Поиск:living sin

Dam Swindle nail 2026 as the year of House music’s glorious return with their new “Call me” EP.
2026 is the year of House music. Festivals, clubs, bars and living rooms have been craving for more warmth and soul in electronic music and you know we’re here for it.

It’s only been a few months since we celebrated the 100th release on Heist with our ‘House of House’ compilation; a 19-track embodiment of everything we love about house music where label heads Dam Swindle teamed up with Detroit legend DJ Minx on their track ‘Back to the old school’. Now, landing just in time for summer, the Amsterdam duo deliver a new EP filled with dancefloor energy across 5 original cuts and vocals courtesy of British-Bengali rapper Surya Sen.

The title track ‘Call me’ is a stabby and string-heavy peak time jam, where chopped female vocals and offbeat cowbells deliver a simply irresistible groove. ‘5 to 9’ features the vocals of London rapper Surya Sen whose deep voice add an instant vibe to Dam Swindle’s deep and Detroit’esque production. This track sits somewhere between gritty dark rooms and sweaty dancefloors.
Definitely not the stuff for your 9 to 5, but with plenty of funk for your after-work pleasures. The track comes in 2 versions; the vocal mix and a longer club-dub with some cleverly chopped vocals that comes in handy for the DJ sets.

The B1 is saved for ‘I like it’. A track full of old school Swindle swing, Rhodes chords, a dash of electronics and soulful vocals chops for good measure. The EP closer is ‘A house track’; a song dedicated to the old school New York house sound and an affirmation that great house music doesn’t have to be complicated. It just needs to groove.

This one has been road-tested all year and is now ready for your listening and playing pleasure. As always, share the music and play it loud!
Yours,
Heist HQ.

Curated by Brian d'Souza (aka Auntie Flo), Plants Can Dance is a forthcoming new compilation bringing together a global community of artists, exploring the creative possibilities of biosonification - transforming signals from plants, ecosystems and the natural world into sound. Out June 26th, the project marks the culmination of several years of d'Souza’s work across music, ecology and technology.

The album arrives at a time when more artists are turning toward nature as both subject and collaborator, such as Brian Eno’s Earth Percent, which formally recognises “Nature” as an artist. Plants Can Dance sits within a wider cultural shift, which is redefining the relationship between sound and the living world.

The project builds on several years of work by d'Souza, whose Plants Can Dance events have taken place across the UK, Europe, India and Africa, appearing in institutions including the V&A, Tate and the Design Museum. What began as a series of intimate gatherings has since evolved into a global platform, reflecting a growing appetite for work that reconnects music with the natural world.

The compilation features contributions from leading practitioners including Modern Biology (Tarun Nayar) in collaboration with saxophonist Zekarias Musele Thompson, OMMA (Olga Maximovam founder of Playtronica), Jason Singh, Dr Helen Anahita Wilson, Justin Wiggan in collaboration with celebrated Norwegian jazz musician Arve Henriksen, Lamine Touré, Bit Marten and Balam, alongside new work from d'Souza himself. Using a range of tools - from commercially available devices to bespoke modular systems - artists translate electrical activity, environmental data and organic processes into musical material.

The processes behind each piece differ - from interpreting plant biodata to translating wind patterns into compositional structures - and the results are as varied as they are compelling. The record spans ambient, jazz, electronica and modern classical, yet all pieces are unified by a shared intent: to reimagine music as a space of collaboration between human and more-than-human worlds.

At the core of Plants Can Dance is a question about how we define music, and how we choose to listen. Traditional musical forms, with their fixed tempos and predictable structures, give way here to something more fluid and less easily controlled. The listener is invited to surrender expectation and engage with sound as an evolving environment rather than a linear narrative. In this context, the compositions function as what d'Souza describes as “acoustic ecologies” - sonic systems shaped by biological, environmental and elemental forces unfolding in real time.

Accompanying the release is a printed zine offering reflections from each artist, and deeper insight into the ideas and debates surrounding this practice. Rather than presenting definitive answers, Plants Can Dance positions itself as an artistic exploration grounded in curiosity, experimentation and critical thought.

Ultimately, Plants Can Dance is less concerned with proving whether plants “make music” than with changing how we listen. By inviting audiences to engage with sound shaped by non-humans, it opens up new ways of perceiving the environments we inhabit - not as passive backdrops, but as active, dynamic participants in a shared ecological network. In doing so, it offers a quietly radical proposition: that by listening differently, we might begin to relate to the natural world differently too.

Curió Curió came to flight by chance. Two artists, Rio-born, Austria-based singer and actress Luiza Monteiro and German producer Dustin Braun, had separately reached a fork in their journeys. An opportune encounter soon blossomed into an uplifting, heartfelt Brazilian MPB-groove project shaped by psychedelic disco and studio experimentation. In their own words Curió Curió’s sonic vision “is not straight disco, not straight samba, not strictly old-school but inspired by all of them, creating something contemporary but still nostalgic”.

A modern fusion influenced as much by Gal Costa and Jorge Ben Jor as Say She She and Bala Desejo, their sound deftly plots a course all of its own. A celebration of freedom, movement, love and life, intertwined with introspective moments of reflection. Treating tradition as something alive, migratory and unresolved, the album is not simply bound by a shared love of Brazilian music, but by a deeper question that runs through every track; where does one belong when home becomes plural? As a Brazilian living in Europe, Luiza's lyrics explore themes of identity, culture, and existence. The tracks move between cities and emotional registers without settling, tracing a sense of identity that shifts rather than resolves. Songs like ‘Amor Doente’ and ‘Mar sem Dar Pé’ circle around relationships that resist clarity, while ‘Menina Passarinho’ captures the fear and necessity of committing to music as a path. For Luiza, deepening her commitment to music alongside years in theatre was both inevitable and difficult. Braun’s production follows a similar logic. Initial ideas were often built without obvious reference points, only later incorporating rhythmic and vocal elements that hint at Brazil without reproducing it. Analogue techniques, tape, ribbon microphones and live ensemble recording bring a tactile quality that reflects the duo’s interest in process as much as outcome. Highlights include ‘Bem Querer’, built on an authentic samba street vibe with a super-catchy sing-along chorus, and ‘Vem pra Casa’ with its cosmic-tinged Brazilian boogie flavour. The album closes with ‘A Cor do Meu Sonho’, a quiet act of insistence. A refusal to shrink in unfamiliar environments, and a belief in the strength of difference. It is less a conclusion than a continuation, leaving the central question open. “I started to understand that I can belong to many places at once”, Luiza reflects. “And that can be something to embrace”. Lyrics from the song ‘Raiz’ translate in English to “I value a burning sun and the cold in the air. Constant change is my companion”. With Curió Curió, that idea is lived through sound, story and collaboration. A debut that feels both searching and assured, grounded in heritage yet shaped by distance.

TM Shuffle teams up with Konstantin Kost to deliver a pair of deep, meticulously crafted tracks designed to transport the listener. Built on sprawling echoes, immersive reverbs, and subtle vocal textures, the duo weaves an ethereal sonic journey that resonates just as powerfully in the intimacy of your living room as it does on a packed dancefloor. On remix duties, Brenno reworks the original samples into a weightier, club-focused weapon. Stripping back the atmosphere in favor of driving dub house sensibilities, he pairs classic drum machine rhythms with crisp, dry dub aesthetics, allowing listeners to sink completely into the duo's heavy basslines. Following TM Shuffle's stellar remix on our fifth release, we are thrilled to welcome him back alongside Konstantin Kost for a release that demands your full attention.

Auntie Flo delivers two extended versions of Costa Rica based singer-songwriter Doe Paoro. If you liked Auntie Flo's 'Green City', check these...

Doe Paoro approached Brian d’Souza aka Auntie Flo to do a remix for her album 'Living Through Collapse' last year. He loved the parts she sent so much he asked her if he could do two remixes, press onto vinyl and release via A State Of Flo.

We're doing a limited run of 300 copies only, orange vinyl - so buy today if you don't want to miss out.

The tracks... Teach Us Of Endings - a classic balearic groove, gloriously uplifting disco-style strings and complete with Green City-style drum rolls and a killer Ziggy Funk bass line ... just waiting for those strings to come in...bliss

Maya - exotic, deep, hypnotic. Centred around a Ziggy Funk groove with analogue washes and Middle Eastern sounding instrumentation.

A State of Flo supports Earth Percent. 10% of the revenue generated from this release will be paid to environmental charities.

Support from Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy, Luke Una, Dar Disku, Paula Tape, Sean Johnston, Gabriels, Batida etc

If – in some parallel universe (or perhaps a not-so-distant-future version of the one we’re already sentenced to living in) – the evil overloads of artificial intelligence were actually successful in their attempts to create convincingly enjoyable “original music,” more specifically tasked with wholly encapsulating my own personal tastes by data-chugging some cocktail of – oh, I don’t know – the posters on my wall, the records in my “most listened to” pile, the mixtapes I made for others, intensive physical scans of my auditory cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, heart strings, whatever else they have splayed out on their autopsy table with the intention of generating one all-encompassing “perfect band” based on the fruitful sum of their findings – that band, for me, would be (or would at least sound exactly like) the Tara Clerkin Trio. It is, quite simply, without exception, the music I wish to hear.

Formed in Bristol UK (where none of them are from yet all of whom are deeply engrained) in 2020, the Tara Clerkin Trio – as it somewhat democratically exists today, despite the singular authority implied by its name – consists of the titular Tara Clerkin, her partner Sunny Joe Paradisos, and Sunny’s brother, Patrick Benjamin. I’ll confess, I don’t know what their respective roles are within the operation and there’s only a very small part of me that cares to learn, as one of my favorite qualities in an objective listening experience is the mystery of who is playing what, which sounds are “authentic” versus synthesized, which chunks are performed “live” in a room together versus meticulously Frankenstein’ed from measure to measure, or how exactly the overall sound is so (seemingly) effortlessly achieved. Though, I suspect, if and when I do witness a live performance by this band at any point, my enjoyment of the music will not be lost in my better understanding of it.

With two extraordinary mini-albums – In Spring (2021) and On The Turning Ground (2023) – making a splash on London’s formidable World of Echo label in wake of their self-titled 2020 debut, this upcoming Somewhere Good LP is, in many ways, the band’s most realised work. In running their usual gauntlet of idiosyncratic (*an overused adjective for which here there is regrettably no sufficient alternative) approaches, Clerkin & co. colour in and outside of compositional lines over the course of 40+ celebratory minutes - never wallowing, despite inherently somber subject matters of self-defeat, disease, displacement, restlessness, gentrification - allowing their arrangements and improvisations ample space and time to situate, stretch out, breathe, cross-pollinate, and ultimately take deeper hold on the listener’s imagination – all while somehow sounding more like themselves than ever before.

