Cerca:la rat

J Old Rat aka DJ Lao Laoshu aka DJ老老鼠 presents China Underground.

DJ Old Rat is the moniker of Steve Barker, the legendary British broadcaster, music journalist, and host of the long-running On the Wire radio show on BBC Radio Lancashire.

Here he presents underground music from China 2002-2011, Between 2002 and 2011, Barker lived in China working on cultural projects for the British Council. During this decade, he produced and broadcast On The Wire directly from Beijing, embedding himself deeply into China's developing experimental and electronic underground music scen

British electronic music pioneer Dave Angel returns to R&S Records with “A Time And Place”, his first full-length album release for the seminal Belgian label. Arriving thirty-five years after Dave first joined the R&S family, the album reunites one of UK techno's defining voices with the imprint that helped launch his career, renewing one of electronic music's most enduring creative partnerships.



That relationship began in 1991, when R&S founder Renaat Vandepapeliere discovered Angel's ‘Rolling Thunder’ project and invited the young London producer to Belgium. Personally welcoming him into the R&S family alongside a new generation of forward-thinking electronic artists, Vandepapeliere released the landmark “1st Voyage” EP, helping establish Dave Angel as one of British techno's most distinctive new voices. A succession of acclaimed releases followed, including “Stairway To Heaven”, “3rd Voyage”, appearances on the influential “In Order To Dance’” compilation series, and releases on sister imprint Apollo, charting an artistic partnership that helped shape both Angel's career and the wider evolution of UK techno.



Three and a half decades later, “A Time And Place” feels less like a return than the continuation of a conversation left unfinished. Rather than revisiting former achievements, the album reflects the perspective of an artist whose creative journey has continued to evolve. Reconnecting with the label that first championed his work, Angel delivers his most personal and musically expansive statement to date.



Across fifteen compositions, “A Time And Place” reaches beyond the conventions of techno to reveal the full breadth of Angel's musical identity. Drawing on jazz, soul, improvisation and richly textured electronic production, the album balances rhythmic precision with warmth, melody and emotional depth. Reflections on family, heritage, nature and the communities that have shaped his life sit alongside broader observations of the world around him, creating a body of work that feels both intimate and expansive.



That openness is reflected in a carefully chosen cast of collaborators. Celebrated trumpeter Steve Waterman features on both “Réflexion” and “The Yellow Butterfly”, bringing a lyrical, Miles Davis-inspired voice to the album after first catching Angel's attention through his work on Paul Hazel's “Out Of This World”. Elsewhere, legendary Chicago vocalist Robert Owens appears on “Harmony Serenade”, while guitarist Merv Carswell and vocalist Aurii Sky (Dave’s daughter, adding a poignant family connection) add further colour and texture to a record rooted in musicianship and shared expression.



While Dave Angel's influence on British electronic music has long been established, “A Time And Place” reveals another dimension of an artist whose foundations were laid long before techno. Raised in a household immersed in live music and jazz culture, Angel has spent a lifetime absorbing sounds beyond the club, allowing those influences to surface naturally throughout a career defined by curiosity rather than convention.



For R&S Records, the album renews a relationship that stretches back to the label's formative years. For Dave Angel, it reflects both the path travelled and the road ahead. Thirty-five years after “1st Voyage” first announced his arrival, “A Time And Place” reunites artist and label with the same forward-looking spirit that brought them together in 1991, proof that the strongest creative partnerships continue to evolve.

Discrepant presents Fantarombo, a new album by Giovanni Lami.

While his previous works often moved through memory, residue, degradation, and dialogue with existing materials, Fantarombo takes shape as an unstable, bodily gesture.

Sound is not recalled or reconstructed, but triggered, pushed, and set in motion as an active force. Lami approaches modular synthesis as a physical, hands-on practice rather than a technical exercise or display of system mastery. The modular setup becomes a responsive body: something to be nudged, listened to, and occasionally resisted.

The pieces unfold through slow accumulations, unstable feedback paths, and carefully misaligned sequences. Rather than driving toward resolution, the music lingers in states of suspension, allowing small shifts in voltage, timing, and texture to reshape the whole. Chance and duration play a central role, with structure emerging gradually from repetition and drift.

There is an unmistakably organic quality to the sound: porous, tactile, and quietly resonant. A sensitivity to space, grain, and micro-movement, where subtle changes carry as much weight as overt gestures. On Fantarombo, process takes precedence over control, and the circuitry is allowed to speak back, resulting in music that feels intimate, unstable, and quietly insistent, revealing itself slowly through sustained attention.

A music of unresolved behaviours, suspended somewhere between obsolete digital optimism, imaginary systems and malfunctioning computational folklore.

The Sound Of Soulfuric Vol. 3 continues the label’s commitment to vocal-led, soulful house music, bringing together four standout cuts that balance classic songwriting with contemporary club production.

This is another DJ-focused selection built for the dancefloor, moving between uplifting vocal house, deep grooves and energetic remixes. From the driving Romeo Louisa rework of Urban Blues Project’s ‘Testify’ to Souldynamic’s take on The Lab Rats’ ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’, each track brings its own character while keeping the Soulfuric sound firmly in focus.

Featuring vocals from Jay Williams, Lisa Millett, Michelle Weeks and Kelli Sae, with remixes from Romeo Louisa, Souldynamic, Fouk and D’Ambrosio & Tappert, Vol. 3 brings together some of the scene’s strongest vocal talent and production names across four highly playable house cuts.

David Norland is an Emmy-nominated English composer, known for his scores for drama and documentary, alongside his experimental choral and electronic music. Bringing stories to life through sound, he received critical acclaim for his debut solo album ‘Glam Tear Stain’ (2019) and is set to release follow-up album ‘La Source’ in June 2026 via Denovali Records.

Relocated back to his London home after many years in Los Angeles, and free from years of drug and alcohol problems, recent commissions for two choral works allowed Norland to return to the innocent origin of his musical world, and his experience as a parent prompted a lot of outward reflection. What kind of world are we leaving to our children?

Inspired by his score to the forthcoming silent black and white film ‘Carousel’ (2026), Norland found other music emerging that refused to be ignored. The film’s director opened the door to an entirely free scoring process – no temp music, no expectation, no guidelines, just pure intuitive expression. ‘La Source’ draws on this experience, alongside his childhood as a touring chorister, the honkytonk upright piano in the north-east London bedroom of his early 20s, his early recording experiments with a TASCAM 4-track cassette recorder, and his intense preoccupation with bells, flutes, stone architecture, and mysticism.

From the haunting, choral beauty of ‘E-Car Soul’ to the breezy album title track, Norland blends minimalist classical structures with electronics. A unified tapestry of blended voices, harmonies and textures, ‘La Source’ is a deeply emotional and melancholic journey for Norland. “In the end, I’m looking to find meaning through the music, like when I was a kid singing in choirs. But I get the most sense of meaning through transcendent experiences, rather than anything intellectual or dogmatic. I have to feel it, not think it. I’m trying to make work that’s luminous, wondrous, shimmering and strange, so I can keep having those experiences,” says Norland.

On his inspiration for the album, Norland adds, “I love making patterns in things and finding patterns. That’s why minimalism was so enticing to me, the patterns are so explicit. I love word play and anagrams. The big sadness coming through as I was making the record is this clarity over the future of my kids. Everything else is a complete distraction. This incredible nurturing planet and its ecosystem are being rapidly destroyed, and the forces destroying it are relentless and punitive. And they seem to be fine with consigning our children to live in an ever-more-hostile wasteland. You can’t pretend that’s not coming, if you do I think you’re lying to yourself. And perhaps eventually it will be the fact that people love their kids that will stir wider fear and action. It’s hard to think of anything more connected to the idea of spirit.” The result is the reflective, ecstatic, mystical and sad world of ‘La Source.’

