Suche:storm{o}

Split System, the Aussie group featuring Jackson Reid Briggs (Jackson Reid Briggs & The Heaters) on vocals and Arron Mawson (Stiff Richards) on guitar, took the punk world by storm with its debut EP this past spring. That was hardly surprising given the talent involved. But whatever my expectations were for Split System, the Melbourne-based outfit far exceeded them. Not just another "super group" (also on board are guitarist Ryan Webb Speed Week, bassist Deon Slaviero, and drummer Mitch McGregor [No Zu]), Split System is straight-up one of the most powerful and exciting punk rock and roll bands of recent memory. The band's EP was a smasher, and now debut album Vol. 1 emphatically follows suit. My god, this record is a monster! Essentially Split System's sound is classic Aussie punk. That may sound like nothing new, but this band executes the style with a force and fury rarely heard these days. It doesn't hurt that Jackson Reid Briggs is one of the best rock and roll screamers going. He's got a fire inside of him. Meanwhile, Mawson and Webb form one hell of a guitar tandem. And that rhythm section is insane. These are all brilliant players who come together to make an extraordinary band. Vol. 1 comes storming out of the gates with "The End" and never lets up. Of course we knew some of the previously-released tracks ("Hit Me," "Demolition," "Climbing") were going to rip. But the newer material is just as good and will just about melt your face off. Songs like "Ringing In My Head" and "Grip" are pure energy and ferocity, while closing track "Feelings" has a mellowed-out Saints feel. This band knows how to rock and roll, and there are literally no songs on this album that don't entirely kick ass. Sometimes we think of these all-star groups as "side projects," but such categorization would sell Split System woefully short. If we're talking about the top three or four punk bands in Australia right now, this has to be one of them! Josh Rutledge/ Faster and Louder

Did you know that Judy Freeman and Blackrock cut more songs than the 4 that were put out in 1971? We know of at least one.

"I Know Where You're Coming From" is a 70s funky Northern Soul masterpiece. We've rescued a lost, never heard before, track by the group for the A-Side here. Fans of their music will immediately connect with this blistering anthemic Northern Soul monster. Go ahead and grab the talcum powder, and prepare to dance up a storm to this one.

We've selected the completely unrelated, previously unreleased Marshall Hooks "She Is All I Need" for the B-Side on this one. A relatively straight ahead Otis Redding-styled Soul original that thumps and a nice compliment to the A-Side. If you aren't familiar, Marshall released one LP on Blue Horizon and a monster R&B 7" in 1965 on the Muriel label.

Italian cinematic funk heroes Calibro 35 announce a limited edition 45 rpm vinyl featuring two previously unreleased singles. The record is pressed on clear orange vinyl, limited to 600 copies, making it a must-have collector’s item.

On the A side, Calibro 35 reimagine Grover Washington Jr.’s jazz-funk classic “Mister Magic” with an ultra-groovy cinematic funk stormer, perfect for DJs and collectors alike. On the B side, the Milan-based combo revitalizes Can’s krautrock anthem “Vitamin C” with a fresh jazz-punk energy, a track recently brought back into the spotlight through Kanye West’s sampling. Both tracks are taken from the Deluxe Edition of their latest studio album Exploration, set for digital worldwide release on February 6th via Record Kicks.

Praised by Rolling Stone as “the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing that has happened to Italy in the past few years,” Calibro 35 have built an international reputation as one of the coolest independent bands around. Their music has been sampled by Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, and The Child of Lov (featuring Damon Albarn), and they’ve collaborated with icons such as PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, and Stewart Copeland, continuing to push their cinematic funk universe further.

To celebrate the release, Calibro 35 will hit the road starting mid-October, with two special U.S. shows in Miami and Los Angeles, followed by a European tour including Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, and London.

The debut studio album by the American rock band The Standells, Dirty Water was released by the Tower label in June of 1966. Taped in the midst of touring in a two-day session on April 4–5, 1966 at Audio Recording in Seattle, Washington, the LP takes its title from the homonymous song, which, along with its B-side "Rari," had been recorded on March 5, 1965, at Western Recorders in Hollywood, California and issued as a single. Dirty Water became the band's best-selling LP, peaking at #52 on the Billboard charts, and #39 in the Cashbox listings. The "Dirty Water" single peaked at #11 in Billboard and #8 in Cashbox. Along with Why Pick on Me, this is considered the group's strongest album.

"Time Is Slipping Away is an album by American R&B/jazz fusion producer, composer, keyboardist and vocalist Dexter Wansel. It is the last of four studio albums released at Philadelphia International Records. The album contains songs with different styles from P-funk to sophisticated quiet storm music to instrumental jazz-funk. It features the two popular songs ""The Sweetest Pain"" and ""I'll Never Forget (My Favorite Disco)"". The former song features vocals by soul singer Terri Wells. Time Is Slipping Away is available as a limited edition of 500 copies on purple coloured vinyl and includes an insert with lyrics."

Special poster on 250gram paper. Postcard with photo taken by Sandrien. Hand-numbered sticker. Shrinwrap

After more than a decade without releasing new music, Amsterdam DJ and producer Sandrien returns with her debut album Compass, released on her own new label, inspi. Created during a stay in Spain, where she finally found the space to create freely again, the album marks a new chapter: no genres, no expectations, just music made purely on feeling. Compass is an album about finding your own path, personally and musically, a cycle of searching and finding, letting go and beginning again. Lead single 'Life' laid the foundation for it all. The visual world of the album is just as personal: photographs Sandrien took around her house formed the basis for its artwork and imagery. With 27 years of experience behind her, Compass proves that mastery doesn't lead to routine, but to exploration. This double LP includes a beautiful double-sided poster featuring two original artworks of ‘Compass’ by Dutch artist Pieter Jan Boterkoek. Releases October 9, 2026 Written and produced by Sandrien Mixed by Julien Chaptal Mastered by Giuseppe Tillieci at Enisslab Artwork by Studio Pieter Jan Boterhoek This album is made with love in Spain, Volkshotel Amsterdam and Groenekan.

