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With Black Koyo, Mattias De Craene enters a sound world at once intimate and vast. Born from journeys in Morocco and Brussels, the project traces the rhythms, chants, and spirits of the Gnawa tradition, revealing a quiet resonance that echoes De Craene's own search for depth and presence. Guibri, qraqueb, call-and-response chants, saxophone, loops, and electronics come together in a trance-induced dialogue - ritualistic, elemental, and dreamlike - creating a space where listening becomes immersion, tradition meets imagination, and music unfolds as a shared act of reflection and wonder.

About Mattias De Craene
Mattias De Craene's artistic path is marked by rare coherence. As a central voice in Nordmann and MDC III, he developed a physical, rock-inflected jazz language driven by propulsion, volume, and trance-like collective energy. Over time, a period of personal rupture - burnout, tinnitus, depression - shifted his focus inward. The saxophone became a breathing, textural presence, and in his solo work, he weaves saxophone, electronics, loops, and minimal forms into a cinematic, hushed world where repetition, resonance, and silence slow perception. Rooted in ambient and introspection, his music prizes attention over impact, precision over excess - a quiet intensity recognized with a nomination as Musician for the Music Industry Awards (MIA's).

About Black Koyo
Black Koyo is a Brussels-based ensemble and one of the most compelling voices of the Gnawa tradition outside Morocco. Led by maalem Hicham Bilali, the group brings guibri, qrraqueb, and call-and-response chants to life with trance-like intensity and ritual precision. Their music is both rooted and contemporary, weaving earthbound rhythms and vocal invocations into ecstatic, immersive soundscapes, creating a space where ancestral resonance meets present-day imagination.

About Jan Bang
Jan Bang is a pioneering Norwegian producer and musician, celebrated for his mastery of live sampling and his ability to merge electronics with improvisation, rhythm, and texture in real time. He mixed the album and occasionally joins live performances, bringing his signature approach to sound as co-founder of the influential Punkt Festivaland collaborator with artists such as Jon Hassell, David Sylvian, Arve Henriksen, and ECM Records' roster. As a performer and sound architect, Bang creates immersive, trance-like sonic textures where silence and sound carry equal weight. Within Mattias De Craene ftBlack Koyo, his live sampling becomes an organic instrument, weaving saxophone, electronics, and Gnawa rhythms into hypnotic, physically charged soundscapes.

Line-up & credits
Mattias De Craene - sax, electronics | Hicham Bilali - guibri, vocals, qraqueb |Ismael Akhraz - vocals, qraqueb | Marwan Abantor - vocals, qraqueb
All tracks are original gnawa traditionals played by Black Koyo and arranged by Mattias De Craene.
Album produced & recorded by Mattias De Craene in Essaouira, Morocco and hometown Ghent, Belgium 2025.
Text by Hicham Bilali.
Mixed by Jan Bang at Punkt Studio
Mastered by Lieven Van Pee
Artwork by Marina Sviridova
Design by Benoit Van Geel
Manufactured and distributed by N.E.W.S.
Executive production by W.E.R.F. records
Supported by Flemish Government, Jazzlab, nona, HA Concerts, Aubergine artist Management,
KAAP, La Bestia (Wout Van Putten) & mdcmu.sic vzw.
2026 (c) W.E.R.F. records

ACTIVITY FM returns with AFM004, a four-track various artists release that cuts across electro, techno, house and Detroit-inspired machine funk. Each artist brings a distinct voice, yet the EP holds together as one focused statement for the floor: raw, futuristic and full of movement. Stripped-back but powerful, rooted in machine soul yet open to different regional energies and approaches. The result is a VA that feels cohesive without losing the individuality of its contributors, a versatile and high-impact 12” aimed squarely at adventurous dance floors.

ACTIVITY FM returns with AFM004, a four-track various artists release that cuts across electro, techno, house and Detroit-inspired machine funk. Each artist brings a distinct voice, yet the EP holds together as one focused statement for the floor: raw, futuristic and full of movement. Stripped-back but powerful, rooted in machine soul yet open to different regional energies and approaches. The result is a VA that feels cohesive without losing the individuality of its contributors, a versatile and high-impact 12” aimed squarely at adventurous dance floors.

Strut proudly presents Nuclear War, a powerful collaboration between UK collective The Heliocentrics, Sun Ra Arkestra legends Marshal Alen and Knoel Scott, and vocalist Bilal - issued on limited-edition “hazardous” orange and yellow vinyl exclusively for Record Store Day 2026.

The Nuclear War recordings stem from a rare session at Malcolm Catto’s Quatermass Sound Lab in January 2015. The group had assembled in London to rehearse for their performance at Giles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards, where Alen received the Lifetime Achievement Award and Catto the John Peel Award. With The Heliocentrics’ trademark raw, psychedelic energy as the backbone, the ensemble captured a series of reimagined Sun Ra classics in a spontaneous, one-off studio moment, and these tapes that have remained unheard in Catto’s archive until now.

The 4-track EP features a sinuous take on Ronnie Boykins’ ‘Angels And Demons At Play’, originally recorded in 1960, a strident version of ‘Where Pathways Meet’ which was originally created for the much-loved Sun Ra Lanquidity album in 1978, and a dense and deep re work of 1972’s ‘Astro Black’ featuring Bilal’s incredible otherworldly vocals. The title track ‘Nuclear War’ is re-worked into a cavernous groove featuring Heliocentrics vocalist Barbora Patkova. Nuclear War is mixed by Malcolm Catto, mastered and cut by Frank Merritt at The Carvery, and designed by Alex Evans of Reason For Being Studio.

Caterina Barbieri & Bendik Giske's At Source resounds music as wellspring, that which is essential and unknowable, and yet utterly primary. It finds two acclaimed composer-musicians building a world together in self-contained collaboration between analogue synthesis and an extended approach to the saxophone that conjures its own universe of sound. It is at once intimate and cosmic, drawing on the challenges and possibilities of their artistic exchange, tearing down technique to access all the expansive possibilities of their sonic meeting point.



At Source is a document of the world of sound to be conjured when two artists strive for something together, discovering the expansions and limitations of performance by bodies and machines. It is not an exercise in assimilation, but in productive exchange and creative confrontation. It does not draw on outside energies or influences, but grapples with what there is to find in their respective playing. "It also reflects how natural the collaboration was," says Barbieri, "a meeting at the source which was spontaneous, graceful and natural".



Barbieri and Giske first met and were enthralled by one another's performances at Kunsthaus Glarus in 2019, a meeting that spurred conversations on the power of transitions as a compositional force. Giske later contributed a rework of Fantas for Fantas Variations (Editions Mego, 2021), an ambitious undertaking to rescore Barbieri’s work for his saxophone and voice, a challenge Giske had started undertaking two years prior as an ongoing practice of transcription. “The request came as a proof of aligned ideas”, says Giske.



Their new collaborative project then started during an artistic residency in Milan’s ICA in 2021, by invitation of swiss artist and curator Jan Vorisek, as the world was emerging from lockdown. This meeting, and the preceding closure of sites for cultural exchange, made their work together 'feel like springtime' says Barbieri. Giske, who was on the brink of releasing his sophomore album, Cracks, then joined Barbieri's light-years tour, which functioned as an inaugural incarnation of her newborn label and platform through a series of multi-artist curated shows with appearances of Lyra Pramuk, Nkisi, MFO, among other artists.