Norland’s screen work includes the award-winning documentary Anvil! The Story Of Anvil (2008), directed by Sacha Gervasi, and since 2010, he has composed much of the music for US broadcasting giant ABC’s primetime news documentaries. His work for ABC is broadcast in the US and around the world on a daily basis.

In 2012, he was the music supervisor for Hitchcock (2012) featuring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren & Scarlett Johansson and in 2017, he teamed up once again with Gervasi for the score to November Criminals starring Chloe Moretz and Ansel Elgort. The following year, he composed the score for the Emmy-nominated HBO film My Dinner With Herve, starring Peter Dinklage and Jamie Dornan.

Norland will be performing the score of Carousel later this year, and the score itself will be a forthcoming release on Denovali. 2026 will also see the release of documentary All Permits Secured, a valentine to the history of EDM, featuring Norland’s score.

Beatrice M. just dropped a standout album on Techntonic and now shows they are just as adept at the A&R game by signing up Tokyo-born, Bristol-based Manami to their Bait label. Across four cuts, the DJ, producer and pianist blends crackly lo-fi ambience with bright, broad synth smears on opener 'Unsaid'. 'Treading Dub' completely flips the script with a punishing and weighty low end that is fast and urgent beneath rattling dub techno chords. 'Moonlight' (feat Eklipse) is pure subterranean immersion with spoken word consciousness and crashing hits and closer 'Loosen' is a speedy techno rhythm with a sprinkling of percussion. Four atmospheric and experimental sounds from a unique mind.

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.

By the end of 1986, with Miles Davis’ career in resurgence, he was approached by the producers of the movie Siesta, based on the book by Patrice Chaplin and starring Ellen Barkin, Gabriel Byrne and Martin Sheen. Miles agreed to create the music for the movie and immediately asked Marcus Miller to help compose and produce.

As had taken place with Tutu, Miles looked to bassist Marcus Miller—working with keyboardist/programmer Jason Miles—to compose and construct the various tracks, over which he blew his trumpet parts. Matching the music to the mood and tempo of the film’s scenes lay on Miller’s shoulders. The soundtrack came together in early 1987 in Los Angeles, Miller and Jason Miles working in North Hollywood, and Miles driving in from Malibu to play his parts. Miller brought in a number of players to add solos and texture: guitarists John Scofield and Earl Klugh; flautist James Walker, and drummer Omar Hakim.

Dedicated to arranger Gil Evans, the music is greatly influenced by his style with Miller creating an electrified but very warm orchestra to accompany Davis' melodic solos. This was the first of several instances in which Miles Davis, in the twilight of his life, returned to his roots.

Siësta is available as a numbered limited edition of 1000 copies on gold vinyl.

Renowned London producer, DJ, and Apron Records founder Steven Julien taps into his alter-ego with his new album, 808 PRINCE out 16th October.

Written and produced around iconic drum machines, 808 Prince embraces raw drum programming,
analogue textures, and bass-heavy compositions.The record moves fluidly between peak-time club energy and experimental rhythm studies, exploring the shared languages of techno, house, acid house, grime, and electro. Rather than looking back, the album reimagines the influence of the 808 through Julien’s distinct production style, creating a body of work that is both timeless and forward-looking.

The album features a strong lineup of collaborators, including James Massiah, J. Caesar, Jarren, Touch Sensitive, and KIAH, expanding Julien’s sonic universe while remaining anchored in pure groove and movement. More than an album, 808 PRINCE marks a new chapter in Steven Julien’s artistic practice, bringing together decades of club music influence, hands-on studio craftsmanship, and a lifelong fascination with rhythm into a singular statement designed for dance floors worldwide.

Trumpeter, rapper and sonic wanderer Pan Amsterdam has carved out one of the most distinctive voices operating at the intersection of jazz and hip-hop today.

Pan Amsterdam is a musical enigma wrapped in an enduring riddle. His creator is a jazz musician from Houston who’s found fame working with Detroit punk rock God, Iggy Pop, and British indie royalty, Metronomy, and now makes shapeshifting, adventurous hip hop out of the music’s spiritual home, New York.

He’s an irreverent character born out of frustration and named after a misunderstanding, yet one who’s on the verge of releasing his fifth album of truth-slaying, genre-crossing rhymes and beats. The result is a catalogue that feels both deeply rooted in Black American musical tradition and completely untethered by convention.

Pan Amsterdam returns with ‘Panarama’, his fourth full length album and a bold reassertion of his hip hop identity, released via Def Pressé. Created by Houston-born, New York-based musician and composer Leron Thomas, the record finds Pan Amsterdam embracing the harder edges of his sound while continuing to blur the lines between jazz improvisation, abstract rap, punk attitude, and experimental production

Written as a response to contemporary life and the endless cycle of information, conflict and distraction that defines modern culture, ‘Panarama’ unfolds as a stream of consciousness journey through hyper-normalised realities. Across sixteen tracks, Thomas navigates social commentary, personal reflection, absurdist humour, and cultural critique, delivering his observations with the same spontaneity and freedom that have become central to the Pan Amsterdam project

Lead single ‘Szechuan Beef’, produced by acclaimed collaborator 1FS, serves as one of the album’s defining statements. Built around Thomas’ signature free-flowing delivery, the track explores the overwhelming nature of contemporary life, where domestic conflict, social division, entertainment scandals and political discourse become flattened into a constant stream of content.

In Thomas’ own words: “My stream of consciousness style comes quite naturally to me due to the conditioning of scroll down culture where everything, no matter how minor or extreme, is hyper normalised.”

Elsewhere, the track ‘Vanilla Ice’ was written in response to widely publicised ICE killings and the speed at which tragedy is absorbed and forgotten within online culture. Thomas channels the anxiety and emotional disorientation of endlessly consuming information, allowing his thoughts to unfold in real time as social commentary collides with everyday digital noise. The result is both deeply personal and sharply observational, reflecting the fragmented reality of modern life. Other album highlights include the cinematic, Interpol-esque opener - ‘Old Friend’ complete with shimmering guitar lines and an far-reaching introspective, no-filter vocal as Thomas teams up with Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Brad Truax (Interpol) across multiple tracks, often the production traverses left-field indie territory, but always maintaining Pan Amsterdam’s unique musical identity throughout. For the hip hop purists and beats lovers there are plenty of riches to discover from the clever nostalgic sample flips of ‘Cutlery’, the sleepy lofi of ‘Shuriken’ and the wonky LA beat scene / early Flying Lotus era beats of ‘Drunken Noodles’ - all boasting quick witted lyricism. ‘Deep Fried Shiney Things’ explores early electro and industrial sonics while album finisher is an upbeat new wave / indie band cut which sees Thomas take a break from rapping, but of course never letting up on the sharp observations nonetheless


While his previous record explored more alternative territory, ‘Panarama’ marks a deliberate return to rap, as Pan Amsterdam explains:

“I just wanted to do a rap album again.I enjoyed making my last album, but I felt like rapping again. I like to have the freedom to move in between musical worlds that suit the current state I’m in. Frequency accommodating frequency.”

This philosophy runs throughout the album. Tracks move effortlessly between jazz-inflected arrangements, experimental beats, punk energy and underground hip hop aesthetics, allowing ideas to evolve organically rather than conforming to traditional structures. Thomas describes himself as an improviser first and foremost: “I think like an improvisor. That’s how my albums pretty much move. It’s improvisation.”

Featuring additional contributions from Spice Programmers, AnOtter and Mr. Shn, ‘Panarama’ presents a wide-ranging cast of collaborators while remaining firmly rooted in Thomas’ singular creative vision. The record embraces contradiction, humour and unpredictability, capturing fleeting thoughts and observations with the same freedom and spontaneity that define jazz improvisation itself.

