quête:ocean t

Presenting the third thematic volume on the “Aquapelagos" series - a collection of split LPs where selected artists offer their own take into water surrounded cultures and communities. After the initial release of the Anthology compilation Aquapelago in 2022 (Discrepant ,CREP91) and the split LP Atlantico by Lagoss & Banha da Cobra (Keroxen, KRXN027) as well as the direct collaboration LP Índico by Mike Cooper & Pierre Bastien we proudly introduce an the third volume in the series in the shape of no other than two inspiring artists, Vica Pacheco and Pak Yan Lau. Two different sound journeys inspired by the majestic and peaceful Pacific Ocean, the vastest, largest and deepest ocean of our planet.

Vica Pacheco’s composition takes a calm meditation approach where water flutes and synths brush shoulders to create a ever expanding mind journey whereas Pak Yan Lau’s ambitions Neo classical piece, The Ocean in Us, talks about that grand overwhelming feeling, that vast space deep under, on the bottom of the Pacific. Both compositions were recorded and created with the particular wet acoustics of the Tank in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in mind.

From Philip Hayward and Matt Hill’s liner notes: ‘’The Pacific is a complex space, comprising a third of the Earth’s surface. A cascade of islands runs along its eastern flank, down from the Kamchatka peninsula, through Japan, Taiwan, The Philippines, Melanesia and on to Australasia. In its watery heart the islands of Micronesia and Polynesia stretch across huge distances, north-east to the Hawaiian archipelago, south east to Rapa Nui and south west to Aotearoa and Chatham island. Closer to the shores of the Americas lie Tierra del Fuego, the Galapagos Islands, Haida Gwaii and the Aleutians. This is a space that resists easy characterisation. The Pacific laps the shores of Japan and Chile, the beaches of Australia’s East Coast and the cold, damp coasts of British Colombia and Alaska alike. Indeed, the space is so vast that it is a world in itself and one rarely navigated in its entirety. In this manner, strands of genres and the songs that reflect them are components in an intricate mesh of associations.‘’ Philip Hayward and Matt Hill, April 2022

Hiriketiya is a small, enclosed bay on Sri Lanka's southern coast, where jungle leans toward the water and the days unfold without urgency.
Passing through in early 2025 on the way to Europe, Alex Albrecht spent a week here at MOND's artist residency, allowing the rhythms of the place to quietly shape the work that followed.
During the residency, Albrecht recorded and exchanged ideas with Sri Lankan musicians Dhyan Basho on sitar, Dinelka Liyanage on electronics, Uvindu Perera on double bass and Pasindu Herath on saxophone.
Their performances appear throughout the album, sampled and re-contextualised, influencing its melodic language, pacing and emotional tone.

Much of the music was shaped directly by its surroundings. Field recordings were gathered across Hiriketiya, and instruments were played wherever it felt necessary. This included rocks beside the ocean where waves set irregular rhythms, tall grasslands where wind and insects blend into the recordings, and open decks overlooking the sea. 'Round Table' captures this approach most clearly. Recorded while sitting together overlooking the ocean, a large steel table in front of the group gradually became part of the composition, used instinctively as an unplanned percussive element.

Not everything could be captured. Some of the most meaningful moments occurred before recording was possible. Those sounds exist only in memory, and the album is shaped in part by an attempt to hold onto their feelings.

Rather than documenting the residency in a linear way, the album gathers fragments, recordings, electronic sketches and field sounds, assembling them into a continuous listening experience shaped by place and recollection. MOND owners Jess and Renato foster an environment that supports artists without directing them, creating space for focus, trust and connection.

The result is a record shaped by Hiriketiya's enclosed bay, dense vegetation, heat and night air. Music formed through listening, restraint, missed recordings and the sensation of being temporarily held by a place.

They Came Like Swallows is the first album-length collaboration between Thurston Moore and Kramer (now officially Bonner Kramer), two giants of alternative/ experimental music. The accomplishments and influence of these two artists in the world of independent music cannot be overstated and the result of their artistic union is a startlingly cohesive statement that burns through landscapes of primitive outsider rock, avant-garde composition, progressive ambient and further locales boldly and beautifully unnamable. “Kramer and I reconnected in Miami, Florida, a few years back, many many years after each of us had departed NYC on separate life adventures. It was only a matter of time before Kramer and I started making plans to record together and with his irrepressible due diligence he quickly set up a mobile recording contraption in the pad I was decamped in, the Florida sunshine flowing through the palm leaves, lithe lizards skittering across the windowsills, and we just went for it.

Kramer had the idea to cover a Joy Division tune, a left turn from the improvisations we had been tracking, though wholly in keeping with both our sensibilities of light and dark unifying in transcendent songwriting, both of us devotees of 'the song' as well as 'the freedom.’ What transpired is They Came Like Swallows, a session we immediately felt should exist as a prayer to the war-torn souls of the families of Palestine continually decimated by the brutality of genocide. We agreed beyond words to offer our music as a sonic activism and as a beneficent energy. This album is our duo exchange for human dignity, it is our soul music for any semblance of a peaceful planet.” ~ Thurston Moore “For the first time in our nearly 45 years of friendship, we had identical time windows open to make a record together,” recounts Kramer. After all this time not a moment is wasted as the duo immediately taps into the heightened core of improvisational tension across these seven offerings. Volcanic opener “Urn Burial” notches a similar historic union (John Cale and Terry Riley) to meet the circumstances of the moment, with swirling mists of organ and pounding toms over guitar that thickens the atmosphere with jagged, grimy dissonance.

Solemn strings open the second track, “The Redness In The West,” with Kramer’s cello and viola in dueling bow beneath the high tension drive and sustain of Thurston’s electric guitar, tapping out a Morse code of tension that mounts endlessly into a fog of inevitable war by the end. Moore and Kramer’s sense of experimentalism is in free and full grandeur throughout They Came Like Swallows, though the duo keep a strong and constant sideways eye on melody, composition and architecture, to the ends that any strict lines between song and improvisation are blurred beyond qualification.

As if to punctuate this point, Swallows closes with a nightwork cover of Joy Division’s “Insight,” a doleful coda that breathes out with a solemn inner grace under Thurston’s instantly stylistically recognizable guitar melodies as they weave into he and Kramer’s unison voices. As the lone vocal piece and only traditional ‘song’ form on the album, “Insight” is unique to this set and as a closing statement draws connective lines back to the kind of dynamic, electrified melodicism that wove deep, melancholy patterns into the untamed fire of Sonic Youth’s Sister and Daydream Nation. In the album’s final moments, the two voices repeat the lyric “I’m not afraid anymore” as mantra, underscoring the heavy, unsettled themes and methods that preceded it. Kramer describes the creative process of They Came Like Swallows: “I had composed and recorded a few pieces at my home studio over the course of a couple weeks. Thurston was spending the winter in South Florida, so I flew down and spent a few days recording his guitar parts in his home there. Watching him spontaneously compose his parts was pretty astonishing, to say the least. Once we'd finished working on those pieces, we began improvising and following wherever the music pointed us, and another few pieces were born. We got straight to it, without anything driving us other than the joy of finally working together.

My personal goal was to remain present and catch as many surprises as I could from Thurston's guitar work, and there were plenty during those few days. We had a fucking blast.” Thurston’s contributions here will be readily familiar to any acolytes of his other works, the through-line between his inspired playing, cradled in Kramer’s meticulous, solid arrangements. “If I had to make this record again, I'd do it all exactly the same way,” Kramer says. “It’s like jazz, you don't think about it. You just do it. It was miraculous, and you don't fuck with a miracle.”