Moulded By Industry is William D Drake's six album, his first for ten years and a return to the richly layered sonic texture and epic production of his majestic Briny Hooves. He is joined by long time collaborators James Larcombe, Dean Gaisburgh-Watkyn and Steve Jackson, with the addition of a new crew member, singer Treana Morris. Moving on from his nine years of pianistic and compositional duties in Cardiacs, Drake's solo work has been known for its synthesis of Mellotron-driven grandeur with a surreal playfulness.

But the deep heart of Drake's work is in its powerful evocation of the landscape of the countryside and its connection with love, longing and loss. To this end, his own enigmatic lyrics have rubbed shoulders with poetry drawn from across the centuries. From obscure sources such as Samuel Spree to the poetry of Thomas Hardy and Rupert Brooke, his settings make old words shimmer with human emotion. The texture of his music also reflects an inspirational lack of concern for distances of time. The earthy breath of his harmonium is interwoven with tones teased from archaic instruments by James Larcombe – hurdy-gurdy, dulcitone and melodeon.

But Drake's sound-world is no museum. Here, ancient words and the timbres of ancient instruments become one with the rush of a moment's emotion. Moulded By Industry brings this approach a new sonic depth, intoxicatingly shaded by Treana's lush vocal harmonies and underpinned by Steve's rhythm. Dean's evocative guitar textures give an oceanic sense, tinged with Americana, recalling his work with Drake in their alt country band Nervous. These many layers of sound are drawn together into vivid soundscapes by the painterly mixing of producer Ott. Renowned for his work in electronica and dub, Ott's two decades of experience working with artists such as Sinéad O'Connor, the Orb and Brian Eno bring an organic touch here, more akin to the elemental forces of land and sky than grid electricity. More than any of Drake's previous albums, Moulded By Industry reignites the emotional urgency of old texts. The gorgeous single The Flickering Shade, haunted by glimmers of lost possibilities, is set from words by Thomas Ashe. Turtledove's heady evocation of the blissful madness of love sets the words of an anonymous 17th century ballad. above all, the album is a testament to Drake's love of John Clare, 'The Northamptonshire Peasant Poet'. Clare wrote as the centuries old process of enclosure, in which wild and common land was appropriated commercially, was accelerating.

His works, rather than representing simple sentimentality, are passionate love poems to the landscape and cries from a soul reeling from the creeping unfamiliarity devouring it. This sense of the tension between passion and ill-ease has its most potent expression in Green Shadows. The brooding, slow-tempo energy of Steve's drums drive a horizon-wide lament, alternately lulled by Treana's vocal textures and made restless by James' plaintive hurdy-gurdy and the emotive pull of Dean's slide guitar. The present moment is also a time of enclosure, both metaphorically, as our lives, memories and emotions are drawn into the commercial space of social media, and literally as land and water are swallowed by vast data centre developments. Moulded By Industry celebrates a regained sense of being in the moment in the landscape, in life and in love. The album closes with the utterly delightful single Love In The Universe. The kind of song that could make a cynic use the word 'joyous' without irony, this Harry Nilsson-esque romp reassures us, with a wink, that 'in an infinite universe everything has its place ... even the human race'.

2026 Repress

Macedonia's own Stojche is Fuse's next guest for the club's freshly made imprint. The long standing DJ and producer has been known to keep Detroit's playfully hybrid style as the focus of his work and 'Metaphor' is the case in point. His four tracks bounce through a nostalgic balance of techno, house, and more with a modern crisp. A refreshing take on club music, Stojche keeps techno's sometimes nonchalant attitude at arms length with a charismatic record that hits its mark with every measure.


The record's first track 'Counterpunch' features heavily lined percussion but still brews up a storm far and wide with resonant dub stabs and open hi hats. The drum machine boasts a full spectrum, rolling through a light show of melodic flashes, perfect for a room compressing soundsystem. The maximalist, vintage detail that Stojche brings to his compositions blurs the lines between classic genres in a time of hasty hybridization, which gives it a sort of authenticity that can't be taken for granted. 'Chordal Tribe', on the other hand, raises the general euphoria of the EP. Luring in the listener with bright pads and full-on drums, Stochje's work is reliable main slot material that adds color to any mix while providing a persuasive low end. Shimmering hi hats give it an ethereal quality making it an appropriate interlude for almost any context. Moving on to the B side, the producer sharpens up his rhythm and emphasizes the hardgroove influence in 'Signal Drive'. Softening the pace of his drums with free use of melodic chord stabs, Stojche opens up his dance floor for a crowd bonding record once again, complete with filter transitions and pummeling toms. As the final contribution, his title track 'Metaphor' begins with a more obscure opening to conclude his EP for Fuse. Leaning more to a techno cut, the record remains flamboyant as ever with open hats and rides shuffling through his arrangement. A muted main synth becomes apparent to focus the energy of the track while allowing for liveset-like drum flickering to take shape beneath, claiming the immortality of old club records with the technical precision of a seasoned modern producer.

Chase & Status announce their forthcoming album Generic Everything, out 9th October 2026, alongside new single “Gone Too Far” featuring Debbie. The 10-track project brings together an expansive cast of collaborators including J Hus, Little Simz, Skrillex, Giggs, D Double E, Blanco, IRAH, Col3trane and more, continuing the duo’s long-standing ability to connect scenes, generations and sounds across British music.

Generic Everything follows a landmark period for Chase & Status, which has seen “Baddadan” spend over 15 weeks in the UK Top 10 and achieve Platinum status, while “BACKBONE” featuring Stormzy became their first ever UK Number One single. Alongside a BRIT Award for British Producer of the Year, a record-breaking sold-out UK arena tour and their Milton Keynes National Bowl takeover, the duo continue to operate at a career-defining level more than two decades in.

Built around the idea of resisting creative conformity in a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, endless content and more, Generic Everything sees Chase & Status once again refusing to be confined by genre.


