Hip-Hop News

High Cube is the beat-focused brainchild of Brian Foote (Peak Oil, Leech) and Paul Dickow (Strategy, Community Library), two low-key legends of the American experimental underground. After some 30-odd years of making music separately and together, Foote and Dickow are collaborating in earnest for the first time as a duo. For this debut, the pair enforced a simple, stringent set of rules: five instruments, a one-hour timer, and a total ban on overthinking.

The result is a record that is the sound of two old friends unplugging the usual levers and letting the "accident" of their chemistry take the wheel. It is drier, sparser, and decidedly "chunky"—a fictional band stepping into a suit to drive around for a while. It is neither dance nor chill-out, but a moody, complex trajectory defined not by the gear used to make it, but by the narrative mood it compels.

"Volcano Snail” starts things off in a disheveled shuffle, locking into gear with blurred and bubbling effluence. The shimmering dimness is lit low, with a woozy gait that recalls the headiest highs and luminescent lows of Jan Jelinek. “Underwater Welder” is a foggy, neon-lit cruise of skittering low-ends suspended in a permanent fall of color, while “A Dragon’s Treasure is its Soul” offers blown-apart, low-end city pop fragmented into an array of rhythmic detritus. Chordal textures hover in the air as a percussive loop takes its beguiling and frolicking shape.

B-side opener “Yonaguni” shapeshifts in real time, drifting with the grace of a glacier before bobbing in a frigid pool of vibrating clatter, static, and synth stabs. “Ofid+wor” offers a tried and true blitz of braindance, nodding to an endless list of 20th and 21st-century electronic body music. Buoyant closer “Mother of Thousands” holds a gravity-defying tenderness, pirouetting on a breeze with the elegance of effervescent longing. Woven together, the six extended tracks of High Cube are tethered to nothing but the ether—a giant sonic leap of peripheral absurdity from two artists with a lifetime of shared rhythm.

The Sound of Love International 008 curated by Ivan Smagghe.

The next chapter of Love International's compilation series with Test Pressing arrives through the lens of Ivan Smagghe. Guided by his long-standing mantra, “the style of no style,” the 12-track selection drifts effortlessly between shadow and light - a reflection of the festival as he knows it.

This is Smagghe’s version of Love International: unpolished in the right places, intuitive, and deeply attuned to the stranger corners of the Adriatic experience. The compilation captures the balance at the heart of the festival: connection, curiosity, and a shared rhythm that holds it all together. Slightly out of reach yet exactly where it should be.

LP Gold Galaxy Vinyl in Picture Sleeve

A Balearic holy grail reborn — Miguel Tur’s Junto Al Mar captures Mediterranean sunshine through a lens of synth-pop, jazz, and gentle soul. Originally released in Venezuela in 1981, it’s become a favourite among collectors of breezy, coastal grooves but selling for over £150 for an original. For Record Store Day 2026, Deja Vu Kid presents a Deluxe Edition, Remastered with archival photos and liner notes from Micky Browne. Pure escapism and emotional warmth — the perfect soundtrack to RSD digging adventures. "Galaxy" Gold Vinyl, Remastered, Reimagined Sleeve.

After thirteen years of silence from the compound, during which anticipation has grown day by day, Boards of Canada finally return. Inferno retains their signature melodies and atmospheres, drawing on the esoteric influences explored in Societas X Tape (their 2019 NTS mix for Warp Records’ 30th anniversary) and the darker ambience introduced on Tomorrow’s Harvest, further deepened by an expanded role for speech soundbites.


Spanning seventy minutes, the new album is available on special edition limited red translucent 2LP vinyl in triple gatefold sleeve with a 16-page booklet, black 2LP vinyl and CD with 20-page booklet.

The Dubplate series comes to the label’s spiritual home of Hackney, the stomping ground of the Douglas “Dougie” Waldrop and his Conscious Sounds label with the spin off Dub meets Funk project. The music of the Dub Specialists is presented with extended re-edits by label owners Piers Harrison and Stuart “Chuggy” Leath, alongside rising selector star Millie McKee and studio master extraordinaire Matt Bruce (Vanity Project).

Formed in 1989, Conscious Sounds and the Conscious Music studio have been mainstays on the UK Digital Roots scene to this day, working with the likes Bush Chemists, Johan Dan, Kenny Knots and Pablo Gad. The Dub Specialists was a project created by Dougie to put aside studio sessions and explore a new interest in samplers, working with friend Chris Petter (Love Grocer) and his interest in Jazz and Funk.

Using the Atari 1040 running Cubase, with a Soundcraft mixer, drum loops and Reggae basslines were played over Funk samples and layered with Petter’s chords to create a series of short tracks for DJ play. Releasing 3 albums between 1995 and 1999 on the sub label Crispy Music, they have more recently been gaining cult status.

The tracks chosen all come from the first and increasingly sought after LP, Dub To Dub Break To Break and have been extended, stretched, looped and dubbed by the label family to form a club friendly EP. From the dance floor jams of Dub De Funk and Funkin’ Dub to the deeper Movin Ya (with additional flute by Millie) and Murderous Style, this is a unique fusion of Funk and Digidub that fits perfectly the ideals of the Dubplate Series.

Break The Mystery.

The Rhythm Of Nature’ is the stunning new masterpiece from Andy Compton (The Rurals) and Shamrock!

Written between Andy’s tours in South Africa and Shamrock’s extended UK trip in the summer of 2025, this album embodies their shared mission: to spread positive, joyful vibrations with LOVE.

Here, Soul, Jazz, and African music blend seamlessly through the talents of these two cosmic brothers, connected deeply by their love of making music.

When Andy and Shamrock jam and record, music flows so freely, creating a powerful, spiritual energy.

This follow-up to their 2023 debut album, Soul & Spirit — which still touches hearts worldwide — includes magical songs like ‘Bunny Chow’ and ‘Rosa Mziki’, originally created in Johannesburg and previously released on the Bunny Chow EP, Along with super fresh, unheard gems.

The album also features incredible musicians such as Nekoye Ommeh (Vocals), Pete Morris (Keys), Bongani Sessionist (Percussion), Kafele Bandele (Trumpet), and Charlie Hearnshaw (Sax), adding their magical energies to the soundscape.