Through the tour, they continued to develop material live, and this release, laid down in the studio, is true to that ever-evolving process of creation, where live feedback stays essential to the vitality of this collaborative effort. The tracks are each named with two evocative words that contain the two poles of their sound. Theirs is both abstract and cosmic, in the synth as machine undermined by Barbieri's naturalistic playing, and in Giske's continuous exploration of the symbiosis between his instrument, voice, and body. These binaries, of body and machine, posed various challenges, notably in how the stepped patterns Barbieri uses were near-impossible to translate for Giske's body to perform, and other times where mathematical resolutions were needed to sync their playing. Explains Giske: "It forced me to go to the core of what I am and what I have to offer”. Barbieri says that it "explores the liminality between the machine and the human, and the vulnerability in this process".



At Source is testament to two divergent practices finding a whole cosmos in which to convene; music is crystalised and made utterly enveloping through the focused and critical work of two musicians working at their peak. The versions here are, temptingly, "just one of many versions" of this abundant source material Giske explains. Like the best collaborations, At Source is more than the sum of its parts – bringing more to the feast than the simple combination of two musicians, promising versions upon versions of the exquisite material captured here.

MUSICA SOLIDA Vol. 3 finally touches down.

Flexi is wrapping up their 40th-anniversary celebration with a bang, and trust me, the wait was worth it. This VA 12” is a heavy-duty blend of family ties and international heat.

The Breakdown

* Gratts: The Adelaide-based crate-digger returns to Flexi with "Ghost Swell." It’s a deep, atmospheric builder that keeps the soul intact.

* Slowaxx & Ai Lati: Pure "rollin" energy. This Tuscan duo delivers a rhythmic, four-handed organic groove that’s been the secret sauce in the Italian underground.

* Melchior Sultana: The Maltese Deep House maestro brings the sub-heavy vibes. Total class, total depth.

* Robotalco: Fresh off his LP, he drops an Acid House banger. This 303-laced heater is strictly for the warehouse heads.

* DJ Soch: the "Italian Stallion" puts his classic old-school vein aside and reveals a darker, more minimal side: sharp drums, soulful vocal touches, and an essential, hypnotic groove shape a timeless track.

Forty years of curation distilled into one essential plate. It’s raw, it’s solid, and it’s built for the crates. Don’t sleep.

Orange Vinyl 2LP

Farbige Neuauflage des dritten Albums "Revengeseekerz" (2025) der äusserst produktiven und genreübergreifenden Musikerin Jane Remover featuring Danny Brown ("Psychoboost"). Die unbespielte Seite D enthält den Aufdruck REV. Die in New Jersey aufgewachsene und in Chicago lebende Künstlerin vermengt Hyperpop, Dubstep, Noise, Hip-Hop und Alternative zu einem exzessiven Amalgam, das nicht nur die Kritiker begeistert. "Die experimentelle Künstlerin macht im Vergleich zu ihrem vorherigen Album eine komplette Kehrtwende und entfesselt ein Inferno aus rohen Gedanken, das alles – Rap, Pop, Stimme, ihre künstlerische Persönlichkeit – bis zum Zerreissen treibt." - Pitchfork

This album features reggae legend Monty Neysmith: co-founder and composer for Symarip. The Symarip debut album is one of the best-selling albums on Trojan Records.

Songs by Monty Neysmith have been covered by Bad Manners, Judge Dread and The Specials, among others.

The Upsessions will promote the album by touring all over Europe with The Pioneers.

mclusky sind eine Band, die eine Band war, keine Band war und nun wieder eine Band ist. Sie wurde Ende der 90er Jahre gegründet und löste sich 2005 nach drei Alben zum ersten Mal auf. Meinungen zu diesen Alben finden sich im Internet. Der Weg zurück zur Band begann 2014, als die Band sporadische Konzerte spielte, um Geld für einen lokalen Veranstaltungsort zu sammeln, der von der Schließung bedroht war. Nach einigen Rückschlägen, die man als die schönsten Seiten des Lebens bezeichnen kann, veröffentlichten sie 2025 ihr erstes Album seit zwanzig Jahren. sporadische Konzerte gab, um Geld für einen lokalen Veranstaltungsort zu sammeln, der von der Schließung bedroht war. Nach einigen Missgeschicken, die man als Teil des Lebens in seiner schönsten Form bezeichnen kann, veröffentlichte die Band 2025 ihr erstes Album seit zwanzig Jahren. Nun, im Jahr 2026, setzt sie ihre musikalische Reise mit weiterer neuer Musik in Form dieses 6-Song-Mini-Albums fort. Der Zeitpunkt dieser Veröffentlichung fällt mit einer US-Tournee im Frühjahr 2026 zusammen, die nach ihrer Australien-Tournee im Januar und einer Reihe weiterer Tourneen aus dem vergangenen Jahr rund um den Globus stattfindet. Die Rückkehr der Band wurde mit Begeisterung aufgenommen, insbesondere von der Presse, wo Medien wie NPR schwärmten: ,Progressiver, ungewöhnlicher, frecher Post-Punk mit echtem Sinn für Humor und Grandiosität. Diese Musik ist einfach voller Kreativität", und Pitchfork sagte: ,Mclusky, bekannt für ihre explosiven Live-Auftritte, klingen auf ihrem Comeback-Album genauso laut... Viel Spaß dabei." Das Album enthält vier neue Songs, die im Herbst 2025 aufgenommen wurden, sowie einige Songs aus ihrer nur digital erhältlichen Comeback-EP aus dem Jahr 2023.

Mit "We Were Made For These Times" feiern die Klezmatics ihr 40-jähriges Bandjubiläum - und veröffentlichen zugleich ein Album, das die Gegenwart direkt anspricht.

Die Grammy-ausgezeichnete Formation verbindet seit vier Jahrzehnten jiddische Musiktradition mit politischem Bewusstsein, kultureller Verantwortung und einem unverwechselbaren Klang, der Klezmer mit Punk-Energie, Jazz-Improvisation, Gospel und globalen Rhythmen verschmilzt. Das neue Album versteht Klezmer nicht als nostalgisches Archiv, sondern als lebendige Ausdrucksform, die Kraft, Verbundenheit und Widerstandsfähigkeit stiftet. In Zeiten gesellschaftlicher Spannungen, globaler Migrationsbewegungen und öffentlicher Debatten über Zugehörigkeit richten die Klezmatics ihren Blick auf die historische Aufgabe jüdischer Musik: Menschlichkeit einfordern, Gemeinschaft stärken und Hoffnung formulieren. Die Songs reichen von Protest- und Arbeiterliedern bis zu spirituellen Stücken und feiern gleichzeitig Lebensfreude, Glauben und kulturelles Gedächtnis. Texte von Woody Guthrie, Holly Near, Dovid Edelstadt oder Chaim Zhitlovsky treffen auf neue Interpretationen und internationale Gäste - darunter Sofía Rei, Janis Siegel, Joshua Nelson, La Manga, William Parker, James Brandon Lewis und Enver Izmaylov. Im Zentrum steht der Titelsong, inspiriert von Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés" Botschaft: Wir sind für diese Zeiten gemacht. Das Album bekräftigt, wofür die Klezmatics seit 40 Jahren stehen: Musik als Werkzeug für Mut, Würde und gemeinschaftliche Zukunft.