Moving between rave, rap, soundsystem culture and electronic music, the album pairs their unmistakable production with some of the most distinctive voices in UK music and beyond, capturing a duo still driven by the instinct to keep evolving, collaborating and pushing their sound forward.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952), the third novel in C. S. Lewis’ fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. It is also the third and final installment in the original Chronicles of Narnia film series. Set three years after the events of Prince Caspian, the film follows the two youngest Pevensie children, Edmund and Lucy, as they return to Narnia to join the new king Caspian in his quest to rescue seven lost lords and to save Narnia from a corrupting evil that resides on a dark island.

Composer David Arnold scored the film, with themes composed by Harry Gregson-Williams (who scored the first two films). It was Arnold’s fourth collaboration with director Michael Apted. He created specific themes for the characters The Dawn Treader and Reepicheep, and used themes from the previous films for the opening and closing scenes as well as recurring characters, to ensure that the film is consistent with the franchise. The score was performed by an 87-piece orchestra and a 40-piece choir, resulting in an epic soundtrack with just the right magical touch to compliment this film.

Transparent blue vinyl. October By Name is the latest solo album from Kavus Torabi, marking a luminous new phase for one of Britain's most distinctive psychedelic voices. Written in the wake of significant personal change and shaped by his work with Gong, Cardiacs and The Utopia Strong, the album blends adventurous psychedelia, melodic songwriting and mystical reflection into a sound that is both emotionally direct and unmistakably his own. Completing an autobiographical trilogy of solo records, Torabi once again performs, records, mixes and illustrates every aspect himself, creating a deeply personal work. The result is an intimate, expansive album that feels celestial, transformative and uniquely Kavus Torabi.

Come Back Down, the new album by Nashville experimental-pop duo Total Wife, was born from the edge of sleep. When composer and producer Luna Kupper would begin to fall asleep during late-night mixing sessions, the songs would follow her into the halfway place between dream and lucidity. Like Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks, she'd wake with a new perspective on the puzzle she was piecing together. "I'm a psychological mixer - I'm trying to think of how someone's experiencing the sound, versus getting stuck in trying to make all these different tones and using all this gear to make something sound a certain way," Kupper says. And like a spiral from waking life into dream, the songs on Come Back Down are endlessly self-referential, building whole universes from a single point. Kupper sold all of her synths to make rent before she started working on the album, and so every inorganic sound is instead built from samples of the band's own work. A guitar on one song may be reprocessed and used as a synth on the next, while everywhere on the album vocal samples are taken from a single unreleased cover of Elliott Smith's 'Between the Bars.' In tribute to this process, the album was almost named The Julia Set after the mathematical equation which feeds into itself again and again, creating beautiful fractal images. The intention was to create something complex but accessible; experimental, yet precise and without abstraction. In her lyrics, too, lyricist and vocalist Ash Richter is as straightforward as she's ever been. She drew on her experience of pandemic isolation to write about connection and disconnection, using her lyrics as a tool for the communication that was missing in everyday life. On the soaring, shoegazey track 'peaches,' a storm that forced the cancellation of a recording session became a metaphor for emotional distance. 'still asleep' chronicles Richter's euphoria after Total Wife's first tour, and watches it begin to curdle into paranoia. "Thank the full moon, my heart is overflowing," she sings, before: "Is there such a thing as too happy?" The experience of isolation was prompting Richter to think back to her childhood, a time marked for her by solitude and natural play - climbing trees, making mud pies, getting lost in the woods. On tracks like 'in my head' and 'second spring,' she uses the imagery of nature to recall that time and forge a connection with her lonely inner child. "I feel connected with transcendentalist writing and magical realism - trying to convey things in a concrete way, but with that element of psychology and mystery," she says. Richter and Kupper, friends from high school, formed Total Wife in 2016, relocating from Boston to Nashville in 2020. Both are visual artists as well as musicians, which they incorporate into their work with Total Wife via layered and purposeful visuals. A DIY streak underpins everything that they do - from handling their own artwork and music videos to recording their own music, releasing tapes through their label Ivy Eat Home, and hosting house shows in the basement they've christened Ryman 2. In Nashville they've settled into a weirdo scene living under the record industry's floorboards, a hive of collaborative and creative energy that has made them excited to call the city home. They also assembled a live band for the first time shortly after moving to Nashville, consisting of Ryan Bigelow, Sean Booz and Billy Campbell - injecting their creative process with a jolt of spontaneity and aliveness that has fed back into Come Back Down.

Come Back Down, the new album by Nashville experimental-pop duo Total Wife, was born from the edge of sleep. When composer and producer Luna Kupper would begin to fall asleep during late-night mixing sessions, the songs would follow her into the halfway place between dream and lucidity. Like Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks, she'd wake with a new perspective on the puzzle she was piecing together. "I'm a psychological mixer - I'm trying to think of how someone's experiencing the sound, versus getting stuck in trying to make all these different tones and using all this gear to make something sound a certain way," Kupper says. And like a spiral from waking life into dream, the songs on Come Back Down are endlessly self-referential, building whole universes from a single point. Kupper sold all of her synths to make rent before she started working on the album, and so every inorganic sound is instead built from samples of the band's own work. A guitar on one song may be reprocessed and used as a synth on the next, while everywhere on the album vocal samples are taken from a single unreleased cover of Elliott Smith's 'Between the Bars.' In tribute to this process, the album was almost named The Julia Set after the mathematical equation which feeds into itself again and again, creating beautiful fractal images. The intention was to create something complex but accessible; experimental, yet precise and without abstraction. In her lyrics, too, lyricist and vocalist Ash Richter is as straightforward as she's ever been. She drew on her experience of pandemic isolation to write about connection and disconnection, using her lyrics as a tool for the communication that was missing in everyday life. On the soaring, shoegazey track 'peaches,' a storm that forced the cancellation of a recording session became a metaphor for emotional distance. 'still asleep' chronicles Richter's euphoria after Total Wife's first tour, and watches it begin to curdle into paranoia. "Thank the full moon, my heart is overflowing," she sings, before: "Is there such a thing as too happy?" The experience of isolation was prompting Richter to think back to her childhood, a time marked for her by solitude and natural play - climbing trees, making mud pies, getting lost in the woods. On tracks like 'in my head' and 'second spring,' she uses the imagery of nature to recall that time and forge a connection with her lonely inner child. "I feel connected with transcendentalist writing and magical realism - trying to convey things in a concrete way, but with that element of psychology and mystery," she says. Richter and Kupper, friends from high school, formed Total Wife in 2016, relocating from Boston to Nashville in 2020. Both are visual artists as well as musicians, which they incorporate into their work with Total Wife via layered and purposeful visuals. A DIY streak underpins everything that they do - from handling their own artwork and music videos to recording their own music, releasing tapes through their label Ivy Eat Home, and hosting house shows in the basement they've christened Ryman 2. In Nashville they've settled into a weirdo scene living under the record industry's floorboards, a hive of collaborative and creative energy that has made them excited to call the city home. They also assembled a live band for the first time shortly after moving to Nashville, consisting of Ryan Bigelow, Sean Booz and Billy Campbell - injecting their creative process with a jolt of spontaneity and aliveness that has fed back into Come Back Down.