They Came Like Swallows is the first album-length collaboration between Thurston Moore and Kramer (now officially Bonner Kramer), two giants of alternative/ experimental music. The accomplishments and influence of these two artists in the world of independent music cannot be overstated and the result of their artistic union is a startlingly cohesive statement that burns through landscapes of primitive outsider rock, avant-garde composition, progressive ambient and further locales boldly and beautifully unnamable. “Kramer and I reconnected in Miami, Florida, a few years back, many many years after each of us had departed NYC on separate life adventures. It was only a matter of time before Kramer and I started making plans to record together and with his irrepressible due diligence he quickly set up a mobile recording contraption in the pad I was decamped in, the Florida sunshine flowing through the palm leaves, lithe lizards skittering across the windowsills, and we just went for it.

Kramer had the idea to cover a Joy Division tune, a left turn from the improvisations we had been tracking, though wholly in keeping with both our sensibilities of light and dark unifying in transcendent songwriting, both of us devotees of 'the song' as well as 'the freedom.’ What transpired is They Came Like Swallows, a session we immediately felt should exist as a prayer to the war-torn souls of the families of Palestine continually decimated by the brutality of genocide. We agreed beyond words to offer our music as a sonic activism and as a beneficent energy. This album is our duo exchange for human dignity, it is our soul music for any semblance of a peaceful planet.” ~ Thurston Moore “For the first time in our nearly 45 years of friendship, we had identical time windows open to make a record together,” recounts Kramer. After all this time not a moment is wasted as the duo immediately taps into the heightened core of improvisational tension across these seven offerings. Volcanic opener “Urn Burial” notches a similar historic union (John Cale and Terry Riley) to meet the circumstances of the moment, with swirling mists of organ and pounding toms over guitar that thickens the atmosphere with jagged, grimy dissonance.

Solemn strings open the second track, “The Redness In The West,” with Kramer’s cello and viola in dueling bow beneath the high tension drive and sustain of Thurston’s electric guitar, tapping out a Morse code of tension that mounts endlessly into a fog of inevitable war by the end. Moore and Kramer’s sense of experimentalism is in free and full grandeur throughout They Came Like Swallows, though the duo keep a strong and constant sideways eye on melody, composition and architecture, to the ends that any strict lines between song and improvisation are blurred beyond qualification.

As if to punctuate this point, Swallows closes with a nightwork cover of Joy Division’s “Insight,” a doleful coda that breathes out with a solemn inner grace under Thurston’s instantly stylistically recognizable guitar melodies as they weave into he and Kramer’s unison voices. As the lone vocal piece and only traditional ‘song’ form on the album, “Insight” is unique to this set and as a closing statement draws connective lines back to the kind of dynamic, electrified melodicism that wove deep, melancholy patterns into the untamed fire of Sonic Youth’s Sister and Daydream Nation. In the album’s final moments, the two voices repeat the lyric “I’m not afraid anymore” as mantra, underscoring the heavy, unsettled themes and methods that preceded it. Kramer describes the creative process of They Came Like Swallows: “I had composed and recorded a few pieces at my home studio over the course of a couple weeks. Thurston was spending the winter in South Florida, so I flew down and spent a few days recording his guitar parts in his home there. Watching him spontaneously compose his parts was pretty astonishing, to say the least. Once we'd finished working on those pieces, we began improvising and following wherever the music pointed us, and another few pieces were born. We got straight to it, without anything driving us other than the joy of finally working together.

My personal goal was to remain present and catch as many surprises as I could from Thurston's guitar work, and there were plenty during those few days. We had a fucking blast.” Thurston’s contributions here will be readily familiar to any acolytes of his other works, the through-line between his inspired playing, cradled in Kramer’s meticulous, solid arrangements. “If I had to make this record again, I'd do it all exactly the same way,” Kramer says. “It’s like jazz, you don't think about it. You just do it. It was miraculous, and you don't fuck with a miracle.”

Oceanine, Jolanda Moletta’s third album and her first for Beacon Sound, is a powerful and ethereal statement of artistic community. Expanding on her previous work, each track represents a collaboration with a different female vocalist, with the foundational elements being generated entirely by her own voice. By turns haunting, enchanting, and inspiring, you won’t want to come up for air once you’ve been pulled under. Representing a
musical practice that is distinctly feminist, this is an album with a longer view in mind, to an age when the altars were to goddesses and women were centered as powerful beings representing the earth’s cycles of regeneration and renewal. Oceanine then, in all its beauty, can be viewed as an album of survival. It is deeply transportive, accessing something that lies within all of us. As the late, great Lithuanian folklorist and archaeologist Marija Gimbutas noted, “We must refocus our collective memory. The necessity for this has never been greater as we discover that the path of 'progress' is extinguishing the very conditions for life on earth.”

Jolanda Moletta is a multimedia artist and one-woman electronic choir. She creates wordless compositions through extended vocal techniques, integrating wearable-controlled live processing, alongside symbolic visuals. Moletta considers her performances to be a collective ritual and creates her Sonic & Visual Spells following the cycles of nature and the moon. Jolanda's 2022 critically acclaimed album Nine Spells was released on the Ambientologist label, followed by Night Caves on Whitelabrecs in 2025. Moletta’s artistic practice is a radical and spiritual journey through sound art, ritual, and the symbolic archaeology of the feminine.

Oceanine is inspired by sirens, water nymphs, and the timeless call of the sea. At its core lies Jolanda’s deep, lifelong connection to the Mediterranean Sea and to the ancient and modern myths and folklore that have emerged from its waters. Growing up by the Mar Ligure, Jolanda was surrounded by stories carried by salt, wind, and waves: legends of sirens, echoes of ancient voices, and the sea as both origin and oracle. This intimate relationship with the Mediterranean is not merely a backdrop, but a living source that shapes Oceanine’s emotional, symbolic, and sonic world.

Each track features a different female vocalist, creating a rich tapestry of voices, styles, and perspectives. This artistic choice not only broadens the album’s sonic palette, but also deepens its narrative core: celebrating the power, beauty, and mystique of feminine energy through myth, history, and sound.

The entire album is built exclusively from the human voice, processed and layered, yet always remaining voice, and nothing else. For each piece, Jolanda invited every vocalist involved to contribute a raw stem: a short, unedited melodic fragment of just a few seconds, inspired by the album’s themes. These intimate vocal seeds became the foundation of each track: the guest artists’ voices appear as brief, melodic stems, while the entire surrounding “orchestral” fabric is created solely from Jolanda’s own layered and processed voice. In this way, Jolanda’s voice becomes the Ocean itself, embracing, absorbing, and carrying the sirens’ calls within a vast, immersive soundscape. Every song is a unique expression of the feminine experience, revealing its depth, complexity, and emotional range, echoing the call of the sea and the many faces of the siren archetype.

The figure of the siren has transformed across centuries. In myths of Ancient Greece and Rome, sirens were hybrid beings, part woman, part bird, whose irresistible songs lured sailors to their doom. During the Middle Ages, the image shifted toward the half-woman, half-fish figure, often associated with temptation and danger. Historically, the voice of women has often been feared. Sirens were considered harbingers of misfortune not simply because they seduced or destroyed, but because they were powerful liminal beings.

In Ancient Greek, sirens functioned as psychopomps: figures who existed between worlds and guided souls, especially between life and death. Their songs were believed to carry forbidden knowledge, including prophetic insight and the ability to reveal truths about fate and the future. The danger of the sirens lay in what they revealed: knowledge that humans were not meant, or ready, to hear.

Oceanine confronts this legacy head-on. The voices heard throughout the album are not merely beautiful: they are dark and luminous, wild and enchanting, magical, soothing, dreamy, and at times fractured or distorted. They whisper, lament, beckon, and enchant. Like sirens, they skim the surface of the water and sink into its depths, hovering on the edge between tenderness and danger, vulnerability and power. They rise toward the sky, dissolve into mist, and return as echoes charged with raw, elemental emotion: voices that seduce, warn, mourn, and remember. They refuse to be reduced to decoration.