Ed Sánchez-Gómez is a Costa Rican-born artist now based in Evanston, Illinois (USA). After a complex relationship with classical guitar at the University of Costa Rica, travels through Europe and Argentina (where he absorbed South American folk), and improvisation studies in Chicago, he has forged a deeply personal sound. Born from profound grief and the global pandemic, “Obras de misericordia” is an intense, moving acoustic album that blends artisanal shoegaze with infinite noise-pop harmonies, Latin folk textures (charango, mandolin, hammered dulcimer) and the languid beauty of John Martyn, The Declining Winter and the Elephant 6 Collective. It explores sounds beyond the guitar — adding musical saw, piano, violin, viola and cello — creating landscapes that shift between introspection and catharsis. It is the most hi-fi lo-fi album you will ever hear. Recorded by Ed between January 2022 and March 2024 in Evanston, IL and Peru, IN; mixed by Abel Hernández (Migala, El Hijo) and mastered by Santiago Quizhpe (Pullpush Studio, Madrid).
Influences from UK shoegaze/post-rock pioneers like Hood, and Disco Inferno add layered, atmospheric depth, connecting to the genre's British revival scene.
An essential title for indie, shoegaze, folk-experimental and RSD sections: perfect for in-store play, window displays and collectors who love intimate, boundary-pushing acoustic records with deep emotional resonance and Latin roots.

Out now via 7 Mater, in collaboration with The Circle Music for worldwide distribution, this special edition of Stolen Season Pt. I captures both the essence of the project and the spirit of the upcoming full-length Stolen Season Pt. I. This first pressing is destined to become a collector's item: numbered and limited to 250 black vinyl copies and 250 gold vinyl copies, each edition comes housed in a deluxe sleeve with an exclusive 30x30 insert that perfectly frames the visual world of the band. It is a striking presentation that mirrors the richness of the music contained within. The creative force behind From The Land is Anatoly Pakhalenko, best known as the frontman of the acclaimed dark folk ensemble Nytt Land.

Conceived in 2025, this new project serves as an alter ego for Pakhalenko, allowing him to explore the darker edges of country, blues, and folk traditions while weaving them into a world described as "a black and white landscape, tired of all this s**t that's going on around and gradually sinking into an endless sleep". Together with Aleksandr Rosliakov, Pakhalenko composed Stolen Season Pt. I between January and May 2025 at Nytt Land Studio, handling recording, mixing, and production duties himself. The result is an album that resonates with uncompromising artistic vision and raw emotional depth. From The Land 's universe draws inspiration from the haunting literary realms of H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, as well as the surreal, unsettling imagery of David Lynch. This heady mixture of influences creates a soundscape that is equally cinematic and visceral, where ritual meets ruin, and folk traditions dissolve into the smoke of blues and country noir.

Newly remastered from the original tape transfers, the album now sounds more dynamic and detailed than ever, reaffirming its place as one of UFO's most accomplished works. This deluxe edition also includes a brand-new mix of the previously unreleased Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, recorded on 29th January 1981, by Brian Kehew, offering an electrifying snapshot of UFO's energy on stage. Original 7" edits of the two singles released with this album are included as well as an alternative mix of album standout "It's Killing Me". The set is rounded out with newly written liner notes by Michael Hann, featuring fresh interviews with Phil Mogg and Andy Parker, alongside a collection of previously unseen photographs from the era -- making it an essential addition for fans and collectors alike.

Lander Gyselinck and Adriaan Van de Velde created the soundtracks for the Dries Van Noten autumn/winter 2023-2024 runway shows. The result is a double live performance recorded during the shows in Paris.

The release, exactly 1 year after the presentation of last season's men's collection, is available from January 19th on a 180 gram vinyl and on all digital streaming platforms. On one side you will find the music for the men's collection by Lander & Adriaan, on the other the music for the women's collection, Lander Gyselinck solo.

"The women's collection is all about construct:deconstruct, intimacy, botanical figurative elements and gold in its raw form. Dries asked me to try to translate these elements into a drum piece performed live. I decided to focus on detailed intimate sounds, acoustic elements and improvisation. Besides this piece, there is a second composition that I brought together with Adriaan for the men's show where we mainly took into account the venue, Dries' collection, certain keywords we were given, our world of 90s music, rave and improvisation and we tried to make a nice blend of that." - Lander

Twenty Years Ago, Jan Jelinek's Debut Album Personal Rockwas Released By Source Records. Under The Pseudonym Gramm, It Brings Togethereight Tracks That Have Not Been Available On Vinyl Since Their Original Release.faitiche Is Very Glad To Announce The Re-release Of The Album: Personal Rockwill Appear As A Double Lp Featuring The Original Cover Artwork. What People Wrote About Personal Rock Two Decades Ago: "situated Somewhere Between Jelinek's Much Loved Loop-findingjazz Records, Farben, Move D's Conjoint Project And Atom Heart's Most Immersivework For Rather Interesting, It's A Late Night Album Full Of Subtle Productiontricks And Melodic House Structures That Belong To The Pre-millennial Idmheyday, But Which Transcend Its Overly-masculine Templates." (boomkat) "a Serene Little Masterpiece" (de:bug) "though Many Producers Have Pushed Forward Theclicks-and-cuts Style Of Experimental Ambience Developed By Germanexperimentalists Oval (among Others), Few Have Been Able To Matchtheir Knack For Making Abstract Cuts Into Pieces Of Undeniable Beauty. Janjelinek's First Lp As Gramm Is One Of The Precious Few, And It'sobvious From The Opener." (allmusic) "organized In Organic Structures And Minimal Movements, Thetracks Get Into Utopian States And Super-desirable Moods, Offering Superiorcontentedness And Dependable Taste Of The Kind Seldom Sustained For A Wholealbum. (...) Subway-escalator-soul." (spex)

Certain paths necessitate and call for one singular long sequence in order to arrive at a fully formed conversation or reasoning. Nothing seems to broadcast it more clearly than the trajectory Brussels based Italo-Vietnamese artist Nguyễn Zen Mỹ embarked on during the last decade as Radio Hito.

After a string of highly cherished and sought out tape releases, Radio Hito’s new album ‘L’uso e gli attributi del cuore’, co-released by Maple Death & Meakusma, unfolds with devastating
clarity, a profound balance of depth, minimalism and emotional grounding. A ten-sequence song cycle for voice and MIDI soundfonts adapted from the 2021 book by French poet Claude
Royet-Journoud.

Written and recorded between January 2023 and August 2025, the cycle evolved through nearly 80 live performances from Galicia to Kazakhstan before arriving at its recorded form. Set to an Italian libretto adapted from Royet-Journoud’s text ‘L'usage et les attributs du cœur’ (POL, 2021), the work revisits the tradition of the 19th-century Lied — art song built on existing poetry— transposed into a radically economical contemporary setting: voice and Casio CTK workstations.

"I was interested by this incompleteness CRJ mentions - by the ‘suspension’ of meaning questioning readability and intelligibility. I ‘resisted’ to CRJ’s texts since I met him and got to know his work. … It seems to me that when playing the songs, I submit an object to be completed by the audience."

Radio Hito’s distinctive approach to setting poetry to music — spare arrangements, strophic repetition, and a voice suspended between recital, fm transmission and canzone — creates a language of its own, reaching new heights on ‘L’uso e gli attributi del cuore’, songs that are formally rigorous, emotionally restrained, and shaped by the discipline of sustained live performance, interlocking into a coherent cycle.

Rather than illustrating the poem, Radio Hito approaches it as a space of suspension. Royet-Journoud described poetry as a “profession of ignorance” where meaning remains incomplete; these songs extend that trembling state, allowing repetition, digital timbre, and restraint to hold the text open.

