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We’ve always been careful not to call Balmat an ambient label, because we like having the freedom to move, to drift, to morph. But with our 11th release, we turn our ears—proudly, blissfully—to a strain of ambient at its most timeless. The appropriately titled Dreams & Whispers comes from Warsaw’s Bartosz Kruczyński, who has recorded under a number of guises, Earth Trax, as well as his own name. Over the years, he’s touched upon deep house, breakbeats, acid, techno, electro, IDM, and more; often, the throughline running through a given album is simply the refusal to remain in any one place for long—well, that, and his unusually nuanced ear for harmony and texture.

Those qualities come to the fore on Dreams & Whispers, which might be the most focused encapsulation of Kruczyński’s atmospheric sensibilities to date.. Across 14 stripped-down tracks for shimmer and pulse, Kruczyński evokes overlapping styles in ambient—warm vibraphones, taut arps, massing strings, lonesome delay chains —but always with his own twist. Fitting the album’s title, the album is loosely divided into two distinct moods: The A-side, “Dreams,” is charged with subtle movement, rhythms spreading out like rings around skipped stones, while the B-side, “Whispers,” plunges into a zone of shadows and hush. The two complementary moods flow into one another like the faces of a Moebius strip, yielding an album that’s intuitively shaped and rich in emotion.

HIKARIGASASHIKOMU translates as ‘Light Shines In’, a Japanese phrase conveying a sense of hope in a difficult place. Opening new creative possibilities for Foodman, this astonishing album is an introspective yet hyperactive body of work, representing the clarity and light found after a period of self-exploration. While this is a deeply personal record, it also captures the now-universal sound of a brain stretched between 500 open tabs, multitasking into oblivion in a world in which attention deficit is a global media environment, not merely a privatized psychological malaise. Focusing more on the use of voice, the album incorporates Foodman’s own looped vocals, singing elements of Japanese children’s songs and playground rhymes, and his everyday thoughts. Despite its charm and innocence, this soundworld leaps around manically, fractures and dissolves. Foodman’s voice repeats, disassembles, speeds up and down and is bounced around deliriously, as sound elements call and respond around him. Structurally and vocally, influences are drawn from footwork, ghetto house, and baile funk, all of which are maximally abstracted into bursts of spiralling psychedelic effects.

FUNKSOULSEX is the debut album by London-based Liv East and the culmination of years spent refining a sound entirely her own. Blending R&B, funk, neo-soul and contemporary electronic influences, the album explores love, desire, intimacy, lust and connection in the modern age through smoky grooves, sensual vocals and vintage-inspired production. Featuring production from Brighton duo AMIcity and incorporating vintage equipment & textures, FUNKSOULSEX bridges timeless influences with a fresh, forward-thinking perspective, creating a sound that feels both nostalgic and unmistakably modern.

Berlin-based friends and cult DJs and producers Mor Elian and Gramrcy hook up here for A-Lo, a new collaborative project that comes after more than a decade in the game. Both have their own distinct approaches but fuse them here into "a fluid, hybrid system of production." 'Marzelvane' opens with drums that move you while also suspending you in the moment on shimming bass. 'Side Fumble' is glitchy, minimal electronic music with weighty bass buried way down low. There is a more electro-leaning kinetic energy to 'Tremie' as well as plenty of hi-fidelity details, while 'Lotus Deltoid' shuts down with loose jazzy cymbals and slow, dusty broken beats for a more abstract trip.

Mysticisms’ explores the previously unknown Dub House, Digidub and electronic Street Soul of Manchester émigré Andrew Fitzgerald aka Atone on a 6 track EP, shape shifting from dark basements to summer fields, the music is wide-screen dreams, mixing psychedelic temperaments with ecstatic memories.

Dub Dats is a compendium of a life around or making music, beats, dubs; menageries of sound that encompass a love of reggae mixed with the influences of youth. Growing up in Thatcher’s then declining Manchester housing estates, Fitzgerald found escape first as a young roadie, just aged 15, sorting ‘cigarettes and alcohol’ for visiting bands. Rubbing shoulders with the likes of The Buzzcocks, Ian Dury and The Slits, was a great way to learn the ropes, while avoiding becoming another juvenile delinquent.

A love of Bowie, Kraftwerk, Motown, film scores and the emerging electronic and industrial bands like Throbbing Gristle led to a first studio, featuring the unique and faithful DR-55 Dr. Rhythm, soon followed by Sequential Circuits Pro One, Juno 60, Roland 303 (x 2), Roland 808 and Space Echo.

Working on music solidly, a release finally appearing on Robs Records, before losing all the equipment in a robbery. Manchester was shifting, gangs and “Gunchester” meant it was time to move on and when ‘an out’ appeared, Fitzgerald was landing in Sydney and settling into a new life.

Hooking up with Ali Omar, who he’d met while doing a stint in Brixton, London; the two worked solidly on music, gigging continuously, hanging with the likes Severed Heads and living a good life of that post acid-house party era. The loss of Ali to cancer, still young, hit hard and period “quite liked the madness” ensued. Rehab and starting again, Atone has been gaining some interest.

With 2 EPs of early works recently released on Tonal Oceans, Dub Dats looks deeper, with the dubbed house grooves of title cut, Dats and, the intriguingly named, Somewhere In France With Eric Random. Complimented by the electronic dub of Keep On, the soulful, slow breaks torch song, I Be There, the sample heavy Sound Of Soul and closing, trippy Unlike You, this is a multi-genre producer of considerable capability and talents.

Finally getting his due, Dub Dats perfectly fits the Dubplate Series, broadening its soundscape, while also standing out as its own, sonic release.

Atone the mystery.

Oráculo Records has always had a special interest in pushing electronic music towards unexplored territories, and it is precisely within this microcosm that IP307 emerges. Blending the most dub- infused and mechanical forms of electro with industrial, EBM and even post-punk, the project delivers a hypnotic, forceful and deeply cathartic sound.

Behind IP307 is Israel Padilla, founder of Banshees Records and one of the leading figures of the industrial scene in the Iberian Peninsula. With “IP307.1”, he presents six interconnected compositions, each with its own distinct identity while contributing to a coherent vision of seemingly opposing styles, reimagined into a singular language.

The result is neither a nostalgic exercise nor a stylistic collage. Instead, it reflects the experience, technical mastery and artistic vision of someone fully capable of expanding the path opened by pioneers such as Clock DVA in their later works, or Atom™, both through his solo output and as part of ASA alongside Esplendor Geométrico.

New sonic artillery for the most forward-thinking listeners already embracing this emerging strand of dark electro through our recent releases such as Occulimus by Mystic Letter K or the work of Maman Küsters, “IP307.1” offers another essential chapter in the evolution of this new form of sound. Welcome to the future. Welcome to IP307.

Full Range Motion co-founder 393AD returns to his own label with 'Known Universe EP', providing four more introspective modular-based jams using Perkons as the main rhythm box. The Amsterdam-based DJ, producer, and nightlife devotee opens the EP with 'Void' a percussive, rolling, and fluttering cut. 'Cluster', on the same side, is a devious tool in the right hands with its abstract groundwork and overwhelming single stab 3D sound design. Over on the flip, 'Wall' is straitjacket paranoia-techno in stripped form. Closing this EP is 'Filament', the name itself providing a vivid cosmic image for the track: intertwining, spiralling melodies connecting filmic scenes of interstellar dust.

