Milan, with a thesis entitled "Afro-Cuban
Music and the Rhythm Section." Over the years, he has attended workshops and masterclasses with international artists and masters
of percussion and drums, including Horacio El Negro Hernandez, Airto Moreira, Trilok Gurtu, Luis Agudo, Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Dudu
Tucci, Dom Famularo, Karl Potter, Rodney Barreto, and Eno Zangoun, exploring the rhythmic language of various musical genres and
styles.
In addition to publishing several educational manuals for percussionists, music critics consider him a versatile percussionist, active in
various musical productions and recordings: Mop Mop, Fawda, Guglielmo Pagnozzi "Voodoo Sound Club," Fabrizio Puglisi "Guantanamo," Panaemiliana, The Mixtapers, and many others, with whom he has performed at numerous national and international music festivals (in Europe and Africa). As a percussionist and side man he has recorded numerous albums and collaborated with Italian and
international artists including: Giancarlo Schiaffini, Gianluca Petrella, Roy Paci, Roberto Freak Antoni, Famoudou Konate, Melaku Belay, Baba Sissoko, Kalifa Kone, Jamal Ouassini, Deda, Dj Lugi, Bioshi.

2025 Repress

Deep In Dis Intl. is back with another killer release, this time by Brazilian sound system culture precursor Rassan and his Don't Hesitate EP. It includes a remix by UK's rising DJ Producer Bailey Ibbs. It is widely known by now that the Brazilian electronic music scene is one of the fastest growing and its artists are gradually developing a unique style with a strong international influence. Rassan, co-founder of the Nice & Deadly record label is a promising talent, making noise with his 90's raver influenced productions.

A1. "Don't Hesitate" is like stepping into a time machine. Nostalgic piano riffs, classic breakbeats and catchy vocal samples. Perfect summer anthem.
A2. "Rota De Fuga" is one of those tracks that can really transport you just by closing your eyes. It has a darker, trippy and speedier vibe that stimulates and submerges you deeper into the night.
Flipping the record, B1 is just a perfect example of Bailey's dynamic skills to program beats, adding some quirky sounds, an infectious electro pattern and a super deep breakdown. Robot dance style for this one!
B2. 'Bury The Hatchet' closes this wicked EP with a sublime energy. Proper deep jungle vibes. Four special tracks for any special moment of the party.

Danou P Serves Up Deep, Funky Heat with his 'In The Brine EP' on Definitive Recordings.

Rotterdam-based producer and DJ Danou P delivers a standout four-tracker with 'In The Brine EP,' released on Definitive Recordings. Known for his warm, soulful and funk-infused take on house music, Danou channels raw rhythm and musical flair into a collection that feels both classic and freshly personal.

Opening track 'The Flex' sets the tone with stomping deep house drums, playful chord stabs, and clever vocal sample play that gives it a raw, jacking feel. It's got attitude and groove in equal measure. 'On My Own' keeps things rolling with a classic deep house bassline, gradually introducing a soulful vocal loop that blossoms with the arrival of shimmering synth layers. Danou brings emotion without ever losing grip of the dancefloor.

Next comes 'Spirit', flipping the rhythm into broken beat territory. Another catchy vocal sample rides alongside vibey, jazzy stabs, offering a breezy, uplifting moment that's both heady and driving. It's the kind of track that sneaks into your set and ends up stealing the show. Rounding out the release is 'Bronstige Bakvissen', a deep and moody closer built on a heavy, rolling groove and rich classic house chords. It's stripped back but full of warmth, closing the EP with a nod to soulful late-night sessions.

Best known for his work alongside Jamie 3:26, and with releases on Glitterbox, Tru Thoughts, and Soulfuric Trax, Danou P is steadily building a solo catalogue that's as musical as it is danceable. His 'InThe Brine EP' is a bold step forward, out on Definitive on July 25th 2025.

Kora Koumakan, or Word of the Kora, is a boundary-pushing Afro-Manding group from Conakry, Guinea. Led by master kora player and composer Sekouna Conte, Kora Koumakan channels Guinea's rich musical heritage into modern compositions, creating a sound that is both deeply rooted and forward-looking. Inspired by Guinea's iconic Ballets Africains and legendary artists like Bembeya Jazz National and Mory Kante, the band masterfully blends contemporary instrumentation with traditional West African instruments - handmade by the band themselves - including the kora, djembe, and balafon. Since 2018, they have been touring extensively across West Africa, honing their sound and earning a nomination for Best Band at the 2025 Guinea Music Awards.

This inaugural limited edition vinyl release on Jambulance Movement Records features two standout remixes by London's Tigerbalm and Ben Gomori, which transform the band's original Afro grooves into hypnotic house tracks already making waves on dancefloors worldwide. Tigerbalm's remix expertly layers the original percussion around a driving 4/4 beat, with the ethereal kora and powerful vocals weaving through the rhythm to create compelling dancefloor energy. Ben Gomori's remix takes a more atmospheric route, anchored by a groovy bassline loop with layered guitar and keyboard melodies that add depth and movement, gradually building into immersive moments of tension and release. The record also includes instrumental versions of these remixes, with the band's EP of original tracks set to drop in early 2026.