Often misread as minimal synth or romantic chanson, Radio Hito’s practice is rooted instead in the lineage of the art song and song cycle: open structures, close attention to language, and a live performance economy that pushes the voice at the heart of the stage. The choice of accessible keyboard workstations — light, portable, and embedded in contemporary popular culture — replaces the historical piano.

Radio Hito creates fantastical, mirage-like songs, intimate yet elusive. Her music is forlorn chanson for the digital age; bringing her haunting and beautiful vocalisations into conversation with MIDI soundfonts and humble-yet-deep casio compositions. Music that strides for simplicity, yet lands miraculously within an entire new universe, a uniqueness achieved from like-minded spirits such as Ghedalia Tazartès, Savina Yannatou & Lena Platonos, Dorothy Carter, cycles that trickle down into estuaries.

“Radio Hito's set is superb. Sitting on the altar steps with a synth, her fabulously expressive vocals colour sparse, pensive compositions.” The Wire

The Romantic, the new album from Bruno Mars. The fourth studio album from the global superstar and 16 time GRAMMY® Award-winning artist marks Mars' first solo album release since 2017's 24k Magic and follows chart topping collaborations with Anderson .Paak as Silk Sonic, as well as smash hits with Lady Gaga and ROSÉ.

Available for pre-order on the 9th January at 5AM GMT and set for release on the 27th February 2026.

Sixteen-time GRAMMY® Award winner and thirty-three-time GRAMMY® Award nominee Bruno Mars is a celebrated singer, songwriter, producer, and musician who is one of the best-selling artists of all time and now continuously the number-one most listened-to artist on Spotify. With recent hits like “APT.” with ROSÉ and “Die With A Smile” with Lady Gaga—the latter earning him two nominations for “Song Of The Year” and “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” at the 67th Annual GRAMMY® Awards—Mars has celebrated another extraordinary year in music. Among his robust list of accolades, some of which include “Album of the Year” for 24K Magic at the 60th Annual GRAMMY® Awards and “Record of The Year” for Silk Sonic’s “Leave The Door Open” at the 64th Annual GRAMMY® Awards, Mars has held the number one global song for more weeks than any artist in 2024 with both “APT.” and “Die With A Smile.”

Der Film "The Moment" ist eine Mockumentary über Charli xcx mit Charli xcx und über die Höhen und Tiefen des Erfolgs. Charli xcx kämpft mit immensen Erwartungen - mit denen von außen, aber auch mit ihren eigenen. Regisseur Aidan Zamiri präsentiert die Musikerin in ihrer bisher persönlichsten Rolle, basierend auf einem Drehbuch nach einer Idee von Charli xcx. Die Hauptrollen spielen Charli xcx, Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Benton Gates, Isaac Powell und Alexander Skarsgård. Am 23. Januar 2026 feierte "The Moment" beim Sundance Film Festival 2026 seine Weltpremiere. Die internationale Premiere findet ab dem 12.02.2026 im Rahmen der Sektion "Panorama" der 76. Internationalen Filmfestspiele Berlin statt. Der Film ist ab dem 19 Februar in deutschen Kinos zu sehen. A. G. Cook, der schon zuvor mit Charli XCX zusammengearbeitet hat, hat die Musik für den Film gemacht. Am 12. Dezember 2025 wurde "Dread" als erste Single aus dem Soundtrack veröffentlicht. Der Song enthält viele Samples aus Charli XCXs Single "I Love It" von 2012. Die zweite Single, "Offscreen", kam am 15. Januar 2026 raus. Die dritte Single, "Residue", erschien am 27. Januar 2026 mit einem Musikvideo, in dem Charli XCX, Kylie Jenner und "Legionen von Charli's Klonen" mitspielen. Der komplette Soundtrack wurde am 30. Januar 2026 über A24 Music digital veröffentlicht.

2xLP Black Vinyl. Jane Remover is something of an internet legend. They are credited with playing a key role in the creation of the digicore music microgenre, an overstimulated relative of hyperpop.
In fact, everything Jane Remover does has an overdose of stimuli: their songs are like the Tasmanian devil from Looney Tunes. A whirlwind of warped and excessive digital pop.

Acknowledge Kindness expands San Francisco based The Reds, Pinks And Purples' distinctive brand of emotional pop, music built for the quiet hours and the restless mind. Evolving naturally from the heavier, melancholic indie rock of previous releases, the mood here feels more exposed and reflective, blossoming into lush dreamscapes that recall the bittersweet sorrow of The Cure or the tenderly gloomy transcendence of California by American Music Club. Created from a new headspace, the album finds main man Glenn Donaldson observing both the present and the weight of what came before it. Songs lean into a deeper sense of nostalgia, allowing him to look back with intent and revisit moments that once carried a sting. Donaldson's vocals are captured in high fidelity, raw and immediate, with lyrical abstraction underpinned by chiming acoustic guitars and achingly beautiful piano. Across its 11 tracks, Acknowledge Kindness expands The Reds, Pinks And Purples' emotional and sonic panorama, with Donaldson's ongoing world-building remaining both warmly nostalgic and strikingly original. "Donaldson's best work hides allure within a bigger picture, like a jangle-pop egg hunt" Pitchfork FFO The Smiths, Guided By Voices, The Chills, Leonard Cohen, The Go-Betweens, Robert Wyatt, Twee-, Jangle- & Sophisticated Guitar Pop. Coloured vinyl LP versions and digisleeve CD available

Purple Haze started out in Linköping in 1981. When singer Christer Göransson joined them towards the end of the year, they soon changed their moniker to Genocide (after the Judas Priest song of the same name) and supported local metal heroes Axewitch. A final name change was to follow: In August 1983, the band, now called Mindless Sinner, recorded a four-track demo entitled »Master Of Evil«, consisting of the title track, “Broken Freedom”, “Key Of Fortune” and “Screaming For Mercy”. This attracted Swedish label Fingerprint Records, and they in turn released the NWOBHM-inspired material as a mini-album with an awful cover and getting the band’s name wrong (spelling it Mindless Sinners). By then, the line-up of the band was Anders Karlsson (bass), Magnus Danneblad (guitar), Jerker Edman (guitar), Tommy Johansson (drums) and vocalist Christer Göransson. »Master Of Evil« originally saw the light of day on Fingerprint in January 1984. This was followed by the second album »Turn On The Power« in 1986 as Christer Göransson explains: “Well, »Turn On The Power« was actually recorded in October 1984, the same year as »Master Of Evil« was released. But the record label was almost out of business by 1985, so as a result »Turn On The Power« didn’t come out until January 1986, and shortly after the label went bust.” Just like on the debut, the cover was once again pretty weird. “Same story,” says the singer. “Blame the label again. We wanted a band photo for the cover but once more Fingerprint didn’t listen. We didn’t know who this girl was at all. And once again we saw the cover for the first time when we visited our local record store.” “I guess »Turn On The Power« was more of a straight heavy metal album compared to »Master Of Evil«,” describes Christer Göransson the band’s follow-up record, “better playing and better songs on »Turn On The Power«. Even though we love »Master Of Evil«. I guess it didn’t sell that much as the label went bankrupt, but the reactions were great.” Mindless Sinner played as much as they could in Sweden at the time but didn’t venture outside their home country. Over the years, their music has often been compared to the Tygers Of Pan Tang from England but Christer Göransson doesn’t see too many similarities: “We really love Tygers Of Pan Tang but I don’t think they were a big influence. It was more Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne and Dio.” Shortly after the release of »Turn On The Power«, the band cut their name short to Mindless. According to Christer Göransson, this is why: “It was the sign of the times really. We wanted a more melodic kinda style and we just thought it was better to change the name to Mindless. But looking back now we should have stuck to our guns.”