Allow yourself to experience the full journey, feel and enjoy every note!

Radioaktion returns with its fourth instalment -- three cuts built for the dancefloor, pulsing with movement and late-night energy, followed by a final downtempo trip for the before or after...

Superonda’s debut release, Aurora Spectralis, introduces the latest project from Mahatmos, a duo emerging from long-established practices in electronic music, sound design and composition for moving images. Released on 12” vinyl and digitally, the EP unfolds across four tracks of electronic ambient music shaped by atmosphere, con1nuity and restrained propulsion. Ambient textures open a broad emotional and spa1al field, while slow, insistent rhythms provide steady forward motion.
Superonda has created a space for Mahatmos to sharpen their focus on sound as material. Modular synthesis, analogue instruments and live processes techniques are balanced with precision and restraint, resulting in music that moves between progressive and hypnotic forms, informed as much by underground club culture as by cinematic composition.
Mahatmos is a Rome-based duo with complementary and deep-rooted practices. Gianluca Meloni brings a long-standing presence in techno and experimental music scene, with international releases and performances (as Laertes and as part of Modern Heads). Maurizio Loffredo contributes an extensive background in composition, production and sound engineering across popular music and film, with a refined sensitivity to timbre, structure and sonic narrative.
Superonda is a Rome-based label founded by artists engaged in deep sonic research and advanced technical exploration. Operating as an open platform, it connects collaborators working across recording, synthesis and composition, approaching music as a process-driven practice rather than a fixed genre. Each release stands as a distinct exploration, linked by shared sensibilities rather than formal constraints.
The physical edition of Aurora Spectralis is conceived as an extension of the work itself. Alongside a standard black vinyl pressing, a limited run of color and marbled copies has been produced, each one unique. Variability and tactility are embraced as part of the object’s identity, reinforcing the record as something to be experienced gradually, over time.

After thirteen years of silence from the compound, during which anticipation has grown day by day, Boards of Canada finally return. Inferno retains their signature melodies and atmospheres, drawing on the esoteric influences explored in Societas X Tape (their 2019 NTS mix for Warp Records’ 30th anniversary) and the darker ambience introduced on Tomorrow’s Harvest, further deepened by an expanded role for speech soundbites.


Spanning seventy minutes, the new album is available on special edition limited red translucent 2LP vinyl in triple gatefold sleeve with a 16-page booklet, black 2LP vinyl and CD with 20-page booklet.

Destination Unknown is an EP by Unpronounceable born from an archive of sounds collected between 2019 and 2024—sonic fragments that took shape without a predetermined direction guided only by an open idea in constant transformation. The original track conceived as a “destination unknown” composition developed its own independent identity. However precisely because of its fluid and cross-genre nature Unpronounceable chose not to place it within a traditional EP context instead opening it up to a multiplicity of perspectives by inviting five artists to reinterpret it freely without genre constraints.

The result is an EP that unfolds like an alternative map of the same sonic territory where each remix explores a distinct direction transforming Destination Unknown into a multifaceted and ever-evolving experience.

In Carl Finlow’s remix Destination Unknown takes on a strong cinematic and narrative dimension. Inspired by the title Finlow imagines a mysterious journey toward a futuristic dystopian city turning the track into a kind of electro soundtrack—dark yet ironic rich in character and capable of evoking vivid images and motion.

MANASYt pushes the track toward more physical and ritualistic territories focusing on the dark pads and the more oneiric vocal elements of the original. The result is a hypnotic pulsating tribal-industrial reinterpretation where rhythm and sonic material become central intensifying the track’s most visceral qualities.

With Gay Horror the focus shifts to an emotional and narrative dimension. The vocals are deliberately made elusive and undefined while the structure develops through a slow controlled crescendo that recalls the atmospheres of ’90s trip-hop. This version also reflects a long-standing human and artistic relationship conceived as a story that travels through time and reaches the present day.

Kevin Follet adopts a more conceptual approach overturning the perspective of the original track. Rather than working with its main elements he brings the underlying structures to the foreground transforming what usually remains hidden into the core of his reinterpretation. His remix is elegant and deep balancing sound exploration with a strong attention to songwriting.

Closing the EP is GP The Synth Roller with a radical and highly experimental reinterpretation. The track behaves like an unstable system: parameters shift without warning surfaces lose coherence sudden accelerations collide with moments of arrest. There is no resolution only a sonic condition in constant tension eventually condensing into a dark compact mass.

Taken as a whole Destination Unknown is far more than a simple remix collection: it is a collective exploration of the potential of a single composition. Unpronounceable’s original track and the reinterpretations by Carl Finlow MANASYt Gay Horror Kevin Follet and GP The Synth Roller move across electro techno industrial and experimental territories offering six different perspectives from the same starting point. An open journey with no fixed destination where every detour becomes an integral part of the path.

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO MOXIE AND THE LOVE INTERNATIONAL X TEST PRESSING TEAM FOR WINNING THE BEST COMPILATION IN THE DJ MAG BEST OF BRITISH AWARDS 2025


“I feel really chuffed as a lot of work went into building this compilation,” beams Moxie, when we congratulate her on the award. “I also worked alongside a great team, including Dave Harvey, Ellie Stokes, Chez de Milo and everyone at Prime Distribution. I’d been manifesting working on a project like this for years, so when it all came together I was so happy with it. But to have recognition from the DJ Mag public vote is the cherry on the cake.”


Few artists have shaped their local scene quite like Alice Moxom under her celebrated Moxie alias. A born-and-bred Londoner, Moxie is a dance music powerhouse whose influence runs deep—from the grassroots to global stages. Her trajectory spans early teenage years digging for garage records, to dubstep sets at legendary club nights, to running her long-standing and beloved NTS Radio residency. For over a decade, she’s been a midweek staple on NTS, championing deep house, Detroit techno, and all things dubby, groovy, and percussive, while regularly platforming artists through guest mixes and interviews with icons like Jeff Mills, Four Tet, and Or:la.