Of course, there are traceable influences herein, if one felt that such comparisons were necessary to properly examine and enjoy this music (they aren’t)… Being the big dumb American from the small boring town that I am, cornfed on ‘90s alternative radio with the enchantingly exotic sounds of Maxinquaye and Mezzanine emanating from my chunky tube television, I can’t help but to make a blatantly obvious reference to a “Bristol sound”, ie the whole trip-hop trip, the pastoral crooning over the suggestive urban grime of cracked electro/piano treatments, the digitally-yet-primitively reconstructed James Bond soundtrack string-beats, etc.. But the Tara Clerkin Trio is so infinitely much more than that. There are elements of avant-pop, modern classical, kraut-folk, audio verité, dare I say indie rock (and not of the beer guzzling, masturbatory fuzz-flex variety but perhaps more like a Trish Keenan-fronted Faust, Adrian Sherwood at the mixing desk of If You’re Feeling Sinister, or – in expanding on our alternate reality – a world in which High Llamas cut a full-length for Warp Records with Andrew Weatherall on coffee duty).

The hazy, unmappable skyline-mirage of droning harmonium, upright bass, peculiarly accentuated wind instruments, acoustic guitar, hushed yet literally mighty keys combine to hypnotizing effect. The band may make underlying nods to jazz, sure, but it’s not appropriation, it’s that they have the actual chops to build it out. Beneath the janky samples and oddball percussive embellishment lies actually great drumming. Beyond the manipulated vocal witchery and woefully reflective plain-spoke moments are Tara’s subtly inspired melodies, sung with what might honestly be the glue to the whole crazy equation. A calming consistency throughout the otherwise unpredictably dynamic, boldly intuitive, uniquely British exploration of this (their own) universe in song. – Ryan Davis (Chicago, February 2026)

Limited Edi(on - Signed and numbered - includes poster
A true living legend in dance music, Benny Benassi has built a career on innova(on and era-defining
releases, collabora(ng with global icons like David Gue1a, Skrillex, Chris Brown, Jeremih, and Sofi Tukker.
Since reshaping global club culture in 2002 with his groundbreaking anthem Sa(sfac(on—a track that
redefined dancefloors worldwide with its mechanical groove and distorted bassline—Benassi has remained
at the forefront of electronic music’s evolu(on.
Once again, Benny Benassi proves he’s not just a pioneer — he’s s(ll leading the charge.
Now, with his fi9h studio album, Feel the Bass, he delivers a lean, driving, club-focused return to his
signature low-end power—updated for a new era and pressed as a limited run vinyl.

GALA announce Ten Years of GALA – a compilation marking a decade of independent culture

Ten Years of GALA is both an archive and a horizon: a reflection on where GALA has come from, and a signal of what lies ahead.

Founded in 2016 as a one-day gathering in South London, GALA has grown into a global point of reference for dancers, artists and collectives drawn together by a shared commitment to independence, collaboration and underground music culture. Rather than charting success through scale alone, the festival has consistently prioritised integrity, community and musical curiosity – values that underpin this release.

Spanning fifteen tracks, Ten Years of GALA unfolds as a considered journey. It opens with an intimate spoken contribution from Charlie Dark, grounding the compilation firmly in GALA’s home of Peckham before gradually expanding outward into fuller, club-focused terrain. From there, the record moves between moods and tempos, tracing a path from reflective moments into the physical language of the dancefloor.

The compilation brings together longtime friends of the festival alongside newer voices drawn into its orbit in recent years. Each artist contributes a distinct perspective, but collectively the tracks form a coherent portrait – not of a single sound, but of a shared ethos shaped over ten years of gatherings, collaborations and days spent dancing together.

Rather than a retrospective in the conventional sense, Ten Years of GALA functions as a living document. It captures fragments of past editions, scenes and relationships, while remaining firmly oriented toward the future. These are not museum pieces, but records designed to be played, shared and folded back into the spaces from which they came.

Together, the compilation holds a piece of GALA’s first decade – not as a closed chapter, but as a foundation for what comes next.

High-definition world building collides with incisive physical urgency around 170 BPM as Pianeti Sintetici makes his first appearance on Samurai Music. Davide Perrone's vivid production style found a more downtempo outlet on last year's release for Samurai sub label Saibai, but he pivots naturally towards the weightier presence of the Exoverse with a richly rendered suite of sonic systems teeming with life and pockmarked with mystery. The spacious drums that lead on 'Agilus' have an acoustic, in-the-room quality that instantly grounds the track before the myriad layers of synthesis start spiralling skywards, pitting twinkling pads against rapid, undulating acid wielded with assured control. By way of contrast 'Mimoide' burrows downwards, using needlepoint marks to puncture the brooding beds of sound looming in the middle distance. At the same time, Perrone weaves lithe, rubbery shapes across the foreground of the mix for a three-dimensional expression you can almost reach out and touch. Opening up a B side tipped towards a mellower pace, 'Living Plasma' leans into a 4/4 meditation as a vessel for another distinctive tapestry of modulating sound design from Perrone's seemingly infinite sonic resources. 'Exoverse' edges towards a more melodic standpoint with its teased flutters of arpeggio that sneak in and out of the mix and a harmonic dimension to the atmospheric layers that shape out the size of the track. Across all four pieces, the sheer detail at play in the Pianeti Sintetici universe is mind-boggling. By rights it should be a busy, stress-inducing experience, but Perrone's gift lies in the ability to take a macro view on these incredibly complex creations, zooming out by boiling the parts down into a symbiotic whole that feels patient and considered. The reward for the listener comes from taking the time to zoom in and marvel at every micro detail writhing across the surface.

We are pleased to announce the first FEX live album, Don't Look Back. The release features selected recordings from two concerts in Paderborn and Uelzen, both captured in 1985. All tracks on the album are previously unissued, including entirely unheard songs such as It's a Hard Life, Just Get Back, Legend, and Waiting Song, alongside a previously unreleased version of Subways of Your Mind, widely known as "The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet."
One of the most striking aspects of the album is the remarkable sound quality of the live recordings, as well as the strength of the performances themselves - particularly given that FEX were still considered a newcomer band at the time. The four-piece lineup consisted of singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter Ture Rückwardt, Michael Hädrich on keyboards and occasional second guitar, Norbert Ziermann on bass, and Hans-Reimer Sievers on drums. In 1985, the band was preparing for broader exposure through a nationwide tour organized by the small promotion company HBM-Musikbüro.
The album opens with the psychedelic Skyscraper, a track Rückwardt reportedly regarded as a personal favorite to perform. Hädrich contributes dynamic synthesizer layers, while Ziermann underpins the track with a distinctive slap bass groove. This is followed by the energetic rock number It's a Hard Life, which once again demonstrates that the band possessed multiple songs capable of matching the impact of their best known track Subways of Your Mind.
After this energetic opening, the album shifts into a more restrained mood with the synth-pop ballad I Got My Eyes On You. It is followed by Strange Feeling, presented here in a particularly compelling live version that arguably surpasses the previously released studio demo featured on the Skyscraper LP, with Rückwardt delivering one of his most expressive vocal performances. On Goldrush, another fan favorite, it is Hädrich's DX7 synthesizer work that stands out.
Don't Look Back continues to flow seamlessly, moving between styles such as new wave, synth pop, and a blues-influenced form of classic rock. On It's Good To Know, a song addressing the theme of stardom, the band returns to a heavier rock sound. In contrast, the synth-driven Just Get Back reflects on the conflict in Northern Ireland, then ongoing at the time. Lines such as "It's the money, it's the money why they come along" are directed at mercenary soldiers, while "even Sunday's a killing time" directly references Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2.
Previously known songs such as Dirty Slapstick and Heart in Danger lead into We Don't Want It No More, perhaps the band's most striking pop ballad. It is easy to imagine that the track had the potential to achieve radio success in the 1980s. The following piece, the epic Legend, explores themes of loneliness and love simultaneously. With poetic and abstract lines such as "some isolate in the falling rain" and "that's why I count all the reasons they call out for living, sadness is falling inside," it builds an almost eerie atmosphere.
One of the final highlights of the album is Subways of Your Mind, recorded in Uelzen. In this version, Rückwardt's vocal performance is even more on point than on the previously issued recording from Paderborn. Another notable moment is the driving, 1970s-inspired rock 'n' roll track Waiting Song. Both the composition and its live performance carry an energy that could easily stand alongside the repertoire of bands such as AC/DC. It was usually the track that FEX ended their concerts with, calling out each band member at the end of the song.
This leads to a broader reflection: it is striking that FEX did not achieve a wider breakthrough at the time. The performances captured here suggest a band capable of delivering consistently, song by song, note by note. It is not difficult to imagine FEX performing in large venues and engaging sizeable audiences. In reality, however, most performances in 1985 took place in front of relatively small crowds. The recordings featured on this album originate from the Roxy club in Paderborn and a small, unknown venue in Uelzen, likely in front of fewer than fifty attendees.
An essential figure behind these recordings is the engineer known only under his nickname Hase (German for "rabbit"), who was responsible for capturing not only these concerts but many other surviving FEX recordings. Bringing his own mixing desk to performances, he developed a deep familiarity with the band's material and was able to shape the live sound with precision, including the timely use of vocal effects. The original recordings existed only on cassette and required careful and extensive restoration work. Zoey Cairs was finally responsible for bringing them to their present quality.
This album marks the beginning of the Live Waves series, following the rediscovery of additional recordings that have gained international attention since November 2024, when they surfaced through what has been described as the largest "lost wave" music search to date. The title of this first live LP Don't Look Back carries a certain paradox. While the album invites listeners to revisit recordings from forty years ago, FEX themselves were always oriented toward the future. In that spirit, further releases of brand new material are already planned.
The cover artwork is once again based on an image by Magnussen from the Kiel archive, depicting the Prinz-Heinrich-Brücke. The bridge, once located in the northern part of the city, no longer exists. As a symbol, however, it remains fitting: a bridge stands for movement and connection - qualities that FEX sought to embody on tour, bringing their music to different places and audiences.

If art is to be exhibited, then Ulrika Spacek will ensure that their art is collective; that even as the world becomes inhospitable to community, their intentions are an act of resistance.