Xistence Records reaches its eighth release with what may be its most important record so far, bringing together four artists whose music carries the spirit and evolution of Detroit techno. With selections reaching back three decades alongside new material, the EP connects different eras of tracks that exemplify the raw soul, machinery and futuristic thinking at the style's core. Sean Deason opens with 'Time Warp', originally appearing on his Matrix label in 1996 and finally receiving its first vinyl release. Thirty years later, its dramatic entrance and surging rhythm have aged perfectly. Energy is matched by genuine depth and soul, with its futuristic energy at the heart of it all. Label owner Arbilla follows with 'Electric Storm', harnessing the power of a great techno groove creates a blend of infections elements working in harmony. The second side reaches back to 1998 for a previously unreleased DX-9 production. A pounding Chicago warehouse beat meets the mechanical precision of Detroit, while a heavily over-arching acid line fuses the marriage these two deep-rooted cities. Legendary producer, Orlando Voorn closes proceedings under his Basic Bastard alias with 'Alone Together'. Perhaps the sickest groove of the EP. opens up a spacious atmosphere that gives the track an almost celestial quality. Inspired by Detroit techno’s evolution and its key figures, Xistence continues to show why it has become one of the rare trusted homes for proper techno.”

(Tim Humphrey from Electric Cafe)

Cari Lekebusch is one of the architects of the Swedish techno scene whose influence naturally spilt out over the wider European landscape as part of the second wave in the late 80s and early 90s. Under his Yakari alias, he explored a tear-jerking and trance-infused style that was about looking outward to distant worlds beyond our own. This EP is a classic example and was originally released in 1994 on Loop Records. 'Positive Transphere' is an absorbing opener with dirty bass offset by sprawling synths, 'The Sound Ordeal' gets darker and more involving emotionally, before 'Lotus Trance' explodes in bright colours and new age love. 'Water Of Tranquility' is a more deep, insular closer. An EP that has aged perfectly and will still turn heads 30 years on.

‘I have always been drawn to those ambiguous territories between beauty and terror, and the Trinity test is their epitome: magnificent, sublime, terrifying, annihilating. A destructive power that, somehow, only love can compare with.’

The prescriptive art and performance of Berlin based, French producer, Julienne Dessagne, has concluded with a starkly beautiful reimagining of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game.

As Fantastic Twins, her continuing creative manifestation for music and performance, has released an array of electronic art for the body and mind. A sonic exploration of dual characters shaped through experimental pop, cinematic electronics and the outer edges of techno.

First appearing on the cult Hippie Dance label, before establishing a long and warm collaboration with Keith McIvor aka JD Twitch and his inspiring Optimo Music label, as well as her own House Of Slessor label, this release comes full of mythology and symbolism.
Immersive sound design, narrative tension, and emotionally charged atmospheres, the origin of the project – Wicked Game (Trinity Version) – was composed for a live performance at the Beta Biennale Of Architecture Of Timișoara in September 2024 and given a limited digital release soon after.

The impact on the artist and the music was multi-layered:

‘While recording this cover, images of the Trinity nuclear test, as reimagined by David Lynch in Twin Peaks (Season 3 / Episode 8) kept resurfacing, almost on a subliminal level, suggesting another wicked game: humanity’s love affair with science and technology, driven by the same mix of desire fascination and inevitability that animates Chris Isaak’s original song.’

Approached by Emotional Response, this updated “vinyl” edition is re-recorded / remastered and comes with new interpretations by Julienne herself, as well as remixes by Aho Ssan and Optimo (Espacio).

Dessagne offers a spectrum of mixes and moods; the centrifugal ‘Trinity Version’ a sweeping cinematic masterpiece, between beauty and terror, the artist transmits the aesthetics of sublime; while ‘Thousand Suns Version’ fuses industrial and techno soundscapes for a beatdown reimagining; the melancholia ‘Atomic Love Version’, where the beautiful vocals are matched with a glitchy, clipping ambience; and the finale, the ‘Core Version’ shines a personal, drifting odyssey.

The accompanying remixes see Aho Ssan (Niamké Désiré), composer and sound artist, his remake merging a love of darkcore drone with moments of uplifting energy, the ‘Core Version Aho Ssan Remix’, a fusion of craft and Dessagne’s vocals.

To close, taking up the Optimo remix mantle, Jonnie Wilkes embraces the propulsion, his ‘Thousand Suns Version Optimo (Espacio) Remix’, offering brooding, electro-driven percussion that overflows with emotion and completes this stunning, evolving, organic and singular remake.

"The third part of "The Nightstalker" Saga emerges from the depths of dystopia, the last part of a Childhood Intelligence original tale written/produced by Dan Piu & Gary Rich. After "The Tragedies Of A High-Tech World" (2020) and "Genetic Constitution" (2022), the final chapter "Flowers Of Agony" (2026) // Child 22 materializes through a 2x12 Lp. "Flowers Of Agony" presents yet another shade of the duo's analogue machine soul. Technoid brain dance electro from alien mysterious worlds. The album travels through various types of electro infused works, the live-arrangement dynamics and "The Nightstalker" Klangbild shines through each of the traxx, taking the listener through psychedelic cybernetic universes with strong techno force, bridging elements of the past works and taking them further into the future. Deep mind Influence intensifies the more listening time spent... This last chapter of a 3-Story Saga, is the essence, yet evolution of an analogue band, a 20 year friendship - the current zeitgeist & the partnership with Childhood Intelligence. For the future listener, we hope you might unravel the keys to this puzzle and find your own means to define and represent your true self in underground culture..."

Deep frequencies beamed out from Brixton’s front line. Four highly sought-after cuts from Grant Dell’s back catalogue that need little introduction now gathered onto a single 12”. The record highlights the infectious and rolling house groove Grant became synonymous with in the early 2000s which is as relevant today as it was then.

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Recorded between 2002 and 2005 the record features ’So Good’ originally released on Jay Tripwire’s Spaced Out and ‘Acid Bubble Baby’ ft. DJ Deano on Stupendous. The other side see’s a reissue of Grant’s Chicago Transit Authority alias with ‘Still Disillusioned’ and also ‘Be Good Tonight’ originally released on his own label, Cove Records.

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Written and produced between 2002-2005 by Grant Dell except A2 featuring DJ Deano.
Remastered by Justin Drake
Pressed by Vinyl Presents
Distributed by Palace Vinyl

The universe of Muovo Musica is a world of its own, a sonic space where Dove Quiete has learned how to make us move while holding our hand. His upcoming EP, “Guardo La Luna EP.”, explores the artist’s different facets through an unpredictable journey where minimal techno is a constant presence, but far from enough to define the release. Moving between driving tools, ghetto tech influences and trip-hop atmospheres, the tracks naturally cross genres and blend different influences. Rhythm and experimentation coexist throughout a cohesive yet unpredictable EP, always keeping impact at its core.