A musical enigma wrapped in an enduring riddle, Pan Amsterdam has built a reputation as one of contemporary music’s true outsiders. The project emerged from frustration, experimentation and artistic freedom, with Thomas drawing equally from his background as a jazz musician and his collaborations with artists including Iggy Pop and Metronomy. Operating from New York while carrying the spirit of Houston’s musical heritage, Pan Amsterdam has developed a distinctive voice that sits comfortably between avant-garde jazz, underground hip hop and experimental music.

Reuniting with Def Pressé for ‘Panarama’, Thomas explores what he describes as the more hardcore side of his artistic identity:

“They let me do anything and everything I wanna do so long as it’s on audio, and I need that freedom. What may verbally be perceived as vulgar to one group of people may be very thoughtful and a poignant description of the times that we’re presently in, so I’m glad that I’m part of a label home that understands that.”

Produced by François Tétaz and Luke Howard and recorded primarily at Melbourne's Synth Temple, Tina Arena's Way Of The World reimagines “True Faith” (New Order), “Way of the World” (Max Q / Michael Hutchence), “Enjoy the Silence” (Depeche Mode), “Ordinary World” (Duran Duran), “Torno Bambina” (Ada Mori) and “Cayendo” (Frank Ocean) through stunning orchestral arrangements, prepared piano, analogue synthesis and electronic textures.

Rather than traditional cover versions, these are complete artistic reimaginings that reaffirm Tina Arena as one of Australia's most expressive and enduring vocalists. Of first single “True Faith”, Tina says: “Making the deliberate choice to focus on the lyric of true faith was musically revelatory for me. It presented a blank musical canvas with endless vulnerability and space for me to explore.”

François Tétaz, a Grammy and ARIA-winning producer known for his work with Gotye, Kimbra and Architecture in Helsinki, contributes synthesisers, Rhodes, prepared piano and drum machines throughout, while pianist and composer Luke Howard shapes the EP's restrained, cinematic language. The pair are joined by an ensemble including the Budapest Art Orchestra, Peter Knight, James Rushford, Mindy Meng Wang and orchestrator Felix Watson, giving the collection its rich, orchestral backbone.

The EP announcement lands amid a landmark 50-year career anniversary for Tina — one of Australia's highest-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 10 million albums worldwide.

Proto jackin’ hip-house/punk-funk from the third coast. Originally is- sued in 1984 on Chicago’s scene- defining Mitchbal label, Z-Factor’s Dance Party Album is where boy- hood friends Jesse Saunders and Vince Lawrence reinvented the 909 for the Warehouse, WBMX, and be- yond. Come for the spaced-out, lo-fi Italo synths, stay for the micro-bud- get four-on-the-floor drum machine rattles.

Rebolledo is back. And this time, he's bringing his own label: Rated R. What began as a party series — with chapters like Rated R and Wax Upon A Time — now mutates into a record label. Long overdue, if you ask us. Surrounded by talented friends from all corners of the globe, this is the new home for bringing everything back into focus. And yes, on wax too.
Naturally. For the first release, we're kicking things off with something equally overdue: Rub N Tug are back. The track? A certified underground wanderer. Loved, played, and passed around dance floors worldwide for well over a decade, yet somehow never properly released. Or maybe it was. Sort of. It's complicated. Now it returns with a remix of a remix, giving the whole thing a fresh coat of cosmic polish. As if that wasn't enough, Paulor takes things one step further with a particularly special jam of his own. Which means we're now dealing with a remix of a remix of a remix.

Confusing? Maybe.
Necessary? Absolutely.
Makes perfect sense to us.

Send Noods Records is a new label from South Africa's Reagan Ruler, who makes house so sensuous it should come with an 18+ age rating. 'Cosmic Desire' is his latest saucy number and it's buttery deep house with a cooing vocal that swirls through the mix like caramel in a galaxy bar. 'Fly' has a more jazzy, ougnehy melodic vibe to it but the drums remain cuddly warm and 'For A Moment' dials up the energy just a touch. The drums are more upright here, but the chords are still resolutely molten and the vocals are soulful accents in the mix. Gorgeous stuff that's got us keen to hear more from this label already.

Nicolas Balmer reveals the heavy silence of his soul.
Facing his own mirror.
The soundscape unfolds.

Fire sets the tone.
Kindling of the abyss, driven to go on and on.
Passion in his language contains suffering.
A silver lining, found in delicately layered noise.

A myriad of intertwined sounds paint the melodies of a life.
Holding the memories of those who danced with his shadows and light.

Nicolas releases his album “Leben” on Zürich based Subject To Restrictions Discs. While moving between New Wave, Kraut and Electronics, his intuition for ambient oozes from each composition, fast-paced or slow. As Nicolas Balmer lays bare his most intimate sources of inspiration with Leben. He holds nothing back.

The album is shaped by a sense of optimistic melancholy: restless and contradictory, yet full of hope. The music is not about arriving, but about the journey: loss and finding oneself; despair, love, guilt and forgiveness. This is an album that does not seek to explain life, but rather embraces it in all its contradictions.

Nicolas Balmer is a Zurich-based multi-instrumentalist, producer and synthesizer enthusiast who has been exploring contemporary music for over fifteen years. Working across music, theatre and interdisciplinary projects, he moves between genres and forms. His work includes the electronic project Nico Sun, the experimental duo Gūsū with Xueyan Chen, the collaborative project Konstant with Angelo Repetto and Kenel/Sonne. He also composes and produces music for theatre and performance, as well as working in mixing and production. Across his projects, Balmer is driven by raw textures, emotional authenticity and a search for an independent musical language.

2026 Repress

DJ Koze doesn't aim for technical perfection for its own sake, but rather to serve the purpose of giving birth to great music. On his debut 'Rue Burnout EP' from his own Pampa label, he plays with finesse and sophistication, and implicitly understands the importance of subtlety, leading from dreamy and restrained parts to a noisy frenzy at the end. 'Blume der Nacht' starts with a looped piano solo from Arabian dodecaphony, interwoven with bangs of violine bows, piercing high-pitched strings, almost shrieking glissandi, deep angel chants and obsessive sharp rhythms. The 37 year old constantly horny wunderkind producer has made a habit of creatively foiling expectations, and works also under the pseudonyms Adolf Noise, Swahimi and recently Madima Lokkah to redefine the boundaries of electronic music. This daring concept works perfectly in the title track 'Rue Burnout' - it is very rare that you find house music this excitingly light-fooded and precisely transparent. The musician cuts the pigtail off the term 'Kackmusik' for good, and demonstrates how sounds are capable of creating the most delicate musical interplay.
Amen.
DJ Koze, Germany, April 2010.