Whether it is Oysterland, the self-curated night the band have been Hosting for over ten years to platform artists of other disciplines in live music spaces, or Total Refreshment Centre, the East London studio Syd runs which connects the dots between the jazz scene and like-minded experimental artists of the capital and beyond, or their creative bleed as musicians and producers over the years with the likes of Crack Cloud, caroline, DIIV, Holy Wave and Slowdive, the band’s existence is inseparable from their community.

In a hyper-individual world, the band’s fourth album, ‘EXPO’, offers an antidote. It’s there, in the shared dream logic of the music, the off-kilter melodies, jagged guitars and cirrus cloud atmospherics. It’s there, in all the things that are said and unsaid between them; there in the writing, producing and mixing processes they share in. And even as each of their parts Moves toward a unified vision, it’s never more keenly felt than in the bigger Picture to which Ulrika Spacek belong.

Though their well-established foundations are in the art-rock world - and though they are inspired by electronic elements more than ever - Ulrika Spacek are interested in the glitch that exists between the two. Their Music reckons with human warmth and digital isolation, equal parts welcoming and altogether alienating. “Our music has always been a collage - a bit patchwork, sonically - but what makes this album a landmark for us is that we went one step further and made our own sample bank,” explains singer / guitarist Rhys. They create their own doppelgängers in a world of almostreal, where the band appear as if in a hall of mirrors. Digital drums are sampled layered upon real drums, and the effect is almost like birth in reverse - pulled from the ether and returned back to the tangible world.

“There’s a lot that can be said about writing when there is no aim, there is a freedom and a purity in it which opens a door to more music, and in this case, it set a mood for a new album, one that would be colder, darker and one that would embrace electronics and new instrumentation in a new terrain,” the band share. “The album’s greater theme is isolation and alienation in an online world where it seems everybody around you is constantly exhibiting themselves, living in public wanting to be seen and heard. The age of ‘individuality’ is lonely, it’s a room of concave mirrors, and with this in mind, we set upon making our most collective effort; ‘It’s back to strength in numbers, count in fives.”

For fans of Radiohead, Moin, DIIV, Astrel K, Slowdive.

LP presented on Crystal Clear vinyl.

Shokolokobangoshay was a collaboration between three members of Pogo Ltd. The three of us felt we were crazier than the other members of Pogo Ltd. and decided to work together on the Kosmik 3 album. Robo was worked in the graphics department of NTA Benin. He was an amazing artist, a crazy guy, he was extremely creative, he invented a musical notation language that only he understood. He was amazing, he took me to his place in Asaba and showed me his compositions, he must have had over 500 songs.

Emman Osagie was my floor manager when I was a producer at NTA (Nigerian Television Authority) Benin. We were all on the same wavelength. He was a member of Severe 7, and heavily involved in the Bini music scene working with Ehi Duncan and others. we really enjoyed making Shokolobangoshay, it’s a river of influences, a bit of this, a bit of that, but it is really our thing. The musical ideas we were playing with at the time.

Emmanuel Ogosi. 3rd March 2026.

This record is why I went into reissuing records with Odion. The feeling to sharing records that went under the radar when they were initially released, with a greater audience. Shokolokobangoshay is uniquely Nigerian in a very personal way, it makes references to the societal and political ills that plague us in Africa. It’s title, Shokolokobangoshay, references a play song, kids in Lagos and western Nigerian sing when they play in the streets. Most Nigerians can relate. The music references afro beat, country music, reggae without falling firmly on any side. This is one for the ages. Amazing production, I personally love this record for the free spirit, creativity and excellent song selection. We had to licence it, we just had to. Limited repress only 500 copies.

It is also excellently produced. Big up to all involved, from the Vinyl Rip (James Law, Fidgit Studio, South Africa), to the master production by DJ Simbad (Cape Town, SA) and the cover restoration by Angelo Mitchell (SA). I am so happy to be doing it with the boys in the motherland. Peace and appreciation to all. Special dedication to Mother Tongue for creating a great pressing. Please file under Afro.
Blessings,

Temitope Kogbe, Odion Livingstone

For a few fleeting moments during a sunset, the sky is cast a vivid shade of amber. A dramatic flare of colour, a moment belonging to both the day and the night. It is within this vibrant, ephemeral world, that Mongolian-born, Munich-based Enji has written her new album Sonor.
Sonor is a reflection of Enji's personal evolution and the complex emotions that accompany living between two worlds. The album's themes revolve around the unplaceable feeling of being between cultures, not as a source of conflict, but as a space for growth and self-discovery. Enji explores how distance from her traditional Mongolian roots has shaped her identity, and how returning home brings a heightened awareness of these changes. Backed by a band of renowned jazz musicians (Elias Stemeseder on piano, Robert Landfermann on bass, Julian Sartorius on drums and co-composer Paul Brändle on guitar), Enji isn't just revisiting tradition, she's distilling the feeling of home, of small joys that reveal their significance only when viewed from afar.
Like a familiar song hummed by a parent, her music captures the essence of belonging, not tied to a single place, but to the emotions and memories that shape us.

Calibre announces his new album 'Tricklemore Sea', set for release on vinyl and digital on 1st May via Signature Recordings.

A deeply personal and exploratory body of work, the album moves through ambient, shoegaze, electronic, blues and folk, all subtly shaped by the low-end sensibility that has defined his music for decades. It resists easy categorisation, reflecting an ongoing interest in blending bass culture with forms that sit outside it. Following the release of 'They Want You' at the end of 2025, this new project marks a clear shift in tone. Where that record leans into intensity and forward momentum, 'Tricklemore Sea' turns inward, occupying a more introspective space. Featuring entirely his own vocals and production, it carries a more exposed and vulnerable quality.

The album has taken shape gradually, drawing from material written in the years after 'Planet Hearth'. Rather than forming around a fixed concept, it emerges as a collection of pieces connected by tone and instinct. Tracks move between simplicity and abstraction, with piano-led compositions sitting alongside field recordings, improvisations and bass-driven works. Ideas often begin quickly, then evolve over long periods of revisiting and reworking. His voice takes on a more central role throughout, bringing a heightened sense of vulnerability. Lyrics and delivery are often left open, allowing space for interpretation. His process remains fluid and instinctive, with ideas written quickly, revisited over time and combined across different periods.

Moments such as 'Little Blend' carry a quiet melancholia balanced with hope, while 'Free One' reflects on the pressures of contemporary life. The title track considers the scale of human existence within a wider universe, framing individual lives as small but meaningful within something larger. Elsewhere, 'Deflower' and 'Pigeon Luncheon' draw from recordings made in Berlin at the end of lockdown, capturing a sense of movement and return. Older material, including 'Living In Your Head' and 'Hyndsight', is recontextualised and sits naturally alongside newer work. Threads from his wider catalogue remain present. 'Able Son Dub' nods to longstanding reggae influences, while 'Bit Broken Stream' appears here in a downtempo form alongside its drum and bass counterpart from 'They Want You'. Tracks like 'United Pull' and 'Mizzle Mine' lean further into abstraction, using minimal language and space to suggest mood rather than define it.

Over more than 30 years, Calibre has built a catalogue that moves across drum and bass, ambient, dub, techno, house, jazz, soul, blues and folk. His work is marked by restraint, quiet melancholy and a singular approach that continues to evolve. Complete authorship remains central, with all vocals, lyrics and production on both 'They Want You' and 'Tricklemore Sea' created solely by him. This breadth extends into his DJ sets, where he draws heavily from his own catalogue, often performing entirely self-produced material across a wide range of tempos and styles. His ability to move between contexts has seen him play at Boomtown, Houghton and Atonal Berlin, delivering distinct sets while maintaining a clear identity.

With 'Tricklemore Sea', that identity leans toward stillness, introspection and emotional depth. It is a record that prioritises feeling over definition, holding space for ambiguity while remaining grounded in a strong sense of authorship. Each release carries an element of exposure, a moment of vulnerability in letting the work go. At its core, the album seeks to capture something fleeting but recognisable, a sense of beauty that sits just beyond language.

He describes it simply: "The river inside of me flowing into the sea."

Ayô Dele — which means "joy comes to me" in Yoruba — is neither a slogan nor a promised miracle. It is a breath of fresh air. That of an album born in the interstices, where the word find their way between shadow and light, between the disorder of the worldand the impulse to be .
At the heart of the project, Julien Gervaix and Damien Tesson, multi-instrumentalist beatmakers, share a groove language that is both dense and airy, where every detail breathes and finds its place.
With background in Afrobeat, Dub, Funk, Soul, Roots Reggae, and Electronic Music, they treat the studio to be their playground. Their music is a hybrid groove that speaks to the body: round or bouncing basslines, brass oscillating between melodic warmth and funk energy, textured guitars, arpeggios, enveloping Rhodes, clavinet that slides, presses, and embraces. Everything comes together with precision and flexibility, in an inventive and warm composition. The meeting of their experiences and sensibilities gives rise to open, generous music, made for dancing and vibration.
With Ayô Dele , Ireke is embarking on a new chapter: the duo is refining its style,allowing the voices to breathe. The groove remains the driving force but opens up to intimacy. This intimacy is carried by two unique female voices: Nayel Hoxo, a Beninese-Nigerian singer/rapper, and Agnès Hélène, who has already made a name for herself on Tropikadelic with "Petit a Petit". They don't sing side-by-side; they coexist, respond to each other, and sometimes intersect. But each follows her own path: Nayel, with the power of her words in Yoruba, offers songs of elevation, healing, and resistance — a light born in the cracks Agnès explores these cracks themselves: what wavers within us, what reinvents itself in bonds, glances, and gestures.
For one track, Olivya (Dowdelin) joins this dialogue in Martinican Creole. Her sunny soul sketches the contours of gentle resistance and celebrates rediscovered light.
Ayô Dele embodies a quiet yet radical determination: to smooth nothing over, to let plurality, contradictory emotions, and mixed heritage live. An album that moves forward through vibrations, that speaks of emancipation without slogans, love without clichés, anger without uproar.
Two women, two inner worlds: a sensitive complicity, a shared breath. Music that seeks not effect, but echo, weaving a living soundscape between reinvented traditions and contemporary textures. An alchemy faithful to the spirit of Underdog Records, where music unites and brings people together. Ayô Dele : "joy comes to me." A lucid joy, crossed by shadows, patiently regained. Music that welcomes, releases, gives, and in doing so, makes us feel good.
In a saturated world, Ayô Dele chooses nuance: transmission without emphasis, joy without naivety. An album that vibrates more than it demonstrates, that connects more than it imposes, and which, in its quiet clarity, resonates with a deep desire to be fully alive.