Hoshina Anniversary returns to MUSAR for his fourth appearance on the label with Sankaku, a five-track EP offering the latest snapshot of his ever-evolving ‘Watechno’ sound.

Taking its name from the Japanese word for ‘triangle’, Sankaku opens with a storming, floor-focused title track, pairing hypnotic techno rhythms with shifting textures and sharp acid drops. Tsuppari follows, named after the rapid hand thrusts used in sumo. Driving percussion, Japanese instrumentation and a raw techno pulse give the track a physical, forward-moving energy, making it a natural club cut.

Side B opens with Kono Kanjitte, where acidic tones meet jazzy elements and a playful sense of uncertainty. Slower and psychedelic, it unfolds as a track for restless minds and hazy nights. Ariake, named after the Ariake Sea, moves into more spacious territory, with Japanese instrumentation creating an atmosphere of mystery and anticipation, like looking towards an unknown horizon. Closing the EP, Itsukushimi brings a melancholic blend of melodic touches and darker cinematic tension, recalling the atmosphere of a Hitchcock soundtrack.

With ‘Sankaku’ EP, Hoshina Anniversary turns Japanese imagery, psychedelic textures and club-driven rhythms into a world that feels both familiar and otherworldly.

La Dispute is an American post-hardcore band formed in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2004. The band consists of vocalist Jordan Dreyer, guitarist Chad Sterenberg, drummer Brad Vander Lugt, bassist Adam Vass, and guitarist Corey Stroffolino. Known for their intense and emotionally charged sound La Dispute has released five studio albums to critical acclaim, including “Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair” (2008), “Wildlife” (2011), and “Panorama” (2019). Their music often explores themes of loss, grief, and human relationships through a series of interconnencted stories. La Dispute has developed a devoted fanbase and is known for the powerful, unforgettable live performances.

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

(Tim Humphrey from Electric Cafe)

Murmuration’ is the low hum made by vast, beautifully choreographed flocks of starlings as they simultaneously flap their wings and take to the sky. Some people say that the frequency of this unique, rumbling, oscillating sound can cure diseases...

One of the most exciting live bands in the UK, British Birds combine the garage-punk energy of Billy Childish, the wry English sophistication of XTC and the witty pop inventiveness of The Lovely Eggs. Like a murmurating flock of starlings, they create a unique sound, and might even be able to cure diseases.

Based in Chorley, Lancashire, British Birds are a resolutely DIY band. Bobby records and mixes all the music; Emma creates all the artwork. Their first two albums were self-released, selling hundreds of copies at gigs and at a few chosen record stores. British Birds didn’t wait for permission to take flight. They just got on with it. Their songs are sophisticated, hard-hitting, and very skilful. It may be DIY, but it’s big and it’s ambitious.

Sessions for Marc Riley and Gideon Coe have followed, along with tours supporting The Bug Club, BC Camplight and Lovely Eggs.

‘Murmurate, Oscillate’ kicks off with Lie Down With Dogs, Stand Up With Fleas, a rousing expression of exasperation at our passivity in the face of lame authority. British Birds are acute observers of the English political scene, shrouding their observations in humour and surrealism. Polka Dot Eyes is another piece of sharp social observation: it portrays Lancashire lads – friends from school – who join the Army and return home physically and mentally damaged. The song is simultaneously disturbing, funny and catchy as hell. From the fog of disinformation and doubt that surrounds us all in 2020s Britian, British Birds embrace the darkness, but with wit and verve – no slogans, no easy answers – and with an energy that helps us escape the mundanity of a declining island. This might all sound a bit bleak, but it’s not: every single one of the songs on this album has a chorus as big as a house.

There are personal songs too: Scary Movies is a poignant description of Bobby and Emma’s grandfather, who delighted in showing them horror films when they were kids – giving them sneak previews of the darkness they’d come to embrace as adults; Just Like Them is a celebration of introversion: it might not be fun, but it’s better than being an idiot. (Paradoxically, any other introverts who hear this song will feel impelled to join in in the chorus.) Blame Game and Thunder Claps examine the darkness inherent in relationships: there is always an impending storm, if you recognise the low hum of the imminent thunder. Once again: the choruses of these songs confound the melancholy sentiment.

You’ll get the same impression if you see British Birds live: Bobby’s ferocious guitar and dark lyrics are counterpointed with Emma’s sometimes haunting, sometimes playful vocal responses and insistent rhythms. You’ll be swept away by the energy of a band who don’t know the meaning of limits. And as the songs get darker and darker the smile on your face gets wider and wider.

The core members of British Birds are siblings Bobby and Emma Townson, working from their HQ-cum-nest in Chorley. Drums are by Dominic Lawson (apart from Michael Aindley on ‘Just Like Them’). Bass is by James Robinson.

British Birds will be embarking on a headline tour of the UK in early 2027.

For more than 20 years, every CASPIAN album has been driven by a desire to stretch boundaries — a relentless ambition that's resulted in one of post-rock's most revered catalogs and established the Massachusetts quintet as an enduring, global force in the genre's modern era. On CASPIAN, the band’s first album in six years and debut for Wax Bodega, the more unexpected way forward was to stop searching for what they hadn’t yet done and instead trust what had defined them from the beginning.