Her latest endeavor, the Love International compilation, brings that wealth of experience to life. 'I’d secretly been manifesting this for a while,' Moxie admits. 'Love International has such a specific energy, and I wanted the compilation to reflect that—dubby, fun, euphoric, deep. It’s all the styles of music I love, pulled together in harmony. Being at Love International always feels like coming home. Whether it’s dancing in Barbarellas or sharing a smile with a stranger on the dancefloor, there’s this sense of unity that’s hard to describe. That’s why I chose ‘U Skladu’ for the sleeve—because that’s what it feels like: in harmony.'

Back in 2022, Is It Balearic? Recordings founders Coyote (AKA long-serving producers Richard Hampson aka Ampo and Timm Sure) took time out from releasing music on their own labels to deliver a near perfect mini-album on Phil Cooper’s similarly mind-ed NuNorthern Soul imprint, Everything Moves, Nothing Rests.

A superb exploration of their trademark sound, where gentle downtempo rhythms and nods to dub came cloaked in colourful ambient chords, sun-bright melodic motifs, organic instrumenta-tion and quirky spoken word samples, Everything Moves, Nothing Rests deserved a sequel. So, three and a half years on, the duo has delivered just that: a fine six-track EP that offers an even deeper and more atmospheric exploration of their signature sound.

It is a sonic approach that should now be familiar to Balearic en-thusiasts the world over. Aside from delivering a steady stream of singles, albums and remixes on their own imprint, Hampson and Sure have also showcased their skills and loved-up musical mis-sives on International Feel, Music For Dreams, Needwant, MM Discos and Citizens of Vice.

The Higher The Sky, The Deeper The Ocean, their hotly anticipated NuNorthern Soul return, is named in honour of a quote from Ped-ro Alonso’s documentary series On the Ship of Enchantment, an extended voyage in which the Money Heist movie star meets healers and masters of ancestral medicine across his native Mexi-co.

There’s naturally a meditative and slightly psychedelic sound to much of The Higher The Sky, The Deeper The Ocean, which offers a subtly varied exploration of Coyote’s style and influence. Yearning, soft-focus opener ‘Muted Beauty’ – the kind of immersive, effects-laden and sample-sporting ambient bliss found nestling on Fila Brazillia albums of the mid 1990s – is followed by the similarly gentle ‘Go All The Way’, where delay-laden acoustic guitars, spo-ken word snippets and gaseous chords stretch out atop a languid, slow-motion groove.

‘A Drop in the Ocean’ picks up the pace a little via a glorious hat-tip to turn of the 90s ambient house – all dub-wise bass, heady deep house sonics, spaced-out chords and half-buried references to sunrise-ready Balearic synth-pop records of the late 1980s. Late psychedelic guru Terrence McKenna appears in sampled form on ‘Dolce Far Niente’, a tabla-driven drift and musical hallucination which conjures mental images of lying in the Mexican desert, gazing intently at a starry sky.

In contrast, ‘Riviera Sound’ is a chunkier, brighter and more sun-splashed affair – all deep, dubby bass, sustained piano parts, punchy downtempo breaks and the duo’s trademark ambient pads – while superb closing cut ‘No Coincidences’ fixes jazzy double bass samples, twinkling keyboard motifs, subtle acid lines and Latin-laced percussion to a street soul-adjacent beat.

Heady, impeccably crafted and thoroughly enveloping, The Higher The Sky, The Deeper The Ocean is Coyote at their dazzling best. It marks another significant chapter in their ever-evolving musical journey.

2026 Repress

Brooklyn duo Fundido team up with Philadelphia's Universal Cave to press their first physical release titled ‘Paradise Tempo’, a love letter to dance floor music that sits in the cross section of the tougher sounds of the city and the softer sounds of the balearic and the backwoods.The A side kicks off with a flawless downtempo mix from California based Dirty Dave and Alex Pasternak, who find a rare cover of the Cathy Denis classic and refurbish it to perfection. Next up is ‘Emotional Jungle’, a jazzy midtempo weapon led by a massive saxophone hook and edited to optimum club efficiency by NY based Nick Stropko. LA via Serbia’s Masha Mar unearths extremely rare gem ‘Take Me to Mecca’ and reworks it into a dreamy midtempo journey that carries both a children’s choir vocal and a middle eastern synth melody effortlessly across a foggy dance floor. And closing out the A-side is the wonderful ‘Charlie’s Vision’ from Universal Cave, a spooky AOR tinged cosmic trip that is only available on this vinyl pressing.The B Side leads with balearic beach party stomper ‘Amor’ from Fundido themselves; complete with Spanish vocals, lofty piano jamming and a contagious growling bassline. Next up is ‘Sex-O’ from Seoul man Tucan Discos, who reworks a tribal classic into a hypnotic and seductive club mix; followed by ‘Freak Estilo’ from Spain’s Ritmal Astral boss Orion Agassi who offers a bumping freestyle breaks mix with an addictive r&b vocal hook. Last but not least, the ‘Be Careful Operator’ edit from Miles Felix aka Sisserou closes down the function with a block party jam swimming with jazz, swing and soul.When asked what visual imagery they had in mind for Paradise Tempo, the prompt given to artwork maestro Ray Fernandez was ‘salt of the earth utopia’ and ‘working man’s paradise’ … and Ray delivered exactly that. Enjoy Paradise Tempo !

DJ Support: Garnier, Opolopo, Worldwide FM, Marcia Carr, Bill Brewster, Timeout Moscow, Craig Smith, Delfonic, Tony Nwachukwu, Marcel Dettmann, DJ Rocca, Shuya Okino, Borrowed Identity, Titonton Duvante, Alex Attias, Rainer Truby, Sol Power All-Stars, Kyri R2, Robert Luis, Severino Panzetta, Lars Behrenroth, Kassian, Alkalino, Getdown Edits, Moodymanc, Gerd, Lea Lisa, Young Pulse, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Mark Grusane, Alex Barck….