Jambulance Movement Records is a social enterprise record label and recording studio based in Guinea. Their mission is to empower the next generation of emerging African artists by providing free professional recording services. Operating a solar-powered mobile studio and a static studio in Conakry, the label discovers new talent through casting events across the country. Selected artists receive comprehensive training and mentorship, with the overall aim to foster sustainable careers for young African artists.

The Temptations Get High on Psychedelic Soul: Cloud Nine Soars with Ambitious Arrangements and Production, Features Standout Vocal Performances and Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers

The Temptations’ Cloud Nine announced that Motown — and “The Sound of Young America” — would never be the same. Influenced by the emergence of cutting-edge rock and pop currents, as well as increasing sociopolitical turmoil, the album broke down barriers between rock, psychedelia, and soul while heralding the arrival of visionary arrangements and production techniques. Bookended by traditional R&B numbers, the 1969 record sent the Temptations in bold new directions and signaled the advent of psychedelic soul.

Sourced from the original master tapes, strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45PM 2LP set presents Cloud Nine in audiophile sound for the first time on a domestic pressing. This collectible reissue bestows Norman Whitfield’s extraordinary production with the grand-scale dynamics, natural tonality, expansive openness, and low-end weight it deserves. The timbre of each of the five members’ voices is readily identifiable — even within the group harmonies — bestowing a realism never experienced outside the recording studio.

Making its debut on 45RPM, the album further benefits from the wide groove space by playing with greater separation and more realistic presence than prior editions. Everything from the brassiness of the horns to the dry snap of the snare comes across with reference-grade clarity and positioning. And since Motown’s renowned Funk Brothers backing band plays on many of the cuts, you’ll want to savor every note. The imaging, soundstaging, and organic bloom-and-decay of the notes make that possible.

Amid Cloud Nine, the instrumentation and architecture stand out as much as any element. Never before had a Motown album contained such ambitious patterns and complex passages. Seemingly conscientious of the departure from their past methods, the Temptations and Whitfield bunched together the tracks that mark a deep dive into psychedelic territory and counterbalance them with seven sterling soul cuts that dovetail with Motown tradition drenched with heartfelt vocals, swelling strings, and finger-snapping beats.

On the original 33RPM release, traditional Motown soul — laden with heartfelt vocals, swelling strings, and finger-snapping beats — occupies Side Two. These songs reveal an ensemble still very much on top of delivering pristine pop-soul material graced with romantic sweetness, persuasive insistent, and soaring highs. Re-energized after the departure of lead singer David Ruffin, who was fired for a variety of reasons in June 1968, the Temptations seamlessly meld with his replacement, Dennis Edwards, on one melodic gem after another.

The collective tackles five songs co-written by the legendary Motown team of Barrett Strong and Whitfield. Not the least of which are the smooth, shuffling “Why Did She Have to Leave Me (Why Did She Have to Go)” and deceptively simple, horn-spiked “Gonna Keep on Tryin’ till I Win Your Love.” On these tracks, as well as on a lush rendition of the ballad “Love Is a Hurtin’ Thing” and pleading, tender send-up of the Gerry Goffin-Carole King classic “Hey Girl,” Edwards and Paul Williams take turns on the lead with the estimable Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams providing backing support.

All five vocalists trade-off leads on the simmering title track, a groundbreaking composition shot through with wah-wah-pedal effects, liquid funk, deep bass lines, Cuban percussion, saturated reverb, and gang choruses. Whitfield mines each member’s natural vocal range with spectacular results, keeps time with cymbals, and channels both the heated temperatures and escapist desires of a society embroiled in war, conflict, and experimental drugs.

Amazingly, the Temptations top themselves on the similarly revealing “Run Away Child, Running Wild.” Nearly 10 minutes in length, the song explodes R&B parameters and harbors a cinematic scope. Urgent pianos, distorted guitars, stripped-down percussion, steamy Hammond organs, minimal bass motifs, five distinct voices narrating the tale of a boy who fled home and now finds himself amid the scary, unforgiving external world: They combine to give the urgent tune a walls-closing-in atmosphere where fear and desperation reign. Bolstered by an extended instrumental section that precedes a climactic return of the singers’ voices, “Run Away Child, Running Wild” equaled the success of the record’s title track, with both reaching No. 6 on the pop charts.

Looking back on her career in the early 90s, Stevie Nicks described the first track of Rock a Little as “the most exciting song that I had ever heard.” This coming from a superstar who was already closely affiliated with several bajillion-selling Fleetwood Mac albums — to say nothing of her own benchmark solo debut. Her remarks attest to the enthusiasm and effort she invested in her third record, a 1985 work that quickly furthered Nicks’ profile and cemented itself as a piece of 80s pop lore.

Mastered at MoFi’s California studio, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, strictly limited to 4,000 numbered copies, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents Rock a Little in audiophile sound for its 40th anniversary. Helmed by a cadre of producers and engineers, and recorded for a reported one million dollars, the platinum-certified album teems with a head-spinning array of colors, tones, dreamscapes, and accents. This reference-grade reissue marks the first time they are all brought to light and conveyed with proper balance, dimensionality, and positioning.