Reframed is Vitess’ third album, released on his own label Retro Futura, and marks a new turning point in his artistic journey. Unlike his previous albums — the first fully exploring the Retro aesthetic, the second embodying the Futura — Reframed brings these two worlds together within a single, coherent yet eclectic body of work. The album opens with sounds inspired by 90s progressive music and gradually moves toward more futuristic textures. This album format gives Vitess complete freedom: the freedom to build a full, living musical experience, introducing for the first time a strong instrumental dimension — most notably through the use of live drums — and allowing each track to interact with others, transform, or mirror one another, while maintaining a clear narrative thread that guides the listener throughout.

The title Reframed directly reflects this approach. The album is built around tracks conceived as Recto / Verso, offering a form of double listening experience. On the one hand, electronic, club-oriented and progressive versions, designed for energy and dancefloor movement; on the other hand, more introspective, pop and instrumental counterparts, created for listening and storytelling. Starting from the same musical foundation — a vocal sample, a percussion element, or a melody — Vitess develops two distinct interpretations of the same track, generating contrasting yet deeply connected sonic worlds. This method, central to his creative process, highlights his ability to explore a single detail in depth and let a micro-element lead him toward radically different sonic dimensions, while ensuring coherence and a strong identity across the album.

For Reframed, Vitess also collaborates for the first time with other artists: Stupid Flash, ATOEM, and Lucile, selected for their ability to enrich his universe and push it toward new aesthetics. These collaborations recreate a sense of collective energy reminiscent of his early days playing in bands, while remaining true to the essence of the Vitess project: a primarily solitary approach rooted in exploration, experimentation, and embracing the unexpected paths each idea can take.

ElCalefón

Salir Del Agujero

El Calefón's 1985 LP Salir Del Agujero is a rare bird.

Self-produced and privately released in Zurich, the albumdocuments one of the very few South American groups that were resident in Europe at the time, and certainly the only such band working in Switzerland. Co-founded by two Argentinians in Europe – the multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer Coqui Recaand the guitarist Pablo Miguez–the group consisted of Argentinian and Brazilian musicians, most of whom were present initially Europe as tourists, but had stayed on, without official sanction, as immigrants.Their music gathered its primary influences from the varied sounds of their home countries, fusing these elements drawn from the manifold indigenous styles of Argentina and Brazil with the international sounds of rock,jazz, pop and pan-Latin music.

Honed and polished by the steady gigging through which the group earned their living in Zurich, the music that appeared onSalir Del Agujero was sophisticated, original and filled with light. Resonating with a freshness undiminished in forty years, the album brims with possibility and hums with tropical warmth, bearing testament to the open-hearted musical freedoms of a mercurial musical era.

Guti returns to Crosstown Rebels with improvisational new EP, ‘You Know Ya Miss Me’.An exploration of instinct, groove, and the new Latin sound, the Argentinian live maestro returns to Damian Lazarus’ imprint on 13th March 2026.

A new wave of Latin-infused groove arrives on Crosstown Rebels, and South American favourite Guti is at the helm. Returning to Damian Lazarus’ imprint with a release that captures his music in its most immediate and expressive form, his four-track ‘You Know Ya Miss Me’ EP marks his first material on the label since 2020, reigniting a relationship that stretches back over 15 years. For the Argentinian artist, the studio has always been a living room, a jam space, a place where ideas can breathe, collide, and evolve naturally. Throughout his career, Guti has blended groove-driven house and Latin percussion into a signature sonic language in which spontaneity guides the process. The result here is a new release that feels as alive as it does intentional, designed for ears, hearts, and dancefloors alike.
Title track ‘You Know Ya Miss Me’ opens with warm rhythmic layers and subtle instrumental interplay, a space where melody and movement coexist freely. ‘What You Give’ follows, pulsing with the organic energy of jam-session dynamics, each percussive gesture and melodic line alive with intention. On the flip, ‘The Truth’ unfurls a rich tapestry of percussion, soulful vocals, and improvisational motifs, while ‘La Nueva Onda Latina’ closes the EP as a vivid statement; an embodiment of the “new Latin sound” at the heart of Guti’s ethos, where instruments, electronics, and collaborative energy meet on equal footing. At its core, ‘You Know Ya Miss Me’ is a showcase of a musical mind at work: deliberate yet free, precise yet flowing, rooted in tradition but open to the unexpected. It’s a reflection of Guti’s belief that dance music can be both kinetic and expressive, that improvisation and groove can coexist, and that the most resonant sounds are born when musicians let go in the moment. This EP invites listeners into that space, to move with the rhythms, and to experience a sound unmistakably Guti; organic, vibrant, and alive.

In a sharp-angled, fiercely inventive reflection on the nature of club culture and digital fatigue, Simo Cell and Abdullah Miniawy reunite to deliver their new album, Dying is the internet, to Dekmantel's UFO series.

French producer Simo Cell has blazed a singular path from his dubstep-influenced origins to become a leading light in contemporary leftfield club music, twisting up adventurous rhythms and flamboyant production in pursuit of a perpetual freshness for the floor. Egyptian singer, poet, producer and composer Abdullah Miniawy has become equally omnipresent in the past 10 years, straddling the arts world and leading with his piercing Arabic lyricism while maintaining an eternally curious spirit that leads into open-ended, experimental music from the abstract to the propulsive.

Following up on their 2020 EP for BFDM, Kill Me Or Negotiate, Miniawy describes their sharply focused new album as "a playful prophecy about the triggers of a new global revolution." Cell considers the title, Dying is the internet, to be a mantra about "how the internet lost its soul," becoming "less about sharing ideas and more about surviving in a digital business ecosystem." Deliberately at odds with the reel-ready two-minute attention span of the average social media surfer (i.e. everyone), the pair set out to make an album that takes its time to reveal nuanced ideas and expressions. Rather than one-note despair for the modern malaise, Cell and Miniawy offer a philosophical reminder that this present moment in the human experience is a temporary phase, no matter how overwhelming it feels.

Dying is the internet finds Miniawy experimenting with auto-tune across the record, while Cell has developed his voice design chops and compositional instincts, moving closer to fully realised song structures without losing the fundamental 'clubbiness' of each track. The result is a cohesive, wildly original kind of heavyweight dance music that slings out hooks left right and centre, from Miniawy's laconic trumpet looming through low-slung 'Reels in 360' and 'Travelling In BCC' to the persistent handclaps that bring 'Living Emojis' to life. Miniawy's poetry explores the power of insistent, repeated phrases in a break from his more typically structured form.

Kenyan powerhouse Lord Spikeheart adds extra snarl to stripped-back, slow-burn opener 'I See The Stadium', but otherwise Dying is the internet is purely the work of Miniawy and Cell casting their considerable chops out into unexplored territory. The results are electric, bound together by a consistent economy of sound that burrows into a shroud of bass-heavy minimalism barely masking Cell's incredibly detailed studio flex. Even the beatless flourish of the Miniawy-produced 'Tear Chime' comes loaded with physicality — a sensory rush at the mid-section of the album bookended by some of the most idiosyncratic club music in recent memory.

Both Simo Cell and Abdullah Miniawy have already proved themselves as fearless innovators across different fields. The strength of their partnership lies in their ability to make space for each other while letting their distinctive sonic identities ring loud and true. Dying is the internet has immediacy and physicality to translate over a soundsystem, but its intricacies are purpose-built for repeat visits and contemplation, unveiling hidden dimensions the deeper you dive into it.

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Son Little expands his musical palette on his upcoming album, Cityfolk. Blending elements of soul, folk, and blues, Son Little captures his signature sound along with expressive yet personal lyrics. Cityfolk is a reflection on love, loss, and finding peace in the chaos. It"s about holding on, letting go, and learning to breathe again when the world feels heavy. Born Aaron Earl Livingston to a preacher and a teacher in Los Angeles, Little"s collaborations with The Roots and RJD2 helped him make a name for himself in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia. Critics were quick to recognize the unique power of Little"s solo recordings, which stripped the past for parts that could be reconstituted into something wholly new and original. NPR hailed Little"s "impeccably crafted songs" as "honest and unpretentious," while The Independent proclaimed him "a formidable talent." Since then, his catalog has racked up over 250 million streams, and Little has toured with everyone from Leon Bridges and Kelis to Shakey Graves and Mumford & Sons alongside festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Newport Folk, and more. Never one to rest on his laurels, Little also earned a GRAMMYî for his work helming Mavis Staples" acclaimed "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean."

There’s a special kind of feeling when everything falls into place - when the drums bounce easy, the bassline rolls steady, and a bright guitar line cuts through the warmth of tape. That feeling became the heart of the FULLNESS, from Marcus I meets aDUBta. The sound of FULLNESS is built on simple, living elements: real drums, deep bass, a warm sound, and melodies that leave space to breathe. It moves between Early Reggae, Rocksteady, and Roots - sometimes straight and solid, sometimes stretching out into Dub and Echo. With its voice, from singer and lyricist Marcus I, FULLNESS carries the message about gratitude, love, freedom, and the small moments of everyday life. While Marcus’s singing style nods to the great singers, he stays grounded in his own experience, which perfectly complements aDUBta’s production, giving him space to shine. This LP is a complete, warm, balanced, and uplifting experience from start to finish.

FULLNESS grew from a steady musical exchange between Marcus I and aDUBta - two people on different sides of the Alps (Marcus I in France and aDUBta in Germany), finding a shared rhythm. What began in early 2022 with a few Riddims sent back and forth soon turned into a regular flow of songs. Every week brought new ideas, new words, and new melodies. When they finally met in person at aDUBta’s Attic Roots Studio in Bavaria, Germany, it all fell naturally into place. Most of the instruments were played by aDUBta, and the whole LP was mixed live on his Tascam 388, keeping that raw, handmade feel. With several friends helping bring even more color into the music, aDUBta brought in Viti Sanchez to lend his expressive saxophone and horn lines, Michael Salvermoser with his warm trombone tones, and members of the Black Oak Roots Allstars - King HuHa and Jannis Klenke on bass and guitars, along with Morry 'Da Baron' (Dub Inc.) on bass. FULLNESS means the fullness of music, of life, of friendship, of gratitude. It’s what happens when music becomes more than a project - when it turns into a shared space where things just flow.