With nearly 20 albums & a similar amount of Eps & remixes, for labels such as Firescope, Exalt, Childhood Intelligence, Deeptrax, Fourier, Form@ out of Tokyo, Magnonic Signals and his own Spacetime Recordings, Darren Nye is one of the more prolific producers of the deep tech soul sound originated by B12, As One & Status in the early 90s Lunar Refraction is a 6 track exploration of intergalactic sounds, swirling pads, bubbling bass, analogue drum sounds & Detroit influenced synth riffs & stabs. Other influences shine through - the 70s Kosmiche Krautrock feel of Solar Drift, the Fingers style bass of Perception Shift & the ethereal acidic breakbeat What Is The Answer recalling early Plaid & Mo Wax era Stasis

Watch out for forthcoming radio show appearances on Kane FM & Soho Radio with Ross Allen. Radio spins from Colin Dale & Damo B.

System One. Bass Beats Pads & Bleeps

Dutch artist Maurits Verwoerd, aka Nachtbraker, makes his first outing on Up The Stuss with ‘Bodu Imchi’, a four-track collection that highlights the breadth and curiosity that have long defined his work. Drawing from a world that stretches from ambient and cinematic music to dub, jazz-inflected electronics and house, the Amsterdam native has developed a sound that can feel both deeply considered and completely instinctive. Releases across Aus Music, Peach Discs, Heist Recordings, Dirt Crew and his own Nachtbraker and Quartet Series labels have established him as one of the more distinctive voices within the Dutch house landscape, with support from artists including Jamie xx, DJ Seinfeld, Raresh, Shanti Celeste and Axel Boman.

Across ‘Bodu Imchi’, those influences come together in a record that feels fluid, slightly strange and constantly alive. Warmth sits alongside subtle unease, hypnotic grooves give way to more playful rhythmic ideas, and intricate melodies drift through low-slung foundations without ever becoming overly polished. There’s a sense of late-night discovery throughout, the kind of music that rewards close attention but still carries enough physicality to move a room and keep packed dancefloors moving with a locked-in approach. Four tracks, one evolving atmosphere, and a meeting of musical worlds that feels right at home on Up The Stuss. It’s a release that finds character in the fine details: unexpectedtextures, subtle rhythm shifts and elements that seem to appear out of nowhere before then disappearing again. It’s an EP that moves between heads-down focus and hazier hours, capturing the curious, nocturnal spirit that runs through his work.

Hazy chords linger over Conoley's signature bounce, characterizing this whole record of humid grooves. Cruisin' Summer Heat sounds more like sunset, while Sound Drips takes us to somewhat darker terrain. The talking percussion on the latter reveals its own compelling atmosphere even before a scant melody sneaks in at the seams.

Underappreciated deep house stalwart Nico Lahs makes a welcome appearance with an unsurprisingly compelling rework on the B side. His remix warms us back up again with a beachside bonfire toasty bassline & shimmying backbeat.

From the co-writer of the iconic Hardcore Uproar, Suddi Raval arrives on Hello World Records with his debut EP — a five-track electronic journey that moves effortlessly between disco, electro, experimental electronics and analogue-fuelled psychedelia.

At the heart of the release is “Laser Beams and Mirror Balls”, the EP's titular track, reimagined by superstar DJ and producer Justin Robertson, who takes the neon-charged original and pushes it into new disco dimensions with his unmistakable production touch.

The journey begins with Robertson's remix before moving into the original French-vocalled version of “Laser Beams and Mirror Balls” — a hypnotic, pulsating slice of electronic disco that sets the tone for what follows.
On the flip side, “Oni Strangler” takes a darker, more hypnotic and exotic turn, drawing the listener deeper into Raval's richly textured electronic world. “Robot Computer” follows with a growling bass machine of electronic stabs, warped drones and relentless low-end energy.

Closing the EP is “Zub Sierra”, a spaced-out voyage through a dubbed-out otherworld before descending into deep, resonating electro synths — the kind of beautifully unpredictable analogue textures that only an analogue Odyssey can deliver.

Across all five tracks, Raval combines electro-flavoured rhythms with a kaleidoscope of electronic textures, forging pulsing basslines, hypnotic melodies and richly layered soundscapes. It's an EP that feels both rooted in the electronic music traditions that have influenced him and entirely of its own time.
Five tracks. One electronic journey. From laser beams and mirror balls to analogue odysseys and robot computers.

Welcome to the new electro world of Suddi Raval.

RAWAX proudly presents the 5th release by Gerald Mitchell on his own RAWAX MOTOR CITY - series.
This time we have the honor to present you "Groove Within The Groove". This classic came originally out on 430 WEST in 1999!
Don't feed the Discogs Sharks!

Since starting Bytes in 2019 we’ve fielded a lot of messages along the lines of, “Is this ever going to be released on vinyl?” The bulk of these requests have concerned remixes of artists on Bytes done by Andy Bell (RIDE/Oasis) under his electronic alter-ego GLOK. And on realising that he has done four for us now (Franz Kirmann, Steve Queralt & Michael Smith, Herrmann Kristoffersen and Seagoth), it seemed silly not to compile them all together on a four-track 12” EP. The super limited edition 12” is on black wax and comes in the original Bytes house bag with a vinyl sticker containing all the release info signed by Andy. Edition of 250. No repress.

A1. SOLITARY (GLOK REMIX) - FRANZ KIRMANN

The first remix Andy ever did for Bytes was a radical reworking of ‘Solitary’, the towering ambient closer to Franz Kirmann’s ‘Madrapour’ album, which was released on Bytes in 2019. Andy’s remix is a heartbreaking, melancholic 3am banger. This is one for fans of Four Tet and Jon Hopkins, a slowburner with billowing plumes of distortion that builds towards an ecstatic rush of a finale.

A2. CHALDEAN ORACLE (GLOK REMIX) - STEVE QUERALT & MICHAEL SMITH

In 2023 Andy took ‘Chaldean Oracle’, a track from the collaboration between his RIDE bandmate Steve Queralt and the writer Michael Smith, down the K-Hole, eschewing Michael’s vocal almost entirely and turning in a Detroit dub-techno monster with echoes of Bandulu and Carl Craig in its shimmering melodies, eerie distortion and pounding drums.



B1. GONE GOLD (GLOK REMIX) - HERRMANN KRISTOFFERSEN

‘Gone Gold’ was the title track of the excellent second album by ambient-techno group Herrmann Kristoffersen (2021). Andy taps deep into the dub at the heart of the original, with echoes of John Carpenter's soundtracks and his own extended electronic excursions under the GLOK moniker.



B2. ETERNITY (GLOK REMIX) - SEAGOTH

It was Andy who brought Seagoth to the attention of Bytes when he played ‘Eternity’ on his Soho Radio show in 2020. It all came full circle when Bytes released ‘Eternity’ as a single in 2021, with a stunning remix by Andy in his GLOK guise on the flip. Andy strips the track back to showcase the resonant vocal in all its glory before the blissed-out outro that makes full use of the track’s dancefloor-friendly drum break.

Kraak & Smaak formed in Leiden in pursuit of a particular blend of funk, disco and electronic soul, and over two decades and seven albums, Oscar de Jong, Wim Plug and Mark Kneppers have sharpened a sound that's unmistakably their own: warm, analogue, and always twisting old soul into something new. That sound has carried them from small European clubs to Coachella and American late night TV.
Their 2025 album Velvet Seas was written between Leiden and Los Angeles, and it shows: Californian light and a touch of psychedelia sit easily alongside deep funk and a cinematic reach. The record leaned on a wide circle of guests, among them IVAR, Berenice van Leer, Izo FitzRoy, Butter Bath, The Undercover Dream Lovers, iogi, Kosta G and Kainalu.