Though Rock a Little doubtlessly has period characteristics of a mid-80s LP, Nicks and company spare no expense when it comes to distinguishing the music with expansive sonics distinguished with lush melodies, high-tech percussion, echoing vocals, sampled keyboards, and layers of sophisticated accents. The degrees of spaciousness, headroom, and dynamics are nothing less than inspiring, while the newly enhanced detail, texture, and clarity make the songs sing like never before. As for Nicks’ voice? Wait ’til you experience the transparency and depth.

Those advantages extend, of course, to the aforementioned “I Can’t Wait,” a statement-making opener shot through with modulating synthesizers, splashy drums, metallic guitars, and serious drama. Holed up in a massive studio, Nicks required just one take to nail her part, which she called “magic and simply not able to beat.” The singer-songwriter also distilled the reverberating emotional essence of the Top 20 tune, stating “when I hear it on the radio, this incredible feeling comes over me, like something really incredible is about to happen.”

The same can be said for nearly all of Rock a Little. Crafted by the likes of Songwriters Hall of Fame multi-instrumentalist/producer Rick Nowels, Heartbreakers organist Benmont Tench, bassist Bob Glaub, jack-of-all-trades Greg Phillinganes, and session-pro guitarists Waddy Watchel, Les Dudek, and Danny Kortchmar — along with another two dozen or so participants — the record spills with diverse ideas, shapes, and moods. Everything is in the right place, as evidenced by the swirling glide and sensual undertow of the slightly funky title track to the snapping rhythmic pace and big hooks of “Imperial Hotel,” one of Nicks’ standout moments.

“What was it she wanted?” Nicks queries on “No Spoken Word,” continuing a theme of contemplation that runs through the narratives. Nicks never lands on a definite answer, but hearing her explore loneliness, love, and the secrets we keep to ourselves proves continuously rewarding. Take her passionate performance on a cover of Chas Sanford’s “Talk to Me,” a Top 5 smash furthered by tasteful saxophone lines and understated folk elements. Immersive yourself in the grand sonic corridors of “If I Were You,” laden with Nicks’ signature mysticism.

Moreover, surrender to the gravitas of the closing “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You,” a piano ballad composed about the death of Joe Walsh’s three-year-old daughter. As Nicks asserts earlier on the album, she sings for things money can’t buy.

So, rock a little, yes, but dare to feel even more.

Mihail P – Phantom Broadcast EP

Mihail P delivers four tracks of machine-driven techno exploring classic 90s aesthetics while moving freely between electro, breakbeat and deep house sensibilities. The Phantom Broadcast EP channels the spirit of early 90s records with evolving rhythms, dubby textures and emotive chord work.

“Pulse Memory” opens with a deep electro-techno roller, constantly shifting its rhythmic framework while weaving in subtle deep house elements, recalling moments from the back catalogue of Pacific Records. “Tempest” begins with dubby 909 drums and rolling hats before unexpectedly transforming mid-track into a breakbeat sequence, eventually looping back to its original structure and closing with a distinctly Detroit-influenced finale.

On the B-side, “Cat TV” pushes the tempo to 138 BPM with breakbeat rhythms, 808 low-end pressure and constantly evolving Detroit-style chords. The track builds intensity before easing into melodic tones towards the end, creating a reflective closing passage. “Sights Unseen” blends deep house and techno foundations with a rising acid line that gradually takes center stage, supported by rolling percussion and a driving bassline that keeps the groove energetic while retaining a deep emotional core.

Functional and atmospheric dancefloor material for DJs navigating the deeper and more hypnotic corners of techno.

AOP 11 Welcomes the Italian GNMR to the family for another psychedelic offering with the 'I Love You EP'

A1 opening with the title track I Love You with a no nonsense tribalism, taking us stumbling through a muddy Peruvian forest trip - after loosing & finding our minds

A2 follows with the deep and introspectif Sunrise Reprise. Slower broken drums guide, accompanied by moody groans and a nagging synth that weaves through the vines and trees.

B1 Bunda returns to the tribalism for a gated giddy dance ritual - clatterings drums, stuttered chants and rhythmic movements.

B2 rounds off the EP with Constantinople From The Mindset. Cleverly programmed loose percussion and trippy chants, a chundering bass and a solid kick, the track progresses craftily and confidently, gradually arriving at a euphoric and climatic.

Selekt Wax returns with its second vinyl offering, shifting the lens from introspection toward motion. Where its predecessor explored stillness and space, Varginha 96 leans into rhythm with a more fluid, tactile energy.

Loopedeville works within a minimal framework but pushes it toward something more animated. Groove takes the lead, while detail reveals itself gradually. The result is playful but controlled, built for movement while still carrying depth beneath the surface.

Inspired by the 1996 Varginha incident in Brazil, the record carries a subtle sense of the otherworldly. Not in a literal sense, but in texture. Unfamiliar tones, slightly off center moments, and elements that feel just outside of reach.

Etched on the sleeve, a poem sets the tone:

the analog moment is now
but, how? release
free form feelings finding
new places in yourself
a sort of synthesis
of interpretations
crash & collide
into the infinite groove of reality
but, is anything really real?

A1 – Varginha 96
A breakbeat driven opener centered on a looping vocal from the Varginha ‘96 incident. Off kilter synth textures circle the groove, giving it a subtle, otherworldly feel. Simple on the surface, with depth that reveals itself over time.