WRWTFWW Records is very pleased to announce the first-ever vinyl release of Art Form 2, the seminal 1998 Various Artists compilation from Tokyo’s cult label FORM@ RECORDS, now available as a limited edition double LP housed in a heavyweight sleeve, as part of the ongoing collaborative series between the Swiss and Japanese labels.
Initially available only in CD form, Art Form 2 emerges as a quiet artifact from an exploratory phase in FORM@ RECORDS’ late-1990s trajectory. The compilation drifts through the deeper layers of Tokyo’s electronic underground, where IDM, techno, ambient, and downtempo dissolve into one another within an atmosphere of deliberate experimentation. Both intimate and forward-looking, it preserves a moment in which a local scene, largely unseen, was patiently reshaping the future beyond the reach of prevailing global narratives.
Flowing with carefully sculpted rhythms, immersive sound design, and a subtle sense of machine soul, Art Form 2 reflects the maturity of the FORM@ aesthetic in 1998. The compilation resonates with the spirit of Warp’s Artificial Intelligence era, Carl Craig’s melodic futurism, Ken Ishii’s cerebral techno, B12’s deep electronics, and Ian O’Brien’s emotive touch, while remaining unmistakably rooted in its own local context. Timeless and singular, it stands as a beautifully preserved time capsule of underground electronic music.
Following the vinyl excavations of Virgo’s Landform Code (1998) and Remnants (1999), Art Form 2 continues WRWTFWW Records’ collaboration with FORM@ RECORDS. It is released simultaneously with Art Form I (1997), further expanding this archival series, which will continue with the forthcoming vinyl edition of Re-Form Ver-1.0 (1999).

DJ Support: Laurent Garnier, Dennis Cruz, Girls Of The Internet, Horse Meat Disco, Stacey Pullen, Elliot Schooling, Solomun,Marco Carola, Joseph Capriati, The Martinez Brothers, Dam Swindle, Soul Clap, Luke Solomon, Riva Starr, Franky Rizardo, Archie Hamilton, Silvie Loto, Fouk, Austin Ato, Salomé Le Chat, Blackchild, Jean Pierre, Black Loops, Kassian, Seamus Haji, Melvo Baptiste, Rimarkable, Sophie Lloyd

In-demand Amsterdam-based duo Makèz step into new ground with the release of their album ‘Arriving Home Elsewhere’, via ANOTR’s No Art label. A kaleidoscopic project that moves between deep house, cosmic jazz, R&B, broken beat, and club-ready energy, the record is both a declaration of identity and a dissolution of boundaries - proof of the duo’s rare ability to merge worlds without diluting or compromising their true essence.

Where most albums that span electronic realms lean on functionality, ‘Arriving Home Elsewhere’ reaches for something much more expansive. The project is a true hybrid: half shaped for the intimacy of a headphone listen, half designed for the electricity of the dancefloor. together forming a seamless continuum between reflection and release. Tracks like ‘REARRANGE YOURSELF’, ‘BE REAL’, and ‘LOOKS LIKE IT (SPACE TALK)’ are stripped to the core of house music’s driving pulse, made for bigger systems and peak-time release. In contrast, ‘Dreams’, ‘Fruits of the Universe’ (with douniah), and ‘Without The Sun’ (with Oliver Night) explore lush, textured arrangements where live instrumentation and improvisation carry equal weight to rhythm and groove.

Collaboration is at the heart of the LP, with Makèz inviting a constellation of voices who each expand the project’s palette. Ben Westbeech, Liv East, and SANITY bring soulful intensity; 30/70 and dreamcastmoe connect Amsterdam to Melbourne and DC; Cor.Ece and Oliver Night weave delicate threads of emotion; Goya Gumbani and Javonntte guide the production with their vibey, groove-led performances; while Life on Planets reprises his role as a core creative partner, appearing across the album on tracks including the standout ‘BE REAL’ and the previously released ‘ILLUSIONS’ alongside rising Amsterdam talent AVA LAVÁ. Together, these contributions shape an album that feels less like a singular statement and more like a living, breathing ecosystem.

For Makèz, ‘Arriving Home Elsewhere’ is as much about philosophy as it is about music. The title encapsulates a tension central to their art: the feeling of belonging to multiple worlds without ever being confined to one. Jazz, house, soul, and experimental club sounds are not separate influences but parallel languages, and in merging them, the duo has created a record that mirrors the fluidity of contemporary identity and expression. And while it may speak in many voices, the LP tells one clear story - that of Makèz, arriving, again and again, home elsewhere.

Bobby and Martin Boer started experimenting with music in a small bedroom in their parental house in an apartment building on the 4th floor.
The brothers brought together rapper Da Smooth Baron MC and singer Peggy “The Duchess” to form their stage act. The first single “Can’t Help Myself” was released in 1990 and became an international hit in 1991.
multiple international hits were produced as 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor. Gradually changing the style from Eurodance into happy hardcore.
Singles like “Fly (Through the Starry Night)”, “Come Take My Hand” and “Fairytales” were international bestsellers and topped charts all over Europe.
The Very Best Of 2 Brothers On The 4th Floor is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on crystal clear vinyl and includes an insert.

Krope is a six-part conceptual album by Belarusian sound artist and producer Anton Anishchanka. Rooted in archival folk songs recorded between the 1960s and 2000s, it transforms fragile voices of the past into living, cinematic sound worlds. Created in collaboration with ethnographer Iryna Vasilyeva, the album weaves Belarusian traditional music with field recordings, acoustic instruments, and analog synthesizers — an immersive journey where memory, landscape, and resilience converge.

Flowing as one continuous suite, Krope unfolds like a film: memory re-emerges, fragile yet persistent, shaping an emotional narrative of displacement, loss, endurance, and hope. The archival voices at its core — songs of love, exile, and mourning — resonate across decades, echoing the urgent realities of today. The album flows as a single, immersive sonic odyssey. From the tender rejection in Krope (Dill) to the grief carved in Dubrovuška (Oak Grove), it traces an arc of human experience that is both deeply personal and universally shared. By reimagining traditional music through contemporary sound art, Anishchanka preserves endangered cultural heritage while revealing its timeless relevance.

Credits:
Produced by Anton Anishchanka
Engineering by Tenzor
Mastered by Alex at Quitfish Mastering
Lacquer cut by Tim Xavier at Manmade Mastering
Cover Art by Sasha Zeliankevich
Graphic Design by Ihar Yukhnevich
Creative Direction by Nadzeya Burmistrava

Archival materials courtesy of the Institute of Art History, Ethnography and Folklore named after K. Krapiva, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

Special thanks to Iryna Vasilyeva for her assistance with archival selections and ethnographic material.

Shatkavalka 2025

Disco legend Sylvester comes to Dark Entries with Private Recordings: August 1970, an intimate collection of vintage jazz, blues, and gospel. While Sylvester is best known for his chart-topping collaborations with producer Patrick Cowley, such as “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” this release reveals his passion for the sounds of the 30s and 40s. In 1970 a 22-year-old Sylvester had moved to San Francisco and found himself involved with the Cockettes, the infamous psychedelic performance art troupe. Among this milieu was Peter Mintun, a pianist and record collector living in a commune devoted to retro culture. According to Mintun, “We were like hippies who lived in the twenties. We lived in a house that didn’t have anything modern in it. Nothing in it was made after World War II.” Mintun and Sylvester bonded over their love of Black singers of yore and were allotted a slot during Cockettes performances reviving the music of the Prohibition Era. One afternoon, Sylvester and Mintun recorded a number of their shared favorites using a high-end microphone a friend had acquired. Private Recordings features 9 songs from this session, including standards like “Stormy Weather,” “Happy Days Are Here Again,” and “God Bless the Child.” Sylvester’s unmistakable falsetto brings depth and a dash of camp to these familiar tunes. The recordings are casual and intimate, even capturing banter between Sylvester and Mintun; their brief rendition of “When My Dreamboat Comes Home” has the duo working out a melody in real time. In addition to their sonic explorations of decades past, Sylvester and Mintun also staged photographic shoots in vintage couture. Private Recordings comes with a 16-page booklet on firm cardstock featuring images from these never-before-seen shoots as well as liner notes from Mintun detailing his friendship with Sylvester and their experiences recording. All this is housed in a metallic silver sleeve designed by Eloise Leigh featuring a 1920’s Art Deco aesthetic. The record will be released on September 6th which would have been Sylvester’s 76th birthday, and all proceeds from Private Recordings will go to the two charities that Sylvester left his royalties after his death: Project Open Hand and PRC (formerly AIDS Emergency Fund). This essential release documents the earliest known recordings from one of disco’s greatest talents.

Crate digger and music enthusiast James Endeacott compiles ‘Unlock Your Mind With Morning Glory’ for Two-Piers Records – A glorious heady mix of the weird and wonderful eclectic music from his radio show ‘Morning Glory’

“One weekday afternoon towards the end of 2017 I sat in The Lyric pub on Great Windmill Street, Soho with my dear friend Raf. I’d just finished another of my weekly Soho Radio shows and was starting to think about the next one. Raf had been on as a guest playing some of his favourite tunes of the day. We had a few drinks, told a few stories and started to plot and scheme. It was always a dream of mine to have a daily radio show. Radio had always informed and excited me from my early teens listening to John Peel under the blanket when I should’ve been either sleeping or revising right up to the present-day musical excursions of NTS, WFMU and numerous internet based stations.

We decided to speak to Adrian and Dan who ran Soho Radio to see if they’d be up for us doing a daily morning show. To our surprise they were into the idea and within 5 minutes Adrain came up with the name Morning Glory. We all liked it. We were all excited. It was all systems go. In December 2017 Raf and myself started a daily 2 hour show. We did the show together, got guests in and the musical policy was whatever we felt like that day. After several months Raf found the mornings too much. Off he went into the distance occasionally coming back with a smile, and a bag of new music. I carried on alone and then suddenly in March 2020 the world stopped, and we went into lockdown.

We set up in my house in Catford, Southeast London and carried on. The show became 3 hours a day and I started to invite friends, record labels, record shops, bands etc.. to supply me with hour long mixes that I played every day. The show took off during this time. My musical tastes expanded as I spent all day long searching for new sounds from around the globe. People started to send me more and more music. I became obsessed with the show. The audience started to take to social media and ask for certain tracks or artists to be played. I got listeners to make me mixes to play on the show and I did several phone interviews with musicians while playing some of their favourite tunes.

I was grateful that Soho Radio left me to my own devices. They never told me what to do or what to play – they trusted ma and I trusted my instincts.