Velvet Seas Remixed hands the album's best moments to a curated set of international producers. British disco heritage, classic French touch, Brazilian disco funk, Melbourne club music and homegrown Dutch groove all take a turn, with each producer bending a familiar song toward their own instincts while keeping the album's character intact. Longer, extended versions and alternate mixes round out the full release, letting several of these tracks land in more than one form.




a 01: Nothing Is Forever (Yuksek Remix) [feat. Kosta G]
[b] 02: Travel Light (Diogo Strausz Remix) [feat. Ivar]
[c] 03: Velvet Seas (Ray Mang Remix) [feat. Izo FitzRoy]
[d] 04: Heat (Anoraak Remix) [feat. Butter Bath]
[e] 05: Real Love (Harvey Sutherland Remix) [feat. Kainalu]
[f] 06: Tracel Light (Sound Support Remix) [feat. Ivar]
[g] 07: Heat (Stirmouth Remix) [feat. Butter Bath]

[a] A1 | Nothing Is Forever (Yuksek Remix) [feat Kosta G]
[b] A2 | Travel Light (Diogo Strausz Remix) [feat Ivar]
[c] A3 | Velvet Seas (Ray Mang Remix) [feat Izo FitzRoy]
[d] B1 | Heat (Anoraak Remix) [feat Butter Bath]
[e] B2 | Real Love (Harvey Sutherland Remix) [feat Kainalu]
[f] B3 | Tracel Light (Sound Support Remix) [feat Ivar]
[g] B4 | Heat (Stirmouth Remix) [feat Butter Bath]

Naná Rizinni is a São Paulo-born drummer, producer, and composer whose work sits at the intersection of progressive electronics, jazz improvisation, and Brazilian rhythmic traditions. After relocating to London in 2020, Rizinni further expanded her distinctive sound, drawing on influences ranging from contemporary UK experimental jazz to forward-thinking electronic music. A respected collaborator and session musician in Brazil, she has performed with artists including Tiê, Johnny Hooker, Ana Cañas, and Thiago Pethit, and has appeared at major international festivals such as Lollapalooza, Rock in Rio, SXSW, and Primavera Sound.

Her new album,Epiblast, is a deeply personal and sonically adventurous statement. Written and co-produced with saxophonist and producer Mark Cake, the album explores themes of transformation, grief, new parenthood, and self-discovery through a rich blend of acoustic and electronic textures. Combining expansive sound design, intricate rhythmic interplay, modular synthesis, and Brazilian musical foundations, Epiblast draws comparisons to artists such as The Comet Is Coming, corto.alto, Mark Guiliana, and Richard Spaven while maintaining a unique voice of its own. Available on vinyl and digital formats, Epiblastshowcases Rizinni's most fully realized artistic vision to date and positions her as a compelling new voice within the global contemporary jazz and experimental music landscape.

HVS is truly pleased to welcome Cash Kru and Tweeleaf to the label. Two of the hardest working kids in Jungle/Hardcore IMO. With a ton of quality releases under their belts, they just had to get pressed up, because these tunes are absolutely phat!

Cash Kru runs the Asionyta label out of Belgium along with Expo, F.T.C Project & Tweeleaf. Super wicked label putting out digital releases as well as lathe cuts, disks and cassettes. She has loads of top tunes on there, and not strictly Jungle either! She also runs the Devil Dubs label putting out very very quality Jungle. I highly recommend checking both out if you want some gritty, ruthless Drum & Bass.

Tweeleaf out of Pennsylvania (funny enough the same small town the rest of my family is from) also has releases out on both labels as well as his own, Interim Records, focusing on digi singles from him, all currently being sold at “Name Your Own Price” which is insane considering every release is excellent.

These tracks were made with a combo of DAW and emulated Amiga (more info on the center label) and all four are just Heavy as hell. I've been playing them out live a ton and every track crushes the dance floor. Someone always demands the rewind on “Militant Jazz” which is funny because the buildup is so long, but by the time it drops everyone loses it!

A1. starts off the EP on a more mellow tip with a vibey Soul Pride, Think & Amen mashup from CK. The switch up into the 2nd half phased out Amen is so seamless, it's a great way to get the EP going.

A2. goes straight into the ruffness with a relentless amen tune mixed up with some mysterious/jazzy chords/vox all summed together in PT2.

B1. is a remix of a tune of mine that never came out, but CK asked for the stems and did an amazing job with it. I love her choppage on this! Super tight and snappy and hits all the right notes for a destructive tune.

B2. ends the EP with one of the nastiest tunes to come out anywhere this year if I may say so. That Lemon D amen is just crazy, and that S950 time stretch stutter is chef's kiss. But you be the judge!!

Doubt Records puts out a release from one of its own: Berlin-based modular live act O/Y whose debut album "Variations" set the tone for a sound moving between micro house, dub techno and downtempo. "Perpetuity Wing" continues that trajectory, threading dubbed-out chords and acid textures through three tracks built for deep, late rooms.

Charlotte de Witte now unleashes her slamming three-track EP ‘The Resistance’, featuring Theo Nasa and XSALT, out on KNTXT. It follows the astonishing summer tour of her new audiovisual show ‘The Resistance’, including a spectacular ‘XXL’ version at Belgium’s Rock Werchter in July, for a 40,000 audience watching from inside and outside the tent.

World #1 techno artist Charlotte de Witte’s new show continues a standout year of experimental ventures and celebrations, global pop-up shows, monster street parties, incredible new music (EPs and Deluxe LP)… and most recently ‘The Resistance’ AV show world premier at UNVRS Ibiza and the EU tour. The new ‘The Resistance’ EP is hard, fast, and uncompromising. It features Theo Nasa, whose raw, deep techno EP ‘Lifeline’ was released on her KNTXT label; vocal artist / longtime collaborator XSALT, (previously on ‘No Division’, ‘Overdrive’, ‘Roar’, ‘How You Move’); and Charlotte’s own vocals on a personal track ten years in the making.

‘The Resistance’ EP title track feat. Theo Nasa is urgent, demanding, unapologetic. Juddering main theme, rattling hyperspeed beat, spacey hoover swoops form a matrix for the deep, amused authoritative voice of Nasa – ‘we are unity, we are techno’. The brief ‘The Resistance (Intro Version)’ opens with futuristic FX and Nasa’s voice to the fore introducing the techno credo.

‘Never have I ever teased a track this much as I teased ‘The Resistance’. From the moment the track was being made in the studio, I knew this was going to be a special one. Theo Nasa captures the spirit of the underground and guides you through the essence of club culture like no one did before. An entire A/V show grew out of this feeling, this philosophy. It’s one of the biggest tracks I’ve ever made.’ Charlotte de Witte

‘See Through The Lies’ feat. XSALT: futuristic FX, fast stabby synth theme, and XSALT intoning ‘see through the lies. It’s time to take control’. A message of defiance. ‘XSALT delivers again on ‘See Through The Lies’, offering his own take on the EP's theme. Open your eyes. Break the illusion, see through the lies. Release the pressure. It’s time to take control!’ de Witte says.

‘Another Place’ has relentless pace, twanging pizzicato synth, and de Witte’s whispered phrases becoming full voice. ‘’Another Place’ has been in the making for over a decade. It saw the light of day in Brussels, where the lyrics took shape together with my friend One Track Brain. The track was forgotten and resurfaced years later, leading to an entirely new track created around that magical vocal from all those years ago. This is an EP very close to my heart.’