The third chapter of The Third Room's curator-led series is shaped by Verraco, one of the key voices behind a new generation of artists reshaping contemporary club music. Through his productions, DJ sets and his work with TraTraTrax, he has helped define a sound where hybrid forms, rhythmic experimentation and cross-cultural influences are pushing the genre into new territory. Structured across two distinct sides, the release draws a clear connection between past and present. The A-side leans into a deeper, more classic space, while the B-side moves towards a more forward-facing, hybrid sound. It opens with Libration (Stone Version) by Substance & Vainqueur, a revisiting of their landmark 2007 release, a track that helped define the language of Dub Techno as it is understood today. Reduced, deep and spatially precise, it established a blueprint for how rhythm, delay and tone could function together. It's presence here acts less as a nod to the past and more as a reminder of a foundation that continues to shape the genre. Skee Mask's Clear Sky 909 continues this thread, softening the edges without losing depth. Warm, enveloping textures and fluid movement give the track a sense of openness, balancing clarity with emotional weight. The B-side shifts perspective. On Untitled (Teamgeist Mix), Verraco, joined by Tils, delivers the record's defining moment - a dense, intricately designed piece built on a driving low-end and evolving rhythmic patterns. Elements from Techno, Bass and Leftfield House converge into a detailed, forward-moving structure that actively bridges cultural contexts. It results in a form of dance music shaped by technical precision, but drive.n by a clear sense of intent, marking a distinct expression of Verraco's current sound. Untitled by 1morning introduces a rolling, tribal-infused groove with a strong sense of depth, while PatumPa by Regal86 closes the record with a bright, loop-driven energy that leans into pure motion. Across both sides, the release moves between reference and progression. Rather than separating old and new, Verraco connects them - tracing a line from foundational Dub Techno to a more fluid, contemporary club language. Copyright 2026 The Third Room A1 Written and Produced by Peter Kuschnereit & Rene Loewe | A2 Written and Produced by Bryan Mueller | B1 Written and Produced by JP Lopez & Jakob Ferdinand Tils and mixed by Lurka | B2 Written and Produced by 1morning | B3 Written and Produced by Regal86 Mastered by Andreas Kauffelt (Schnittstelle Berlin) Artwork by Charlotte Ernst Design by Daniel Bornmann (STUEDIO.XYZ) Distribution by Clone Pressing by Matter Of Fact

Deep, deep stuff on the debut album from K Wata. Long and dubwise, dark and detailed. With bass that fills and warms a space.

All noir. Cast shadows against the wall. Weight being shifted and distributed with singularly delicate poise, like a knife being balanced on the end of a finger.

There’s a silvery, loose flow state to this record that maybe reveals the way some tracks were first written to be deployed live at Sustain Release 2025. Then taken back to the lab and tightened up further into the album’s final form, with beautiful mixing work between Kenzo and Chris Botta.

With that in mind, Give U Space unfolds slowly and fluidly, giving the listener the chance to access and open up to the deepness of the sound, being led down a path. It rolls and builds momentum and groove, and ratchets tensions up toward peaks of energy "Whisper Dub" and "There Will Be Love".

The tunes feel architectural. Rooms to be in and settle into. Simultaneously stripped back and then etched with neat little details and characterful or atmospheric sound choices. The silhouette of slo mo Memphis and Houston trap is a leading influence, especially with the drums. Mixing with bits of click’n’cut sampling and psychoacoustic tricks, the penumbra of dub techno and drowsier dubstep, and SG’s soft vocals rising in the ether.

The presence and inspiration of the sound system is obvious in all of Kenzo’s work, the music can rattle when spun up louder or blended into the club. But K Wata’s uniqueness and signature comes from an often equally inward facing quality, touched by distance and longing and a sort of chiaroscuro incandescent light set up.



Written and produced by K Wata.

Mixed by K Wata and Christopher Botta at Fer Sound Studio.

Vocals on “Give You Space” and “Go” by SG.

Clarinet on “Radio Embrace” by Eugene Lai.

Mastered and cut by Mike Grinser at Manmade.

Art by S. Gong

In the seclusion of a house in the Bavarian Forest, something unfolded that felt less like a conventional album production and more like an internal process of condensation. This house wasn’t a studio - it was a retreat. Its 1960s-inspired interiors, creaking wooden stairs, and crackling fireplace shaped the sound of Carl Gari as much as the instruments themselves. Though the house no longer exists, its atmosphere remains present in the recordings.


The music of Carl Gari - Jonas Yamer, Till Funke, and Jonas Friedlich - resists easy categorization, a trait that continues on this monumental new album. From the friction between electronic music and guitar textures, the trio forges a distinctive, idiosyncratic sound. Distorted electric guitars and pulsating basslines intertwine with analog drum machines, tape delays, and intricate effect chains, creating music that is raw, organic, and psychedelic. A new element on the album is the trio’s first use of vocals: Jonas Yamer, usually on bass, raises his voice in a punk-tinged, invented language that hints rather than narrates, unsettling more than it explains.


The guest artists do not merely decorate the sound - they alter its very structure at critical points. Polygonia contributes layered vocals that mesh seamlessly with the album’s technoid architecture. Will Brooks of Dälek delivers a dark rap feature on ‘Poison Shyness (Anti-Social)’, his words carving the sonic space with precision. Coby Sey adds introspective vocals that hover between experimentation and restraint on ‘Inner Link’. New York rap pioneer Sensational introduces a deliberately rough, individual counterpoint on ‘Disco Lights’, while the German percussionist Simon Popp drives the album forward with an uncompromising drum performance that insists rather than accompanies on ‘Zeitesser’.


The cover photographs, taken by Jonas Yamer, project images of corridors onto paintings located in the now demolished house where the album was recorded. Visually, this reflects a key motif of the album: spaces exist only as overlays and echoes - not mystical ghosts, but traces of a place that has physically vanished.

Recorded between 2016-2024 in Neunburg vorm Wald and Munich. With kind support by Kulturreferat der Landeshauptstadt München.
Mixed by Johannes Wagner aka J.Manuel at Apollo Studio, Berlin (A1, D1 w/ Fadi Mohem). Mastered & cut by Stefan Betke at Scape Mastering.
Photography by Jonas Yamer. Packaging design by Sepehr Mokhtarzadeh.

raum…musik welcomes Jaffa Surfa back for its 121st release with ‘Tribal Diesel EP’, a four-tracker moving through progressive techno, industrial-tinged minimal, house and broken beat. Rather than treating these as fixed genres, Surfa reshapes them into something uncanny and unmistakably tribal, while keeping the groove firmly at the centre.

That approach is clearest on the A-side. “Diggers Diesel” has a ritual pull and, as the EP’s title suggests, finds Jaffa Surfa at his most tribal. Processed drums and splintered voices gradually lock into a hook while murky synths shift beneath them. “Lidl Sin” takes a leaner, slightly industrial but definitely understated route. Its reduced arrangement leaves enough room for each detail to register, with drums, synth stabs and sequenced lines appearing to exist in a state of constant mutation. On the b-side, “NGLZ” is the EP’s most direct house cut, driven by heavy low end, syncopated rhythms and flashes of phased samples. Breakbeat accents and old-school vocal fragments nod towards US house, though the track’s restless movement keeps it from settling into anything conventional. “Upstarz Galeri” closes on a wider screen, carrying traces of krautrock and decades-old sci-fi and cyberpunk soundtracks without ever feeling nostalgic. Airy and expansive, it pairs breakbeats and growling basslines with densely layered samples, giving its machine funk an unexpectedly emotional charge.

'Tribal Diesel EP' never overstates the contrast between its parts. Jaffa Surfa holds everything together through texture, rhythm and an almost cybernetic atmosphere. It is clearly built for the club, but carries enough personality and ambiguity to reward closer listening.

Non Series marks its 15th anniversary with a special compilation gathering artists from different backgrounds whose music reflects the spirit and musical identity of the label. Most have never released original music on Non Series, but their individual approaches and distinctive sound fit naturally within this compilation.

An eclectic selection of tracks, ranging from hypnotic sequences and intricate percussion to heavy low-end pressure and deep atmospheres, coexists without following a predetermined formula, allowing each contribution to retain its own character.

Rather than presenting a chronological retrospective, the compilation offers a snapshot of the label's ongoing evolution, bringing together artists from different backgrounds and generations whose work finds a natural connection with the Non Series aesthetic.

Fifteen years of releases, collaborations and continuous exploration, brought together in a compilation that looks back without attempting to define the label, leaving its sound open to further evolution.