The music on this compilation is not a ‘best of’ it’s just how I felt when I compiled it at the start of 2025. Apart from a couple of tracks they are all things I’ve come across since the show started in December 2017. If I did a list of tracks now I’m sure it would be completely different. Surely that’s the point. We never stick in one place. We are always moving and searching. Always trying to unlock our minds. Put it on. Take your time and let it take you somewhere” James Endeacott 2025

The new album by the collective that for
over 25 years has been among the most
representative names of the Italian dance
and electronic scene worldwide.
“BLOOOM”, this is the title of the new release,
will be available in all traditional stores and
on digital platforms starting January 16.
Set against the soundscapes that have become
the Planet Funk trademark, the lyrics by Dan
Black attempt to give voice to a fragile and
contradictory condition of our time: an
intensified sensitivity that, instead of
turning into openness and connection, often
becomes emotional overload. A generation
constantly overwhelmed by excessive stimuli,
relentless information, anxieties, and fears,
called upon to find its way in a world thaoffers neither pauses nor silence. In this paradox, sensitivity is no longer just a natural gift, but
a daily effort: staying open and receptive without being overwhelmed, trying to preserve a human and
vulnerable gaze in order, despite everything, to fully appreciate life and the present moment.
The single’s artwork—like that of the album—curated by Nationhood, visually conveys this tension: the
distant sirens of a city that amplifies feelings of disorientation and loneliness even when we are
surrounded by thousands of people.
“BLOOOM”, preceded by the single “FEEL EVERYTHING”, arrives at the end of an intense, creative year
full of music, which saw Alex Neri (DJ, keyboards, synthesizers), Marco Baroni (keyboards, piano,
programming), Dan Black (vocals and guitar), and Alex Uhlmann (vocals and guitar) engaged between
studio work, collaborations, and live performances in Italy and abroad. A journey that today
transforms into new energy, into an even more open vision oriented toward the future.
Exactly one year ago, PLANET FUNK released “Nights in White Satin”, a single that reached the top
positions of the radio charts and launched a season rich in concerts and DJ sets in Italy and around
the world. The subsequent “I Get a Rush”, the collaboration with Alfa and Manu Chao on the remix of
their hit “A me mi piace”, and the track “È Naturale” together with Francesca Michielin, confirmed
Planet Funk’s ability to renew themselves and engage with different musical worlds while always
remaining true to their own identity.
Throughout this journey, music has inevitably intertwined with life. The memory of Sergio Della Monica
and Domenico “Gigi” Canu, pillars and founding souls of the PLANET FUNK project, is a living part of
this new chapter. Their vision, creative spirit, and way of understanding music continue to be a
constant guide, a deep root from which new ideas and new directions can grow.
“BLOOOM” is also this: a personal and artistic blossoming that, starting from the legacy left by
Sergio and Gigi, transforms into a living process of growth, metamorphosis, and discovery. An album
that does not look back with nostalgia, but forward with awareness, momentum, and a desire for
renewal.
Founded in 1999, for over 25 years PLANET FUNK have represented one of the most important, solid, and
influential realities in the international electronic music scene. Born from the meeting of Souled
Out! (Domenico “GG” Canu and Sergio Della Monica) and Kamasutra (Marco Baroni and Alex Neri), and
following their debut with “Non Zero Sumness” in 2002 (a gold record and a turning point for the
band), PLANET FUNK have managed to reinvent themselves over time while maintaining a unique sonic
identity. This has led them to collaborate with internationally renowned artists, deliver iconic
performances around the world, create soundtracks and international advertising campaigns, and
continue to demonstrate constant creative vitality

Sie bevorzugen Ihren Lo-Fi-Dreamgaze so, wie Sie Ihre Partner bevorzugen: geboren in den 90er Jahren und mit ihrer College-Freundin in einem Schlafzimmer in einem Vorort zusammenlebend. Hier erstmals zusammengestellt: Shoulds Debütalbum ,Feed Like Fishes" aus dem Jahr 1998 plus 10 Bonus-Tracks aus dieser Zeit, zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl erhältlich. Es klingt, als würde man den Kopf aus dem Autofenster hängen, während man drei Stunden nach der Ausgangssperre an einem Schultag mit hoher Geschwindigkeit eine Landstraße entlangfährt. Bitte schalten Sie die Scheinwerfer aus.

a1 FISH FOURTEEN
a2 SARAH MISSING
a3 ASIDE
a4 SPANGLE
a5 IT STILL WOULD
a6 LULLEN
b1 MEMDRIVE
b2 ITS PULL IS SLIGHT
b3 INST2
b4 IN NINE
b5 BOTH EYES OPEN
c1 THINGS ARE THE SAME (IN NINE)
c2 FADED
c3 THIS HOUSE I'M LIVING IN
c4 MYSELF
c5 SINGE
d1 FEED LIKE FISHES
d2 OCEAN WARM
d3 SOOTHED (RERECORDED)
d4 MERGER
d5 THESE DAYS

Big Science Records is proud to unveil a brand-new split 12” EP — crafted equally for peak-time energy and post-rave reflection — from the label’s co-foun-ders, NVST and Warzou.It’s been a minute since our last vinyl release — the Leo James edition — and we’re excited to be back with an ultra-limited, hand-stamped pressing. Four tracks total: two from each of these kindred artists, the duo behind Big Science.We’re constantly making, exchanging, and living through music — daily, weekly, endlessly. “Nothing is real, nothing exists,” says NVST. And yet, this release feels like a moment where the invisible becomes tangible — the private tracks we’ve shared and cherished with each other now find their place in the world. They’re here. They’re real.

Emerging from the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica during the late 1970s, Main Attraction was a group of talented singers whose music captured the social and political energy of their time. With a sound that blended reggae and soulful ballads, their songs were both a reflection and a response to the challenges of the era.

The group originally featured Sonia Copeland, a gifted writer, arranger, and back-up singer, alongside Sharon Jones, whose velvet voice led many of their reggae tracks. They were joined by Allison Smith, Marjorie Smith, and Shahiba Ali, forming the group’s first lineup. As time passed, Michelle Thompson and Lileth O’Connor joined, further enriching the group’s dynamic harmony.

Main Attraction’s musical journey began with their debut recording, a cover of Once Upon a Time, produced by David Haughton under the management of Clayton Downie. Later, with Owen Palmer as their manager and producer, the group expanded their horizons, performing in cabaret gigs with the band Mind Benders and embarking on an overseas tour that showcased their talent in New York City. While Sharon Jones led reggae tracks like Jam Up, Allison Peart and Shahiba Ali brought their soulful touch to R&B songs, creating a rich, versatile repertoire that captivated audiences.

Jam Up was the group’s first original recording, composed and arranged by Sonia Copeland. Performed as part of the Reggae Song Competition during Carnival in 1978, the song is a rallying cry for unity and progress. With powerful lyrics and a Shaka rhythm, Jam Up calls on Jamaicans to come together, strive for economic growth, and uplift the nation collectively.

Sonia’s vision was clear: that Jamaicans from all walks of life would find inspiration in the song’s message, motivating them to improve their standard of living and contribute to the country’s growth and prosperity. Decades later, the lyrics remain just as relevant — a timeless call to action for social and economic strength.

Hold this record in your hands, let the music play, and feel the enduring power of reggae music to transform, uplift, and connect.

Our journeys into uncharted lands of the Reducerverse continue.

Essential must-buy shit for all disciples of: The Rootsman x Muslimgauze, Love's Secret Domain era Coil, Chris & Cosey, Meat Beat Manifesto, early Reinforced Recs, Shut Up & Dance, He Dark Age, Zombies Under Stress, SPK.

If you've just joined us: Reducer ARE the greatest lost dub punks. Rumoured to have almost signed to On-U Sound but told Sherwood to stuff it when he wanted his hands on the desk. Fame never found them, cos they didn't want it anyway. Living in the obscure memories of the select squatters and weirdos lucky enough to have had their minds blown, their first recordings were scraped off the linings of the cosmic dustbin recently through a series of self-released 12"s, cassettes, USBs and strangest of all a 3D performance screened at the Cube (in association with pals Bokeh Versions).

In short: Reducer's the most thrilling fairytale resurrection these pages have been privy to, joining 23 Skidoo, Killing Joke, PiL, Slits, Terminal Cheescake etc on the Mount Olympus of the Punky Reggae Party.

This latest slice of karmic justice comes from The Human Aerial aka Reducer's guitarist and prime mover Hooly. And ohhhh what a justice it is. Drawing on 40 years of private solo recordings across 7 tracks from Abu Ama style dabke jaguar steppas punishment to thumping bass-led electro, peak Depth Charge dubby big beat to careening breakbeat hardcore, trashcan gamelan spirituals and Jamie Vex'd style maximalist beats blissouts,

Tying together this jaw-dropping range of styles and fashions is a relentless sampladelic bombardment. The Human Aerial's habitual pilfering of TV and radio for into lovingly spliced tape loops and samples showcases humanity at its best and absolute worst. Tele-evangelists rub shoulders with long dead chieftans: "there is no death, only change of worlds" "We're MAD AS HELL AND WERE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE" "THe land is sacred, a cathedral of the spirit". These wisdoms and grave sins slip into us subliminal through the dance, the needle drops like a waking dream.

While the Reducer archives may be running low, we assure you the Human Aerial coffers are full. And long may our minds be blown by this ongoing renaissance.

On 9th December Modern Obscure Music presents Cascades, the new album from Pedro Vian & Mana, which premiered during their immersive live set at the most recent Sonar Festival in Barcelona.
Cascades was recorded over a three-day studio session in Turin during the winter months, which is reflected in the musical narrative, as the eleven tracks flow gently like an icy river, filled with a mixture
of hazy melancholy, uncanny dream-states and euphoria.
Various recording techniques and instrumentation was utilised, including the Lyra-8 organismic analogue synthesiser, which takes principles from living organisms to produce sounds resembling a
conversation between nature and technology. The result is a spellbinding ambient odyssey that features a luminous synthesis of neo-classical strings and orchestral drones, together with strange
voices, and abstract passages designed to evoke Dante’s Inferno, which represent the soul’s journey.
Pedro Vian is a renowned Catalan artist who has released three solo albums (Beautiful Things You Left Us For Memories, Pedro Vian and Ibillorca) and a collection of singles on his Modern Obscure
Music imprint – a multi-disciplinary platform based on deep listening and music research. The ‘PRSNT’ compilation, which Pedro curated in 2021 and featured Laurie Spiegel, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Visible Cloaks, received support from Pitchfork, Crack, Brooklyn Vegan, The Quietus, The Wire and Metal. Pedro has been remixed by Inga Copeland and Pye Corner Audio, and has recorded mixes for of Bleep, Self-Titled and Juno Daily.
As part of a new generation of Italian electronic music artists, Piedmont born composer and producer Mana has released two full length albums (Seven Steps Behind and Asa Nisi Masa) on Kode 9's
Hyperdub imprint, plus an EP on Nicolas Jaar's Other People label under his Vaghe Stelle alias.
Earlier in his musical journey, Mana supported Laurent Garnier, James Holden and Skream across the Torino club scene, and in 2011 teamed up with Italian friends Lorenzo Senni and A:RA to form
the experimental group One Circle.
Pedro Vian & Mana’s previous work as solo producers has pushed the limits of electronic music, and together they’ve garnered critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, The Quietus, The Vinyl
Factory, Resident Advisor and more. They now join forces to traverse new sonic territories between electronica, ambient, drone, and trance-inducing soundscapes.