A2 – Varginha 96 (Ohm Hourani Remix)
Ohm takes it into a more stripped back, hypnotic space. Centered around the same vocal, the track locks into repetition and feel. Hazy, controlled, and built for late hours.

B1 – Thunders in Paradise
A driving groove built on dusty drums and a tightly controlled rhythm. It holds a steady pulse, with understated details and shifting textures giving it quiet depth.

B2 – Never Enough
A fluid, late night groove shaped by Loopedeville’s signature swing. Less driving than the previous cut, but still locked in, with warm tones and an easy bounce that carries through.

An extremely rare Northern Soul 45 RPM single originally released in 1965 on the Holly label, Billy Arnell And The Sparkles "Tough Girl" was the product of two childhood friends that lived less than a block apart in suburban Fairlawn, New Jersey in the early 1960s - Billy Smith and Lou Hemsey.

Billy played guitar and sang; Lou played guitar and wrote songs, so they decided to form a band. They added friends Eddie Hoffman on organ and Jack Gullone on drums and began playing lots of gigs locally as Little Willie & The Sparkles. They were young, ambitious, and imagined themselves as the next Beatles. By a stroke of fate, they met Joe Martin of Apex-Martin Distributors in Newark, NJ, who caught the band's live show and was duly impressed. That meeting led to the recording session for the "Tough Girl" single. When they recorded the first version of the song, the producer wasn't happy, nor was Joe Martin - so he fired that producer and brought in the young, up and coming producer, George Kerr. Kerr didn't care much for the band, so they redid the entire thing without Hoffman and Guilone - with just Billy singing and Lou playing guitar.

The pair of old friends were buoyed by session aces Eric Gale on guitar, Bernard Purdie on drums, Bobbie Banks on organ, as well as a bass player whose name has been lost to time. In addition to those changes, they used the studio horn section that Hemsey arranged for, plus two trumpets, two saxes and two vibes players. The resulting single was an infectious amalgamation of rock and soul. Billy changed his surname to Arnell for the 45 release (because he thought it sounded more "show-biz") and the rest is pop history. Arnell later started a record company (Fire Sign Records) and purchased a recording studio (112 Greene Street Recording) in the trendy SoHo section of Manhattan with Steve Loeb.

As for the rest of The Sparkles, Hoffman became a teacher somewhere on Long Island, Guilone graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Massachusetts and ended up living in Northern New Jersey. Hemsey became a well-known recording engineer, composer (Lou was the one who wrote "Tough Girl"), guitarist, arranger, orchestrator, editor, film director and producer for records and commercials.

Lucy Duncombe and Feronia Wennborg compose a modern symphony for virtual choir on 'Joy, Oh I Missed You', muddling sound poetry with Nuno Canavarro and ‘Systemische'-style machine-damaged surrealism. Like a mashup of Lee Gamble's 'Models', Akira Rabelais' 'Spellewauerynsherde' and Robert Ashley's timeless 'Automatic Writing’ screwed to perfection.

Duncombe and Wennborg have been chewing over ‘Joy, Oh I Missed You’ for four long years, working their process until they were "queasily intimate" with their arsenal of artificial voice tools. Tracing the history of the technology, from voice synthesisers and chatbots to AI voice analysis tools, the duo experiment relentlessly to develop a digital-age response to IRL extended vocal technique - think François Dufrêne, Yoko Ono or Phew. Less interested in replicating human sounds exactly, they instead test how various tools might cough up their own idiosyncratic tics as they stretch and stutter through attempts to mimic their "fleshware" counterparts.

Duncombe's got prior form here, most recently re-synthesising her voice on the brilliantly oily 'Sunset, She Exclaims' 45 for Modern Love, following a stunner for 12th Isle in 2021. Wennborg brings along experience from her tenure as one half of microsound duo soft tissue, whose 2022 LP 'hi leaves' (Students of Decay) was a haptic treasure. These approaches mesh remarkably well on their first collaborative full-length, with Duncombe's eerie bio-electronic incantations providing the ideal foil for Wennborg's carbonated hardware processes. It's not completely clear where the human voice ends and the zeroes and ones begin on 'Your Lips, Covering Your Teeth', as rolling cyborg syllables tumble over OS-startup womps and surprisingly svelte outcroppings of glassy, synthetic glitches. The music is surprisingly mannered, a sonic reflection of the cover, where a mouth is pixellated until only colour swatches remain. Duncombe and Wennborg trace the gradual erosion of their voices, leaning into the chaos as their various tools veer off into unique patterns of failure.

What sounds like a far-off, ghosted folk rendition (we're reminded of the Icelandic laments that Rabelais chewed up on 'Spellewauerynsherde') is offset by gnarled, bitcrushed machine faults and pneumatic lip smacks on the brilliant 'Residue', and on 'Brushed My Hair', the duo massage the voice until it sounds like a flute. Assembling stutters and barks and sighs into a celestial chorus alongside time-stretched moans, they create a levitational atmosphere on 'Smell It', freezing the energy from bizarre pitch steps to configure a zonked vocal ensemble.

'Joy, Oh I Missed You’ is an album that, like its source material, constantly morphs, testing the boundaries of its concept repeatedly without bubbling over into conceptual goo. In fact, it's remarkably euphonious, even at its most theoretically abrasive; Duncombe and Wennborg wring out uniquely angelic formations through a process of trial and error that packs a surprising, hefty emotional punch.