Alongside the album’s release in May, Oceanine will also unfold as a visual and performative work through a short art film. The film includes a live session recorded inside a sea cave facing the Mar Ligure, the very coastline where Jolanda spent her childhood, dreaming of sirens and listening to the sea as if it were speaking directly to her. This site-specific performance reconnects the music to its place of origin, allowing the voice to resonate within stone, water, and air, and transforming the cave into both a sanctuary and a threshold between myth and reality.

What if the sirens’ songs were considered dangerous because they carried another truth, an ancient truth long forgotten?

Oceanine embraces the idea that we are still deeply woven into myth. Though we may see ourselves as rational and modern beings, our world is saturated with ancient symbols and archetypes, often distorted, simplified, or stripped of their original meaning. And if those symbols are allowed to shift, if the mirror once held by the siren becomes an invitation to look beyond appearances and into what has been obscured, then we may finally uncover a deeper truth and reclaim the voice that was always ours.

Oceanine is not just an album. It is a reclamation, a spell, and a call from the depths.

The 17th release on Ohm Series features tracks by Blueshift, Lovan Lerogovan, Malkov & NSS
Another strong release - well selected by label boss Bjarnar Jónsson aka OHM.

Kristin Diable ist ein Original aus dem Süden - ihre Stimme ist so launisch und unnachgiebig wie der Mississippi. Ihre zeitlosen Melodien und scharfsinnigen Texte fangen das Mystische im Alltäglichen ein und enthüllen den Silberstreif am Horizont ganz gewöhnlicher Momente. Das Ergebnis ist ein Sound, der sich sowohl geerdet als auch jenseitig anfühlt. Diables vorheriges Album ,Create Your Own Mythology", das in Nashville mit Produzent Dave Cobb aufgenommen wurde, wurde von NPR, American Songwriter und Southern Living als eines der besten des Jahres gelobt. Ihr kommendes Album ,Impossible Things" schreibt das nächste Kapitel. Aufgenommen in den legendären Dockside Studios im Süden Louisianas mit Produzent Ben Alleman (Dr. John, Ryan Adams, Jenny Lewis, Madi Diaz), klingt es wie ein Radio, das auf zwei Zeitachsen gleichzeitig eingestellt ist: Dream-Pop-Echos, die durch ein Shotgun-Haus schweben, die Gnade eines Sonntagmorgens, an deren Stiefeln noch der Glitzer des Samstagabends klebt. Diese Songs haben es nicht eilig. Sie ziehen einen Stuhl heran, schieben einen Kaffee über den Tisch und sagen: ,Sag die Wahrheit und zuck nicht zurück." Diable zuckt nicht zurück. Sie schrieb diese Songs in Zeiten des Umbruchs und der Neuerfindung, während sie Verluste, den Tod geliebter Menschen, häusliche Gewalt, das Leben als alleinerziehende Mutter und die Abrechnung bewältigte, die damit einhergeht, ein Leben nach eigenen Vorstellungen neu aufzubauen. Was dabei entsteht, ist ein Werk, das eine Art spirituelles Jiu-Jitsu praktiziert und Last in Anmut und Schmerz in Architektur verwandelt. Dies ist ein Album, das nahelegt, dass Transzendenz nicht auf der anderen Seite der Not wartet, sondern genau hier in der Gegenwart lebt, wenn wir nur genau genug hinhören. Wenn der Song endet, sieht die Welt vielleicht noch genauso aus, aber du vielleicht nicht mehr. So fangen unmögliche Dinge meist an.

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

It's pretty wild to think this is in fact Carli’s debut solo album, considering the Swedish producer’s long and illustrious career, defined by eclectic hits ranging from underground grime scorchers to straight-up Eurovision goodness, not to mention him being a cornerstone of acclaimed outfits like Off The Meds, Savage Skulls, and Marcus Price & Carli.
On Sea Of Love, the Stockholm-born former breakdancer takes listeners on a journey through a vast ocean of musical influences, effortlessly blending rave nostalgia, bass-heavy experimentation, and contemporary club sounds. Carli skilfully navigates from raw UK hardcore bonkerisms to the crisp rhythmic pulses of modern-day dancehall, always upholding a vibe that's at once futuristic and reverent of club music’s storied past.
Filled with intricate production techniques and an irresistible sense of joy, Sea Of Love showcases Carli’s unique ability to merge styles without losing coherence or authenticity. This is club music crafted by someone who’s not only seen it all from the booth, but also been on the dancefloor himself, resulting in tracks that feel deeply personal yet universally appealing.
With Sea Of Love, Carli firmly establishes himself as a visionary solo artist, proving that after decades of shaping the sound of Stockholm’s underground, his best is still ahead.

Dresvn launch their new LP GODZILLA that pushes their free, experimental approach even further.

Analogue machines talk to each other in real time, grooves emerge and collapse,textures mutate in the moment,everything is process.
Pure, unpolished Dresvn energy.

GODZILLA will be release on the new,Berlin based label MECHINE.

Für Kevin Morby ist das ,kleine Weite" der weite Himmel, das einfache Leben, seine Herkunft aus dem Mittleren Westen und alle Pflichten, Bescheidenheit, Vertrautheit und Isolation: das Land, die Menschen und die Teile davon, die in ihm stecken. ,Der Mittlere Westen hat etwas Unbeabsichtigtes Musikalisches an sich: Zikaden, die in den Bäumen zirpen, ein vorbeifahrender Zug, eine Tornadosirene, die losgeht", erklärt Morby. ,Wenn man genau hinhört, gibt es diese fast unheilvollen Geräusche unter dem weiten Himmel - seine Hässlichkeit und seine Schönheit und wie beide oft gleichzeitig zusammenwirken. Und obwohl der Mittlere Westen technisch gesehen keine Ödnis ist, ist er meine Ödnis." Little Wide Open ist der Titel von Kevin Morbys achtem Studioalbum, produziert von Aaron Dessner. Im Sommer 2024 hatte Dessner Morby gebeten, The National bei ihrem Konzert im Londoner Crystal Palace Park zu unterstützen. Kurz darauf wandte sich Dessner, der gerade eine Glückssträhne hatte, nachdem er Alben für Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran und Gracie Abrams produziert hatte, wandte sich an Morby und teilte ihm mit, dass er gerne sein nächstes Album produzieren würde. Anfang 2025 begannen sie mit den Aufnahmen in Aarons Long Pond Studio in Stuyvesant, New York, und beendeten sie im September desselben Jahres. Das Album, an dem eine Vielzahl von Mitwirkenden wie Dessner, der mehrere Instrumente spielt, Amelia Meath, Andrew Barr, Justin Vernon, Katie Gavin, Lucinda Williams, Meg Duffy und anderen, wurde von Morby als dritter Teil einer Trilogie nach ,Sundowner" (2020) und ,This Is a Photograph" (2022) beschrieben, in denen er seine Zeit im Mittleren Westen nach seiner Rückkehr nach Kansas City dokumentierte. Dieses Mal wertet Dessners Produktion Morbys Aufnahmen auf, ohne dabei den Fokus auf die Songs selbst zu verlieren. Es gibt eine neu gewonnene Zuversicht und Klarheit sowohl in Morbys Songwriting als auch in Dessners Produktion, die an Tom Pettys Klassiker Wildflowers aus dem Jahr 1994 erinnert. Da Morby mittlerweile hauptsächlich in LA lebt, hat sich die Atmosphäre, die Little Wide Open durchzieht, gegenüber seinen Vorgängern etwas verändert. Wie Rachel Kushner in ihrem Begleittext zum Album über Morby schreibt: ,Es geht um Zeit, um das Gefühl, dass er sich von der Nostalgie und dem verlorenen, aber schönen Kampf, an der Vergangenheit festzuhalten, gelöst hat. Er hat akzeptiert, dass die Zeit unaufhörlich fließt und man sie nicht aufhalten kann. Stattdessen hat er das Gefühl, dass er auf ihr reitet. Er ist Passagier der Zeit."