At the heart of ‘The Resistance’ EP and AV show is a message central to de Witte’s work: Protect Club Culture and the communities that sustain it. That’s why de Witte is donating all proceeds from The Resistance EP to The Nighttime Foundation, a global nonprofit dedicated to safeguarding and shaping the future of nightlife, empowering grassroots communities and promoting nightlife as a vital form of culture worldwide.

Colours, to the mast, well and truly nailed.

There is a hush most of us only knew as children, the warm drift between familiar household sounds and being carried to bed, a place that belongs to you and to some self you have not met yet. June McDoom’s debut full-length, Follow the Light, lives in that dream space and then keeps walking, slipping out of time and waking somewhere new, barely familiar enough to feel like home yet wholly your own. She came up in a Jamaican household on the edge of the Florida Everglades, an existence built of extended family, communal care, bass and harmonics. Her father, a carpenter and a student of sound, built his own speakers and kept three sound systems going across as many rooms. His low end would rise through her bedroom floor like some wayward cat while she lay above it with folk records, finding harmonies that were new and hers alone. Two musics in one room. Lushness as past and premonition. She found folk on her own, somewhere between the cast recording of The Sound of Music and Simon and Garfunkel, while everyone around her called it sleepy music. She did not mind being the only one. The solitude let her fall for harmony first, before words, before anything else, and harmony is still the thing she reaches for. Generationally speaking, the music was already in the air. Her grandfather, Colin Smith, is a distinguished mento man who played banjo and guitar and built his own rumba boxes, worked to keep Jamaica’s oldest acoustic folk form alive. Mento is the root of all of it: ska, rock steady, reggae, dub and everything after. He is the one who put a guitar in her hands. An inheritance, a gift and a map. Even her name is part of it, though she will tell you she landed on it more by feel than reason. She records as June McDoom, born Alyssa, June being a nickname one of her grandmothers, Joan, went by, a name she thought was cool to carry and simply liked the sound of. An etheric channel that reverberates all the same. A dub all its own.


Made slowly and by hand with her longtime partner Evan Wright, Follow the Light lays the harmony of folk over the rhythm of dub, with Dionne Warwick, Minnie Riperton, Pentangle and the washed guitars of Cocteau Twins haunting its outer edges. Voice and guitar seeking each other out first, then everything else stacked across long days in the studio they keep at home, restraint kept on purpose. The lead single “Without You” is the whole method surfacing, split open and sparkling like a geode in a creek bed. Angelic heroics, and nothing less.


At the heart is family. Her grandmother Aggie, the light behind “Memory,” guiding still. And underneath, the quieter truth the record keeps: none of us are only one person, but a continuum of selves, the ones who shaped us and the ones we have yet to meet. Future you is an ancestor your current self gets to greet. Press play and the same invitation is yours: A few minutes out of time, a place that turns familiar the longer you stay until you surface somewhere new and find it was yours all along

There is a hush most of us only knew as children, the warm drift between familiar household sounds and being carried to bed, a place that belongs to you and to some self you have not met yet. June McDoom’s debut full-length, Follow the Light, lives in that dream space and then keeps walking, slipping out of time and waking somewhere new, barely familiar enough to feel like home yet wholly your own. She came up in a Jamaican household on the edge of the Florida Everglades, an existence built of extended family, communal care, bass and harmonics. Her father, a carpenter and a student of sound, built his own speakers and kept three sound systems going across as many rooms. His low end would rise through her bedroom floor like some wayward cat while she lay above it with folk records, finding harmonies that were new and hers alone. Two musics in one room. Lushness as past and premonition. She found folk on her own, somewhere between the cast recording of The Sound of Music and Simon and Garfunkel, while everyone around her called it sleepy music. She did not mind being the only one. The solitude let her fall for harmony first, before words, before anything else, and harmony is still the thing she reaches for. Generationally speaking, the music was already in the air. Her grandfather, Colin Smith, is a distinguished mento man who played banjo and guitar and built his own rumba boxes, worked to keep Jamaica’s oldest acoustic folk form alive. Mento is the root of all of it: ska, rock steady, reggae, dub and everything after. He is the one who put a guitar in her hands. An inheritance, a gift and a map. Even her name is part of it, though she will tell you she landed on it more by feel than reason. She records as June McDoom, born Alyssa, June being a nickname one of her grandmothers, Joan, went by, a name she thought was cool to carry and simply liked the sound of. An etheric channel that reverberates all the same. A dub all its own.


Made slowly and by hand with her longtime partner Evan Wright, Follow the Light lays the harmony of folk over the rhythm of dub, with Dionne Warwick, Minnie Riperton, Pentangle and the washed guitars of Cocteau Twins haunting its outer edges. Voice and guitar seeking each other out first, then everything else stacked across long days in the studio they keep at home, restraint kept on purpose. The lead single “Without You” is the whole method surfacing, split open and sparkling like a geode in a creek bed. Angelic heroics, and nothing less.


At the heart is family. Her grandmother Aggie, the light behind “Memory,” guiding still. And underneath, the quieter truth the record keeps: none of us are only one person, but a continuum of selves, the ones who shaped us and the ones we have yet to meet. Future you is an ancestor your current self gets to greet. Press play and the same invitation is yours: A few minutes out of time, a place that turns familiar the longer you stay until you surface somewhere new and find it was yours all along

Omasta step into their own voice with “Hits Different”, marking a new stage in their evolution as musicians and storytellers.

Following their debut “Jazz Report From The Hood", which proved a major success and brought attention to Omasta as one of the most distinctive groups emerging from the contemporary jazz scene, the musicians return with their second album, “Hits Different”. The record develops the language established on their debut, pushing it into new territory and shifting the perspective from that of the protagonists themselves to that of a narrator telling the story.

While the debut album was a story about the lives and emotions of the band’s members, “Hits Different” adopts the perspective of a narrator, giving the album a more cinematic structure. As on the first record, the story is never told explicitly. The track titles merely point the way, leaving space for listeners to bring their own emotions, imagination, and experiences to the music. Each track becomes another scene in a story that moves through a broad spectrum of emotions, from happiness and excitement to anxiety, tension, and disorientation. It is a story that allows everyone to create their own interpretation, but its ending leaves no room for doubt. There is no happy ending here.