Known for his ability to create captivating, emotionally charged techno, Jonathan Kaspar eventually returns to Cocoon Recordings with his third contribution Twofold Split. One, yet simultaneously two releases that once again showcase his extraordinary talent through condensed techno with a pinch of trance, weaving together driving rhythms and atmospheric textures in a way that feels innovatively progressive.

Drifting hypnotically, this might be the most fitting way to describe what Jonathan Kaspar unfolds before us here. The rolling percussion grooves seamlessly intertwine with the siren's spectral tone, gradually blending into the alchemy of ‘Yah’ as it erupts into the mix. By the time the peak arrives, there’s a raw intensity in the air - the track seems to bend and stretch then drills and twists until it cracks, but never loses its sense of purpose and remainsanchored in its deep, pulsating groove. On the flip side, ‘Silver Lines’ stands as a counterpart, offering a contrast in both sound and atmosphere. With its minimalist arrangement, the track first nestles in gently, lulling the listener into its world—only to tighten its grip as a synth sequence gradually opens its cut-off filter, slicing through the calm, drilling into the mind, and shifting the mood from tranquil to tense.

Dimi Angelis presents ANGLS 15, delivering four heavy, direct machine tracks with a punk
attitude.

The A-side opens with "The Lust of Flesh", a layered, psychedelic tool that gradually spirals into chaos. "Purgatory" on A2 takes a more spacious yet brutal approach - distorted percussion and a relentless, building clap create constant pressure and tension.

On the B-side, "Deadly Sin" ventures into sci-fi territory with a rolling low end, percussive
bleeps, and eerie atonal pads. The record closes with "Vanity", a hypnotic, straight-cut bleep
sequence fired on repeat, punctuated by classic 909 hats and sinister pads that rise and fall.

Hardcore Rap music is still here! Mike Redman is considered a cult legend known for his unorthodox music production in various genres. He's well known as an artist in the Jungle and Hardcore scene, as a renowned movie score composer and made a name for himself as organiser of the infamous 'Redrum Hip-Hop' events since the 90's which hosted international artists from Guru to Cannibal Ox, Public Enemy, Beatnuts and many more. He also set up Redrum Recordz, a pioneering independent record label focusing merely on anything musically unpolished. Even though Mike Redman (which is his name of birth by the way) was often linked to many Hip-Hop success stories and produced records for artists such as Public Enemy and Big Daddy Kane, Mike has just recently, after many years, decided to produce a solo record featuring the Rap artists he admires and form the foundation of his legacy. With great respect towards his mentors, in a non-profit manner, Mike now releases 'Redrum Relics' featuring Rap icons such as Kool Keith, Chuck D, Schoolly D, Sticky Fingaz, Young Zee, Chino XL, O.C. and many more. This album is truly exceptional and is not made with the intention to be commercially successful, but is a love-letter to a period in time where passion was the motivation. 'Redrum Relics' brings Rap music back to the golden era with a contemporary touch and keeps it unpolished and unyielding as ever. People that tend to say that Hip-Hop is dead might want to reconsider.

Exos returns to Mutual Rytm for second standout EP, 'Icebreaker'.

A renowned global talent, Iceland's Exos was last on Mutual Rytm earlier this year with his successful 'Infrared' EP in April. The debut release on the label's new 10" vinyl X-Series, the EP picked up a wealth of high-profile plays while delivering an absorbing journey through techno soundscapes. The release was followed up by his 'Evil Nation' LP, exploring a harder, more intense approach to techno on his own Planet X imprint, ext to tunes on the likes of Figure and X/OZ. However, he returns with more skilfully crafted ammunition across five stand-out productions and two digital bonus gems on SHDW's burgeoning imprint for a second outing packed with his trademark sound spanning mystic yet driving and impactful spheres.

The package opens up with 'Voices Of Volcano', a powerful track with a monstrous low end and quickened drum kicks that compel you to march in time as the twisted synths peel away up top. 'Enter The Danger' has a steamy feel, as if racing through a humid jungle with the sounds of bird calls and haunting voices next to the loopy percussion and driving rhythms.

The brilliant 'Icebreaker' keeps up the intensity with more precision drumming working dancers into a meditative state while the cosmic synths grow up out of the groove to become bright and unsettling. 'Mocoa Beats' is another warm techno cut that fizzes with synth energy and unfolds like an ancient ritual, while 'Chicat' brings some sensuality to the party with whispered, intimate vocals over more macho and unrelenting drums. Bonus tracks 'Codebreaker' and 'Spliffmatch' round out this high-grade EP of timeless techno in style, offering a unique closing treat for digital purchasers.

Like a metaphor for life, the progressive sounds of « Tree of Life » evoke the image of a tree that never stops evolving and growing. With its deep and captivating melodies, Nurse Erica takes us on a cosmic journey to the outer edges of Trance and Progressive House.

As its name suggests, « Being Trance » brings together all the elements of a Trance classic: soaring melodies, spacey leads, and groovy percussion. It’s the perfect introduction to the first side of the vinyl, a metaphor for the birth of the tree.

« Do My Stuff (Ears in Space Mix) » picks up right where the opening track leaves off. Striking a balance between dreamy and nostalgic, its deep bass and driving percussion lay down the rhythm, while the airy melodies scatter like autumn leaves.