2025 REPRESS ON TRANSPARENT GREEN VINYL


Compiled by Philip King “And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.” NICK KENT, NME. All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure. Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms, ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course) these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother of invention. At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records). The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased track You Will See, released April 12th 2025. There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk / underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now. Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP. Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7” and lost until now. The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the main refrain. The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive, robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner. All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

Good ambient will always been a comfort blanket during harsh times. Whether from a global or more personal perspective. This collection on Secrets of Sound brings together some real dons of the genre, from Mark Barrott - to Steve Roach, and sequences them into one soothing, calming trip that touches son all different sub-sound and styles from New Age to celestial. A spoken word intro from long-running ambient radio Jaroslav Kovaracek sets the scene before you're then cast adrift in supreme sonic lushness.

The 2 Smooth World Vol. 1 Album broadcasts a highly addictive tale of electronic frequencies. A whole universe of musical explorations, ranging from twisted electro to more dubby compositions, beatless ambient ballads, classic house nostalgia - naturally flowing into oceans of acid & bass.

A future classic - a project resurrected from a collaborative effort of the minds of late and great tastemaker and creator Mike Huckaby & Echospace's, Stephen Hitchell. Coming up on over 15 years since this project was conceived while working together on the Model 500 "Starlight" remix project back in 2008, this project truly captures a beautiful moment in time. During this period there was something magical in the air, a creative synergy and understanding of all things deep! The original mix (2008) results from a few sequences and patterns developed out of Wavetable ideas Mike was creating for a sample library he was curating at the time. The sweeps and transients found in these lofi wavetables truly add to the Detroit sound Mike's legacy was built upon, always staying true to his roots. After a few projects together (and more forthcoming) another collaboration was born with SF based (via Glasgow) producer, Federsen who simply put gives us a deeper than deep tribal stomper we're certain Huck would be dropping at peak hour! On the flip, cv313 + federsen reunite to surf Mike's wavetables once more, creating an addictive hook with a sick DETROIT saw bass deeper than the ocean floor! Intrusion's Dub closes out the EP and sends the listener deeper into the abyss, offering sonic designs from another planet, dubbed out into eternal bliss! We truly hope this project resonates and captures some of Mike's creative spirit and sound design. This 12" is a tribute to a true Detroit hero who's contributions to music and the culture are few and far between, a true legend.

R.I.P. HUCK

■ The latest installment in the popular ocean themed compilation series “SALT... meets ISLAND CAFE”, curated by the beach life magazine/media SALT...,
is DEEP BLUE the series’ first ever ambient music compilation. Centered around the title concept inspired by the deep, tranquil blue of the ocean, the album
presents soothing music tailored to modern lifestyles, spanning chillout, Balearic, meditation, and healing sounds.

■ Ten artists each highly trusted by discerning listeners across the ambient, chillout, Balearic, and surf‑music scenes have created brand‑new, original ambient
tracks inspired by the theme. From pioneers active since the ’90s to cutting‑edge trackmakers, this compilation brings together a stunning collection of
ocean‑themed ambient music.

■ Mastering is handled by ambient/Balearic maestro Calm, who is also featured as one of the contributing artists, delivering an exceptional sonic experience.
Enjoy all ten tracks, each expressing its own unique interpretation of DEEP BLUE.

■ The artwork features an artistic photograph by Pedro Gomes, a Brazil born, Japan based surf photographer, with design by Masato Maekawa (tAnkers inc.),
known for his work across apparel and outdoor brands. Under the supervision of SALT..., the visuals perfectly capture the compilation’s immersive world.


[b] a2. [.que] / deeply

Greg Mendez war schon immer ein sparsamer Songwriter - er nutzt Zurückhaltung und Einfachheit als Werkzeuge, um den Kern seiner Songs zu schärfen. Auf Beauty Land, seinem neuen Album und Debüt-LP für Dead Oceans, werden wir von einem ironischen, aber nachsichtigen Erzähler begleitet, einem Underdog, der gelernt hat, Zynismus und Glauben in Einklang zu bringen. Diese Songs sind zurückhaltend, ohne selbstmitleidig zu sein, sorgfältig konstruierte Altäre der Unvollkommenheit, vermittelt durch Pop-Melodien, schimmernde, aber eindringliche Gitarren und eine Stimme, die nach der Unschuld eines Chorknaben strebt. Der Großteil von ,Beauty Land" wurde direkt auf Band aufgenommen, fast ganz allein in Mendez' provisorischem Heimstudio in Philadelphia - einem kleinen Raum ohne Tageslicht. Es ist sein erstes Album in voller Länge seit seinem unerwarteten Durchbruch mit dem selbstbetitelten Album im Jahr 2023, das nach 15 Jahren des Schreibens und Aufnehmens von Musik in relativer Unbekanntheit zwischen Philly und New York ein langsamer Erfolg wurde. ,Beauty Land" knüpft dort an, wo wir vor drei Jahren aufgehört haben - es lotet die Tiefen von Trauer, Liebe und Sucht aus -, aber seine intensive, ruhige Klarheit zeigt Mendez von seiner besten Seite als Songwriter. Teile von ,Beauty Land" fühlen sich wie ein luzider Traum an, in dem angeschlagene Charaktere sich ihren Weg durch eine karikaturhafte und verzerrte Welt bahnen - der gebrochene Uhrentakt von ,I Wanna Feel Pretty", das klingende Spielzeugklavier in ,Gentle Love". ,Mary / Dreaming" beginnt als spärliche, fingergezupfte Klage, bevor es abrupt zu einer enttäuschten, Beach-Boys-artigen, aber verkorksten Auflösung übergeht, die sowohl Melancholie als auch Freude hervorruft; ein Gefühl, dass alle Dinge gleichzeitig wahr sein können. Keiner der 14 Tracks ist länger als drei Minuten, aber sie erzählen Geschichten, die ein ganzes Leben umfassen. Der Tod schwebt durch das Album, sei es als Erinnerung oder als Bedrohung. Alles fühlt sich prekär an. Die Art und Weise, wie diese Songs aufgebaut sind, hat etwas Zerbrechliches: die Art und Weise, wie die Begräbnisorgel neben dem Morphium in ,Looking Out Your Window" erklingt, die verheerende Einfachheit von ,Frog" mit seinem verlangsamten Keyboard und dem nackten Refrain: ,Bitte vergib mir meine Fehler." Beauty Land fühlt sich manchmal unmöglich einsam an. Umso mehr zählt es, wenn das nicht der Fall ist - wie zum Beispiel, wenn Mendez gegen Ende von ,So Mean" im Duett mit seiner Frau und Bandkollegin Veronica singt und es sich wie ein lang ersehntes Wiedersehen anfühlt, wie ein flüchtiger Moment der Erlösung, wie eine vorübergehende Teilung der Meere.