Manchmal hörst du eine Band, die sich gleichzeitig neu und vertraut anfühlt, und das lässt dich innehalten. TV Star ist so eine Band. In den letzten Jahren hat die fünfköpfige Band aus Seattle-Tacoma, Washington, still und leise an ihrer Stärke gearbeitet - EP für EP, Show für Show -, bis ihr lang erwartetes Debütalbum ,Music For Heads" rauskam und klar machte: Sie haben sich zu etwas Besonderem entwickelt. Eine Mischung aus jangly-psych, Garage-Grit und Soft-Focus-Tiefe; diese Songs leuchten von innen heraus mit einer beeindruckenden Originalität. In einer Zeit, in der so viel Musik in algorithmischer Gleichförmigkeit verschwindet, klingt TV Star trotzig menschlich. Auf den zehn Tracks der LP schärft die Band ihre Instinkte, die sie über die Jahre verfeinert hat - sie kombiniert zeitlose Pop-Sensibilität, psychedelisch angehauchten Jangle in der Tradition von The Brian Jonestown Massacre, punkige Rhythmussektionen und Vocals, die mit der Wärme von Mojave 3 dahinschweben, um etwas ganz Eigenes zu schaffen. Mit Music For Heads greifen sie nicht nur auf die Musik der Vergangenheit zurück, sondern treiben eine neue Welle voran. Die Band wurde 2020 aus der gemeinsamen Bewunderung für den Psych-Rock der 90er Jahre, klassischen Shoegaze und Alt-Country-Underdogs gegründet. Der Startschuss fiel, als jemand die Kassette ,Electriclarryland" der Butthole Surfers aus dem Jahr 1996 von der Wand nahm und auf den Track ,TV Star" zeigte. Was folgte, war weniger die Gründung einer Band als vielmehr die Entstehung eines kleinen Ökosystems. Ashlyn Nagel (Gesang, Keyboard), Bryan Coats (Gitarre), Che Hise-Gattone (Gitarre), Mark Palm (Bass) und Tucker Devault (Schlagzeug) brachten ihre eigenen Instinkte, Eigenheiten und musikalischen Hintergründe mit ein, bis die Songs schließlich nach allen gleichzeitig klangen. Aufgenommen in einer Reihe gemütlicher Studios im Nordwesten - The Unknown in Anacortes und ein paar Verstecken in Seattle - ist ihr Debütalbum ,Music For Heads" eine Mischung aus klirrender Gitarrenmusik, psychedelischem Pop und authentischem Indie-Rock, ohne sich ganz auf einen Stil festzulegen.

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.

First-ever vinyl edition of 2007 album "The Earth Is Shaking" by The Hydromatics featuring Kent Steedman (The Celibate Rifles) on guitar! Bang! Records brings you "The Earth Is Shaking", the THIRD album by The Hydromatics - a transatlantic high-energy rock 'n' roll unit powered by Detroit legend Scott Morgan (The Rationals / Sonic's Rendezvous Band) and Amsterdam cult-hero Tony "Slug" Leeuwenburgh (Loveslug). Originally released in 2007, this record captures the band leaner, rougher and fully locked-in: big riffs, street-level groove, zero filler, and that unmistakable Detroit soul-grit that Morgan owns like nobody else. And here's the headline for rock'n'roll die-hards: Kent Steedman (The Celibate Rifles) is on guitar - bringing bite, melody and attitude, plus extra sonic spice (yes: theremin) and production muscle. The result is The Hydromatics at maximum voltage, moving confidently into their own songs while still carrying the Motor City flame. Highlights include the swaggering "Streets Of Amsterdam", the barroom punch of "Standin' At The Juke", and the epic ride of "Detroit Leaning". Enjoy for the first time on vinyl!

妖精の通る道 (The Path Where Fairies Pass) is the debut vinyl release by Reimaki, the duo of Rei Yokoyama (Triggers Flowers, Stakaidan, Lapiz Trio, 新井薬師自警団, and Fujio, Chiko Hige and Rei), and Maki Miura (Tsubamegami, Les Rallizes Dénudés, Shizuka, Fushitsusha, Ohkami No Jikan and Katsurei). The duo has been an understated presence in Tokyo, playing occasional under-the-radar shows and self- releasing a few CD-Rs, but they’ve recently started to break cover, with a recent cassette on UFO Creations, released in support of a late 2024 tour of China. It’s also a welcome reappearance on the scene for both musicians; Miura’s musical history, in particular, is being reevaluated thanks to a recent string of welcome Shizuka reissues.

But the music Reimaki make together is a different thing entirely, much as it shares some psychological and aesthetic interests with both Miura’s and Nokoyama’s other projects. Their sound is split between two main interests – an extension of glacial, deoxygenating psychedelic improvisations, and a deep interest in medieval European music. They’ve also been known to cover compositions by English prog/improv musician Fred Frith. These various elements of the Reimaki aesthetic are all present through 妖精の通る道, from the fragility of the opening “Novel Amor” through to the smeared, hazy textures of the three extended pieces that comprise the album’s flipside.

There’s a beautiful sympathy in these performances, and a generous simplicity, too; you can sense that this music is informed by decades of finding just the right way to say the right thing in the clearest manner possible. Yokoyama and Miura never overstate things; make the statement, play the song, let it hang in the air for a while, and then move on to the next essential expression. The music is unburdened by self- consciousness. Their take on medieval music cuts to the core of melody and melancholy; their psych- improv side is blurred and drifting without ever lapsing into rote generic gestures.

There’s some shared space with other artists who suspend the timeless within the kaleidoscopic possibilities of the psychedelic – Kendra Smith & The Guild of Temporal Adventurers; Emmanuelle Parrenin; Rosina de Peira – and a tangled folksiness that might put listeners in mind of Jan Dukes De Grey, Comus, Current 93, and Tower Recordings. Accompanied by beautiful photography from street photographer Takehiko Nakafuji, who was also personally chosen by Mizutani to document Les Rallizes Dénudés, 妖精の通る道 is a most unique and necessary trip.

The Swallows were one of Singapore’s standout bands of the 1960s, rising from the explosive Pop Yeh-Yeh movement, the regional response to the global beat-band wave, with strong garage-rock roots. Fusing surf rock, early Beatles-inspired pop, and gritty, fuzz-laden guitars with a distinctly local sensibility, they became youth icons of the era. Defined by sharp suits, infectious melodies, and a rebellious spark, The Swallows captured the restless energy of post-independence Singapore, securing their place in the island’s golden age of bands and in the wider story of Southeast Asian rock.