Syncretic marks the debut full-length from Australian duo Bhairavi Raman, a Western and Carnatic violinist, and Nanthesh Sivarajah, a mridangam player and versatile percussionist. Both artists share a Tamil heritage, a current that hums across the album. Raman, from South India, and Sivarajah, from Sri Lanka, draw lines that connect Western practice and Carnatic tradition. This hybrid is central to Raman’s approach as a violinist, an instrument itself caught between East and West since the late 18th century. Her playing folds history, lineage and experimentation into music that acknowledges inheritance while gently rewiring its circuitry.

Expanding on traditional music can be a precarious practice, but Syncretic never feels heavy-handed. Raman and Sivarajah exercise measured restraint, letting the Carnatic framework breathe even as it is refracted through contemporary tools. Delays, looping, subtle layering and synthesized harmonies tilt tradition into a new light without disguising it.

Even within a contemporary framework, Raman’s rigorous Carnatic training under gurus Sri S. Varadarajan (India), Sri Murali Kumar (Australia) and Sri Gopinath Iyer (Australia) is unmistakable. She captures the spiritual and emotional essence of each raga: on Seven, the playful raga Bahudari becomes both centrepiece and conduit, while on the traditional piece Thunbam Nergayil, drawn from a Tamil poem, we hear a deeply personal iteration, a weeping euphony of mixed emotions hitting all at once. Tradition here is absorbed, expanded and reframed.

Sivarajah’s command of the mridangam, honed by his gurus Sri Jambunathan (Sri Lanka), Sri Balasri Rasiah (Australia) and Sri T. R. Sundaresan (India), is central to his original composition Guardian. He sustains tradition while extending it through layering and sound-spatialisation. The mridangam here functions as both a structural and ornamental force, mapping continuity between inherited form and contemporary sonic architecture.

Syncretic resonates as a space where Tamil heritage, diasporic memory and contemporary practice coalesce. Culture, like sound, circulates, transforms and persists. Tradition is not an archive but living material, a soundworld that lingers in the ears and the imagination.

“The high priest of country cool” - Rolling Stone

“I like him very much. He’s very special. He’s singing with a voice I never heard before” - Townes Van Zandt

“A conscious, soulful brother” - Horace Andy

“He’s a brother to me - one of the best singer/songwriters I’ve ever met” - Adrian Sherwood

“Unearthed mine of gems from inner Wales - a songbook of ideas - that's Jeb!” - Gilles Peterson

Jeb Loy Nichols is a bonafide Country (Got) Soul legend. The Music Maker presents 21 incredibly deep, grooving and soulful songs from the cream of Jeb's catalogue; from its earliest days to his latest unreleased gems via countless rare and unbelievably good lost-classics. This 2LP set is presented in a gatefold sleeve complete with freshly commissioned artwork courtesy of Jeb himself.

In collecting these uncut, under-heard gems, we hope to do justice to Jeb's jaw-dropping artistic brilliance. A man who, in working with Adrian Sherwood, Dennis Bovell, Dan Penn, Larry Jon Wilson and countless other legendary characters, has crafted some of the most deeply affecting folk, country, soul, funk, blues, dub, reggae, gospel, rap and electronic music, ever heard.

The first music Jeb really felt a connection with was southern soul: "I used to listen to the radio at night and fell in love with Bobby Womack and Al Green, The Staple Singers and Joe Simon – that whole Nashville/Memphis/Muscle Shoals thing.” But Jeb was so much more than a soul boy, Indeed, he "went to bluegrass festivals with my dad and come home and listened to jazz records with my mother.” And, when he was fifteen, he heard his first punk record: "God Save The Queen" by The Sex Pistols. “That and The Ramones completely changed me.” In 1979 he got a scholarship to go to art school in New York: “A great time. Punk was over but hip-hop was starting and I got into that in an obsessive way.”

His first recording, in 1980, was an unreleased rap song called "I’m A Country Boy". If that isn't an insight enough into Jeb's kaleidoscopic path through music, in 1981 he visited friends in London and found himself living in a squat with Adrian Sherwood, Ari Up (from the Slits), and Neneh Cherry. “Adrian put me to work immediately, moving boxes of records all across London. It was Adrian that was and is my biggest influence – in his complete disregard for genre purity.” So, presumably you're getting the picture? A veritable musical magpie with a voracious appetite and unimpeachable taste.

"Mine has always been a meandering career. I've done what I've done, and made the music I've made, due to chance meetings. I'm not particularly ambitious; it's more important to me that I work with friends and like-minded people. I've been a big fan of Be With for years. Everything they release is essential. When they asked about rereleasing "Countrymusicdisco45" I was both pleased and flattered. We began talking about how we'd do it; two years and twenty-one tracks later, here we are. I've always thought of the music I make as Country Music. Music conceived in the country, written in the country, recorded in the country. I left London and moved back to the country so I could live among the trees, the grasses, the animals, those things that don't go to war and get greedy. This compilation is the story of that life. Hand made, lo-fi, ramshackle, stripped down, real deal music. Heartworn and funky. Music made in the kitchen, not in the studio. As the great Skip Mcdonald said, Perfect ain't perfect. It's great to see all these tracks gathered together. It feels like a family reunion. Some older members of the tribe, some newer arrivals."

Opener "countrymusicdisco45" is a song Jeb wrote about how his crew lives, tucked up blissfully in the hills: "House parties full of country folk dancing to disco, reggae, soul, country, hip-hop. All night. I recorded it at home under the influence of Stevie Wonder." It's one of the funkiest records you'll ever hear. "Sometimes Shooting Stars" was recorded in Nashville and mixed by the legendary Dennis Bovell. It's deep, dubby, majestic. A thing of fragile, melodic beauty. The party ramps back up again with the undeniable groove of "Short Cut Home" before the profoundly moving "Disappointment" arrives. One of many songs he's recorded with good buddy Benedic Lamdin (aka Nostalgia 77): "We were going for a Leon Thomas meets Richard Brautigan meets Alice Coltrane kind of thing". We think they nailed it. "Days Are Mighty", like a lot of the tracks on this collection, "started life as a demo, an attempt to get something down while it was fresh. No frills, nothing fancy, just feel." And what feels!

The irrepressibly funky "Don't Dance With Me Tonight" is a deeply moving, slow-mo organ-drenched head-nod-funky country-ballad. Next up, the breezy "You Got It Wrong" was recorded in Wales with some of Jeb's good friends and neighbours, The Westwood All Stars, featuring Clovis Phillips and Will Barnes. Skanking fiddle-flecked gem "Ring The Bells" was the first thing Jeb recorded when he moved to Wales. A combination of all his loves; country, reggae, soul. It's followed by "Let's Make It Up", a truly sumptuous string-drenched emotional groover. "When Did You Stop Loving Me" is another Nashville track, written and recorded during a time Jeb was spending a lot of time with the Muscle Shoals crew, Donnie Fritts, Spooner Oldham, George Soule and Dan Penn: "It shows, I'm sure, their influence." Oh, you bet it does!

The swaggering country-funk of "Just Beginning" should grace many groove-focused DJs' sets whilst "Wintering Of The Year", again made with Clovis, is pastoral, campfire soul. The glacial, gorgeous "Let It Rain" is from an unreleased record Jeb made with the great British jazz bass player Andy Hamill and "We Tell Each Other Who We Are" is freaky country-soul made by a man with a love for strutting, wonky hip-hop stylings. Rounding out the side, "Trip To You" is pure, uncut amphetamine-propelled drum-machine soul.

The spare, beautiful "Dirt" is from an EP Jeb made with Julian Moore in his house in South London: "All first takes, straight to tape." Swoon! "Heaven Right Here" was a very minor league hit in America: "It was produced by the brilliant and much missed Wayne Nunes. It was started in the countryside of Missouri, finished in the countryside of Wales, and recorded in the countryside of Sussex." Double swoon! "If Later Ever Comes" is electronica meets J.J. Cale business whilst "Remember The Season" is truly wonderful and breezy guitar soul. "A Little Love" was made with Wayne Nunes as well, after a night of listening to Studio One and Northern Soul. Bouncy dub closer "Weary Traveller" was written by Bill Monroe, the hero of Jeb's youth: "Monroe's music was heavily influenced by black southern churches; I've tried to keep some of that feral feel." This was the final recording by Jeb's 1990s Country-Dub band, Fellow Travellers.

The name of this compilation comes from a time when Jeb lived in Peckham, south London and he used to DJ and sometimes perform at a local bar: "The owner of the bar, a Jamaican named Count Percy, once asked me what I called my music. I told him I wasn't sure, I guess just pop music. He thought about it for a minute and then said, 'no, more like mom and pop music'. Rather than call me a country singer or a folk singer he always referred to me as The Music Maker."

With the long overdue deluxe overview of his beloved music, we hope to finally shine a light on the unheralded genius of Jeb Loy Nichols. RIYL Larry Jon Wilson, Townes Van Zandt, Bobby Charles, country got soul artists, dub, deep soul, disco, dancing, heartbreak. This deluxe collection, spellbinding from beginning to end, should hopefully go some way to ensuring Jeb reaches an ever bigger, ever more appreciative crowd of followers. Mastering for this special double vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis and it was cut by the esteemed Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios to be pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry. The artwork has been lovingly put together by The Music Maker, himself, Jeb Loy Nichols. "Be With is the perfect home for this mongrel music. I am forever in their debt." The pleasure is all ours, Jeb.