Greg Mendez war schon immer ein sparsamer Songwriter - er nutzt Zurückhaltung und Einfachheit als Werkzeuge, um den Kern seiner Songs zu schärfen. Auf Beauty Land, seinem neuen Album und Debüt-LP für Dead Oceans, werden wir von einem ironischen, aber nachsichtigen Erzähler begleitet, einem Underdog, der gelernt hat, Zynismus und Glauben in Einklang zu bringen. Diese Songs sind zurückhaltend, ohne selbstmitleidig zu sein, sorgfältig konstruierte Altäre der Unvollkommenheit, vermittelt durch Pop-Melodien, schimmernde, aber eindringliche Gitarren und eine Stimme, die nach der Unschuld eines Chorknaben strebt. Der Großteil von ,Beauty Land" wurde direkt auf Band aufgenommen, fast ganz allein in Mendez' provisorischem Heimstudio in Philadelphia - einem kleinen Raum ohne Tageslicht. Es ist sein erstes Album in voller Länge seit seinem unerwarteten Durchbruch mit dem selbstbetitelten Album im Jahr 2023, das nach 15 Jahren des Schreibens und Aufnehmens von Musik in relativer Unbekanntheit zwischen Philly und New York ein langsamer Erfolg wurde. ,Beauty Land" knüpft dort an, wo wir vor drei Jahren aufgehört haben - es lotet die Tiefen von Trauer, Liebe und Sucht aus -, aber seine intensive, ruhige Klarheit zeigt Mendez von seiner besten Seite als Songwriter. Teile von ,Beauty Land" fühlen sich wie ein luzider Traum an, in dem angeschlagene Charaktere sich ihren Weg durch eine karikaturhafte und verzerrte Welt bahnen - der gebrochene Uhrentakt von ,I Wanna Feel Pretty", das klingende Spielzeugklavier in ,Gentle Love". ,Mary / Dreaming" beginnt als spärliche, fingergezupfte Klage, bevor es abrupt zu einer enttäuschten, Beach-Boys-artigen, aber verkorksten Auflösung übergeht, die sowohl Melancholie als auch Freude hervorruft; ein Gefühl, dass alle Dinge gleichzeitig wahr sein können. Keiner der 14 Tracks ist länger als drei Minuten, aber sie erzählen Geschichten, die ein ganzes Leben umfassen. Der Tod schwebt durch das Album, sei es als Erinnerung oder als Bedrohung. Alles fühlt sich prekär an. Die Art und Weise, wie diese Songs aufgebaut sind, hat etwas Zerbrechliches: die Art und Weise, wie die Begräbnisorgel neben dem Morphium in ,Looking Out Your Window" erklingt, die verheerende Einfachheit von ,Frog" mit seinem verlangsamten Keyboard und dem nackten Refrain: ,Bitte vergib mir meine Fehler." Beauty Land fühlt sich manchmal unmöglich einsam an. Umso mehr zählt es, wenn das nicht der Fall ist - wie zum Beispiel, wenn Mendez gegen Ende von ,So Mean" im Duett mit seiner Frau und Bandkollegin Veronica singt und es sich wie ein lang ersehntes Wiedersehen anfühlt, wie ein flüchtiger Moment der Erlösung, wie eine vorübergehende Teilung der Meere.

Greg Mendez war schon immer ein sparsamer Songwriter - er nutzt Zurückhaltung und Einfachheit als Werkzeuge, um den Kern seiner Songs zu schärfen. Auf Beauty Land, seinem neuen Album und Debüt-LP für Dead Oceans, werden wir von einem ironischen, aber nachsichtigen Erzähler begleitet, einem Underdog, der gelernt hat, Zynismus und Glauben in Einklang zu bringen. Diese Songs sind zurückhaltend, ohne selbstmitleidig zu sein, sorgfältig konstruierte Altäre der Unvollkommenheit, vermittelt durch Pop-Melodien, schimmernde, aber eindringliche Gitarren und eine Stimme, die nach der Unschuld eines Chorknaben strebt. Der Großteil von ,Beauty Land" wurde direkt auf Band aufgenommen, fast ganz allein in Mendez' provisorischem Heimstudio in Philadelphia - einem kleinen Raum ohne Tageslicht. Es ist sein erstes Album in voller Länge seit seinem unerwarteten Durchbruch mit dem selbstbetitelten Album im Jahr 2023, das nach 15 Jahren des Schreibens und Aufnehmens von Musik in relativer Unbekanntheit zwischen Philly und New York ein langsamer Erfolg wurde. ,Beauty Land" knüpft dort an, wo wir vor drei Jahren aufgehört haben - es lotet die Tiefen von Trauer, Liebe und Sucht aus -, aber seine intensive, ruhige Klarheit zeigt Mendez von seiner besten Seite als Songwriter. Teile von ,Beauty Land" fühlen sich wie ein luzider Traum an, in dem angeschlagene Charaktere sich ihren Weg durch eine karikaturhafte und verzerrte Welt bahnen - der gebrochene Uhrentakt von ,I Wanna Feel Pretty", das klingende Spielzeugklavier in ,Gentle Love". ,Mary / Dreaming" beginnt als spärliche, fingergezupfte Klage, bevor es abrupt zu einer enttäuschten, Beach-Boys-artigen, aber verkorksten Auflösung übergeht, die sowohl Melancholie als auch Freude hervorruft; ein Gefühl, dass alle Dinge gleichzeitig wahr sein können. Keiner der 14 Tracks ist länger als drei Minuten, aber sie erzählen Geschichten, die ein ganzes Leben umfassen. Der Tod schwebt durch das Album, sei es als Erinnerung oder als Bedrohung. Alles fühlt sich prekär an. Die Art und Weise, wie diese Songs aufgebaut sind, hat etwas Zerbrechliches: die Art und Weise, wie die Begräbnisorgel neben dem Morphium in ,Looking Out Your Window" erklingt, die verheerende Einfachheit von ,Frog" mit seinem verlangsamten Keyboard und dem nackten Refrain: ,Bitte vergib mir meine Fehler." Beauty Land fühlt sich manchmal unmöglich einsam an. Umso mehr zählt es, wenn das nicht der Fall ist - wie zum Beispiel, wenn Mendez gegen Ende von ,So Mean" im Duett mit seiner Frau und Bandkollegin Veronica singt und es sich wie ein lang ersehntes Wiedersehen anfühlt, wie ein flüchtiger Moment der Erlösung, wie eine vorübergehende Teilung der Meere.

Very limited numbers, orders will need to be confirmed.

For his new album, Irreparable Parables, Andrew Wasylyk felt a strong desire to write a set of songs featuring an element hitherto rare in his work: the human voice. Equally strong was the conviction that he did not want to sing them himself.

The Scottish multi-instrumentalist and composer set about assembling a group of guest singers, sending out the songs to wherever they were in the world. The vocals were recorded remotely and then, like migrating birds, winged their way back to Scotland. The result is an album of great beauty which, perhaps preeminently in Wasylyk’s work, expresses the vulnerability and resilience of the human spirit.

Six singers appear on the record, represented by six songbirds illustrated on the sleeve by Clay Pipe Music’s Frances Castle. The cuckoo is a nod to Belle and Sebastian’s 2004 single ‘I’m A Cuckoo’, that band’s Stuart Murdoch being the first voice you hear on the new album. When the vocal for ‘Private Symphony #2’ arrived, says Wasylyk, “it was everything that I was looking for and more. But this is Stuart Murdoch. Of course he’s going to make something incredibly beautiful and thoughtful.”

The song lyrics were, for the most part, written by the singers. The music is Wasylyk’s creation. He navigates a sound world that lies somewhere beyond the borders of classical and jazz, ambient and abstract. It is difficult to describe, but easy to understand, which is to say to feel. That is the way Wasylyk’s work is experienced: as a feeling. It takes you back to childhood, perhaps, to feelings of comfort and safety, or to memories of walks at sunrise and sunset, or to the way a shadow falls on a particular field in a particular place at a particular time in your life. This is consoling music. That is why, though pretty, it is not merely pretty. These are songs to shore up the soul.

Wasylyk writes in a room, in his native Dundee, full of “half broken” instruments. He picks these up, plays a little, seeking an idea, a feeling, a door that lies ajar. The musical palette of Irreparable Parables includes brass and woodwind, a six-piece string section, guitar, bass, drums, vibraphone, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, tape loops, synthesisers and percussion. The strings were arranged by the cellist Pete Harvey, a long-term collaborator.