Purple Haze started out in Linköping in 1981. When singer Christer Göransson joined them towards the end of the year, they soon changed their moniker to Genocide (after the Judas Priest song of the same name) and supported local metal heroes Axewitch. A final name change was to follow: In August 1983, the band, now called Mindless Sinner, recorded a four-track demo entitled »Master Of Evil«, consisting of the title track, “Broken Freedom”, “Key Of Fortune” and “Screaming For Mercy”. This attracted Swedish label Fingerprint Records, and they in turn released the NWOBHM-inspired material as a mini-album with an awful cover and getting the band’s name wrong (spelling it Mindless Sinners). By then, the line-up of the band was Anders Karlsson (bass), Magnus Danneblad (guitar), Jerker Edman (guitar), Tommy Johansson (drums) and vocalist Christer Göransson. »Master Of Evil« originally saw the light of day on Fingerprint in January 1984. Christer Göransson takes us back to the early days of Mindless Sinner saying: “We wanted to record an album, but we couldn’t afford the studio cost. We were lucky to win a music contest, and the price money paid for the studio. I remember walking into the studio, and we thought it was like a spaceship in there, with all the buttons and flashing lights everywhere. We recorded the four songs that would become »Master Of Evil«. We then gave the tape to the Axewitch guys, and they played it to their record label at the time Fingerprint/Web Records and they liked it so much that they signed us as well.” Over the years, the music of Mindless Sinner has often been compared to the Tygers Of Pan Tang from England but Christer Göransson doesn’t see too many similarities: “We really love Tygers Of Pan Tang but I don’t think they were a big influence. It was more Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Dio etcetera. That kinda stuff.” In addition to the four tracks of the original edition of »Master Of Evil«, the current High Roller Records pressing also contains the five songs of the band’s first demo tape from early 1983 (including “Mindless Sinner”, “Higher And Higher”, “We All Go Back”, “Heavy Metal Will Never Die” and “City Games”). All nine tracks were mastered by Patrick W. Engel at his Temple Of Disharmony in November 2025. Cutting by SST Germany on Neumann machines for maximum quality on all levels ... The ultimate audiophile re-issue of this Swedish metal classic!

Joe Fujinoki centered the compositions of his latest album Glass Torso round the idea of the fragility of the human body. Fujinoki described the narrative thread of the album as that of “holding the shape of a human body as if it might shatter like glass”. The precariousness of the body, the essence of the body as defined by Fujinoki as the torso, and the object relations between the boundaries of dialectical exercises pack themselves into his creative process.

Fujinoki recorded Glass Torso exclusively with analog synthesizers, stumbling in and out of structural loops to find space for accidental discoveries. The ten pieces of recorded material feel somewhere on the edge of typified form, feeling like a vascular system pumping in and out its undulating liquidities. Maybe this is the hollowed space held together by Fujinoki’s notion of the torso where you hear a microscopic world, dubby and generative. Fujinoki is adept at organizing this realm of subtle sound sources, giving proper considerations of shared tonal space. Seemingly, this handling of the precarity of sonic material elucidates Fujinoki’s mature attention to detail.

Ambient music genre tropes often affirm the listeners vessel for escape and dissociation. It provides an intoxicating allure by respite from an overwhelming exterior reality far outside the listeners controls. Here this space becomes apolitical, or its protest vocabulary softer and subtle. Fujinoki does not aim to tackle hyperobject topics on how to course correct the world, but he does something increasingly rarer to come across. On Glass Torso an alternative space is created not as shelter, but as a meditation on negotiation and compromise. This twenty eight minutes of audio lays down a foundation for imagination, for imagining how to negotiate the fragility of the self. Zoomed out, the implications of his negotiative sonics can be a playground for broader reflections on distributive care and attention.

Fujinoki says he feels “alert” to his physicality and placement in the world amidst vast digital cultures creating impositions on him and his surroundings. On Glass Torso he creates a concretized space on a vinyl record, where the virtual and the tangible antagonize one another that create the spectacle of the listening experience. This spectacle is a soft one, a considered one, and an utmost enjoyable one. Fujinoki juggles opposing forces brilliantly, and formulates an exquisite palette of soft passing music so he can also help the listener with the exquisite burden of their own Glass Torso.”

- Nick Klein, January 2026

Released on January 1, 1999, this debut album debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon charts.
It was Ayumi Hamasaki's first million-selling album, and its down-to-earth lyrics earned her overwhelming support from young people of her generation.
This timeless masterpiece remains relevant to this day.

The year that NOW’s story began, and where we started our ‘Yearbook’ series back in 2021. An incredible year in Pop music, and a fabulous selection of the years’ hits have featured on that first ‘Yearbook’, and on the ‘80-84 Final’ as part of our appreciation of 1983. Those tracks were generally the bigger hits of the year, with their Chart achievement a factor in their inclusion. However, that’s not the whole story, and our celebration of 1983 wouldn’t be complete without shining a light on some of the year’s singles that have been compiled much less frequently over the past 40 years. Welcome to the THE VAULT for 1983…Some of the tracks were Top 40 hits, some missed the Chart completely, and some were huge in the U.S. and not in the U.K. – but all are part of the wonderful Pop story of 1983. Released as 80 tracks across 4-CDs, available as a standard 4CD and as a a special edition 4CD in ‘hardback book’ packaging featuring a 28-page track by track guide, original singles artwork and a quiz and 45 tracks across 3-LPs, pressed on stunning translucent red vinyl -

Amore Libero – Free Love marks the first film score composed by Fabio Frizzi, written in 1974 for the movie of the same name directed by Pier Ludovico Pavoni. Set against the exotic backdrop of the Seychelles, the film tells the story of Simo, a free-spirited young woman played by Laura Gemser in her cinematic debut, blending sensuality and the spirit of liberation so typical of the 1970s.

Frizzi’s score perfectly captures the film’s atmosphere, weaving together evocative melodies, funky grooves, and progressive textures — an elegant, psychedelic soundscape that reflects both the tropical setting and the film’s themes of freedom and desire. The recording features the Goblin in their classic line-up: Fabio Pignatelli (bass), Massimo Morante (guitar), Walter Martino (drums), and Claudio Simonetti (keyboards), with Vince Tempera handling arrangements and orchestral direction.

Long regarded as a true holy grail for collectors, now, for the first time ever, it is officially reissued on vinyl, bringing back to light a fundamental chapter in Italian film music and progressive sound. An essential record that merges Frizzi’s melodic genius with the visionary energy of the Goblin, Amore Libero – Free Love stands as a timeless document of an extraordinary era in Italian cinema and its music.

A Record Store Day 2026 exclusive / Pearly light blue vinyl edition / 30x30cm insert with extensive liner notes

Concert at Prades-le-Lez marks the origins of the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra. In 1974, François Tusques and his companions (Michel Marre, Jo Maka, Adolf Winkler and Guem), in the spirit of Don Cherry or Chris McGregor, playfully dismantle all borders and all styles of creative music.

On this second volume, the Intercommunal builds unprecedented soundscapes around a song of revolt, a dance tune, or a burst of dissonance. The journey is unforgettable, no question about it. On repeat listening, it even becomes… lunar!

“The music that we make is primarily meant to be listened to live,” warned a leaflet from the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra. This is precisely why the (restored!) reissue of the two volumes of Concert at Prades-le-Lez, recorded on January 25 and 26, 1974 by François Tusques and his comrades, is such an important event.

In 1971, after recording a series of albums that would leave a lasting mark on French jazz (Free Jazz, of course, with Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérin and Charles Saudrais, but also Le Nouveau Jazz with Barney Wilen, or the solo Piano Dazibao), François Tusques founded the Intercommunal—a grouping whose very name called for the fraternization of the various communities making up the country: Our music will help, we hope, to resolve the contradictions that exist between workers be longing to different communities, by breaking down various forms of national chauvinism, and more particularly the chauvinism of certain French people toward the cultures of Third World countries… Long live the friendship between the peoples of the whole world!

Among the great records made by the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra, the two volumes of Concert at Prades-le-Lez come first, before L’Inter Communal, Vol. 4, Le Musichien, and Après la marée noire (four titles already reissued by Souffle Continu). François Tusques and his companions (Michel Marre and Jo Maka on saxophones, Adolf Winkler on trombone, and Guem on percussion) performed on January 25 and 26, 1974 at the Moulin de Prades-le-Lez, a few kilometers from Montpellier. It was thus in the southern region of Occitanie that the first echoes of this musical vision of a borderless brotherhood were recorded.