International dance music heavyweight, producer and DJ Alexander Lay-Far returns with a powerful new chapter - Lay-Far Dance Orchestra (LFDO) - a fully-fledged live band project that reconnects him with his jazz-funk and fusion DNA while pushing dance music forward with unmistakable groove, musicianship and emotional weight. Formed in early 2024, LFDO is no nostalgia exercise. With Lay-Far at the helm as bassist, bandleader, composer, arranger and sound engineer, the orchestra has already been turning heads with explosive live performances, reinventing classic Lay-Far cuts, and now unveil their first album “Skybreak” with all new and original material written and produced by Lay-Far together with his bandmates and star guests, including Lipelis, Antoha MC and Seven Davis Jr. This work shows the departure from the predominantly electronic sound of Lay-Far's previous solo albums in favour of live instrumentation recorded to analogue tape and effortlessly bridging the gap between Jazz, Library Music, Disco-Funk, House, Broken Beat and Drum’n’Bass. “Skybreak” is dynamic, passionate, spiritual, cinematic, playful, heartfelt, life-affirming, dreamy and deeply romantic. Ultimately, there’s something profoundly romantic in recording and releasing such music in this day and age!


“Take Flight (Part 1)” is opening the album with style. It takes us on a beautifully orchestrated journey, blending the sensuality of Library Music with high-octane Jazz-Funk and raw b-boy breaks, propelled by breathtaking flute and Rhodes solos of Timur Nekrasov and Maxim Glonti. This aural symbiosis of “beauty and the beats” will become more and more prominent as the album unfolds.



It’s time for “Aquarius Love” created with the inimitable artist and vocalist Seven Davis Jr. (Secret Angels, Ninja Tune). In this composition cinematic soul and heavy jazz meet the restless energy of live drum & bass with deep and heartfelt vocals - timeless sound combined with a timeless message about love and life!



Next is “Head In The Clouds” - a theme for an imaginary rom-com, an ode to all the dreamers - sweet, light, naive and heartwarming. Space-Disco-Funk at its best!

“Where You From” is a fiery Soulful House number with heavy Afro-Latin influences recorded in collaboration with Lipelis. It’s full of Sun, joy and passion. Its irresistible rhythm is emphasised by funky octave bass, wah-wah guitar, catchy piano riffs, guitar solo by Lipelis and seemingly light conscious message delivered by Lay-Far and Maryag. Summer is here!

Now the album takes an unexpected twist in the form of “The Harp of Boom” which at first glance appears to be a classic-sounding Boom-Bap banger. Yes, It’s loud, raw, and gritty, yet it gradually evolves into something delicately-touching and deeply-soulful thanks to a memorable flute melody and lush string arrangement. Definitely recorded with tongue in cheek.


Next is “Feel The Moment” a remarkable collaboration with one of the most recognisable and distinctive Russian artists, singer, trumpeter and cultural icon Antoha MC. It’s a feel-good song, hopeful, life-affirming and bittersweet. A stylish excursion into Brit-Funk and Soviet Jazz-Fusion sound, drawing inspiration from the likes of Atmosfear, Light Of The World or Soviet Jazz bands like Allegro and Arsenal, but reimagining the influences through the modern West London broken beat lens.


The spectacular music journey continuous with “Take Flight (Part 2)” - it’s all about the deep infectious jazz-funk groove, heavy beats, rolling percussion and the glory of the soloing instruments - saxophone and flute by Timur Nekrasov, demonstrating the wide range of emotions from thoughtful and lyrical to restless and borderline vicious. One for freestyle dancing!

As the album draws to an end a vibrant musical triptych “Soul Constant” awaits, mixing together the deep and sensual mood of spiritual jazz with heavy syncopated drum’n’bass rhythms by Michail Fotchenkov, lush orchestration, expressive saxophone solos and the ending which can simply be described as “aural bliss”. It’s breath-taking!

A pleasant bonus is the exclusive version of “Where You From” by Lipelis himself, who is taking it into dub territories, further enhancing the rhythm section and enriching the song with his trademark playful synth flourishes and dreamy guitar solos for maximum effect (and appeal).

The album “Skybreak” by Lay-Far Dance Orchestra is the work of real artistry and craftsmanship with timeless sound that’s not only deeply-rooted but also forward-thinking.

2025 Repress

“We created a holiday inside our heads.”

A Deeper Life, Chaos In The CBD’s debut album over 10 years in the making, is nostalgic for the duo’s nature-filled youth, exploring the magical coastline and lush rainforest of New Zealand. “The title refers to our childhood, which was idyllic,” says Ben. “It was just the sun, the sand, the sea, waterfalls, birds and fish…” The album’s blissful setting is also depicted on the album cover: a painting, by a childhood friend, of the beach where they grew up in Devonport.

A Deeper Life whirls that profound love of house music and wide-ranging influences – from Brazilian to R&B, ambient to Italo to deep house and downtempo pop – into a serene, cohesive whole with their signature finesse. The result is an international dance sound that feels unmistakably like Chaos and ebbs and flows from the beach party to the club to the afterhours.

On the album they’ve teamed up with a number of US legends and married their vocals with the UK underground: Josh Milan of house pioneers Blaze brings his soulful vocals to the bossa nova beats of ‘I Wanna Tell Somebody,’ a future jazz-dance anthem. Unheralded Chicago house hero and Larry Heard collaborator Lee Pearson Jr. goes deep over ‘More Time’s broken beat flex. And on ‘Maintaining My Peace’, the brothers have matched veteran house singer-songwriter Stephanie Cooke with UK grime MC Novelist, on a slinky LDN interpretation of LA hip-hop and g-funk.

Also featured on the album are New Zealand jazz artist Nathan Haines, frequent collaborator Isaac Asaeili and more.

Moondata’s little-known sole single, 1984’s decidedly Balearic, jazz-funk/boogie fusion gem ‘Let The Moonshine In’, is a very important record to the Rotation Sound System crew. It has become a familiar favourite at their annual Rotation Garden Party micro-festival and formed the centrepiece of their first compilation, summer 2025’s superb Everything You’re About To Hear Is True Volume 1. It’s increasingly rare these days for an artist from the 80s to still have their master tapes but even rarer still for them to have the multitrack tapes too. This is something of the holy grail when it comes to licensing old music so when it happens the opportunity to remix and create new versions needs to be grabbed with both hands.