Among the other guest vocalists are Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals, Saya Ueno from Japan’s Tenniscoats and Peter Brewis from Field Music. Wasylyk himself takes the lead vocal on the title track, though a throat infection and touch of pitch-shifting have altered his singing in a way that even he, having fallen out of love with his own voice, finds acceptable.

The heart of the record can, arguably, be found in two tracks, ‘Love Is A Life That Lasts Forever’ and ‘Spectators In The Absence of God’, sung respectively by Molly Linen and Kathryn Joseph. The former, bright with trumpets, was inspired by the writing of Derek Jarman. “I was feeling deeply upset about the world and wanted to try and write some- thing that was obviously hopeful,” Wasylyk says.

‘Spectators …’ offers an emotional counterpoint. It is an “apocalyptic hymn” that seems to grapple with watching human suffering from afar, too distant to be at physical risk, but experiencing the psychological wounding, and feelings of helplessness, even complicity, that come with constant awareness of other people’s pain. “Kathryn’s a pal, I love her dearly, and she’s a brilliant artist who really feels what she writes,” Wasylyk says. “The cracked tenderness of her voice is spellbinding.”

The album closes with an instrumental piece, ‘Soul Enters The Ocean Sun Climbs Out Of The Sea’, all piano and strings, that offers a sense of resolution and ascension. A good moment, too, for Wasylyk to reflect upon the artistic companionship that he enjoyed while making this record – the songbirds that answered his call: “These humans are incredible at what they do. I’m deeply grateful and feel so lucky. It blows my mind.”

Repress

R&S proudly presents brand new signing Felix Manuel AKA Djrum.
Djrum is a perennially acclaimed underground artist, since his first release in 2010 who's quietly built a list of fans that reads like a who's who of contemporary dance music.
As an artist, Djrum has formed a reputation for his unique fusion of a range of genres ranging from jazz, hip hop and dubstep to ambient and techno. His music swells with oceanic bass laded beats, cavernous atmospherics and deeply emotive melodies. An accomplished DJ his compositional approach feels like a natural collage of his influences which has seen him release for the likes of the Zenker Brothers Ilian Tape imprint as well as the influential 2nd Drop label, plus remixes for Ninja Tune and Domino.
Felix now steps up to the plate at R&S with one of his most visionary releases to date. Deeply meditative melodies twist and turn through stuttering rhythms and pulsing low bass, hypnotic pads and woozy atmospherics. Manuel's music somehow manages to retains the urgency and dynamic pressure of the dance floor with the intimacy and elegant detailing of the best headphone music.
A natural fit for R&S, there is a full length Djrum album in the pipeline in 2018 - looks like it's going to be an exciting year ahead.

On June 5th, Tectonic Recordings will release Beatrice M.’s debut LP, Sinking, on a vinyl triple pack and digital download. The vinyl edition will be split across 3 separate 12” vinyl releases, packed in matching printed disco bags. This is part 1 of 3.
Beatrice M. pushes the needle forward for a sound and scene that nestles among a niche that blends UK dubstep, techno, and the golden era of tech house. The Paris-born artist is in their mid-20s and has been building up a grassroots following and plenty of momentum over the last few years, through their Bait label and its output of sonically resonant artists, alongside numerous remixes and collaborative and solo releases for labels such as Tectonic, Tempa, and Rinse. There are plenty of accolades coming in for Beatrice's work too, with notable DJ mixes for respected heavyweights such as Mixmag as well as featuring in Resident Advisor’s best mixes of 2025.
Beatrice is known for making deep explorations into the history of the scenes that have interested them, tracking and highlighting connections between dubstep, tech house, jungle and beyond across various self-produced, one-off radio shows, often taking a journalistic approach to subjects of true passion. They travel across Europe on a packed-out DJing schedule, avoiding air travel, and doing it mainly by train. Many of the LP's tracks started life as sketches put together on these long journeys, as the sights of different countries rolled past the window.
Having taken inspiration from Tectonic artists such as 2562, the label – a home to music that was originally placed in the dubstep-techno crossover spectrum—feels like the perfect place to host Beatrice M.'s debut album Sinking, beginning a new chapter for this kind of sound.
Opening track ‘Ever’ plunges us into deep waters with a sense of dubwise command. The momentum picks up on ‘Ocean’, where the vocal snippet "everyday life" circles around reverbed stabs and intricate hi-hat moves. ‘Motion’ sets the pace with its jumpy but rolling rhythm, leading straight into the eyes-down, party-time energy of ‘Disco Corner’.

Replicant Memories is the seismic fallout from the clash between bvdub and East of Oceans: two of Brock Van Wey's three aliases representing different stylistic directions, while being vessels for the same unbridled oceanic creativity.

Within the four chapters of this epic, the bottomless emotion of bvdub melts into the euphoria of East of Oceans, electricity discharging and mists rising from their collision while they together reach new heights of intensity.

This music changes you. Like being exposed to forces of nature, there is no holding back and no place to hide within its wild embrace. It is music for surrendering into. And be left in gratitude for.

Der britische Produzent und Elektronikkünstler Joe Thornalley, bekannt als Vegyn, interpretiert das kultige Debütalbum „Moon Safari“ von Air aus dem Jahr 1998 in einem gewagten Crossover der Genres und Epochen neu. Vegyn wurde durch seine Arbeit mit Künstlern wie Frank Ocean und Travis Scott bekannt und hat sich einen Namen als zukunftsorientierter Produzent gemacht, der üppige, atmosphärische Klanglandschaften mit experimentellen Beats und einem Sinn für Unvorhersehbarkeit verbindet. Mit seinem Remix von Moon Safari“ bringt Vegyn seine einzigartige Vision in das beliebte Ambient-Pop-Meisterwerk des französischen Duos ein und verleiht ihm eine frische, moderne Energie.


Vegyns „Moon Safari“-Überarbeitung wird in einer neuen Tracklist enthüllt und erscheint auf schwarzem Vinyl und einem CD-Digisleeve, beide in einer schönen, transparenten blauen Hülle verpackt.

Sylvan Esso ist eine Band aus Durham, North Carolina. Im Laufe ihrer Karriere haben Amelia Meath und Nick Sanborn vier hochgelobte Alben veröffentlicht, wurden für zwei GRAMMYs nominiert und haben mit einer breiten, vielseitigen Gemeinschaft von Künstlern zusammengearbeitet, darunter Arooj Aftab, Maggie Rogers, Tyler Childers, Reyna Tropical, Califone und viele weitere. ,WDID" ist die erste neue Musik der Band seit 2022. Der Track sowie seine hypnotische, wellenförmige B-Seite ,KEEP ON" entstanden beide aus einer intensiven Phase des Schaffens und Experimentierens der Band. Meath und Sanborn haben das letzte Jahr damit verbracht, mit einer Reihe neuer Mitwirkender an neuem Material zu arbeiten und ohne Zeitdruck in den üppigen Wäldern von Chapel Hill, North Carolina, aufzunehmen. Der Song ist auch der erste, den Sylvan Esso über ihr eigenes Plattenlabel Psychic Hotline veröffentlichen. ,WDID" ist ein komplexer, eindringlicher Track; ein manisches Summen, das sich irgendwo zwischen einem Doom-Scroll um 3 Uhr morgens und der Tanzfläche abspielt. Er sprudelt vor Angst, einer alles verschlingenden, endlosen Kaskade von Krisen. Der ausgefallene, elektrisierende Pop der Band hat sich schon immer aus einem zentralen Spannungsfeld entwickelt - Meath und Sanborn scherzen schon lange, dass das Songwriting von Sylvan Esso aus einem Streit entsteht, einem Hin und Her der Möglichkeiten. Das Songwriting hier - und in der neuen Musik im Allgemeinen - ist locker und verletzlich, eine disparate Collage, die mit Klebeband zusammengehalten wird und etwas hervorbringt, das letztlich sowohl magisch als auch seltsam ist, ein dyspnoischer, schattenhafter Sound, der die Menschen an der Spitze von Sylvan Esso mit einer neuen Unmittelbarkeit zeigt. ,WDID" wurde in Betty's, dem Studio von Sylvan Esso in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, aufgenommen und wurde zusätzlich von Jake Luppen (Hippo Campus, Samia) produziert. ,KEEP ON" entstand aus einer Woche Improvisation mit dem Bassisten Daniel Aged (Frank Ocean, Dijon) und dem Schlagzeuger TJ Maiani (Weyes Blood, Neneh Cherry). Diese limitierte 12"-Single verfügt über eine speziell angefertigte, ausgestanzte Hülle, die als Malvorlage verwendet werden kann.