“We’re not among the Colonels,” the Intercommunal reassures us right away, performing a stride piano tune carried by African winds that the audience cannot resist for long. The energy is already striking and it never lets up throughout these two recordings, from start to finish: jazz, blues, traditional music, minimalism, even funk… The musicians of the Intercommunal have heard a lot of great music and now delight in reinventing it by mixing it all together.

“We want the song form to take its place as a weapon in the struggle against capitalist exploitation and all those who oppress us morally and materially,” declared an Intercommunal leaflet, quoting Jean-Baptiste Clément, author of the lyrics to “Le Temps des cerises.” The struggle was therefore serious—but it did not prevent François Tusques and his group from waging it in a festive spirit: each piece on Concert at Prades-le- Lez sends out a call for love and fraternity. Fifty years later, the message remains as relevant as ever—and once again, it is François Tusques who makes it heard.

Concert at Prades-le-Lez marks the origins of the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra. In 1974, François Tusques and his companions (Michel Marre, Jo Maka, Adolf Winkler and Guem), in the spirit of Don Cherry or Chris McGregor, playfully dismantle all borders and all styles of creative music.

On this first volume, the Intercommunal takes its audience from New Orleans to Brittany and on to North Africa. The journey was bold, without a doubt—and its memory remains unforgettable.

“The music that we make is primarily meant to be listened to live,” warned a leaflet from the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra. This is precisely why the (restored!) reissue of the two volumes of Concert at Prades-le-Lez, recorded on January 25 and 26, 1974 by François Tusques and his comrades, is such an important event.

In 1971, after recording a series of albums that would leave a lasting mark on French jazz (Free Jazz, of course, with Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérin and Charles Saudrais, but also Le Nouveau Jazz with Barney Wilen, or the solo Piano Dazibao), François Tusques founded the Intercommunal—a grouping whose very name called for the fraternization of the various communities making up the country: Our music will help, we hope, to resolve the contradictions that exist between workers be longing to different communities, by breaking down various forms of national chauvinism, and more particularly the chauvinism of certain French people toward the cultures of Third World countries… Long live the friendship between the peoples of the whole world!

Among the great records made by the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra, the two volumes of Concert at Prades-le-Lez come first, before L’Inter Communal, Vol. 4, Le Musichien, and Après la marée noire (four titles already reissued by Souffle Continu). François Tusques and his companions (Michel Marre and Jo Maka on saxophones, Adolf Winkler on trombone, and Guem on percussion) performed on January 25 and 26, 1974 at the Moulin de Prades-le-Lez, a few kilometers from Montpellier. It was thus in the southern region of Occitanie that the first echoes of this musical vision of a borderless brotherhood were recorded.

“We’re not among the Colonels,” the Intercommunal reassures us right away, performing a stride piano tune carried by African winds that the audience cannot resist for long. The energy is already striking and it never lets up throughout these two recordings, from start to finish: jazz, blues, traditional music, minimalism, even funk… The musicians of the Intercommunal have heard a lot of great music and now delight in reinventing it by mixing it all together.

“We want the song form to take its place as a weapon in the struggle against capitalist exploitation and all those who oppress us morally and materially,” declared an Intercommunal leaflet, quoting Jean-Baptiste Clément, author of the lyrics to “Le Temps des cerises.” The struggle was therefore serious—but it did not prevent François Tusques and his group from waging it in a festive spirit: each piece on Concert at Prades-le- Lez sends out a call for love and fraternity. Fifty years later, the message remains as relevant as ever—and once again, it is François Tusques who makes it heard.

Faitiche welcomes a new artist: Christina Kubisch belongs to the first generation of sound artists. Her practice ranges from performances, concerts, to works with video and visual art, but she is best known for her sound installations and electro-acoustic compositions.

TUNING brings together three pieces by Christina Kubisch from different periods of her oeuvre. What they have in common is the way they transform sound phenomena originally considered “non-music” into compositions.

Jan Jelinek: Gaming in Silence (2024) is the most recent work on this compilation. It’s a collage of electromagnetic waves, voice, and abstract sound textures. How did this combination come about?

Christina Kubisch: Gaming was commissioned as a fixed-media composition for the Sound Dome at ZKM Karlsruhe. Since Resonances: The Electromagnetic Bodies Project (2005), I’ve been making recordings in the old and new server rooms at the ZKM and in their permanent collection of historical computer games. Computer games like Asteroids (Atari, 1979) and Poly-Play (VEB Polytechnik, 1986) have specially generated analogue electromagnetic waves that interest me in particular on account of their density, rhythms and textures. I originally studied painting and to me the work of composition often feels like painting an abstract picture. I alter my source material as little as possible, layering and overlapping until a distinctive sound space emerges. In recent pieces, I sometimes combine magnetic waves with field recordings or live instruments. In Gaming it’s my recording of a Chinese song about silence.

JJ: Two persons walking through a street in Madrid (2004) is a recording from your Electrical Walks series. Here we should give a brief explanation of one of your best known works: participants in an Electrical Walk move through public spaces wearing prepared headphones that allow them to receive electromagnetic waves from their surroundings – for example from security gates, ATMs or neon signs. They discover a situation that normally is inaudible to the human ear and they can actively shape it by choreographing their movements. I really admire this piece, not least because there’s no clear dividing line between participants and artist. What exactly do we hear in Two persons walking through a street in Madrid (2004)?

CK: With this early work, I wanted to understand what is heard by people participating in an Electrical Walk in the same place but moving in different ways. The Spanish composer Miguel Alvarez-Fernàndez and I set off from opposite ends of a major shopping street in Madrid, met briefly in the middle, and then continued to the end. We both recorded our walks and I then layered them over one another. You might call it a work of electromagnetic conceptualism.

JJ: Diapason (2009 version) is an installation that plays a composition based on sounds from fifteen tuning forks. This setting is audible in the recording: there’s no dramatic arc, no beginning or end – instead, it recalls a piece of aleatoric music focussing on the decay phase. How did you come to make this work and could you tell us something about your compositional method?

CK: Diapason is part of a series of three pieces that deal with “non-instruments” or instruments that no longer exist: electrical mine bells used to send signals to the workers underground; a historical glass harmonica originally used for medicinal purposes; and tuning forks that were used by doctors to test people’s hearing. All of these methods are no longer in use. The sound of the tuning forks, audible only if held close to the ear, was recorded at the electronic studio at Berlin’s Technical University in such a way that even their decay remained audible. The frequencies range between 64 and 2048 Hertz and they can be adjusted at micro-intervals using small movable weights. The sequence and the duration of the pauses are dictated by chance and were not defined in advance. The 2009 version was created for an installation in the historic Holy Cross Church (Korskirken) in Bergen. Visitors could enter and leave the space at any time, deciding for themselves where and for how long they wished to listen to the sounds played back over an array of small loudspeakers placed on the floor of the apse.