LP w Silver foil print sleeve + Hype Sticker)

Revisiting the sound and spirit of Jazzy Sport, rooted in Japan and carried forward by a new generation. Compiled by Nina Yamada, featuring Cro-Magnon and Grooveman Spot, with remixes by DJ Mitsu the Beats and Idjut Boys.

Founded in 2002, Jazzy Sport emerged at a particularly fertile moment in Japanese music. Beginning as an independent label and record shop, with its first store in Morioka and Jazzy Sport Music Shop Tokyo opening in Shibuya the following year, it became a home for artists including GAGLE, DJ Mitsu the Beats, Cro-Magnon and Grooveman Spot. Its releases moved freely between hip-hop, house, jazz, broken beat and live musicianship, helping define a distinctly Japanese strain of open-minded club culture.

But the music was only the beginning. Jazzy Sport developed into a network of record shops across Japan, alongside its label and distribution work, apparel and design, dance studios, and a Morioka record shop joined to a bouldering gym. These were not unrelated side projects. They expressed the same founding idea: that music, sport and everyday life could come together to create community.

PAST FORWARD: SILVER marks the first release on the Jazzy Sport London label, distributed by Time Capsule. Established in 2022, the London project first took shape through parties, radio shows and community collaborations connecting Japan and the UK. This compilation carries the Jazzy Sport archive and its values forward through a new generation.

At the centre is Nina Yamada, the daughter of one of Jazzy Sport’s core members. She grew up within the community that shaped the collective, and her selection is not a conventional greatest-hits survey, but an inside view of the catalogue and an intergenerational handover made audible.

The music moves naturally between hip-hop and house, electronic production and live performance. That openness has always been central to Jazzy Sport, where club music, musicianship and community are part of the same conversation rather than separate scenes.

DJ Mitsu the Beats’ remix of Cro-Magnon’s “Eclipse” brings the refined, soulful depth that makes him such an important figure in Japanese beat music. Idjut Boys’ deep, dubwise Cro-Magnon rework reflects the long exchange between Japan and the UK, while Grooveman Spot’s “Do The Dance” finds a sweet spot between acid-tinged 808 groove and warm soulfulness.

Elsewhere, Nubian Lady’s “In☆Flu☆Enza” draws on Detroit techno and Chicago house but sharpens those influences into something lean and distinctive. Physical Sound Sport’s “Magical Kalimba” captures the communal energy and openness of a live session. Bottom Fly’s “Rhyme Or Reason,” rooted in Morioka, pairs rough-edged beats with mellow samples and a quiet sense of nostalgia.

What comes through is not only the strength of the individual tracks, but the sensibility that connects them. That keeps PAST FORWARD: SILVER from feeling like a nostalgic best-of. For longtime followers, it offers rediscovery; for new listeners, a way into the breadth of Jazzy Sport; and for DJs, a selection made for the record bag, not just the archive.

‘Finally’, the forthcoming new record from Catz ’n Dogz, belongs to the latter.

There are albums you listen to, and there are albums you live with. ‘Finally’, the forthcoming new record from Catz ’n Dogz, belongs to the latter.

Across sixteen tracks, Voitek and Greg have created their most creatively ambitious and emotionally open work to date. An album about relationships, friendship and the people and places that shape us. At its heart is a simple idea: music should make you feel something, and sometimes the most meaningful moments are the quiet ones when you finally have time to yourself.

Finally is rooted in the emotional contradictions that make memories so powerful. Inspired by classic American Folk and Soul, its songs are happy and nostalgic; hopeful without pretending that the past doesn’t exist. There is melancholy inside the euphoria and warmth inside the sadness, a constant interplay between looking back and moving forward.

The album begins with the soulful breakbeat glow of 'We’re Gonna Be Alright' featuring Ajii, before moving through the smoky jazz and piano-led intimacy of 'Dance For You' with Miller Blue and the bass-driven energy of 'Sun Goes Down' featuring Charlotte Haining. Closing with the reflective 'Miss You' featuring Mateusz Krautwurst, the record takes in a rich cast of vocalists, musicians and producers, alongside a series of deeply personal Catz ’n Dogz solo productions.

Those collaborations are central to Finally. The album is, in many ways, a celebration of the creative friendships Voitek and Greg have built throughout their journey. Relationships that have allowed them to step outside their comfort zone and rethink what their music can be.

Written and recorded between Madrid, New York, Warsaw and the road, the album finds the duo placing renewed emphasis on songwriting, chord progressions and musical craft. Rather than simply chasing the next track, they took the time to learn, experiment and create something with a sense of permanence.

This is an album for driving without a destination. For watching the sun go down. For remembering somebody you haven’t thought about in years. For those rare stretches of time when there is nowhere else you need to be.

It was in the year 2008 when Too Much came out: a 15-track debut that turned Berlin's underground upside down and made excess into a musical principle.
The album sounds like a party that has already gone off the rails - and is getting better because of it. Tobias Jundt's deadpan, heavily accented delivery collides with jagged guitars, rattling bass, vintage synths and restless dance grooves. Rock'n'roll, electroclash and dance-punk blur into something that never quite sits comfortably in any genre.
The songs are deliberately ridiculous, catchy and hedonistic. Too Much is full of party anthems, absurd one-liners and hooks that get stuck in your head whether you want them to or not. The title track itself became one of Bonaparte's signature songs - one of the early Myspace-era tracks that helped turn the band into a genuine underground sensation.
But Too Much was never just a record. Bonaparte's world extended into circus costumes, provocative performances, striptease, queer aesthetics and wildly excessive live shows. What began with illegal gigs under Alexanderplatz quickly moved to the Montreux Jazz Festival, international tours and legendary parties - with the band becoming one of the most distinctive acts to emerge from Berlin in the late 2000s.
Now Too Much returns on vinyl. A document of a particular Berlin moment - chaotic, funny, sweaty and impossible to ignore.
15 songs. Zero restraint. Still too much.

Despite the widespread popularity of reggae music in the UK, following its explosion onto the international music scene in the late 1960s, many of these in charge of Britain's mainstream media were reluctant to give the exciting new sound coverage, wither in print or over the airways.

In an attempt to counter this prejudice, Trojan Records took the bold step of embellishing recordings from Jamaica with sophisticated orchestration, with the resultant ‘commercial reggae’ sound immediately finding favour with the country’s reggae fans.

Consequently, the company not just maintained, but in fact extended the procedure, employing producers to record the country’s finest British-based reggae acts. The result was the release of an abundance of superbly crafted recordings, the production values of which rated with the best that British pop had to offer.

Following the success of the inaugural all-Jiri Jiri edition, Batov Records returns with the second instalment of its Give Me Disco series, once again curated by label co-founder and globe-trotting selector DJ Kobayashi. Rather than revisiting familiar disco classics, Give Me Disco Vol. 02 digs deeper, bringing together four dancefloor discoveries from across Europe and Asia, including two previously unreleased tracks available here for the first time.

Spanning Portuguese jazz-funk, Norwegian cosmic oddities, Japanese-inspired psychedelic disco and cinematic groove, the EP reflects the breadth of Kobayashi's record bag - a carefully assembled selection of tracks that have soundtracked his DJ sets for years alongside exclusive material rescued from the vaults.

Opening the record is The Bam Jam Band's brilliantly understated "Theme", a soaring slice of jazz-infused disco from Portuguese musicians Sérgio Alves and Pedro Tenreiro. Originally released only as a now long-sold-out 7 inch on Mad About Records, the track has become one of Kobayashi's trusted secret weapons, championed by discerning selectors including Darryn Jones and Red Greg. Built around Alves' dazzling synthesiser work, "Theme" finally gets the wider audience it deserves. The EP's first exclusive arrives courtesy of D. Apal, instrumentalist and member of Norway's Flammer Dance Band. His only solo release, issued on the band's Lysketrekk Records, has become a cult favourite among adventurous record collectors. Batov now unveils the previously unreleased "60 Meter'n (Rytme)", an extended instrumental dub that strips away the vocals to let the handclaps, cavernous bassline, dub effects and wonderfully eccentric synthesisers breathe, transforming an underground favourite into an irresistible dancefloor weapon.