The six-song, 39-minute effort draws freely from the musical vocabulary the band have spent their career writing: evocative melodic themes, dense textures, swelling crescendos and crushing heaviness that rolls in like a slow-moving storm on the horizon. But they still find new possibilities within those familiar contours, allowing patient development and repetition to carry as much weight as surprise. The nine-minute “Remain” turns a recurring melody into a sweeping study in tension and release, while “No One Left to Tell” layers subtle shifts around a hypnotic tremolo figure and “A Great Fire” sends serpentine guitars crashing into buzzsaw riffs. Even the graceful 3/4-time closer “Waltz for the End,” completed in a half-hour burst of inspiration, reflects the quiet confidence of five musicians comfortable enough in their skin to resist tearing everything down for the sake of reinvention, even as the circumstances surrounding them change dramatically.

"Things are looking better than ever for GENERATION STEEL! The quintet from Wetzlar/Germany, has reinvented itself on all fronts and is set to take the music world by storm with its upcoming third studio album, Steelmachine.

With the addition of guitar wizard and songwriter Thilo Herrmann - who made his debut in 1985 on the FAITHFUL BREATH classic “Skol” and has written heavy metal history throughout his career with RISK (including “Ratman”), RUNNING WILD (including “Black Hand Inn”, “Masquerade”), and GRAVE DIGGER (including “Ballads of a Hangman”) - bandleader and guitarist Jack the Riffer now has a living legend by his side.

There has also been a change behind the mic: from now on, Swedish vocalist Mike Stark - who currently sings for the Argentinian band FEANOR and the Swedish group STORMBURNER - is setting the tone. His powerful, high-pitched yet dynamic voice gives the new tracks an absolute seal of quality.
GENERATION STEEL stands for authentic, traditional, '80s-influenced heavy metal, combining the styles of ACCEPT and JUDAS PRIEST.

The ten neck-breaking tracks on the band's third full-length album were produced by Piet Sielck (IRON SAVIOR), who has previously refined classics by GAMMA RAY, GRAVE DIGGER, HEADHUNTER, STORMWARRIOR and BLIND GUARDIAN.
The cover artwork, designed by Gyula Havancsak (who has also created artworks for POWERWOLF, ACCEPT and BLIND GUARDIAN, among others), is equally eye-catching.

Anyone who loves honest, traditional German metal will quickly embrace “Steelmachine”, because the quintet not only takes us back to the '80s, but also shows just how timeless true metal is. Ten home runs, including the four singles “Steelmachine”, “Witches Cross”, “Wings of Fire” and “Fields of Pain”.
Stay Metal – Stay Steel!"

For more than 20 years, every CASPIAN album has been driven by a desire to stretch boundaries — a relentless ambition that's resulted in one of post-rock's most revered catalogs and established the Massachusetts quintet as an enduring, global force in the genre's modern era. On CASPIAN, the band’s first album in six years and debut for Wax Bodega, the more unexpected way forward was to stop searching for what they hadn’t yet done and instead trust what had defined them from the beginning.

The six-song, 39-minute effort draws freely from the musical vocabulary the band have spent their career writing: evocative melodic themes, dense textures, swelling crescendos and crushing heaviness that rolls in like a slow-moving storm on the horizon. But they still find new possibilities within those familiar contours, allowing patient development and repetition to carry as much weight as surprise. The nine-minute “Remain” turns a recurring melody into a sweeping study in tension and release, while “No One Left to Tell” layers subtle shifts around a hypnotic tremolo figure and “A Great Fire” sends serpentine guitars crashing into buzzsaw riffs. Even the graceful 3/4-time closer “Waltz for the End,” completed in a half-hour burst of inspiration, reflects the quiet confidence of five musicians comfortable enough in their skin to resist tearing everything down for the sake of reinvention, even as the circumstances surrounding them change dramatically.

Injury Reserve was originally a trio, consisting of rappers Ritchie With a T and Stepa J. Groggs and producer Parker Corey. Their mixtapes Live From The Dentist (released in 2015) and Floss (2016) earned them underground buzz, and they capitalized on the attention with their debut album in 2019, the eponymous Injury Reserve.

The group's momentum was put on hold when in June of 2020 Groggs tragically passed away. By the Time I Get to Phoenix was largely completed ahead of Groggs' passing with his contributions, and will be the first Injury Reserve music to be released since their eponymous debut album. Ritchie and Corey took the past year to complete the record, and the title has meaning past simply referencing Injury Reserve's hometown. It's an homage to a song that has been covered countless times, which is in line with Injury Reserve's ethos and approach when it comes to creating music. The group pulls from several styles and eras of hip hop, but runs each one through the Injury Reserve lens, putting their own distinct and cohesive sound across their references. Nowhere is that dynamic more present than on By the Time I Get to Phoenix.

It's an honour and a privilege for Vinyl Fanatiks to be able to repress one of Tango's remixes. And half of the royalties of the track will be sent to his family. So supporting this release not only adds fire to your record box but also a few quid to Tango's family.

A cracking release and boy what a remix he delivers, total luxury and decadence which showcases the incredible vibes of Dave's original mix but adds that Tango rolling goodness too. A double winner! On the flipside Fantasia is remixed by Dave as Midi Magic(al).

[a] a1. Calm Before The Storm [Tango Remix]
[b] b1. Fantasia [Midi Magical Remix]

“I marvel afresh at Béla’s extraordinary vision, his indefatigability as a creator, his galvanizing presence as a bandleader, and of course, his freaking banjo playing. Live Heart will reverberate through and energize the bluegrass community forever.” – Chris Thile Live Heart: My Bluegrass Heart at the Ryman is a 3LP set that captures one legendary night in bluegrass. On January 8, 2022, in the aftermath of a Nashville blizzard, Béla Fleck was joined by three generations of renowned players who together brought the fire: Sam Bush, Michael Cleveland, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull, Edgar Meyer, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz, Billy Strings, Bryan Sutton, Tony Trischka, and Molly Tuttle. The celebrated banjo virtuoso and musical adventurer has both dug deep into his instrument's complex global history and unlocked the breadth of its possibilities. He has earned 19 Grammy awards, and his acclaimed studio album My Bluegrass Heart, was a homecoming in sound. The music Fleck composed for his GRAMMY-winning My Bluegrass Heart is the third chapter in a decades-spanning trilogy that began with 1888’s Drive and the Bluegrass Sessions in 1999. This live record encompasses bluegrass in its core – the intergenerational passing down of music – and is nothing short of a masterpiece in sound, artistry, and community.