This five piece combines their love for pop music and dark sentiments with a punk ethos. Drawing inspiration from a wide range of artists they've crafted a sound that's truly and twistedly their own. Part of the Dutch indie wave that includes bands like Personal Trainer, Real Farmer, Lewsberg and Pip Blom, The Klittens consists of Yaël Dekker (vocals), Winnie Conradi (guitar), Katja Kahana (guitar), Marrit Meinema (bass guitar), and Laurie Zantinge (drums) (vocalist Dekker is also a member of The Hobknobs with Lewsberg's Arie van Vliet). This debut album follows their EP's "Citrus" (2022) and "Butter" (2024). With these EP's the band has toured extensively across Europe and the UK, including as the support for Otoboke Beaver and BODEGA during their European tours. The band combine their love for pop music and dark sentiments with a punk ethos, drawing inspiration from a wide range of artists - such as The Ronettes, MF Doom, Dry Cleaning and Kate Bush - crafting a sound that's truly and twistedly their own. Reviews for Klittens Butter EP: 'Ambition meets weirdo cool on Amsterdam gang's superb EP. By executing both indie-pop and brittle post-punk styles with ease, the band unearth a vibrant space of their own' NME, 4/5 - 'With glorious harmonies, off kilter beats, jangly guitars and a whole manner of instruments throughout it's a joy.' CLASH

It's hard to explain an album when one listen is enough. All the more so with MaMaMa: there's no room to stay passive. Listening to his new album, EST, means immersing yourself in an atmosphere that's softly psychedelic, comforting and organic all at once. A dreamy, electronic pop that proves this Strasbourg-at-heart, Paris-by-adoption musician, arranger, singer, songwriter and producer never stops reinventing himself. After changing his name — formerly Petit Prince — and delivering two critically acclaimed albums ("MaMaMa-gnificent." / "Hooks you carry in your head for a long time" / "sumptuous arrangements"), Elliott Diener now offers an even more sincere record. Real songs in French, after two albums where production sometimes took up all the space: "when you make heavily produced music, once you strip away the layers of sound, there's no fruit left underneath. On EST, I don't need makeup for the songs to work," he admits.


That's what this new album is about: the song and the French language first, then the pleasure of sound. An album less concerned with talking about its own making, more inhabited, more embodied, within a contemporary folklore. With this new album, don't expect to be bored: EST is his best record yet.

No pretense


Entirely conceived in his studio in Pantin — a room of his own, at last — imagined as a space free of any daydream, open to every sonic landscape, MaMaMa offers a record that's both hazy and downy soft. Often composed very early in the morning, it has become nostalgic without being dark, melancholic without being sad, with a few lineages showing through: Flavien Berger, Moodoïd, Feu! Chatterton for the taste for words and unease, Mount Kimbie for the approach to sound and rhythm. Unsurprising, given that EST was finalized with the British duo's producer. Live, MaMaMa is preparing a show in the style of Nicolas Jaar or UTO. Hypnotic and immersive.

The most liberating thing is that EST is an album without pretense. With it, we move through perseverance (in Aussi loin qu'il tiendra debout), the small arrangements we make to avoid facing reality (Tout sauf la vérité), and the fragility of bonds we thought were solid (Si bien ensemble). We also touch on lasting conflicts with the people we love (Anywhere You Are, There You Are), misunderstanding (Elle me parle une langue), and the erosion of friendships (S'envoler). EST draws an intimate and redemptive map of human relationships, in a body of work that's both lucid and sensitive — like when he also addresses social masks such as filial love (in Beau garçon, dedicated to his son) or relationships that have become impossible.

"It's really the album that sounds most like me, in terms of sonic landscape," Elliott points out. A record that rises above the noise of an imperfect, shifting world — like us — joyful in its words, liberating in its production. A true gem.

Seven years after 2019’s ‘The Dusk Loom’, Petrels returns with a pair of new albums, Infangthief and Outfangthief. The first of these releases, Infangthief, was originally written and recorded in 2022, before being reworked in light of a subsequent album, Outfangthief, due to be released later this year.

The two albums act as companion pieces, mirrors revealing facets of the other, overlapping in sound and subject matter. Though Outfangthief may have been written after Infangthief, it is no mere follow-up, with it's own creation causing a re-visiting and re-working of the earlier album, which in turn informed the writing of its twin.

Taking their titles from Old English legal terms ("thief seized without" and "thief seized within”), the central thread running through both albums is the illusion of assumed human authority - that which is given and that which is taken by force. With Western society seemingly hellbent on willingly embracing a brutally destructive economic model (even in its death throes), these albums attempt - in their own small way - to undertake the essential task of imagining alternative ways of being.

Petrels is the solo project of musician and artist, Oliver Barrett. Since releasing his debut, Haeligewielle, in 2011 (#9 in A Closer Listen's Best Albums of the Decade), Petrels has toured across Europe and shared a stage with the likes of Jóhann Jóhannsson, Tim Hecker, FIRE!, Nate Young (Wolf Eyes), Trouble Books, Demdike Stare, Nadja, and Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster). Working from his home in Somerset, UK, Barrett has released numerous albums through his Floating Limb imprint, as well as mixing and/or mastering hundreds of releases for the likes of Keiji Haino, Loren Connors & Alan Licht, Judith Hamann, Incapacitants, Mette Rasmussen & Sofia Jernberg, Yasunao Tone and more

“Petrels sidesteps the chilliness found in much of the music of his peers, replacing it instead with an almost spiritual ecstasy, his ravishing synths and almost choral vocal treatments calling out in cosmic, wide eyed wonder at the universe.” – Paul Margree, Louder Than War

CER015 sees Celestial Echo bring back one of the great modern soul 45s, Ramsey & Company – “Love Call”.

Coming out of New York in the late ’70s, Ramsey & Company was led by Mainor Ramsey, with the group originally playing the Catskills supper club circuit. Their only single was released privately on Ramsey’s own Ramco label, with copies sold at shows and barely making it into wider distribution. Like so many great soul records, it found its real afterlife much later, becoming a favourite across the UK modern soul and rare groove scene.

“Love Call” is the reason this record has carried such a reputation for so long. A beautifully arranged modern soul dancer, it has that perfect late ’70s balance of groove, song and musicianship. On the B-side, “Leg Grease” brings the funk.

Original copies are now almost impossible to find, often selling for serious money when it turns up and even the Lotus Land reissue has become expensive in its own right. This Celestial Echo edition puts the track back into circulation properly, cut loud and ready for the DJs and soul heads who have been waiting on a clean copy.

Celestial Echo is here to put proper soul records back into circulation — respectfully cut, properly pressed, and ready to play.

Kito Jempere has spent more than two decades building a universe of his own, with releases on Mule Musiq, DFA and other influential labels, alongside remixes from Ewan Pearson and others. With Other People’s Aesthetics, that universe finally opens outward. After years of protecting his own musical language, Kito lets the outside world in—embracing the sounds, artists and scenes that have shaped him, from house and techno to Aphex Twin, Warp, Ninja Tune and Omar-S. The result is a personal universe merging with the world beyond it. The album opens with “Change For Now,” a collaboration with longtime friend Lipelis (L.I.E.S., Public Possession, Running Back), marking a friendship that has grown over the past decade. “Teaser,” originally released on Mule Musiq, returns in a new album “Dub” version, with fewer vocals and a stronger garage-house feel—a direct statement of love for David Lynch. “OPA” looks back to Kito’s original half-jazz, half-drum’n’bass sound and the Uniquetunes era of the early 2000s, alongside the music he absorbed from CDs by Amon Tobin, Squarepusher, Skalpel and The Cinematic Orchestra. “Listens To Selected Ambient Works Once” is a direct homage to Aphex Twin, given a Warehouse-style treatment for bigger dancefloors. “I’m Not A Doctor, Either,” featuring mishinuki—previously heard on Green Monster in its Moloko homage—builds towards an epic, euphoric string finale. “Kobayashi Porcelain” closes the record by combining memories of Usual Suspects with Moby-like atmosphere and an Omar-S-type beat. The release of Other People’s Aesthetics will be followed by a Japan tour in December 2026 and Kito Jempere’s ongoing residency at Honeycomb Hi-Fi in Dubai. Early support from: Ata, Reznik, Horse Meat Disco, Vladimir Ivkovic, Tim Sweeney, Max Pask, Rich Thair of Red Snapper, Ame, Ellen Allien, Benji B, John Tejada, The Blessed Madonna, Hard Ton

After more than 20 releases as Not a Headliner, José consolidates his real-name identity with his second release


Four tracks, 28 minutes. José's first record under his own name.
Femenino Singular is José's first record under his own name, following more than 20 releases as not a headliner and an earlier take on the project with not a headliner presents José.
That same gesture moves with the record itself: side A happens at night, side B in the morning, and what the titles hint at shifts with that transition. Built with real instruments - bass, guitar, percussion, synths - reaching for a swing that breaks away from a machine's quantized grid, somewhere between house and techno.