Side B opens with YĪN YĪN's "Tokyo Disco", taken from the band's acclaimed third album Mount Matsu on Glitterbeat Records. Long-time admirers of the Dutch quartet, Kobayashi has championed them since first hearing the breakthrough pairing of "Dis ̄ kô Dis ̄ kô" and "Dion Ysiusk" on Bongo Joe. Since then, he has hosted the band twice on Soho Radio and supported them live in London. "Tokyo Disco" perfectly captures YĪN YĪN's distinctive blend of Japanese-inspired psychedelia, Southeast Asian influences, post-punk funk and shimmering disco grooves, making it a natural fit for the Give Me Disco series.

Closing the EP is another exclusive from Jiri Jiri, whose contribution helped launch the series on Vol. 01. Ahead of their forthcoming album later this year, the duo unveil the previously unreleased "Spaghetti Western", a wonderfully off-kilter fusion of Morricone-esque cinematic atmosphere, taut funk rhythms and the soulful modern groove of SAULT. Equal parts soundtrack and dancefloor curveball, it provides a fitting finale while offering another tantalising glimpse of what's still to come. With two exclusive cuts sitting alongside two carefully chosen modern classics, Give Me Disco Vol. 02 is another lovingly curated snapshot of DJ Kobayashi's musical universe: borderless, groove-driven and unapologetically built for adventurous DJs, discerning collectors and open minded dancefloors alike.

Phenomena begins with two artistic voices that seem to speak different languages. Barcelona-based producer R-010 (Lucas Rojo) approaches composition through rhythm, space and electronic transformation; Madrid-born vocalist and multidisciplinary artist Venerandi through texture, breath and the expressive possibilities of the human voice. By the time the album reaches its final moments, that distinction has quietly disappeared.

Rather than functioning as a meeting point between two individual practices, Phenomena gradually
becomes a third language—one that belongs to neither artist alone. Voice no longer sits above the music
but moves inside it, dissolving into layers of synthesis, percussion and guitar until performance itself
becomes another malleable sound source. Likewise, electronic production never behaves as a fixed
environment; it constantly adapts, absorbs and responds, allowing acoustic gestures and digital
manipulation to reshape one another in real time.

This continuous transformation defines the record more than any particular genre ever could. Echoes of trip hop, bass music, psychedelia and experimental electronics drift across its surface, yet they are never
presented as stylistic markers. Instead, they appear as temporary states within an ecosystem that remains
in constant motion, where dense rhythmic passages collapse into suspended atmospheres and moments
of stillness carry as much weight as those driven by pulse.

The presence of Matteo Caro (guitar and percussion), Pablo Gorostiaga (guitar) and Alessio Rodolico
(percussion) further expands this dialogue. Their contributions are not decorative additions but structural
ones, gradually dissolving the distinction between composition, improvisation and production. Instruments
emerge, mutate and disappear inside the same sonic fabric, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish
what was performed from what was transformed.

With Phenomena, Lapsus Records presents a work that feels less interested in crossing genres than in
questioning the borders between artistic identities themselves. The album never asks the listener to decide
where the human ends and the machine begins. Instead, it quietly suggests that, after enough careful
listening, the question itself may no longer matter.

Limitierte Auflage von weltweit 666 Exemplaren. Dale Crover sieht Neil Young sehr ähnlich so sehr, dass Neil ihn selbst engagiert hat, um die, ähm, junge Version von sich selbst im legendären Harvest Moon"-Video zu spielen. Es ist schwer, sich jemanden vorzustellen, der besser geeignet wäre, den Song zu covern als Crover, dank seiner Präsenz im Video und seiner langen Karriere als Solokünstler sowie seiner 43-jährigen Zugehörigkeit als Schlagzeuger bei den Melvins, dieser Rock-Institution aus dem Pazifischen Nordwesten. Crovers Version von Harvest Moon" eröffnet seine neue EP Get Yer Ba-Ba's Out" und geht nahtlos über in eine Interpretation des Melvins-Klassikers The Bit" aus dem Album Stag", denn Crover hat den Gitarrenpart geschrieben er ist in der gleichen Tonart, und warum auch nicht? Die EP enthält außerdem Akustikversionen von drei Songs aus Crovers Soloalbum Glossolalia" (Doug Yuletide", Rings" und Jane"), einen aus dem 2021 erschienenen Rat-A-Tat-Tat!" (I Can't Help You There") und den brandneuen Titelsong. Diese intime Inszenierung von Crovers Songs steht hier im Kontrast zum elektrischen, mit Gastmusikern gespickten Glossolalia", aber man kann diese Musik kaum als ausgemustert" bezeichnen. Es fühlt sich eher wie eine Weiterentwicklung des glam-beeinflussten Power-Pop an, den Crover seit The Fickle Finger of Fate" aus dem Jahr 2017 produziert. Die Arrangements von Produzent Toshi Kasai füllen den verfügbaren Leerrum mit Slide-Gitarre, Maultrommel, verschiedenen Glocken und anderen Idiophonen. Der Geist von Crovers Musik war noch nie deutlicher ein rastloses Verlangen, Neuland zu erkunden, kombiniert mit einer tiefen Liebe zum Rock 'n' Roll, dieselbe, die die Melvins zu einer der interessantesten und einflussreichsten Bands ihrer Generation gemacht hat.

The songs of Jules de Corte are condensed, folky gems with an almost effortless charm. Poised between the intimate and the universal, between lightness and darkness, they touch on religion, love, loss, and the small dramas of everyday life. Yet they resist easy translation. Packed with wordplay, de Corte’s signature alliterations, humor, and local cultural references, the songs inevitably lose something in another language. Still, when a Belgian quartet of improvisers takes them on, joined by American songwriter Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, the songs are reborn rather than merely transposed: literal fidelity gives way to interpretation, and what is lost in words is often gained in spirit.

Even without tracing every change, their overall effect is fascinating. Songs are slowed down, often doubled in length, and filled with unexpected musical intrusions. They gain fuller arrangements and are placed in an entirely new context. Replacing de Corte’s piano with guitar can create a radically different vibe, as in “Mariska.” An added solo can heighten the contrast between childlike perspective and the almost matter- of-fact brutality of “Little Anita.” In “The Stranger,” another use of contrast unsettles the everyday harmony, transforming it with a subtle, disorienting twist.

Ultimately, these performances show that interpretation is not successful simply because it is literal. With the groundwork laid by Linus, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy further liberated the songs from their original versions. Lyrics and melodies become malleable, shaped by his recognizable cadences, timbre, and personal quirks. Like his collaborators, he allows himself the freedom to bend the material to his own approach. There is no radical break between this performance and his other records. Listeners familiar with the originals may be puzzled at first; for those new to de Corte, it is a wholly different experience.

Does it really matter that the original “Little Jesus, Mighty God” is a 100-second nugget combining playful naivete with biblical fervor? In the hands of these five explorers, the song becomes an intriguing contemplation, with subtle musical shades and a recitation in which every syllable carries a maturity that offers a new perspective. Then there is “The Outsider,” which feels as genuine as any original American folk song. The musicians’ process is more than reinterpretation—it is reimagination, bringing new musical compatibility and emotional depth. Whether that depth was there from the start, waiting to be uncovered, or created in the process is beside the point. What matters is that Linus and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy have made the essence of these songs their own, paying homage yet dancing to their own tune.