Clear Vinyl mit blauer Marmorierung. Das luxuriöse Atelier Ryza (Original Soundtrack Trilogy)-Vinyl-Boxset enthält 45 Songs auf drei LPs, darunter die beliebtesten musikalischen Highlights aller drei Spiele. Jede Vinyl-Schallplatte steckt in einer polylined Innenhülle und befindet sich in vollständig illustrierten Covern mit Rücken. Das Set beinhaltet außerdem ein 24-seitiges Booklet mit Konzeptzeichnungen, Charakter-Artworks, Liedtexten sowie Liner Notes auf Englisch und Japanisch. Alles ist in einer hochwertigen, schweren Box verpackt, die diese Sammlung zu einem echten Must-have für jeden Fan des Spiels, seiner Kunst und natürlich der Musik macht, die immer ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Erfolgs der Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy war.Die Atelier-Serie ist ein JRPG-Franchise mit dem Thema Alchemie, entwickelt von GUST und seit 1997 laufend. Die ,Secret Trilogy" umfasst die Videospiele Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout (2019), Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (2020) und Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (2023). Sie ist die erste Reihe innerhalb der Atelier-Serie, die über mehrere Titel hinweg dieselbe Protagonistin zeigt. Die Geschichte folgt einem gewöhnlichen Mädchen, Reisalin ,Ryza" Stout, die die Alchemie entdeckt und gemeinsam mit ihren Freunden ein Sommerabenteuer erlebt, welches ihr persönliches Wachstum durch diese Erfahrungen widerspiegelt. Alle drei Titel im neu veröffentlichten Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack bieten Verbesserungen hinsichtlich Bedienkomforts sowie zusätzliche Inhalte, um die ,Secret"-Reise weiter aufzuwerten.

Clear Vinyl mit blauer Marmorierung. Das luxuriöse Atelier Ryza (Original Soundtrack Trilogy)-Vinyl-Boxset enthält 45 Songs auf drei LPs, darunter die beliebtesten musikalischen Highlights aller drei Spiele. Jede Vinyl-Schallplatte steckt in einer polylined Innenhülle und befindet sich in vollständig illustrierten Covern mit Rücken. Das Set beinhaltet außerdem ein 24-seitiges Booklet mit Konzeptzeichnungen, Charakter-Artworks, Liedtexten sowie Liner Notes auf Englisch und Japanisch. Alles ist in einer hochwertigen, schweren Box verpackt, die diese Sammlung zu einem echten Must-have für jeden Fan des Spiels, seiner Kunst und natürlich der Musik macht, die immer ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Erfolgs der Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy war.Die Atelier-Serie ist ein JRPG-Franchise mit dem Thema Alchemie, entwickelt von GUST und seit 1997 laufend. Die ,Secret Trilogy" umfasst die Videospiele Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout (2019), Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (2020) und Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (2023). Sie ist die erste Reihe innerhalb der Atelier-Serie, die über mehrere Titel hinweg dieselbe Protagonistin zeigt. Die Geschichte folgt einem gewöhnlichen Mädchen, Reisalin ,Ryza" Stout, die die Alchemie entdeckt und gemeinsam mit ihren Freunden ein Sommerabenteuer erlebt, welches ihr persönliches Wachstum durch diese Erfahrungen widerspiegelt. Alle drei Titel im neu veröffentlichten Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack bieten Verbesserungen hinsichtlich Bedienkomforts sowie zusätzliche Inhalte, um die ,Secret"-Reise weiter aufzuwerten.

Aiden Francis steps up with Floral Oceans, a four-track trip of melodic drive and low-end punch. Club gear tackle with a ton of attitude!

Opening with the title track ‘Floral Oceans’, he sets the tone - sweeping progressive synths meet low-end power in a piece built for wakes and peaks alike. Layers fold and rise with effortless tension and release, guided by vocal hooks that hit straight to the chest. The momentum rolls straight into ‘Nelumbo’, where a burst of piano and infectious melody bring a euphoric lift, riding atop a taut groove that demands movement without losing emotional weight.

Flip the disc and ‘Stunnalina’ pushes harder still - a rush of psy/goa-inspired energy, driving drums and layered arps that pull the floor into orbit. Then onto B2, Hybrid Man step in to rework ‘Stunnalina’, steering the original thrust into their own world: a bouncy, analogue workout glowing with resonant growls and a rolling rhythm. Yum!

Life blooms through gentle seasons, and every season needs its moment on the floor.

How about a volley of hydraulic heaters from one of Denmark’s finest?

Already a man of many projects, both on the label side and in the studio, Natal Zaks has minted a brand-new alias… Enter Aquafaba, the ocean floor operator kicking it on a subaqueous tip.

Not many moving like this today. Properly submerged techno, masterful and ultra-essential by Aquafaba, self-monikered after the starchy, liquid byproduct of cooking chickpeas. Patrick Star would be proud for sure.

From Aarhus to the deepest ocean trenches in pursuit of that fathoms-below sound. Nods to the Midwest – chiefly mid-’90s Robert Hood and Cajmere’s ‘Percolator’ – felt in parts, but it’s also riddled with ultra-engrossing detail. Zaks goes heavy with the effects as tracky rollers are propelled to new mesmeric heights, even allowing for a moment of proper widescreen ascension.

Heads-down dynamixxx in full effect as we harness immense hydraulic power. Eschewing instant dancefloor gratification, Zaks emerges with tension and funk, like only the finest strains of techno can achieve.

Six years after Nazamba’s first offering, he delivers his final gift: A Message From Zion.

The journey begins with George ’Nazamba’ and Rico ‘O.B.F’, two kindred spirits connected by sound. Countless cross-ocean visits between Kingston and the French Alps, from enjoying hot beers on the beach to reasonings in snowy mountains. Moments that forged a pure brotherhood.

Out of this friendship grew his first album, the self-titled Nazamba in 2019. Now comes his second, a collaboration between Thompson Sound and Dubquake Records. Together, they unite two generations of reggae powerhouses. Produced by Rico O.B.F, the record reimagines classic Thompson Sound gems. Nazamba’s musical storytelling is accompanied by the Roots Radics, with guest appearances from Linval Thompson & Barrington Levy.

Then came silence. In 2022, Nazamba passed on to Zion. The album project was unfinished, yet full of life. What remains is raw, unpolished and painfully beautiful.

A Message From Zion, a celebration of Nazamba’s universe. His voice, wisdom, poetry, heart and spirit. Forward we ah go. Ah true.

Hailed as "one of the finest ambient and dub techno albums around," Deep Ground earned Purl a place in the hearts of many lovers of the deeper side of electronica. Enthusiasts on Discogs describe it as "one of the best dubtech albums ever - hypnotic, mesmerizing & deep" - and compare it to luminaries like Biosphere and bvdub for its "warm deep calming sounds and atmospheres." Reminiscent of Wolfgang Voigt's GAS project, the seminal 2011 album by Purl (Ludvig Cimbrelius) is finally reborn in a remastered 3xLP vinyl reissue on LILA ART. Originally released on the revered Silent Season label based in British Columbia, this ambient techno masterpiece has continued to captivate listeners year after year. In many ways like a darker sister to 154's ethereal techno epic "Strike", Deep Ground echoes the misty forests and quiet expanses of Cimbrelius' youth in Sweden. As the artist reflects in a poem accompanying the release: "We are consciousness, rooted in the deep ground of being. The deep ground of being is where all things begin and end. The deep ground of being is eternal." This ethos permeates every layer of Purl's expression; crafting sonic sanctuaries that remain intimate while evoking the infinite.