The original record, a genuine rarity beloved of synth-loving crate-diggers, had an unusual gestation. Originally recorded in demo form by musician Jean-Marie Gogniat, it was turned into a finished single by a group of German musicians with a little help from lyricist and vocalist Joe Mwenda, and a crew of backing vocalists whose number included a locally based American singer – a pre-fame Jennifer Rush. Fittingly, the pre-vocal instrumental mix, which has sat unreleased since 1984, is included as a bonus track on the digital edition of this new remix package. The Rotation Sound System crew’s mixes, headed up by long-serving producer Dean Meredith, sprinkle 21st century magic across Gogniat’s one-off masterpiece while retaining core elements of the original and offering nods aplenty to club-focused sounds of the 1980s. They are, in effect, the versions the track deserved – but never got – back in the mid 1980s.

To begin, Meredith reunites with long-time production partner Andrew Meecham for the pair’s first remix as Chicken Lips in three years – a typically sparse and spaced-out ‘Malfunction Dub’ with delay-laden synths, vocals and guitar snippets sit over a sparse post-electro beat and bass guitar. Meredith then joins forces with fellow Rotation Sound System member Ben Shenton for takes under their two bestknown aliases. First, they don the T-Kutt guise for some dubbed out, funky bass guitar-propelled boogie-meets-proto house action that rocks out a killer, Clavinet-expanded groove while spinning in talkbox and backing vocals.

The pair then re-emerge as Mind Fair, famed for their releases on Golf Channel Recordings and their own Rogue Cat Sounds, and deliver a warmer, deeper and more organic-sounding take that’s as languid and tactile as it is warm and saucereyed. To round off the vinyl version of the EP, Rotation Sound System’s other core members – Rob J, Rich Hall and Stuart Robinson – don the now-familiar Wrekin Havoc guise and re-invent the track as a raw, analogue-rich shuffle through 1980s electro – all squelchy synth-bass, stabbing, cut-up vocal samples, chiming synth melodies and echoing beats. The expanded digital download edition of the EP contains a trio of additional bonus rubs. Alongside instrumental versions of the T-Kutt and Mind Fair mixes, we also get a full vocal T-Kutt rework that adds back in Joe Mwenda’s beautifully delivered verses. These additional DJ tools round off a beautifully rendered set of re-imaginations of a genuine cult classic. Gogniat, the man who started it all way back in the summer of 1984, certainly approves.

Always lurking amidst the underground Porto music scene is Spitbender, the most stable moniker of the ever-morphing Francisco Antão. Spin gathers a collection of tracks that demonstrate his experimentalism & coy sonic precision. Spitbender takes cues from Jungle & Hip Hop producers to create his own unique blend of Downtempo. What becomes clear throughout the album is the attention to detail: it is infused as much by Industrial's red-line spectra as it is by the dubplate logic of the Darkside Continuum, yet it does so at its own tripped out speed.

Spin begins with the laid-back but constantly shifting 'Global Overgroove'. Its breakbeat science moves in & out of DSP glitch-work & dub reflections. When its slinky bassline melody arrives, a certain dread sets in.

'Weyward Fold' drops into a driving, hard-edged chug, threaded with snippets of Malcolm X's disobedient pedagogy. The momentum carries into 'Headnod Doctor', where the bass distortion thickens & the cymbal circuit is overloaded, landing somewhere between Hip‑Hop grit & metal weight.

Side A ends with the downtempo roller 'Dogs and Moles (Skylurk Mix)'. The familiar break drifts into new territory, pulled along & wrapped in a slap-back echo. A quirky melody cuts through the haze, giving the track a fresh tilt. The mulch of the track forms a steady, unhurried pulse.

Spitbender's spacious atmospherics & groove-focused approach comes further into focus on 'Nothing Here But the Recordings'. Creating his own chapter in the book of Trip Hop, his minimalist touch is laid out in full.

'Force the Hand Ov Chance' pulls Boom Bap gently into dub mechanics, letting space do the heavy lifting. Its simplicity hides a deep pocket.

Returning to broken-up distortion, 'Mirrors of Flesh (Dub Mix)' finds Spitbender using the mixer as an instrument to push & pull the heavy drums of Benjamin Brejon of Méchanosphere alongside the voice of Rui intoning the title phrase.

Sitting between the album's two poles, 'Out Take Dub' fuses the clipped‑obsession timbres of Spin's heavier moments with its blissed out flow. Feedback & distortion are welcomed & drawn long.

In the end, Spin hits like a fully formed statement—lean, focused, & unmistakably Spitbender. Every track pushes its own angle, but together they land with a clarity that feels earned. It's a sharp marker in his trajectory, & it leaves a charge in the air.

Now into its sixth year, NuNorthern Soul’s Summer Selections series has become a popular annual fixture. Like its predecessors, 2026’s edition showcases a variety of Balearic dancefloor workouts, sensual soundscapes and tracks tailor-made for poolside sun-down sets.

As usual, Summer Selections Six is a vinyl-first affair, offering wax enthusiasts a chance to cop killer cuts set to feature on a swathe of forthcoming NuNorthern soul releases – including some that would otherwise be unavailable on physical formats.

To begin, is It Balearic? label regulars and Rotation Sound System crew members Wrekin’ Havoc turn their attention to NuNorthern Soul favourite B.J Smith’s 2014 cover of Outkast’s ‘Prototype’. Their take, which will be featured on a forthcoming collection of reworks of Smith’s NNS material, places the long-serving producer’s beautiful, beguiling vocals atop lo-fi 80s electro beats, moody pads, squelchy synth sounds and far-sighted electronics.

Up next is label newcomer Sasha Foam, a fast-rising Lisbon-based DJ/producer whose Memoria EP is set to land digitally soon. ‘Curios’, his contribution to Summer Selections Six, is a propulsive and ear-catching affair, with joyful synth melodies, rushing piano riffs and cheerful TB-202 style acid tweaks rising above a crunchy, drum-machine driven mid-tempo groove.

Rounding off side A is ‘Call To Wind’, a rootsy, warming and sun-baked slab of Balearic dub gorgeousness from Strictly Dub Records founder Saimon AKA Roots Artefact. The track, which marks his first new material since last year’s NuNorthern Soul debut Different Perspective, is one of the many highlights set to be featured on the Estonian’s forthcoming Rocking Boat EP.