Turner Club are a UK house duo who met in the North East more than 20 years ago. They head up their own label and often explore melancholic sounds with cuddly grooves, and this time they land on Jason Wilkins aka Camille's Adeen label with three hugely tasteful original cuts, with a neat remix completing the package. 'All For Free' has a heavy groove that's softened by the gentle male vocals and smeared chords. 'Hard Lovin' Me' has the astral colours and swirling ambience of classic Larry Heard again, with a tender vocal. 'Find A Way' picks up the pace with more strident drums and crisp percussion as the vocal infuses the mix with sunk-spoken warmth and soul. The Glenn Davis remix is soft-focus deep house with a nice dusty edge.

Sadurn’s sophomore album The Underworld is a collection of heart-rendingly personal and instantly relatable songs, due out this fall on Run For Cover Records. Following years of lingering vocal issues for guitarist G DeGroot, the album is the culmination of an emotion- al and spiritual journey and a a deeply personal meditation on loss, healing, and transformation.
Sadurn began in 2017 as a solo project for G DeGroot, and from the start their approach to songwriting was informed more by emotional intuition than any kind of real ambitions to be heard. “I discovered songwriting as an outlet for processing my reality,” they explain. “A lot of times when something is hard to say, it flows more easily in songwriting. It’s a place where you can circle back to your own truth.” After moving to Philadelphia, DeGroot was joined by gui- tarist Jon Cox, drummer Amelia Swain, and bassist Tabitha Ahnert. The group recorded Radiator, a debut that immediately connected with listeners and was met with critical acclaim.

Throughout The Underworld, the rawness of DeGroot’s lyrics are matched by Cox, Ahnert, and Swain’s evocative playing. Stunning opener “the weight” describes the early stages of a relationship deteriorating, with brilliant soloing from Cox and DeGroot’s warm voice intertwining through its widescreen outro. Highlights like “mess,” “never tell me,” or “whole thing” strike a perfect balance be- tween lush arrangements and intimate performances, while tracks like “why does my heart” or “can’t stop” add unvarnished, single take moments of spontaneity, or GarageBand demo looseness that perfectly compliment the unabashed longing in the songwriting.

Sadurn’s sophomore album The Underworld is a collection of heart-rendingly personal and instantly relatable songs, due out this fall on Run For Cover Records. Following years of lingering vocal issues for guitarist G DeGroot, the album is the culmination of an emotion- al and spiritual journey and a a deeply personal meditation on loss, healing, and transformation.
Sadurn began in 2017 as a solo project for G DeGroot, and from the start their approach to songwriting was informed more by emotional intuition than any kind of real ambitions to be heard. “I discovered songwriting as an outlet for processing my reality,” they explain. “A lot of times when something is hard to say, it flows more easily in songwriting. It’s a place where you can circle back to your own truth.” After moving to Philadelphia, DeGroot was joined by gui- tarist Jon Cox, drummer Amelia Swain, and bassist Tabitha Ahnert. The group recorded Radiator, a debut that immediately connected with listeners and was met with critical acclaim.

Throughout The Underworld, the rawness of DeGroot’s lyrics are matched by Cox, Ahnert, and Swain’s evocative playing. Stunning opener “the weight” describes the early stages of a relationship deteriorating, with brilliant soloing from Cox and DeGroot’s warm voice intertwining through its widescreen outro. Highlights like “mess,” “never tell me,” or “whole thing” strike a perfect balance be- tween lush arrangements and intimate performances, while tracks like “why does my heart” or “can’t stop” add unvarnished, single take moments of spontaneity, or GarageBand demo looseness that perfectly compliment the unabashed longing in the songwriting.

Sadurn’s sophomore album The Underworld is a collection of heart-rendingly personal and instantly relatable songs, due out this fall on Run For Cover Records. Following years of lingering vocal issues for guitarist G DeGroot, the album is the culmination of an emotion- al and spiritual journey and a a deeply personal meditation on loss, healing, and transformation.
Sadurn began in 2017 as a solo project for G DeGroot, and from the start their approach to songwriting was informed more by emotional intuition than any kind of real ambitions to be heard. “I discovered songwriting as an outlet for processing my reality,” they explain. “A lot of times when something is hard to say, it flows more easily in songwriting. It’s a place where you can circle back to your own truth.” After moving to Philadelphia, DeGroot was joined by gui- tarist Jon Cox, drummer Amelia Swain, and bassist Tabitha Ahnert. The group recorded Radiator, a debut that immediately connected with listeners and was met with critical acclaim.

Throughout The Underworld, the rawness of DeGroot’s lyrics are matched by Cox, Ahnert, and Swain’s evocative playing. Stunning opener “the weight” describes the early stages of a relationship deteriorating, with brilliant soloing from Cox and DeGroot’s warm voice intertwining through its widescreen outro. Highlights like “mess,” “never tell me,” or “whole thing” strike a perfect balance be- tween lush arrangements and intimate performances, while tracks like “why does my heart” or “can’t stop” add unvarnished, single take moments of spontaneity, or GarageBand demo looseness that perfectly compliment the unabashed longing in the songwriting.

A dream come true for A Colourful Storm to be releasing an early gem by Tenniscoats, a duo whose DIY spirit, boundless creativity and lust for life and collaboration has left an indelible mark. From self-releasing albums and tapes on their own Majikick imprint to meeting kindred spirits The Pastels, Bill Wells and Jad Fair in between outings for Morr Music, Chapter and Häpna, to name but a few, Tenniscoats have embodied an understated determination and optimism for over two decades.

"A foghorn melodica, voice, fractions, fragments, nothing and everything all at once. We Are Everyone opens out slowly, a little eerily, magic tumbles into play in well-measured rations. Meanwhile, on the cover, Saya and Ueno's heads seem to merge into the sky as if living amongst the wisdom of the clouds. Or maybe somewhere between sleep and reality, like Ueno's description of Tenniscoats' music. We Are Everyone is one of those records where you almost feel engulfed in its making - you feel like you're in the room with Tenniscoats as they push themselves to the limit, trying to make the very best record they can." - Stephen Pastel

2026 Repress

What an unbelievable record. From the wild cover to the iconic breakbeats, Roots from Ian Carr’s Nucleus is one of the dopest albums we know. This is seriously thick, funky-prog jazz-rock heaven. Originally released on Vertigo in 1973, other than a couple of versions at the time for other territories, Roots was never re-pressed since so it’s gone on to become another one of those impossible to find records.

Maybe it was a little too out there for the time, but it’s aged very, very well indeed and this Be With re-issue, re-mastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press.

Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. He was a true pioneer and saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with rock, just as Miles Davis and The Tony Williams Lifetime did in the US. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Regarding music as a continuous process, Nucleus refused to “recognise rigid boundaries” and worked on delivering what they saw as a “total musical experience”. We can get behind that.

Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. This constant evolution and revolution was all part of the continuous musical exploration and discovery that took jazz to new levels.

Working together with producer Fritz Fryer and engineer Roger Wake, the seven compositions by Carr, Brian Smith and Dave MacRae that make up Roots flirt with perfection, and Nucleus at that time made up of the cream of 1970s UK jazz with Brian Smith on tenor saxophones and flutes, Dave MacRae on piano and electric piano, Jocelyn Pitchen on guitar, Roger Sutton on bass, both Clive Thacker and Aureo De Souza on drums and percussion, Joy Yates delivering the vocals and of course Carr on trumpet.

The spellbinding title track immediately renders the album indispensable. Riding the illest of loping breakbeats, “Roots” is low-slung, doped-out heist-funk. An absolute monster. If it sounds familiar then that’s likely down to it being sampled by Madlib for Lootpack and Quasimoto’s “Loop Digga”, as well as by a whole host of beat manipulators. “Roots” conjures prime instrumental hip-hop / beat music, only 20 years ahead of its time. Truly, these are the roots. Through sinuous bass, twinkling keys and a hypnotic guitar riff, a smoky brass motif weaves its way into a gloriously deep haze around Carr’s solos. “Roots” is over 9 minutes long, but there’s not a single wasted second, not surprising given that this is a condensed version of an originally 40 minute long commissioned composition.

The soothing vocal fusion delight of “Images” follows. Meticulously constructed, with gorgeous flute work from Brian Smith, with Joy Yates’ silky vocals and Dave MacRae’s Rhodes never sounding better. The cool, driving “Caliban” closes out the first side. Originally the third movement in a four part commission to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday it stands up on its own, all robust rhythms and blended brass. Keyboard colour and Carr’s trumpet are splashed across the funk drums and basslines (and there’s even some bamboo flute). This really is fusion: the elements of jazz and rock coming together in beautifully synthesis.

Side two opens in riotous fashion with the short, thrilling samba of “Wapatiti”. Next up, “Capricorn” forms a smoothed-out, jazzy constellation. Mellow and dreamy, its twinkling percussion and languid horns slowly build the vibe before head-nod drums and a killer bassline enter the fray. With a distinct heaviness that Black Sabbath would’ve envied, “Odokamona” is a venomous slice of riff-soaked jazz metal (yes, you read that right), elevated by Carr’s wah-wah horns.

The album closes with MacRae’s exceptionally cosmic “Southern Roots and Celebration”. Very much in conversation with Weather Report, it opens as a languorous, spiritual jazz of chiming keys and serene guitar that turns slowly, gorgeously into a mid-paced, brass-laced banger. It’s another sure-fire party starter and the sound of the band having a righteous blast, building an ecstatic chaos that ends with Yates screaming.

And of course we need to talk about Keith Davis’ cover for Roots. Perhaps the coolest record cover of all time? Certainly one of the most bonkers. Just your run-of-the-mill high-gloss, acid-tinged airbrush dystopian/utopian living-room party scene. Consider this your chemical flashback trigger warning.

Front-and-centre the hip-to-death green robot holds court with their giant ball of yellow barbwire wool, hooked up to… something(?) being teased out from under the stairs (probably best not to ask). A thoroughly zoned-out, long-legged Pop Art party-goer lounges half-plugged in to the painting behind her as a pair of legs flail into shot from the the top of the stairs opposite. We won’t even begin to guess what the chap’s up to in the middle, but the view out of the windows is rather nice, and someone’s already got the hoover out ready to tidy up. All of the Nucleus sleeves are something special, but this particular one? Crikey.

This Be With edition of Roots has been re-mastered from the original Vertigo master tapes, Simon Francis’ mastering working together with Pete Norman’s cut to weave their usual magic with these wonderful recordings. The crazy cover has been restored at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

The sun sat high above the desert outside Joshua Tree on October 17, 2024, baking the rocks and shrubbery outside the Farrington Observatory as a small group of invited guests ventured up a steep path towards the telescope. Kyle Simon, the artist and printmaker who founded the Observatory, was standing outside the print studio sat below the towering cylindrical building, greeting friends alongside his wife Sarah and lifelong friend Brian Weitz, the musician widely known as Geologist of Animal Collective. Simon and Weitz had spent the previous day testing and retesting a system that would transform the light of the oncoming full moon captured by the gigantic telescope into a signal that would modulate the control voltage of Weitz’s modular synthesizer. As the sun dipped below the horizon line, the audience gathered on a small wooden patio surrounded by speakers while Weitz readied himself behind the array of patches and knobs. Simon addressed the group, presenting the history of The Sirens, the sonic exploration of the night sky’s mystical and scientific significance about to unfold.

The music conjured under the Hunter’s Moon that night is now documented on this first official release of The Sirens, which was conceived by Simon and Weitz as a recurring performance piece and sound installation. Over a decade ago, Simon began immersing himself in literature on humanity’s sonic relationship to the celestial realm, including Homer’s Odyssey, Plato’s “Spindle of Necessity, ” Kepler’s Harmonices Mundi, and the field of astroseismology. He fitted homemade telescopes with photodiodes and optical sensors to make the images audible, finding latent patterns in the noisy sonic signals he began receiving from the stars. With Weitz, the process expanded as the signal was routed through an analog amplifier and set to modulate the pitch, filter, and other elements of his synthesizer. Together they developed a system of improvisation, with Simon adjusting the telescope to change the intensity of the light based on its relationship with the moon’s position (imagine a theremin player moving their hands in subtle, meaningful motion), and Weitz responding to that input in real time: bending it, amplifying it, or letting it stand on its own. The duo debuted the piece at the Integretron in Joshua Tree in 2018, providing a crucial proof of concept for the performance at Farrington featured here.

The first thing the listener hears on The Sirens is the opening of Farrington Observatory, the cranking of motor and metal. As the lens of the telescope is exposed to the evening air, a wavering drone emerges from the synthesizer, flickering at the margins, the tuning of the oscillators adjusting to the rapidly cooling desert air. The piece progresses and the drone becomes a luminous, spherical constant, bathing the listener in pure tone as Weitz draws out harmonically ambiguous melodies that spiral upwards. Electronics crackle and convulse, coalescing into dense dissonance before widening out into an open octave. Just as the moon orbits the Earth and the stars shift as the planet rotates, so each sonic element appears in flux, interrelationships slowly forming and falling away. Divided into two parts, The Sirens flows as a continuous conversation between the artists and the starlight completing its thousand-year journey across the galaxy.

The Sirens belongs primarily to a lineage beyond music: of sea captains navigating by looking skyward, of astrophysicists studying the formation of the Milky Way, of the modern myths of werewolves, of the stories embedded in constellations. As Simon writes in the album’s extensive liner notes, “These stories and explorations reveal a collective yearning to become conscious of our connection to the universe, our deep-seated desire to understand how we fit into it all.” This music underscores the history of the night sky as the place where poetry and science find common ground, where exploration hinges on the imagination. Driven by curiosity and ingenuity, Weitz and Simon look up and wonder.