Delicately remastered for vinyl by Giuseppe Tillieci (Neel) in collaboration with Purl. Limited to 300 copies worldwide.

2026 Repress

Atmospheric Vol 2 is the second single to be taken from Deepchord's latest full length but sees him stray from the album tracks, bringing 3 exclusive pieces to the vinyl, keeping in the same musical vein as Ultraviolet Music.

Exploring the North & Pinewood Lodge see Rod Modell on more Deep Techno excursions as beautifully sweeping pads and glistening synths drift by ever evolving, perfectly processed atmospheres. Deepchord's unique use of subtle field recordings throughout give both of these tracks a real heady/druggy quality and his seamless loops allow you to drift of into his fully developed dream world. Shot Point delves into straight up ambient territory with Deepchord striking an unearthly balance between the natural and synthetic world. Yet more flawlessly collected field recordings wash away on an ocean of reverb soaked pads, drowning the listener within its mesmerising tides.

Endless – Universal Cosmic Sounds

Endless is a journey through cosmic soundscapes, where jazz-funk, early electronics, and ambient experimentation meet.
Carefully curated by Charles Maurice from his personal collection, this compilation brings together 10 rare recordings from 1969 to 1985, revealing an era of fearless creativity and sonic exploration.

Marking 10 years since Charles Maurice’s first compilation in 2015, Endless also celebrates a milestone — his 13th release in a decade of unearthing rare and beautiful music from forgotten archives.

From Beaver & Krause and their pioneering Moog experiments to the lush electronic symphonies of Jean-Claude Petit, the dreamy synth work of Ector Davis, and the cinematic beauty of Bernard Larquet, each track opens a window into a different musical galaxy.
Highlights include Patrick Marcel’s privately pressed 1985 recording “Bagnols”, an atmospheric fusion of ambient textures and ECM-inspired jazz, and Wlodek Gulgowski’s Scandinavian jazz-funk masterpiece that bridges groove and cosmic elegance.

Unearthed from obscurity, Endless – Universal Cosmic Sounds celebrates a timeless vision of music without boundaries — a rediscovery of the rare, the beautiful, and the endlessly imaginative.

2026 Repress
The ocean- the infinity, the beauty, the colour, the sound: a truly seductive place. With the sound of ocean waves Smallville's beloved artist Moomin invites us to enter his second full length album A Minor Thought". A selection of wonderful tracks initiate some exciting house music moments at our favorite clubs, improved at Panorama Bar, Robert Johnson and of course the Golden Pudel among many others.. Engaged with a fantastic collection of analogue synths and drum machines, Moomin is always on a hunt of the most delicate samples. After his big first album The Story About You' and a number of beautiful works on his own imprint Closer", he was already back on Smallville's new little baby Fuck Reality' to deliver a 12 for the 2015 summertime. Of course Moomin was also part of the Smallville 10 years Compilation Smallville Ways' and delivered again for Smallville 46. Now he appears with another string of beauty- A Minor Thought. There will be a lovely fullcover artwork package with printed Inlays for the vinyl version by Smallville's one and only Stefan Marx.

Elations Recordings presents "Tairen", an evocative cello recording marking the debut solo release of Melbourne/Naarm-based cellist LEM (Lauren Meath). This deeply personal work is an impressionistic reflection on place, memory and self at the intersection of classical technique and folk sensibility; expanding Meath's lateral, avant garde approach to sound with piano and textural percussion, resulting in a work that unintentionally falls into the post-minimalist tradition.

Conceived as a single piece across five movements and recorded between 2022 and 2024, "Tairen" reflects on memories of a formative place and period for Meath. Each movement scores part of an imagined landscape, mirroring the cliffs and expansive southern ocean of the coastal Otway ranges, remembered and reinterpreted. While tied to a place and time, ultimately "Tairen" is an exploration and expression of self.

Each piece explores this landscape, retaining its own identity while unified by recurring themes, moods and motifs. Meath emphasises restriction in her approach, creating subtly shifting layers of slowly evolving cello lines with expressive unstructured free playing bursting out. In all but one movement ("Bird"), cello is performed in a single take, utilising joined looping pedals on a semi acoustic cello from luthier Paul Davies. Equal parts meditative and expressive, uplifting and melancholic, the instrument becomes a proxy for the human voice creating a work that is intensely beautiful.

While Meath has a background in classical and pop, LEM has always been a more interior, personal project on the boundaries of minimalism and folk; in the past only as a live project featuring only herself, taking a lateral approach to sound through bow, harmonics and voice. While built on this foundation, "Tairen" expands Meath's typically minimal live approach with piano ("Sky") and additional textural percussion. Produced and engineered by James Tom and Danny Smith and with additional percussion from Dylan Lieberman. Mixed and mastered by Cam Parkin.

Geckos is the collective spirit of acclaimed songwriter M. Ward, Giant Sand visionary Howe Gelb, and Irish multi-instrumentalist McKowski. Born out of an impromptu recording session that was sparked by an encounter at the wedding of a mutual friend, the project blends the rich flavors of the Southwest with indie folk, Spanish influences, and a touch of Irish mysticism. While initial recordings took place in Tucson, it became a true transatlantic project when the members returned to their hometowns and continued trading ideas. The trio eventually regrouped in studios across Ireland, London, and Bristol, where renowned English producer John Parish mixed multiple tracks. Geckos' self-titled debut is steeped in story, spontaneity, and surreal charm, channeling the spirit of three singular voices discovering a new, shared musical language.

Originally released in the mid-’90s, Entropy EP by O.H.M. stands as one of the most iconic and sought-after releases from the golden era of electronic music. Home to the legendary track “Oceanic,” this record showcases O.H.M.’s unique ability to merge diverse sonic worlds — moving seamlessly from deep, hypnotic atmospheres to raw, hardcore energy, all infused with unmistakable acid vibrations. Now, for the first time ever, Entropy EP is being reissued in a fully remastered edition, bringing new life and clarity to its timeless sound. Carefully restored from the original sources, this reissue preserves the warmth and energy of the original pressing. A cornerstone of mid-’90s electronic innovation — finally available again, sounding better than ever.

The electronic producer Franz Kirmann returns to Bytes for his eighth solo album. The “Almadies” are long wooden boats used by Senegalese fishermen. It is also the name of the neighborhood where Kirmann grew up, in the suburbs of Dakar, Senegal, near the Atlantic Ocean. "These new compositions are the result of sound experiments conducted over the past few months and reflections on the concept of mind-constructed geographies," Kirmann explains. "The way memories and souvenirs shape an image of a place or country that is part reality, part fantasy, part cliché, yet also deeply personal. This experience is influenced by education, social background, history, and other socio-economic factors. " The ten tracks are crafted from collages of electronic sounds blended with field recordings from various places Kirmann has visited — from Dakar to the Caribbean, as well as London and Paris. His aim is to blur the line between electronically generated sounds and real soundscapes, creating music where it becomes difficult to distinguish the real from the constructed. All the sounds on the album were produced using synthesizers and field recordings. No drum machines, percussion or traditional acoustic instruments were used. Influences include Brian Eno and John Hassell’s Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics (1980), described by Hassell as "a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques" , which also works in the context of Almadies. Another big influence was Ariel Kalma’s Le Temps Des Moissons (1975) as well as artists including O Yuki Conjugate and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe to Susumu Yokota and Michael Banabila.