Linus is the Belgian duo of guitarist and banjo player Ruben Machtelinckx and reedist and synthesiser player Thomas Jillings. Across five previous albums — Onland (2014), Linus + Skarbø / Leroux (2015), Felt Like Old language at the crossroads of folk, jazz, minimalism, chamber music and free improvisation. Their music is adventurous, shaped by a particular sensitivity to texture, timbre and the subtle interaction between musicians.

What began as a duo gradually grew into a flexible musical world, bringing Linus together with musicians such as Nils Økland, Ingar Zach, Niels Van Heertum, Øyvind Skarbø and Frederik Leroux. Yet each new constellation has remained recognisably Linus: music in which carefully considered forms leave space for intuition, interaction and the unexpected.

For their sixth album, Linus takes a new step by moving into the world of song and text. Inspired by a shared love for the late Dutch songwriter Jules De Corte, the album is a reimagining of De Corte’s unique repertoire. More than simply interpreting De Corte’s songs, they absorb and reshape them, bringing them into dialogue with their own musical language. In keeping with this open approach, they are joined by celebrated vocalist Bonnie “Prince” Billy. With albums such as 1999’s I See a Darkness appearing on several greatest album lists, Bonnie “Prince” Billy is a cult figure in the alternative folk scene, and his highly intuitive way of singing seamlessly matches the subtle interplay Linus has developed over more than a decade.

The portal opens for a seventh time.

A Portal To The Unknown – 7 Rotations of Neptune Discs brings together 12 producers across a double LP. Tifra and Match Box return following their own ep’s on the label this year, joined by familiar contributors Wigs, Aiden Francis, Jeku, Cybernet and Mahkina. COZi, Dive Crew and Thurlow Joyce make their first appearances, with Milès Borghese and Biodive completing the four sides.

Run independently by Astro from Edinburgh, Neptune Discs treats the exploratory ideas of ’90s and early-’00s club music as unfinished business. Prog, trance, tech house and dub techno remain reference points rather than templates, with more than 50 releases—and the arrival of Jupiter’s Depth and Pyramid Fields—allowing that identity to keep developing.

Wigs’ “Strangers” and Aiden Francis’ “Uno” bring warped, driving prog. COZi makes his Neptune debut with “Ride The Snake”, a lean, stripped-back tech-house roller that brings early-2000s economy into the present. Jeku follows with “Droop”, a trippy, ozone-soaked slow roller, while Thurlow Joyce closes with the warm, deeply submerged dub techno of “Sundowner”.

Beyond the vinyl, three digital exclusives expand the release: Bert Vesper’s “Babbel Truc”, Azzecca’s “Home” and Foley’s “What Could’ve Been”.

Featuring artwork by theAJM, the release is pressed across two 12-inches, distributed by One Eye Witness and arrives on 23 October 2026.

Setting a high standard for its inaugural release, new record label Sounds of The Blind Prophet announces SBP001, a powerful 12” vinyl collaboration uniting label founder Blind Prophet with worldwide Dub stalwarts Fikir Amlak and Vibronics.

The A-side, “Now Is the Time,” pairs LA-based vocalist Fikir Amlak’s commanding lyrics on community and self-reliance with a high-energy steppers riddim built by Blind Prophet and Vibronics. The flip delivers two raw dub cuts mixed direct from the board by Vibronics at his legendary Dub Cupboard Studio in Leicester, UK.

Embodying the core essence of modern Dub culture—conscious lyricism, driving percussion, and chest rattling bass—SBP001 marks an undeniable opening statement for Sounds of The Blind Prophet.

Pablo Volt and J.G.G. make dub-folktronica the unpolished way: guitar, horns, drums and synths, recorded loose, drenched in echoes and tape saturation. They met in Barcelona over a shared love of experimental beers and even more experimental sessions, determined to see how far their musical chemistry could take them. "Mordida", their 2023 tape, spent months on repeat at the Pingipung office. Now comes the debut LP: Aqui me quedo. It's a record built on the gap between two childhoods. Pablo Volt (aka Pope, as producer) grew up in Mendoza, Argentina; Jordi Gege aka J.G.G. in a suburb of Barcelona. What they share is a language and a curiosity about each other's memories and musical roots - the studio is where they embrace their different origins in improvisations. A ditch from Pablo's childhood becomes "Zanjon". A mountain Jordi used to roam becomes "Emisora". An ice cream shop, a Sunday market, a football club: small doors into a past the other never lived, but somehow recognises. Aqui me quedo, "I'm staying here", is also the name of the Barcelona bar where they toast after a good session. Two friends, tracing their way back through the past, decide the present is where they'd rather be. Handmade, melodic, unashamed of a smile as they greet from the LP sleeve: this is the spirit in which Pingipung was founded 24 years ago and these two guys, muy simpatico, are living proof of it.

2026 Repress

Do you know what time it is It's debut o'clock. Emitting his first material for Pampa, it's &ME - craftsman of all things deep and sturdy, at the same time connoisseur of emotive touch and virtuoso of sure instincts, one of the scene's central characters for a good amount of years now and one of the main figures of Berlin's Keinemusik-crew. The man has been hitting the bulls eye of public perception several times in the past, meeting everything it takes to get a crowd going with an intent on the detail when it comes to his arrangements and sound. These new two cuts seem nothing less than the essence of his abilities.

There is "In Your Eyes", the name lending A side to this EP, showcasing a rather pensive mood. It's just a few bars for the compound of kickdrum, tuned hi-hat tambourine and shimmering background noise until the first chords of an improvised piano-piece are tenderly laid upon the beat. Add a synth-motive coming back and forth and you'll have the main ingredients to this - in every sense of the word - floor-moving tune. Accordingly, the arrangement won't aim for an all too obvious sensationalism and rather opts for a flowing and intertwining call and response of its elements, ultimately resulting in a staggering impact anyway.
In comparison, "As Above So Below" on the flipside is adding a fair amount of emphasis. It unfolds in a dry and dense sounding beat-architecture that's suspense-packed with shaker sounds and subtextual field recordings. Most certainly, a slip-proof ground for this tune's centre-piece, a scale-riding synthbass sparking an almost anthemic trigger for floor-ecstasy. While details like subtle reverberating tapping and sparkling ambient textures sound like recorded deep down in a dripstone cave, the overall energetic layout pushes relentlessly to the heights of peaktime-grandeur. There you have it: "As Above So Below" - this tune works on every level.

Spanning Portland, Bristol, London and beyond, Cold Light has evolved from a friends-and-family label into something stranger but more cohesive. It's a collective spanning Best Available Technology, Birthmark, Withdrawn, the wind between, CSNL and Rael, plus a wider orbit including Elaine Malone and Tony Onuchukwu. What began as a 2019 tour experiment and crystallised during lockdown into the Live at the Laundromat sessions has now fully matured into a singular sound rather than a patchwork of ideas. Dub sits at the centre, most clearly on the sprawling 'Fields in B', but the group folds in haunted boom-bap, gritty noise-rock and ghostly trip-hop with equal confidence. 'Riot' and 'I've Known Fires' both hover in that murky, half-familiar space the collective has made its own.

No Drama, the imprint founded and curated by Roy Rosenfeld, continues to expand its artistic vision with a sixth release valuing originality over convention. The label has steadily established a platform for forward-thinking electronic music, inviting artists to challenge familiar structures while remaining grounded in musical substance.

The latest release features two tracks by internationally recognized producer Yuvée, known for seamlessly blending live instrumentation with deep house, melodic elements, and organic percussion. While Yuvée appears solo on one track, the other is a collaboration with Omer Inbar, who performs under the name Oi.