Paraiso has been doing vital work in Portugal - documenting the underground dance scene's history and pioneers in various mediums while also showcasing equally brilliant artists from newer generations. And they've been doing it for a decade now: we all know that a label dedicated to its local scene through and through is something rare and should be celebrated. This compilation 'X - 10 Years of Underground House Music from a Paradise Called Portugal' is a manifestation of that cross-generational spirit, with ten never-before-heard pieces of music by initiators and legends like The Advent alongside more recent veterans like Roundhouse Kick and Vil or younger talent like Phoebe or Van Der. Things start off with Salbany's 'Trax 10', oozing a techno elegance and irrefutable groove that wonderfully portrays the spirit of the Lisbon sound: raw yet ethereal, disarming in its simplicity while containing rave, romance and rhythmic complexities. Label founders Maria Amor & Shcuro firmly carry on the torch with 'Intracellular', gelled by dubby washes, syncopated drums, infectious rhythmic sense and layered with a melodic vocal motif. Vil's 'Cave' brings in stone-cold tight percussion offset by rich, evocative pads and technoid know-how for days. The Advent steps in with an ode to acid-minimalism, raw and slow-burning, with curious and twisted moments peppered with the skill of an expert. Van Der storms in with a piece of hybrid qualities, impeccably blending a swing onto industrial territories for a hypnotic-yet-banging hands in the air dancefloor moment. Scam Dust (the duo of Tiago and Shcuro, from adjacent generations) picks up on the industrial flavours, adds furious jacking rhythmics and live sonic experimentation that takes us to peak-quality effect and noise manipulation. 'Subvert' follows and goes deeper, as if into the depths of the ocean, with aquatic arpeggios and sparse drums that morph into an 303-driven state of mysterious oceanfloor mania - Roundhouse Kick sending us messages from the South. Violet and her 'Dream Machine' emerge with its mutant noisy motif, delay-drenched percussion and steady beat interrupted by keys, drum variations - and a u-turn to its paranoid loopy beginnings. Phoebe enters the chat and brings sonic sun rays in 'Galaxia 2000', a wide-eyed moment lead by colourful, open synthesisers with gates and filters taking us on a beautiful ride on tense, swingy drum patterns. The tenth track comes from Lisbon's rkeat and is full of closing act ear-candy with its beautifully chiseled, groovy as hell percussion, organic sonics and metallic instruments that seem to announce that the next decade is about to be just as good, if not better than this lovely 2016-2026 stint of boundary and scene-pushing.

Shoal corrals three original solo productions into ISOTOOP’s fourth record, each demonstrating refinement of the artist’s sound and technique, finished by a fitting retelling of ‘Interlocking’ by Antony Linell.

It begins with helical hypnotism; ‘Strange Blue Knots’ drives directly forward on muscular bass, but pointillistic synthwork creates an aural illusion of a spiral aperture tightening; the landscape remains broad, but focus is drawn down to the loci of motion. All containment is blown away by the incomparable force of ‘Roxellana’. Here, the forward motion is not illusory but the irrefutable command of hurricane tailwinds. Thunder heralds full-band waves of unbridled sound, and though the rudder is surrendered to the billowing storm, no part of the weapon is directionless chaos.

Shoal’s tale concludes with ‘Interlocking’, a step back from the monstrous energy of the preceding track (anything and all would be); attention is built again on guile and quiet magnetism, commonly felt attributes throughout the artist’s repertoire. This concept of restraint as force receives a sharpening by Antony Linell, whose sonic influence is present throughout the record, like fossilised footprints. In the calm, sheltered lee of the mountain, the slope behind the wave’s punching crest, Linell’s calmer, stripped-back version feels like a fireside retelling of a myth; still full of the magnitude of the original events, the space surrounding the action is foregrounded. 

Every tale may be reduced to the same core elements: the hand; the knife it holds; vivid silence presaging the moment of action. Fitting that the tale of three parts is summarised by a fourth, wider perspective.

Shoal corrals three original solo productions into ISOTOOP’s fourth record, each demonstrating refinement of the artist’s sound and technique, finished by a fitting retelling of ‘Interlocking’ by Antony Linell.

It begins with helical hypnotism; ‘Strange Blue Knots’ drives directly forward on muscular bass, but pointillistic synthwork creates an aural illusion of a spiral aperture tightening; the landscape remains broad, but focus is drawn down to the loci of motion. All containment is blown away by the incomparable force of ‘Roxellana’. Here, the forward motion is not illusory but the irrefutable command of hurricane tailwinds. Thunder heralds full-band waves of unbridled sound, and though the rudder is surrendered to the billowing storm, no part of the weapon is directionless chaos.

Shoal’s tale concludes with ‘Interlocking’, a step back from the monstrous energy of the preceding track (anything and all would be); attention is built again on guile and quiet magnetism, commonly felt attributes throughout the artist’s repertoire. This concept of restraint as force receives a sharpening by Antony Linell, whose sonic influence is present throughout the record, like fossilised footprints. In the calm, sheltered lee of the mountain, the slope behind the wave’s punching crest, Linell’s calmer, stripped-back version feels like a fireside retelling of a myth; still full of the magnitude of the original events, the space surrounding the action is foregrounded. 

Every tale may be reduced to the same core elements: the hand; the knife it holds; vivid silence presaging the moment of action. Fitting that the tale of three parts is summarised by a fourth, wider perspective.