Turn to the flipside and you’ll find three more inspired, immersive treats. Dan Dub Lounge, Muzka and Simon Sheldon being their Visions of Light project back to NuNorthern Soul with the borderline genius ‘ReBorn Slippy’, an exotic, intoxicating and sitar-laden slow-motion instrumental cover of the Underworld favourite taken from their soon-come collection of ‘mild pitch’ takes of dance and electronic classics.

To complete another stellar Summer Selections 12-inch label founder Phil Cooper platforms two recent additions to the roster. First is Potteries-based producer Andrew Wright AKA Lonely Deckchair. Wright offers up ‘Adaflo’ from his forthcoming debut album. Atmospheric and magical, ‘Adaflo’ is a simmering, slowly unfurling fusion of poignant pianos, minimalist beats, shuffling bass and tumble-down chords.

Then there’s Aussie artist Perth Lewis, whose first two self-released albums (Moments In Time and Distance Between) were recently reissued by NuNorthern Soul. The Sydney-based producer is set to release a new EP, Cherry Moon, soon, and ‘Monolith’ is taken from that collection. Deep, dubby and beguiling, it sees Lewis pepper a head-nodding, effects-laden beat with spacey sonics, cascading piano motifs and some seriously sparkling synths.




[d] B1: Visions of Light -

Planet Beyond – Selected Cuts Volume 1 marks the first release on Ruiger Records, presenting the distinctive world of ES — a Dutch producer, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist whose work flows effortlessly between live performance and studio creation.

Selected from an ever-growing archive built over the years, the music emerges from a deep vault of unreleased recordings spanning a wide range of moods and ideas. This collection offers a deeper look into a vivid creative universe of sound and feeling — a story that unfolds through rhythm, tone, and emotion. Each track adds a new shade to the journey, like a jigsaw falling into place, revealing new dimensions with every turn.

The music moves through eras and atmospheres — carrying echoes of ’90s electronic music and shaped by the spirit of ’70s jazz & funk. It’s expressive, natural, and percussive, full of motion and detail, where live playing, studio craft, and imagination merge into one seamless flow. The sound drifts from deep, funky electronic grooves to spacious, cinematic, and cosmic landscapes — music that invites you deeper with every listen. It sounds both new and familiar — as if rediscovering something ageless, still unfolding.

Quiet Village collaborate with Vanessa Daou on 'Naked Hunger’ Legendary New York artist and The Daou front-woman Vanessa Daou lends vocals to Matt 'Radio Slave' Edwards and Joel Martin's second release on the ‘The Quiet Village’ imprint.

Matt ‘Radio Slave' Edwards and Joel Martin's critically acclaimed Quiet Village project follow-up, 2024's 'Reunion' with the Vanessa Daou collaboration, 'Naked Hunger' on September 5th, '25. 'Naked Hunger', which comes in 'Vocal Mix' and 'Spoken Word Mix' versions, sees Quiet Village employ their hypnotic sensibilities to one of house music's most tantalising vocal talents in Daou, resulting in a mid-tempo house cut that completely envelops.

While the vocal mix of 'Naked Hunger' leans into the interplay between Vanessa Daou's cosseting song voice and spoken vocals, with the rest of the track embracing a subtly dubby ethereal musicality, Quiet Village ramp up the instrumentation on the' Spoken Vocal' version with bass guitar and piano flourishes accompanying her sultry poetic delivery.

'Naked Hunger', Daou's first collaboration with Quiet Village, marks her first release since 2019's 'Little Black Dress'. Throughout her illustrious career, the acclaimed three-time #1 Billboard Dance Chart topper has collaborated with Danny Tenaglia, David Morales, Mood II Swing, Ralphi Rosario, Terry Farley (Farley & Heller), Charles Webster, Horse Meat Disco's Severino Panzetta, Hifi Sean, and Eli Escobar.

Friends since meeting at Goldie's legendary MetalHeadz sessions at London's Blue Note in the '90s, Quiet Village, aka Matt Edwards and Joel Martin, began releasing their brand of dubbed-out, balearic-and-beyond tracks in 2005 via NYC's Whatever We Want Records. The duo's 2008 'Silent Movie' LP was a critical smash hit that resulted in remix commissions for the likes of Bryan Ferry, The Gorillas, Leftfi eld, Francois K, Massive Attack and many more. After a few years in the wilderness, unable to use their nom de plume due to contractual restrictions, the pair launched The Quiet Village label in 2024 with 'Reunion', a stunning 6/8-time urban jazz odyssey, a favourite of the likes of Luke Una, Gilles Peterson and Ryan Elliott.

Once I Was Young and The Airplane Album find the producer taking yet another sonic right turn. "These records were made in the same year with a very similar creative process. I moved almost completely away from sampling, experimented more than ever with ambient and techno elements and used the album format as a way to tell a story about moments in my life." Once I Was Young is a storytelling work that journeys through analogue synth-pop, modulated techno and raw, dusty drums with otherworldly melodies. Moments of beauty come through escapist, naturalistic ambient tracks and fusions of Kraftwerkian sequencing with more classical piano, while stark, clubready grooves keep things moving. Airplane contrasts similar shades of light and dark, synthetic and organic, rough and smooth. Glitchy, imperfect analogue sounds, knackered drum machine grooves and eerie synth phrasing evoke a post-human world with icy atmospheres. Elsewhere, warmth comes from bittersweet melodies and loose, funky drums that ooze retro-future charm.
Once I Was Young and The Airplane Album show a diff erent side to Escobar, one that embraces introspection and experimentation while exploring a whole other world of meaningful machine soul

Details marks SCHiLLiNG's return after years of research, above all on himself. It brings together the practices that have become essential to him: composition, sampling, sonic patchworks, and a palette that mirrors the full spectrum of his musical identity, from Rock'n'Roll to Trip-Hop and Ambient. Details is rich in small edits, hidden layers, fragile textures, and fragments that reveal themselves slowly. Yet the word carries a deeper meaning: what truly matters is often the smallest element, what doesn't appear clearly at first glance or on first listen, yet quietly holds the core of everything. The detail as the very pulse of one's inner world. Across 14 tracks, the album unfolds as a diverse journey, carefully shaped yet open enough to allow unexpected elements and subtle imperfections to remain part of its flow. The structure is not binding, you can begin from any track and embark on your own path through it. Each piece contributes to a wider arc without overpowering the others. The album includes collaborations with several artists who lent their talent to the project; their names appear in the credits of the physical release. In many ways, they embody the very idea behind the title: individual presences, each bringing their own nuance, forming a whole together. After all, fragments, in their union, shape the larger totality. Details doesn't ask to be consumed in a specific way, fast or slow, close or distant. It simply is what it is

Portal Replica welcomes cult Australian duo, B(if)tek, onto the label with a first-time-on-vinyl release of their debut album ‘Sub-vocal Theme Park’ released in 1996 exclusively onto CD. The 2x12” release includes the original album, plus additional never-heard-before 'lost' tracks from the pair. The album has been mastered by Rashad Becker at Clunk Studios (DE) and pressed to 180g heavyweight vinyl.