The opening track, Lava Core, presents the sound that has earned Yuvée international recognition. Tribal influences unfold through carefully crafted percussion, while evolving textures occupy every part of the stereo field. Every section advances the narrative, allowing the arrangement to grow naturally while maintaining dancefloor impact from beginning to end.

The second piece, Blue, brings Yuvée together with Oi, an internationally acclaimed DJ, producer, and sound engineer whose work bridges psychedelic vibes and groove-driven electronic music. The collaboration introduces greater club energy. Tonal and atonal elements interact with shifting harmonies and evolving instrumental phrasing, creating constant movement without losing coherence.

Rather than relying on formulas, the duo demonstrates the value of artistic perspective in an era increasingly shaped by technological automation. The result is music that balances intellect with feeling, offering a listening experience that remains equally compelling on a festival sound system, in a club, or through focused listening at home.

With its sixth release, No Drama reinforces its commitment to artists who expand the language of contemporary electronic music through craftsmanship, authenticity, and creative ambition.

Molecular Recordings – Structure Series 3

The framework expands.

Structure Series 3 marks the next instalment in Molecular Recordings' ongoing vinyl series, bringing together a selection of artists connected by a common language: deep, functional, uncompromising techno.

Forged between machine pressure, hypnotic movement, and warehouse energy, the release continues the label's tradition of spotlighting both respected figures and emerging producers without distinction. The focus remains where it has always belonged — on the music itself.

Across four cuts, Structure Series 3 moves through shifting textures and intensities, balancing raw groove, atmospheric depth, and precise rhythmic architecture. Built for sound systems rather than algorithms, these tracks are designed to reveal their full weight in the physical space of the dancefloor.

Three decades after its foundation, Molecular Recordings continues to operate beyond trends and short-lived cycles, remaining committed to authentic underground techno and the artists shaping its future.

Structure Series 3 is another transmission from the Molecular network: Built from experience, driven by instinct. Structured for the underground

Belgian duo Chasse have been exploring the more refined corners of the deep house world across EPs for solid labels like Mate, Exploited and Dailysession for the best part of a decade. Nothing changes on this outing for Selections - the grooves are smooth, and the details are musical. 'In My Mind' opens with dusty, smoky and soulful drums from the Mike Hucakby school and jazzy chords up top that are the perfect accompaniment. House Of Lords remixes with a slightly more pronounced groove and tech house edge, but it stays classy and deep. 'Day By Day' brings a groove built from roughshod drums and hits and burrowing chords that lock you in the moment rather than leading you forwards. 'Shine On Me' and 'Your Soul' are trad deep house cuts with an inescapably comfy feel.

When Khalab and Baba Sissoko first recorded together in 2015, they produced something definitive: a record where electronics and griot tradition achieved genuine synthesis rather than polite cohabitation.

Not layered genres maintaining separate identities, but two forms evolving into something singular. "Tata" took Track of the Year at the 2016 Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards, found champions in Laurent Garnier, Ben UFO, Matthew Dear, Bonobo, and many others — but more significantly, it established a working method built to last.

Eleven years on, they return with Foli Bah on Hyperjazz Records. Theirs is a relationship built on trust. Khalab constructs structures that don't develop linearly but spiral inward — loops that reveal something new with each rotation, tightening until the listener stops resisting and surrenders. Sonic architectures that don't expand outward but deepen over time, layering toward saturation. Baba Sissoko inhabits these structures with instruments from Malian tradition, not as ornamentation but as load-bearing elements: the tradition becomes structure, not decoration. Electronics and griot practice stop negotiating terms and start speaking the same language.

London duo Kassian trade darkness for daylight on Gradients, their third EP for !K7 Records

The EP arrives as a bridge between last year's debut album and a new live show and sophomore LP, due in 2027

As Kassian, Warren Cummings and Joe Danvers continue to sit apart from any one scene. Their fruitful relationship with !K7 has spanned eclectic and global club cuts, including the spatial breaks and bass of 2024's best-selling Supercontinent EP. 2025's debut album, Channels, emerged from lockdown so leaned slow, downtempo and introspective, but this new EP points toward a clubbier, more physical direction that will carry through into album two.

Crucially, the record was written and played live on an array of studio gear rather than assembled piece by piece in the box. It's a way of building towards their first fully live show in 2027 - a hands-on, jam-first approach that leads to "happy accidents" and the unpredictable textures that hardware throws up and no amount of in-the-box planning can replicate.

Gradients is built for the floor without playing to trends and marks some of the duo's most melodic work to date. Rather than sitting purely in heads-down territory, the EP folds in hooks and vocal fragments that lift you out of the smoke and the shadows of the club. The low ends are still rooted in techno with potent drums and bass, but deft vocal hooks and subtle melodies bring a brightness that deliberately steers away from the darker, meaner aesthetic dominating much of dance music right now.

Vocal touches throughout nod to what's going on in the wider underground without tethering to tried and tested tropes. Opener 'Blush' rides warm, soft yet bold melodic riffs, looping in arcs over a hunched, speedy tech house groove. 'Ritmo' is a muscular bouncer with spring-loaded bass, 'Inner Dance' has lurching drums and a cavernous rhythm with vocals that make a playful nod to sound system culture. Last but not least, 'Sweat' is the brightest and most bubbly cut on the EP, with a tight techno low end infused with a velvety whispered vocal.

The Gradients EP is a bright, hardware-built prelude to Kassian's next chapter and a typically well-crafted four-tracker that pairs physical weight with classy emotional release.

As Eerie Enterprise, upsammy and Piezo have funnelled their singular styles into a classic-feeling but ultra-modern album of elegant, angular electronica. With a strong melodic sensibility and a highly developed palette of playful sound design in their toolkit, the unexpected pairing grew spontaneous jams into a considered collaboration, and Places Remember Events is the end result.

Individually, Thessa Torsing and Luca Mucci have carved out strong identities within contemporary electronic music. As upsammy, Torsing has applied a delicate precision to ambient and uptempo approaches alike, building up a striking catalogue of releases including her 2020 LP for Dekmantel, Zoom. Meanwhile, Mucci has taken a wayward path through contemporary bass music and techno that matches edgy sound design with playful unpredictability. As Eerie Enterprise, both artists tap into their respective creative instincts while arriving at a unique sound with a nurturing quality they were both missing from modern dance music.

Having appreciated each other's work for some years, in July 2024 Torsing and Mucci seized an opportunity to carve out two days in the studio. There was no expectation of an end product, but the sketches conceived during those open-ended, hardware-oriented sessions felt worthy of a deeper exploration developed and finalised over the following year-and-a-half.

Places Remember Events has an unapologetically nostalgic streak, calling to mind the warm glow of melodically-charged, golden-era electronica. The twitchy rhythmic make-up of tracks like 'Decay + Collapse' and 'Folding Origin' speak to the duo's shared affinity for ravey energy, but even within faster frameworks they lean into half-time space to maintain a light-footed agility that allows the relatively busy arrangements to feel grounded and patient rather than frantic.

There's an appreciation for mystery in the emotional make-up of many of the tracks, not least in the slithering textural exploration and spatial tension of 'Capsule', but elsewhere fragile melancholia guides the melody direction of 'Superradiance' and 'Things Fall Upwards'. The final impression is crisp and modern while delivering an accessible experience that seeks to soothe rather than shock when so much contemporary club music tips towards uneasy intensity.

Finding malleable approaches to their chosen sonics and applying them to intentional song structures, Eerie Enterprise collectively land on a sound that promises a lasting reward for the repeat voyager — satisfying headphone gear in the grand tradition of introspective electronic music, but also with a physical immediacy that will manifest in the live set upsammy and Piezo have put together to perform later in the year.