2025 Repress

For the second installment of its renewed imprint, Fuse's own in-house resident and one of Belgium's proudest exports Phara takes the reins for a deep dive into thick percussion and vibrant club landscapes. 'The Wall' puts current dance music under a microscope with a brush of truly vintage spontaneity, merging techno's confrontational nature with house's harmonic genuineness. This duality is reflected through Phara's own relationship with his home base Fuse and the complementary contrast between its two rooms.

The EP's title track serves as a hypnotic introduction for the A1, imposing a bass-heavy rhythm and a persistently oscillating synthline. A dense production full of energy, 'The Wall' inspires intrigue throughout its duration, revealing its true intentions through a capable sound system. Sharing the first side of the press is 'Blaes 208', a name that Fuse club goers will likely recognise, that guides the listener from effect into embrace. With lush keys echoing past a comforting drum sequence fit for a close-eyed dancefloor experience, Phara's impactful tendencies meet his affinity for the melodic through a blissful six minutes of crowd to selector connection. Switching sides, a return to a cold cold aesthetic is quickly apparent through 'Hush Now 206'. A pummeling, saturated bass competes with a kick of equal effect, rolling through a storm of metallic stabs. Mastering the message of urgency, Phara presents a lightshow of resonating percussive work, defining his space just to cut right through it. To close out with a lasting impression, the producer mutes the acoustics of his work through razor-sharp sound design dotting along playful snares, a duality reminiscent of the dynamism of Detroit electro. 'Motion Steps', referring to the stairs that ascend from Fuse's main room to its more left-field counterpart, captures the atmosphere of the almost shimmering music that can be expected to be played there; a place where Phara and many others have been known to explore the extremities of their music. He swiftly throws in melodic elements to recontextualize an otherwise pressing composition, and after three chapters of considerable weight, he concludes his record with infectious groove that flaunts technical ability.

LP w Silver foil print sleeve + Hype Sticker)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ibiza-based Jazz N Palms is back with more musical dispatches from the calmer side of the island that follow on from his Ses Rodes album in 2022. That record was focused on a double album assembled, as if over a Cartesian grid of space-time. While one record was about space/the environment, the other was following the times of the day. This 7" expands that with more music inspired by magical island spaces.

These tracks were recorded in Magrana Studio in Ibiza with three new musicians and, after the post-production, the mixing was made with the help of Ben Westbeech and his beautiful Unfairchild II, an amazing Californian reproduction of the holy grail of tube compressor that has been present in Abbey Road studios since the 60s.

Opener 'El Valle' ('the valley') captures the different shades of light that pass over Ibiza, from early spring light to the arrival of looming clouds and the first thunders of a summer storm. It is the organ which serves as the main character to convey those sensations and the passing from light to dark as a live, loose and dusty groove bounces below. On the flip side, 'La Costa' simulates cruising on the open sea, riding choppy swells as waves lap at the boat and you gaze at the passing landscapes. Only drums and bass have been used to convey the feeling, and the result is a wonderfully uneven, ever-evolving and funky groove full of life.

Glasgow’s Hot Towel are a DJ & production duo, community dance party organiser and now record label reimagining the balearic spirit far from its original context and sunnier climes.

This debut EP contains 4 dance floor focused tracks tested and developed on the Hot Towel dance floor and beyond. Produced over the last 4 years in grey and rainy Glasgow these 4 tracks reinterpret the joy of warmth, connection and world building in dance music.

Warm in Your Office is a feet on the floor, head in the clouds, bouncing 90’s piano house inspired track with warm driving bass, punchy gated snare, percussion samples and a surprising nostalgic drop for fans of late 90’s and early 00’s Serie A.

The lo-fi beatbox rhythm of Low Pressure in Paradise features a melodic, rumbling bassline, vintage synth string stabs and a warm melancholic synth pad swell reminiscent of the day after the night before, or the thunderous ambience of an oncoming storm and the reflection that brings. Think warm orange and magenta sunset overcast with heavy mauve clouds and possibly a hangover from one too many negronis.

A sunbaked synth flute melody shimmers like heat haze in the latin / balearic inspired beach bar romp Last Minute Staycation. Cowbell and syncopated piano move the hips, while romantic synth strings pine for that magical other world away from the mundane. A shift in tone midway evokes the peril of a balearic dream turned nightmare, capped off with timbale and a shredding electric guitar solo serving Lambada meets Zappa.

Endless Cosmic Procession is a downtempo balearic builder that chugs along with minimal effort. Tuned percussion drives the groove, with bass and synth punctuations that reverberate into space and swirl with delay. A rising arpeggiator gently brings melody to complete the harmonic space of the track that rounds off the EP with a contemplative dance floor moment.

After the storm of their self-titled debut, Geneva duo Bound By Endogamy return to Pinkman with an album that trades brute force for precision. The rage remains, but it's sharpened, disciplined, and driven by melancholy rather than rupture. Their minimal synth and industrial instincts rise to the surface, carving out room for melody without softening their confrontational edge. Angular basslines coil beneath Kleio Thomaides' voice, at times detached and at times devastating, while Shlomo Balexert's drum programming and synth work build a taut metallic tension. The result is both intimate and mechanical: love songs for disenchanted souls, post-punk electronics stripped to the bare wire. Bound By Endogamy have always blurred the line between performance and survival, and here they do it with minimal gestures and maximum impact.

Written during and after a year touring the world, Sweet American Boy
expands the raw honesty that built honestav's audience while pushing his
sound into bigger, rock-driven territory - heard on Can't Let Go, Storm In
This House, and Crash First.
Across 16 tracks he wrestles with family history, addiction, grief, love, and
the complicated reality of chasing - and catching - the dreams he once
chased. It’s honestav at his most vulnerable, self-aware, and ambitious: an
evolution of his signature storyteling that feels larger, louder, and more
unfiltered than ever before.
• MGK co-sign Multiple dates on MGK's Lost Americana Tour; Crash
First (with mgk) on the LP
• Deeply engaged fanbase: 1.8M TikTok • 1.2M Spotify monthly
listeners
• A bigger, bolder chapter: Rock-driven evolution of his sound, with a
headline tour on the way

Gatefold LP and printed inners !