Credits:

Gaming in Silence: commission of the ZKM/Hertzlab, Karlsruhe 2023
elektronic sound processing: Tom Thiel
sound engineering and mixing: Eckehard Güther

Diapason: produced at Elektronisches Studio of TU Berlin
rearrangement: Eckehard Güther

Christina Kubisch, published by Edition Christina Kubisch / Random Musick Publishing

image front: Transitionen 2021 by C. Kubisch, sonagrams of electronic waves (courtesy: Galerie Mazzoli Berlin)
image back: Diapason Tuning Fork, property of Folkmar Hein, Photo: Archiv Christina Kubisch

design by Tim Tetzner
mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi
Thanks to Miguel Álvarez-Fernández, Folkmar Hein, Dominik Kautz and Mario Mazzoli

Mit Buddha-Bar XXVIII öffnet sich erneut das Tor zu einer Welt voller Eleganz, Sinnlichkeit und globaler Klangfarben. Die legendäre Compilation-Reihe, die längst zu einem internationalen Lifestyle-Phänomen geworden ist, präsentiert mit diesem Kapitel erneut einen Mix, der die Balance zwischen elektronischer Finesse, weltumspannenden Melodien und tiefen Chill- und House-Vibes meisterhaft hält. DJ Ravin, seit Jahren prägende Sound-Signatur des Buddha-Bar-Universums, führt Hörer:innen mit sicherer Hand durch eine Reise voller Atmosphäre und subtiler Spannung. Jeder Track reiht sich wie ein Mosaikstein in ein großes Ganzes ein - perfekt geeignet für entspannte Abende, stilvolle Lounges oder Momente der Entschleunigung. "Buddha-Bar XXVIII" steht exemplarisch für die besondere Kunst dieser Serie: Musik als Erlebnis, als Raum, als Stimmung. Eine Einladung, abzuschalten, einzutauchen und die Welt für einen Augenblick in warmen Farben zu hören.

The recordings on Volume II were captured in Copenhagen, Denmark on January 18, 2020. Guided as much by human instinct as by musical intention, the ensemble moved through the evening with a shared sensitivity…listening, responding, and trusting the moment as it unfolded. Though Morten McCoy admits to having felt quite ill that evening, nothing in the music suggests restraint. Instead, what remains is a vivid, playful exchange, where McCoy and Johannes Wamberg carry both Part I and Part II as a flowing conversation, speaking through sound rather than words.

Part I begins abruptly, almost throwing the listener back in time to the exact moment the improvisation was born. Jonathan Bremer steps to the forefront, providing a solid, melodic bassline as Kristoffer and Eliel, perfectly in sync, lay down a steady foundation for whichever voice chooses to rise above the rhythm.

This is also one of the few I Am An Instrument recordings to feature two guitarists. Johannes Wamberg leads the way, shaping the harmonic direction, while Steven Jess Borth II adds subtle rhythmic textures through muted palm work, deepening the groove without ever stepping into the foreground.

Part II unfolds with Morten McCoy on his Moog One, delivering a beautiful, expansive solo. Using a carefully chosen patch, the sound pulses through the rhythm, moving with the groove rather than above it, riding the beat like a wave through the ocean.
Shaped by trust, presence, and collective improvisation, Volume II captures a group deeply attuned to one another, allowing intuition and momentum to guide the unfolding form.
——
Volume III was recorded in Copenhagen on March 5, 2020. Little did anyone know that only days later, the world would be placed on pause for years. Captured just before that moment of global stillness, this session carries a heightened sense of presence, a final gathering before silence reshaped everything. Recorded in a space more commonly associated with a club atmosphere, the music draws on a different kind of energy and immediacy. With Eliel Lazo unable to attend, the group invited Victor Dybbroe of Girls In Airports to join on percussion, subtly reshaping the ensemble while preserving its core spirit. Part I opens with Steven Jess Borth II calling out on tenor saxophone, answered by Morten McCoy on Wurlitzer electric piano. The piece gradually unfolds into a meditative groove, patient and expansive, carrying the listener through an eight-minute journey of layered rhythm and restraint.

Part II begins with Jonathan Bremer on stand up bass, slowly joined by the rest of the ensemble as each voice enters with intention. Midway through, an unexpected vocal melody from Borth emerges, drenched in reverb and delay, later reappearing as a melodic line on the tenor saxophone.

Part III is led by Morten McCoy on Wurlitzer electric piano. His signature melodic language sets the direction, guiding the ensemble while leaving ample space for the music to breathe and evolve through collective improvisation. Reprise returns to the closing moments of Part II, its title reflecting its origin. The familiar groove reappears, transformed into a distinctly Jamaican-influenced rhythm, over which Borth delivers a final tenor saxophone solo, bringing the conversation to rest.

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[a] a1. Part I [Vol.2]
[b] a2. Part II [Vol.2]
[c] a3. Part I [Vol.3]
[d] b1. Part II [Vol.3]
[e] b2. Part III [Vol.3]
[f] b3. Reprise [Vol.3]

Originally released in 2001, Up The Country is the debut album by The Sixth Great Lake and a quietly revered title within the late-'90s / early-2000s indie scene. Rooted in jangly guitars, melodic songwriting, and a distinctly pastoral sensibility, the album sits at the intersection of indie pop, folk-rock, and classic guitar-driven pop. Although initially released with modest exposure, Up The Country steadily developed a loyal following, earning cult status among fans of understated, melody-focused indie. Its charm lies in its simplicity: clean arrangements, memorable hooks, and an unforced warmth that has allowed the record to age exceptionally well over the past 25 years. This 25th anniversary reissue presents an opportunity to reintroduce an overlooked catalogue gem to today's market, appealing both to original fans and to a new audience drawn to timeless, guitar-led indie records. With renewed interest in archival and heritage releases, Up The Country offers strong long-term catalogue potential beyond initial anniversary demand. A timeless, understated record with strong appeal for fans of melodic, guitar-driven indie.

Mit "Alles und Nichts" veröffentlichen Eckstein am 17. April ihre erste EP - eine Sammlung, die das bisherige Schaffen des Wiener Duos bündelt und zugleich neue Kapitel aufschlägt. Die EP vereint die vier bereits erschienenen Singles "Einbruch","Reigen", "Ein Ganzes Leben" und "Zinnober" sowie die bisher unveröffentlichten Songs "Tyrann" und"Kirchenglocken". Ergänzt wird das Werk durch eine intime Akustik-Live-Session des Stücks "Hund". "Alles und Nichts" zeigt Eckstein in ihrer ganzen Spannweite: existenzielle Dringlichkeit, zarte Melancholie, eruptive Emotionalität. Sänger Hagen Eckstein verbindet poetische Bildsprache mit einer Stimme, die zwischen Verletzlichkeit und Wucht changiert. Multiinstrumentalist Jannik Rieß erschafft detailreiche Klangräume, die organisch, atmosphärisch und zugleich präzise komponiert sind. Eckstein stehen für eine spezielle Form deutschsprachiger Musik, die Ambiguität nicht auflöst, sondern zelebriert. "Alles und Nichts" ist mehr als eine EP - es ist ein Manifest ihres künstlerischen Selbstverständnisses und ein eindrucksvoller Beweis dafür, dass dieses Duo zu den aufregendsten neuen Projekten im deutschsprachigen Raum zählt.

Hailing from the birthplace of Hip-Hop, this 3-Man Crew (Natural Elements) have been a Staple in the NYC Hip-Hop scene for among those who seek authentic lyricism and organic flows given off by this amazing group. On their highly anticipated NEw album “ALIGNMENT” on the legendary Fat Beats they are continuing this tradition of sharp, thought-provoking bars and songs that their cult following (worldwide) has become accustomed to over the years. This 17 Song piece of art features robust production by their longtime original producer and founder of NE “(The Real) Charlemagne”, as well as UK producer “I.G Nexus”, Harlem producer ‘Le Grand Mohyay aka Bearfakts’ & producer ‘Real6’ on the title track. As a quote from one of their previous releases goes "Fat Beats, Lyrics and Skills Natural E is coming with it."