With « Take The Heartbreak », Nurse Erica explores a universal rite of passage. The first half of the track, broken and introspective, gradually gives way to a brighter second half : a glimmer of hope for every broken heart.

And with spatial vocals and cosmic atmospheres, what better way to close the journey than with the title track « Tree of Life » ? In this piece, Nurse Erica blends Trance-infused melodies with Progressive House percussion, enriched by luminous, nostalgic piano notes, like the blossoming of a tree. Deep.

Gradually, the latest album by Julien Mier, is a sonic journey that delves into the transitions of life, identity, and the blurred boundaries between art and personal growth. With a trilingual brain, Mier reflects on how language shifts have shaped his sense of self throughout his life and the music that he writes. Gradually is his exploration of shapelessness—an urge to break free from rigid musical genres and get closer to his most fundamental expression. The album is composed of nine tracks, each representing a distinct cultural and linguistic influence, all tied together by the theme of gradual evolution.

The first section, Ciel, Soleil, and Espace (French for Sky, Sun, and Space), draws on Mier’s French heritage, evoking the feeling of childhood memories bathed in a warm, nostalgic glow. This fluid, atmospheric section mirrors the soft, ever-changing air, symbolising a time of pure, untainted intention. It feels like a hazy, sepia-toned dream, as fleeting and elusive as the scent of an old friend. The gentle flow of the music mirrors the flow of wind, effortlessly shifting from one element to the next, a reflection of the innocence and clarity of youth.

The second section, Steen, Zee, and Zand (Dutch for Stone, Sea, and Sand), channels the influence of Mier’s childhood in a small Dutch dune village. These tracks are grounded in the hard-edged textures of electronic dance music, a genre that introduced him to a world of rhythm and movement. With a sonic palette of blues, greys, and more defined shapes, this section captures the solid, enduring forces of nature—earth, water, and stone. It’s a sonic landscape rooted in stability, a foundation from which everything can grow. The tracks build from the fluidity of the first section into more structured, rhythmic territories, mirroring the natural transition from childhood innocence to the discovery of deeper, more grounded musical influences.

The final section, Scrap (a collaborative track with the Japanese producer Daisuke Tanabe), Soil, and Spark, dives into the exploration of the world beyond familiar borders. Mier’s relocation from the Netherlands to Australia in 2016 is reflected in these pieces, which grapple with the contrast and complexity of different cultures and environments. These tracks are tinged with rust-red hues and a sense of eroded beauty, evoking a more fragmented, distorted view of the world. The music here is marked by tension, conflict, and the erosion of once-solid forms—symbolic of the digital and ecological storms that shape our modern existence. The closing piece, Spark, signals a new beginning, a hopeful initiation into the cycle of renewal.

The album artwork for Gradually is a conclusive visual representation of this journey, captured in the final frame of an analog film roll that began in the Netherlands and concluded with an image of the streets of Sydney, Australia—a perfect metaphor for the album’s narrative of gradual transition and discovery.

I turned the page and will never forget what I then saw.

The fountain pen scratched against the paper, whistling like fur on an abandoned tire in the
middle of the night at the centre of the universe in the core of whatever it is I’m trying to believe.
I am a patient human and I live and breathe. I know this for sure.

I read about a whispering stillness of the Stadsnacht as my blood levels gradually even out again. Beneath the ink, the words take shape. This is a secret correspondence with the Book of Change – a dialogue not meant for eyes or ears, but for the soul. Are you still with me?

The Snake Rope tightens, its Coils Dive into the deep well of patience, where waiting is an art, a
dance with the unseen. The Scientists Say we should measure, predict, contain—but here, in
the shadow of the deepest of nights, the only truth is the Celebration of Ignorance. Love is the
force that binds as it untangles the invisible thread that refuses to sever. The next page quotes the mystical figure Daim: “Never Dissever Us.”

There, in the dawning light, the Dageraad reveals the Icequeen in her frigid throne, the Topiary Man standing guard in his sculpted silence. In this quiet landscape, I wait. I continue to wait, for I have good fortune on my very hands.

If You Won’t, I Will.

Can we exhibit the power to possess conformity? Can we redeem the benefits of crossing the water? Yes. The choice, the act of breaking through the barrier of convenience, is both a burden and a liberation.The words swirl, abstract and concrete, like action and inaction. The Book of Change is a paradox to puzzle over.

The evening cool rests its shoulders on my fluffy neck. I inhale as my pen lifts itself from the
paper once more, shedding ink as though it were tears of joy. I know that I have touched the
edge of something vast, something that moves beyond the grasp of reason into the heart of the
I Ching, the ever-turning wheel of change. This is the correct orientation. This is the vivid
imagery of clouds falling from the heavens and into our laps. This was never meant for your
ears. This was meant for you to feast on as the seasons bestow upon us

Italian duo USAW join Fusion Of Thought for 'Not A Reason EP'! The prolific duo has gradually carved out a position in the modern techno space with live-performances at Tresor and OHM, as well as outings on established labels such as Clergy, ARTS, OECUS and their own USAW label. On 'Not A Reason', USAW deliver a distinctive slice of techno: unrelenting and forceful, yet with a particular sense for melody and hooks. Seasoned producer and Clergy label founder Cleric joins the cause with a remix, transporting original 'Illogical Behavior' to a new dimension.