Kate Crawford and Nicole Skelty’s pioneering electro-femme outfit ‘B(if)tek’ can be traced back to 1994 in Canberra, where lack of blueprint blossomed their playful and bizarre experimentations in techno — ‘feminism with a wink and a bleep’. Thirty years on, the uniqueness and ingenuity of B(if)tek’s deep analogue exploration endures.

“Monstrous clowns dressed as princes whose role is to laugh at themselves and entertain outlandish beings, suffocated by etiquette, conspiracy and lies, bound by confession and remorse … and beyond that, the auto-da-fe and silence.” – Ferdinand (Pierrot), from the film “Pierrot Le Fou” .

Photography by Kate Crawford.
Design by Jesse Sappell.
Mastered by Rashad Becker at Clunk Studios, DE.

Music For Stalagmites is a slow-form, immersive album, marking the accumulation of over 20 years of experimentation from the Middlesbrough based artist.

The album explores the duality of both primal and futuristic worlds, drawing inspiration from nature, technology and evolution to create a body of work that transcends beyond any timeline that has come before us. Forging vivid and otherworldly subterranean environments that transport the listener to an alternate haven. Music for Stalagmites embodies the sound of animism, a concept where all forms of nature hold a spiritual essence.

2026 Repress
Ivy Lab return for 2015 with their most ambitious and most accomplished EP yet, spanning across the most pearlescent of D&B through to rough, rugged glitch and raw half time grooves. Adding extra freshness is man of the moment Sam Binga and Brighton based El Train, each bringing their own take on the Lab sound. A stunning collection of work presented on multiple formats including limited edition vinyl with hand-crafted packaging from the Ivy Lab boys themselves.

Restock

Collateral Intelligence's Butterflies in Funerals is widescreen, sometimes dark, often hopeful electronica with one eye on the stars, but grounded in the sheer cathartic necessity of its creation.

The new moniker from Maltese wunderkind Neil "Acidulant" Hales, the album was formed during a turbulent period in the artist's life, when his father was seriously ill in hospital. Butterflies in Funerals is his way of expressing the complexity of emotion he was going through at the time.

"To me it all looked like a very dark movie," he says. "That's why the tracks are are at times cold or have a sad, emotional, or hopeful feeling."

Drawing on his impressive background in acid house and electro – with releases on Balkan Vinyl and Jack Trax – the album takes in mutant breakbeat, battle-scarred ambient, and tripped out 303 grooves, but pushes his sound further and deeper than ever before.

The album cover features specially designed artwork by rising star Fei Meng, who will be exhibiting at the Royal Society of British Artists later this year.

So in 2021 join Collateral Intelligence on a journey into the recesses of the soul, and emerge, purified, and ready for the rest of the trip.

Dave Huismans (ex_libris, A Made Up Sound) presents In Transit, a self-titled LP of arresting downtempo vignettes, with origins dating back to over a decade ago.

Renowned for some of this century’s most notorious rhythmic advances, the work of Dave Huismans (fka A Made Up Sound and 2562) continues to provide a blueprint for new generations of innovation-obsessives. After a long hiatus from releasing original material, he returned in 2025 with two beloved EP’s as ex_libris. Now he returns to FELT as In Transit, following up on his remix of Civilistjävel! from 2023.

Borrowing its name from the closing dialogue of a novel by Dutch author Hella S. Haasse, In Transit was written in just two weeks in the summer of 2013 on a Korg ESX sampler. Since then, he has patiently refined its constituent parts.

Over the course of 38 minutes across six tracks, In Transit maps out an absorbing vista. The music shimmers with a celestial quality, underpinned by rhythmic stamina and creeping intensity. Tangential to Huismans’ previous work, the beats here are decentred and further scattered, acting as buoys to the constantly evolving and intricate narratives of layered textures.

In Transit marks a fascinating new addition to Huismans’ sprawling catalogue, a truly remarkable racket to be crafted with such humble means, finding a suitable context within FELT’s continued venture into parallel sounds.

Written, produced and mixed by Dave Huismans

Mastered by Miles Whittaker

Photos by Dave Huismans

2026 Repress!

The story begins in 2000 in Britany (France). Two guys decide to create a sound system with the aim of sharing their common passion for roots reggae and early digital. Rootystep (selecta) and MacGyver (operator) begin to collect records and purchase music equipment. They are quickly joined by Pupajim who becomes the MC, the singer and the dub builder. The Stand High Patrol first toured the land of Brittany, gradually moving towards stepper dub production emanating from the English stage. Fifteen years later, the sound is more present than ever. Stand High has created a true identity and has established itself as one of the essential sound systems of the French dub scene. In 2009, Stand High Patrol creates his own label "Stand High Records". In 2012, after releasing several records, the Dubadub Musketeerz present their debut album "Midnight Walkers", 13 exclusives & wicked tracks inna pure Dubadub Style. In 2015 the dubadub experience takes on new dimensions with their second album : "A Matter Of Scale". In 2017 they are back with "The Shift" a third LP totally dedicated to Boom Bap & 90s Hip Hop. Words, blue notes, boom bap and bad news: here comes "The Shift", the third album of Stand High Patrol.