Looking back more than four years later at Haram, it is easier to see the forest for the trees. At the time, much of the attention fell on how this outsider duo would fare under the bright lights- which was fair, Armand Hammer had never done a single producer record before- and here they were working with a living legend. Now, with a little distance, it’s easier to see how Alchemist stepped out of his comfort zone to meet them where they were, and how all three artists then absconded for parts unknown. The flashbulb energy of “Bring The Stars Out”, asymmetric drone of “Chicharrones”, fugue-bounce of “God’s Feet”, and good luck finding analogues for “Peppertree” or “Stonefruit”. Haram doesn’t sound like anything else in the ALC discography, nor in Armand Hammer’s, for that matter. Haram was a one-shot kill that somehow contained some of the most accessible work ELUCID and billy woods had ever done, as well as some of their most experimental, and it all sounded cohesive.
Needless to say, they didn’t do this alone; KAYANA’s golden voice upps the wattage on “Black Sunlight,” while Fielded’s sultry alto gets chopped and screwed on “Aubergine”. Earl Sweatshirt’s cameo on the sun-soaked “Falling Out the Sky” is already a classic. Curly Castro, Amani, and Quelle Chris all turn up the heat when called upon.
But since we are talking about retrospect here, the thing about Haram isn’t that it still sounds as good as it did when it came out. The amazing thing is that it actually sounds even better than it did then. You don’t have to take our word for it either, run it up one time, with the lights low and something on ice, see if it doesn’t take you somewhere new, again.

Bringing together the elder statesman of the Zulu guitar Madala Kunene and internationally acclaimed Sibusile Xaba, kwaNTU pulls two generations of South African guitar mastery into a single point of focus. Under-represented on recordings outside of South Africa, Madala Kunene (b. 1951), the ‘King of the Zulu Guitar’, is revered as the greatest living master of the Zulu guitar tradition. Sibusile Xaba, whose collaboration with Mushroom Hour Half Hour reaches back to his first recording in 2017 (Open Letter To Adoniah/Unlearning), has garnered international acclaim for his unique voice and virtuoso guitar stylings, which bring together multiple South African guitar lineages in an original, spiritualised fusion. Collaborating with Mushroom Hour and New Soil for kwaNTU, the two players come together to weave a filigree sonic fabric which reaches down to the heartwood of Zulu guitar music but moves resolutely outward, building on the past to create a deeply rooted statement about present conditions and future travels. kwaNTU – which can be roughly translated ‘the place of the life-spirit’ – is also conclave of teacher and student, as Xaba has been taught by Kunene for the last decade. Meditative, rich and sonically sui generis, kwaNTU finds these two musicians linking up within the inimitable space of sound and spirit that they share through Kunene’s teaching.

The great masters of South African music have not all had equal exposure. For many years the generation of musicians who were exiled during apartheid took centre stage, as the regime made it very difficult for those at home to be heard. More recently, a new cohort of important voices, especially in jazz, has broken through to international consciousness. But for the generation of musicians in between – those who shone like beacons in the most difficult final years of apartheid and immediately afterward – international recognition has been slow in coming.

Madala Kunene, ‘the King of the Zulu Guitar’, is among this number. A revered figure for current generations of South African musicians, Kunene began his recording career in 1990, at the bitter end of apartheid, with a now classic self-titled LP for David Marks’ storied Third Ear imprint. Born in 1951 in Cato Manor, near Durban, he had determined to be a musician from early childhood, and by the time he first entered a recording studio he had already had a long career as a popular performer. His virtuoso absorption and transformation of the venerable Zulu maskanda guitar tradition and his richly spiritualised approach to music immediately marked him out as someone special, and in the years that followed, Kunene cemented his position as one of South Africa’s musical elders. He is without doubt the grand master of the Zulu guitar tradition, but his sound and sensibility ranges far beyond it into varied sonic terrain, and he has collaborated with a wide range of musicians both at home and abroad. Now in his mid-seventies, he remains a shining light for those that are making music in contemporary South Africa.

‘He is really an amazing person,’ says the guitarist Sibusile Xaba, who has been mentored by Kunene for over a decade, and now invites a collaboration with him on kwaNTU. ‘As a mentor, he's really powerful in showing us the way. For us to have this opportunity to make music together and have a project together is really a blessing to me.’

Xaba himself grew up in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, where his mother had been in a band and his father sang in a church choir, and from early childhood Xaba played homemade tin guitars. He only later realised that music was his calling. ‘I just loved music. I was fortunate. My parents loved music. And when it was time for me to leave home and go to study outside Newcastle, I knew that music was what I wanted to do. There was no second option. It was just music.’ Moving to Pretoria to study music formally, Xaba committed himself to his craft, developing a unique style that draws on both US jazz masters such as Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall, and the rich and varied heritage of the South African guitar, from inspirational jazz players such as Allen Kwela and Enoch Mthalane, to the music of the Malombo groups and Dr. Philip Tabane (Xaba has previously collaborated with Dr. Tabane’s late son, Thabang), and the Zulu guitar tradition embodied by Kunene.

‘I was really in love with the jazz guitar, I really admired it, and I was digging a lot in that direction,’ says Xaba, recalling his first encounter with Kunene’s music, over a decade ago. ‘And then one day on my timeline, Kunene popped up, and I was like – “What's this sound?” I was so connected to it. It really touched me deep. I started checking out his records, and then I found out he's from the same region as I am, which is Zululand.’ After Kunene played a show at the Afrikan Freedom Station in Johannesburg, Xaba make contact with him, and visited him at home in Durban. They struck up a friendship, and Xaba became the elder’s student, as Kunene began to pass on his knowledge and his inimitable way of playing.

kwaNTU is a tribute to this relationship and the deep learning that has defined it. The album was recorded in Zululand in the town of Utrecht, at a cultural centre called Kwantu Village, which gives its name to the album. ‘It's such a broad word,’ Xaba says, ‘but the elders teach us that Ntu is basically an energy, almost chi, an energy, a force that all living beings have within them. It's a living energy, so kwaNTU is like, almost the place of this energy.’ The two men sequestered themselves for five days of jamming, improvising and planning, and then the session was recorded in one take over a single night, with Gontse Makhene joining on percussion and backing vocals and Fakazile on vocals. Other voices and overdubs were later added in the studio in Johannesburg.

The result is a rich and meditative recording that finds two generations in a deeply engaged dialogue. Teaching and passing on his knowledge, the elder Kunene has brought Xaba into a space of sound and knowledge that they now share; Xaba’s own practice of deep communion with nature and his dedication to his musical craft make him the perfect interlocutor for Kunene. The result is an album that foregrounds the two musicians engaged at the highest levels of responsive listening, sympathetic unity, and collaborative concentration. Bringing an elder statesman of South African music to an international listening audience for the first time in decades by pairing him with one of South Africa’s most important new voices, kwaNTU is a meeting of generations and a powerful demonstration of musical lineage and continuity.

‘Before music, there is sound,’ Xaba observes, speaking of Kunene’s unique approach to music. ‘And sound is like a common compartment…it's not restricted to particular people or particular geographic places, you know what I mean? It's sound. Everybody can hear it. So when he constructs that sound into music, I think everybody resonates with the energy behind his construction of sound into song. Here at home, we really love him for preserving our history through the guitar, through his stories as well the music, the songs that he writes. We really, really admire him.’

The next vinyl release for October is a rarity from our catalog! "LIVING
IN THE SKY" by the artist GRECOS!

This vinyl was not pressed since 1984 and today it returns to record
stores for fans of the Italo Disco genre.

This release is the real sound of the 80s!

With their musical roots deeply immersed in the fertile soil of Afro-American music, the Buttshakers have found a new direction for their nostalgia-heavy soul music. With Lessons In Love, their third album on Underdog Records, their early heartaches and furies have faded in favor of a more composed harmony – a sound enveloped in love and soaked in the blues. Guided by their singer Ciara Thompson, the Buttshakers have taken a more intimate path, whose compass, in the chaos of emotions and the modern world, points only in one direction: the light.



Seen from the sky, the view appears limitless. Accentuated by the sun, the ochre and sandy hues of the open road only reinforce this feeling of immensity. The sky stretches and the green stands out in striking contrast. In lighter tones, a road is drawn -- without bends or contours. This is the worn and weary road of soul music, which The Buttshakers explore on each album in new and unique ways. Soul music – a rare place to find a French band.

Vast, the musical direction could have taken them to lighter pastures. Yet the Buttshakers chose to evolve in a different way; to take a heavier load. Two paths – one sparked by social unrest, the other purely sentimental, Lessons In Love explores the deep roots of soul music, in the steps of Curtis Mayfield or Al Green. It is here that the heart and mind cross paths, merge, and become one. A weary road -- that brings together the agitation of a world where good intentions never rise above the level of digital outrage, and a faith in love which, however it manifests and expresses itself, remains the only truth that never loses its power.



Less rage and more compassion, it is through the haunting words and now tempered inflection of Ciara Thompson's voice, which opens to distinct emotions and perspectives, that the listener is guided. With its gaze fixed on the horizon, the acoustic guitar of Gotta Believe invites us on an intimate stroll through the open plains, while Dream On carries us away with a clavinet riff and a possessed saxophone; reconnecting the electric heat and neurosis of a city full of dreams. The senses are moved by the conjuring potion of the guitar which distills throughout Troubled Waters; the body is brought back into a visceral dance by the keys and brass section that are put to the test by Sure As Sin and its irrepressible rhythm. Passing through clouds of dust and sand has left a bluesy imprint on their groove: the miles travelled became hundreds, then thousands.



All of this leaves the listener bewitched by the halo of resilience that now surrounds Ciara's performance, as the ten tracks let the light fade. But certainly not hope in a better day. Like the sunflower that always lifts its head towards the sun’s rays, the Buttshakers continue to resource their sounds in the deep roots of soul music. Into the rich layers of African-American music of the 60s and 70s, The Buttshakers capture the spirit as much as the musical aesthetics of the epoch. A sound that reaches into the meanderings of the soul, bringing light to dark places and hope for all. A sound for the most parched of hearts, living in a damaged world, Lessons In Love confirms that even the tiniest beam of light can illuminate one’s path.

Singaporean label Darker Than Wax brings us to Texas with a fresh 12” from Houston-born producer Oye Manny. Following his release on Salon Recordings, Oye Manny has carved out a lane defined by deep rhythms, Latin roots, and pure authenticity, an ethos he continues to distill into sound on his new record Living Water. Drawing on his Colombian roots and keenly focused on what makes dancers move, Manny puts percussion at the forefront on Living Water – from the chord driven house stompers ‘Malta Sip’ and ‘Palmira’ on the A side, to the darker club tones of ‘Visaje’ and the slick musicality of ‘Youthful Expression ‘ on the flip, drums play a starring role. Completing the package is a remix from Singapore-based producer and Darker Than Wax core member Dexter Colt, providing a deeper, Chicago-inspired take on ‘Malta Sip’.