Fashion Flesh tears the fabric of space and time. This is his first offering for the ESP Institute. With side A’s 'Atoms Revolt', ESP cordially introduces Fashion Flesh, AKA John Talaga, to the deepest corners of your mind. Using largely homemade electronics, circuit-bent gadgets, and tape manipulation, John manages to tap into the innate character of these otherwise introverted machines, eavesdropping and documenting their buried inner dialogue. His command of distortion is multi-tiered. On a micro level, he induces happy accidents and shepherds stray elements. Zooming out a bit, we begin to understand the sonic meat grinder that equalizes his bag of disparate ingredients. And from a macro vantage point, we fully recognize the greater tool that sculpts all of the above into form. Side B’s 'New Freedom' conjures a specific dystopian image—the byproduct of an artist involuntarily conditioned by the commute between up-river Bay County, Michigan and the Detroit metropolitan area. Like cutting away at flesh and muscle, breaking through the bone to suck the marrow, John depicts both the contrast and parallels between two post-industrial urban landscapes, the banal trek across The Thumb between them, and the gradual disintegration of agriculture as one nears the Techno city. Voice fragments begin to stutter in syncopation like radio frequencies interfering with our psyche, Geiger counters wail and moan, untamed oscillations mimic caged primates rioting at the zoo, and a steady-firing piston of drums struggles to break through a dense harmonic soot. The depth of personality John extracts through his manipulation process is remarkable— a point-of-view that foreshadows humanity’s looming technological singularity while hinting that it may have always been here, hiding in plain sight, waiting to be given a voice. These two songs will trip your circuit breakers.

Alien D, aka Daniel Creahan, is a staple in the NYC underground, known for his releases on labels including Lillerne, 1432 R and Banlieue Records. On his latest album, For the Early Hours of a World in Bloom – his first for Theory Therapy – Creahan takes us deeper into the dubby landscapes of his previous work, with a renewed focus on groove and movement.

Where Lillerne’s Spiritual World leaned toward ambient abstraction, Early Hours pulses with kinetic energy, with tracks like “Soil Dub” and “Sleepy’s Gambit” propelling us forward with dubwise rhythms crafted for the dancefloor.

The album thrives on its infectious, steady groove, with repeating phrases and subtle shifts that keep the music in constant motion. Nowhere is this more evident than on the gentle roller, “Breather.” Over 13 minutes, Creahan lets small variations in tone and a propulsive low-end evolve gradually alongside Ben Seretan’s guitar.

While Early Hours embraces a more rhythmic direction, it still retains the eccentricity and atmosphere that defines Alien D’s sound. Conceived in the first days after the COVID lockdown, there’s a hopeful quality to the music – flickering tones, soft percussive elements and organic textures that hover just behind the beat – making it feel both intimate and expansive. It’s as though Creahan has bottled those transcendent moments that can occur during the early hours of a party, when everything feels suspended in a state of potential.

Run time - 33 minutes



Credits:

Written & produced by Daniel Creahan

Guitar on 'Breather' by Ben Seretan

Mastered by Special Guest DJ

Cover & design by Gary Hunter

Isle of Jura teams up with French digger Switch Groove on the next compilation titled ‘Archipelago – Cosmic Fusion Gems from France (1978-1988)’.

Switch Groove explains the concept “When I seriously began to search for and collect records, I was mostly interested in sounds from african-american, afro-latin and UK contemporary scenes. Sounds from distant territories, faraway from my native Massif Central, a highland region in the middle of France. The grass is always greener, I guess however, as I was digging in fleamarkets in the early sunday morning light, as well as spending regular sessions in second hands record shops, I began to discover hidden treasures, underground gems and side-projects of an unknown French musical repertoire.

French music is often reduced to its most famous musical forms, characters and signatures : French songwriting and voices, 60s yéyé, prog rock concept albums and soundtrack explorations, 80’s indie rock scene or more recently electronic French touch. All these sounds have a common feature : a geographical link, forged on mainland French territory, following the contour of the so-called Hexagone, the border that shapes the grounds for an homogeneous cultural expression. But beyond this showcase lie more complex, hybrid and global French productions. From French Caribbean Antilles to Parisian suburbs - especially during the ‘Sono Mondiale’ era -, in French areas outside urban cultural centers, musicians have created fusion and cosmic musical expressions. As the mid-seventies meant a greater freedom to make and record music, a wider use of electronic instruments like synthesizers and drum machines helped to deliver some magical projects you could only find lost in the middle of cheap records during a sunny record digging session. I selected these tracks, in an attempt to shape an ARCHIPELAGO that highlights significative contributions of African diasporas and ultramarine territories into French musical borders. It is the map of a land I have gradually drawn, thanks to deep listening of amazing cosmic and fusion tunes. I hope you enjoy the journey.”