IN 2017, TRYING TO MAKE BOOM BAP FROM THE 90s, INSPIRED BY JAZZ FROM THE 60s, MIXED WITH MACHINES FROM THE 50s

Lyrics, Boom bap and bad news: Stand High Patrol present their third album 'The Shift' and confirm their attachment to 90s hiphop.

The first volume of the Depthtrace series unfolds with Sebastián moving through different
shades of techno, from club-focused structures to minimal influences and downtempo
passages, framed by atmosphere and understated mental hypnosis that invites deep
listening beyond the dance-floor.

UK Street Soul, electronic, Deep House

After enticing tastemakers and fans the world over with her 2-track junket into street soul, Be Loved / What Could Happen, Kuzco doubles down with the after-hours antidote. Bound to Be presents the final two tracks to complete the 4-track EP, plus 2 remixes from Ladymonix and Black Moonchild.

Ladymonix delivers an uncompromising scat dub of Be Loved - a niche and signature style to emerge from the Detroit underground that Ladymonix champions. This one is strictly for the house dancers. The B-side features "Waaalk" and "Ha Ha Ha", a sultry and energetic jaunt into ghetto tech and electro. If it wasn't already evident, Kuzco is clearly making a stand and representing the FLINTA and queer club spaces that she embodies.

The B-side is perfectly complemented by an outstanding remix from Detroit powerhouse Black Moonchild - a superbly deep and hypnotic techno groove reminiscent of UFO activity over the Motor City, with bleeping electronic signals passing through jittery hi-hat and drum passages, married with Kuzco's saucy spoken word.

DJ Support: Luke Una, Justin Robertson, Trevor Fung, Leo Elstob, Bill Brewster , Sean Johnston, Duncan Gray, Nathan Gregory Wilkins and DJ mag Balearic album of the month.

Limited edition double vinyl release of Jezebell’s debut new-Balearic epic, which stylishly weaves the history of eclectic club bombs through 16 tracks of downtempo, electro dub, and acid chug.

After the huge, and now sold out, never to be repressed debut album release, Jezebell come again with their second instalment, delivering their trademark Balearic and chuggy, electro-tinged dancefloor bizness in the form of Jezebellearic Beats Volume 2. You get the vibe of the artwork, the Jez crew have the class. These won’t be around for long. One press only. Buy or Cry.

Through her compositions, Oonagh Haines explores nocturnal atmospheres where contemporary electronic music, underground aesthetics and deconstructed pop forms intersect.

Her music is built on a play of opposites: a modified voice performs its antipodal double, while avant-garde techno and sentimentalism coexist, carried by a certain nonchalance and a restrained posture that is not without recalling Anika.

Not Not Pretending is her first album. It will be released by moli del tro on 24 April 2026.

Re-introducing Uk producer Jay Strata, a Glasgow Scotland based Dj/Producer/Graphic Artist Since 1990; with releases & remixes on Soiree Records Detroit, Ozone Records, Jack Trax, Crayon... Previously called Jace Syntax.This is Jaces new pseudonym & a chance to reinvent Himself. This Selection reflects Jason's Unique Mystical take on Electronic Music with tracks compiled from a musical period of 15 years plus. Each track has their own Quirk, varying from Haunting Electro, Acid House, Hip House & Detroit Style Techno with live recorded vocals by Siouxla Le Sommer.

Two worlds collide in the third release from the downtempo dedicated, Truffle101. Based out of Brighton UK, Acid Chaz shares a melting pot of sounds, wandering between Trip Hop and Dub, whilst Argentinian born and raised Keny G handles things on the flip side. Warm and charming sounds from this producer on the rise. Six cuts for the slower days.

Apollo Records proudly present the vinyl reissue of ‘Morning Light’, the acclaimed 1997 album from Mark Van Hoen’s Locust project; a work that blurred the boundaries between ambient electronics, trip-hop, and dream-pop with an emotional precision few have matched since.

Originally issued during the label’s pioneering late-’90s era, ‘Morning Light’ marked a bold evolution for Van Hoen, best known at the time for his dark, abstract ambient work under Locust and as a member of Seefeel. Seeking to create something more human and melodic, Van Hoen assembled a rotating cast of collaborators, including Zoe Niblett, Craig Bethell, Neil Halstead (Slowdive/Mojave 3), and Wendy Roberts, blending fractured dance rhythms, live instrumentation, and intimate vocal performances into something both deeply personal and effortlessly cinematic.

From the haunting reimagining of The Carpenters’ ‘No-One In The World’ to the slow blooming emotional arcs of ‘All Your Own Way,’ ‘Folie’, and ‘The Girl With The Fairytale Dream’, the album’s 13 tracks form a widescreen narrative of melancholy and beauty. Reviewers at the time hailed it as “a subtle delight” and “sheer God-given genius”, comparing its mood and texture to Massive Attack, This Mortal Coil, and Portishead, yet noting its entirely singular voice.

This reissue restores Morning Light to vinyl for the first time in over two decades. A crucial artefact from the fertile intersection of experimental electronica and ethereal pop, ‘Morning Light’ stands today as one of the label’s most quietly influential releases.

It has been a hot minute since our first release, but right on cue for the summer festivities we can present our second vinyl outing. Taking a different approach, the “Beat$ & Bocadillos” EP will be split between different producers with the Miami Beat$ Crew handling the raw, and rugged “Beat$” side, whilst Valencian smooth operator Vsan handles the “Bocadillos” side. Three cuts on both sides, maximising your pitched down listening pleasure, calling for those chilled out moments amongst the madness of the coming months.

It's fair to say Malta's Sound Synthesis is associated with spacey, acid-flecked electro. But here, on his first album for Gated, a deep vein of old-school influenced breaks comes to the fore.

The infectious acid lines are ever-present - the hands-in-the-air breakdowns, the rolling basslines - but this is a different side to Keith Farrugia's prolific output that brings in influences from ambient to downtempo to bassbin-worrying bangers.

Take opener Ambient Talk, which kicks into life with skittish drums, or the woozy vocal-led All Night, which makes sharp use of the Amen break, as does album highlight 90s Chords.

Yes there are classic Sound Synthesis melodies throughout these nine tracks, but there's also a darker side, exemplified by the aptly-named 140BPMadness, which showcases Farrugia at his most ferocious.