Limited 2025 Repress
Black Truffle is pleased to announce the release of Ichida, the first release from the duo of two important yet often underappreciated musicians, Eiko Ishibashi and Darin Gray. Ishibashi is a singer-songwriter, keyboardist, drummer, and multi-instrumentalist, known in Japan both for her own elaborately conceptual solo albums and for her frequent collaborations with figures such as Jim O'Rourke, Merzbow, and Phew. Darin Gray is a bassist and multi-instrumentalist known for a multitude of collaborations (with O'Rourke and Loren Connors, among many others), for On Fillmore, his cinematic post-exotica project with Glenn Kotche, and as one half of Chikamorachi with Chris Corsano, one of the finest free-jazz rhythm sections around. Presenting the entirely of a live set performed at Tokyo's Super Deluxe in March 2013, the set begins as a duet for Ishibashi's flute and Gray's upright bass. Calmly melodic yet harmonically inventive, with shades of 'spiritual jazz', the pair's acoustic ruminations are gradually joined by Ishibashi's lush electronics, which randomly flicker between chords in a manner recalling the classic work of David Behrman. As the electronics build into a gloomy fog of slowly cycling loops, Gray lays his bass aside and turns to making strangely mournful interjections on a mouthpiece. Eventually Ishibashi moves to the piano, enveloping the audience in rippling pools of sustained, octave-doubled melody, provided by Gray's bass with a fluid and dynamic foundation. For much of the second side, both Ishibashi and Gray turn to electronics, ultimately arriving in a bizarre space of melancholic arpeggios and random sputter and sizzle, oddly reminiscent of 70s outsider prog acts like Wapassou. An uneasy coda of rich piano chords ends the set. Captured in warm room ambience and beautifully mixed by Jim O'Rourke, Ichida is a rare combination of improvisational acumen and emotional directness, both adventurous and immediately accessible.

The first release to document the solo cello work of musician and composer Lucy Railton, the 40-minute composition Blue Veil recorded at Église du Saint-Esprit in Paris invites listeners into the realm of precision-tuned states of resonance: states made manifest through Railton's careful traversal of her cello's most subtle acoustic characteristics as they harmonically interlock with mind's embodied modalities of attention and imagination. Blue Veil arises out of, is sustained in and finally dissolves back into Railton's momentary presence with her intimate connection to the cello, a way of hearing that allows for a deeper engagement with harmonic resonance, one that opens a space for immediate encounters of mind and sound. Railton's exploratory practice of harmonic perception emerges from a focus on the physical qualities of intervallic and chordal sounds, their textural qualities, degrees of friction, and inner pulsations. Composing in the moment guided by resonances within the cello's body, her own, and their shared vibrational space, Railton moves through Blue Veil by giving sounds what they ask for: sounds of pure texture manifesting as a move through temporal transparency, sounds of rough texture marking regions of dimensionally dense space. Railton's creative and highly refined use of just intonation harmony deforms sound's inner movements in ways that suggest a mode of listening that actively supplies imagery of sounds implied or completely absent rather than merely savouring those fully present. This active mode of "listening-with", playfully and semi-metaphorically referred to by Railton as "sing-along music", allows listening to reflexively participate in the music's movement as it gradually passes through richly saturated domains of harmonic imagination. And just as the precision-tuned tones of Blue Veil lose their individuality when fusing multifaceted uniformity, listening's structures of reference and recognition dissolve into nameless waves of intensity, continuously unfolding themselves upon and merging with the listener. Blue Veil is the result of a deep exploration of the inner worlds of tuning, an undertaking in turn informed by and emerging out of Railton's realisations of the music of Catherine Lamb and Ellen Arkbro, her collaborative work with Kali Malone and Stephen O'Malley as well as her interpretive practice in performing the work of Maryanne Amacher, Morton Feldman and others.

UV & Nenor link up once more and return to Fossils with three new edits that take the form of spaced-out deep cosmic chuggers. These are all classy tunes with an analogue edge, great deference to the classic synth sounds of days gone by but all with nice modern touches. 'Space Love' is a widescreen odyssey with sultry female vocals and a sweet theremin sound. On the flip, 'Shwag' has hazy pads and slowed down, rugged, sleazy drums and bass and then last of all comes 'GoGo Stomp' with another bubbly bottom end, squelchy bassline and weird but wonderful vocal sounds. A brilliantly high-grade addition to your record back.

After years of silence dedicated to side projects, DJENA makes a triumphant return with his solo EP, In Motion. A testament to his passion for eclecticism, this release seamlessly bridges house and breakbeat, enriched by a stunning remix from the legendary French producer DJ W!LD.

The journey begins with the title track, In Motion, a hypnotic breakbeat composition where deep pads intertwine with tribal vocal elements, evoking raw emotion and sonic depth. This track is designed to captivate both the ears and the heart. DJ W!LD then takes the reins, transforming In Motion into an irresistible dancefloor anthem. His remix injects a house-driven groove, elevating the track into an emotive yet club-ready masterpiece.

Flipping to the B-side, Thrust propels listeners into a deep tech-driven rhythm, gradually intensifying into a peak-time energy surge. Rounded arps, subtle vocal textures, and celestial pads craft an immersive, ethereal adventure—blurring the lines between introspection and movement.

Closing out the EP, Veer is a sublime after-hours gem. Its bouncy bassline and tech-house rhythm are complemented by atmospheric pads and haunting vocals, leading the listener into a space where both mind and soul find fulfillment

In Motion EP is a refined sonic exploration, balancing depth and energy in perfect harmony. DJENA’s return marks a powerful statement—one that will undoubtedly resonate on dancefloors and beyond.