Superb IDM techno/house and breaky Ambient IDM Sounds... A Modular project _ith a crazy sound exploration, sweet and surprising.
A music art project.

BIG !

Omar Neri aka Omar J Born & live in Arezzo, Dj Professionist from 1991, play and produced under name PRESSLABOYS with Luigi Gori since 2011. In1996 instead, while they were in his basement during a storm, the study got flooded and they looked like homeless people holding all them instruments. Here born Presslab Records & two Years later Presslaboys Team, after various names used before. Today, never forget but never look back, keep moving forward, it’s time to fly… my creature, Tapemann, who lives the eternal dilemma linked to his nature, of tapa, grappling with the future, progress and the loss of certain values that leave room for AI. So, let’s start this totally hybrid journeys, in sounds ranging from house to prog house contexts (sometimes Deep and Dub) but with a sound and structure that recalls minimal, in the choice of reverbs and lengths of the sounds... all immersed in a decidedly acidic context. A melting pot from an artist who has spanned three decades of music, we couldn't expect anything different.

Presenting ‘Nothing Is Lost’, A.Morgan continues his journey through high pressure, pummeling techno, this time on SIDE B. Proving the degree of his effect as well as his stylistic versatility, Morgan pulls different influences from afar to craft a record that pushes forward with a nod to the past through three powerful cuts and a remix by Yant. The EP starts with ‘Sucker Love’, appropriately named for its commanding rhythmic section while bleeding almost into house music with a hypnotic vocal loop. The track oscillates between stabs of cold dissonance and an extraverted flare, creating a natural intrigue throughout its progression. The follow up is Yant’s remix, a hyper-focused take on ‘Sucker Love’ with significant weight in the low end. Thundering percussion widens the dimension of the track, flicking through a brutal synth sequence over slithering hi-hats and claps. Yant reaffirms his understanding of uncompromising club music with this remix, creating a tunneling track fit for a concentrated peak-time set. Highlighting the B-side, A.Morgan takes back control of the record with the ‘Cloudfall’. Undulating the bass of the track, Morgan sneaks in a lurking melody that detunes throughout his arrangement, creating increasingly destabilized moments to pack intrigue in the cut. White noise whips around the production to create a storm of ambiance over a violently binary lead, underlining the undeniable effect of minimalism in techno. The EP concludes with the title track ‘Nothing Is Lost’, combining instructive percussion, biting chords, and cold vocals - as is Morgan’s custom. Here, the British artist brings a harmonic quality with the synth work that comes and satisfyingly completes the project. The embrace of the chord selection immerses the listener over a highly tuned rhythm, pushing ‘Nothing is Lost’ into a state of euphoria for the conclusion. Words by Noah Hocker

2024 Repress!

The eye of the storm: welcome to Tornado Wallace's debut album! The accumulation of about four years of work, with tracks written in Berlin and Melbourne, 'Lonely Planet' is nothing like you may have expected from the Australian expat. No stranger to fans and followers of ESP Institute, Beats in Space and Music From Memory's sister Label Second Circle, Tornado Wallace's strain of releases so far merged functionality with a musical playfulness that led him to find himself as one of the producer's behind José Padilla's International Feel album. Here, he leaves the needs of the dance floor behind in order to create a magical mystery tour de trance into his and our inner jungle. How about some references New Age sounds meet new wave melodies, Grace Jones runs into the Dire Straits at Compass Point, while a Korg Mini Pops and a Roland CR78 make amends for Sly & Robbie's absence, Michael Mann pictures Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness', Robert Rauschenberg tries his luck at naturalism and an imagined Wally Badarou echoes through all of it. Sandwiched between the title track and the yearning beauty of the album's final point 'Healing Feeling', you get all of that as well as collaborations with and contributions of NO ZU, David Hischfelder and the voice of Sui Zhen on 'Today', who would easily make Anna Domino take her proverbial hat off. Tornado Wallace created an album that supersedes the requirements and expectations of a debut. Like a lost Island Records or a never released Made to Measure album, 'Lonely Planet' soundtracks notions and ideas that recall the nostalgic future in the past as much as it looks ahead.

An acclaimed international cast of forward-looking artists – Jan Jelinek, KMRU, Lia Kohl, J. Albert, Laurie Torres, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Giuseppe Lelasi, Jung DJ and Smoke Point – remixes/remodels tracks from Arp’s transfixing late 2025 album Drifts for Barcelona-imprint Modern Obscure Music (Actress/ Sakamoto, Merzbow). Reflecting Arp’s stylistically-omnivorous approach, each remixer on Echo–Variations represents a unique corner of the music landscape, from the jazzy ambient glitch of storied German producer Jan Jelinek to the overdrivendrone landscapes of Kenyan ambient auteur KMRU to Smoke Point’s no frills club-tool to the haunted ambience of cellist Lia Kohl’s gorgeous electro-acoustic work. One can hear elements of hauntology, post-rock, minimal techno, glitch, spiritual jazz at play. Arp adds a few alternate mixes and two new tracks for good measure, ambient techno floater “Chlorophyll (1998 Mix)” and perhaps the most surprising of all, the dub techno heater “MMXXVI (Dub Mix).” Heart all together, its classic sounding heart RIYL Touch, Millie Plateaux: Creative,meditative, brain cleansing, thought provoking hauntological futurism.

Half a century after its original release, legendary Lebanese musician and singer Marcel Khalife—renowned oud player and global icon of both music and activism—returns with a new recording. On this album, he reinterprets four of the five tracks from his debut, Promises of the Storm. A bold defiance of time and history.


Why revisit the same album, 50 years later? The reasons are many, but one stands above the rest: history itself seems to be repeating. The narrative unfolds once more in the same dire circumstances as half a century ago, as if time has folded in on itself, returning everything to its starting point. The urgency, the necessity—it all remains, pressing and inescapable. We must begin again.


In 1976, a young Marcel Khalife found himself exiled in Paris, fleeing the Lebanese Civil War and his family’s Christian village, where his progressive, left-wing ideas had placed him under a kind of house arrest. He was one of the few to openly and unwaveringly champion the Palestinian cause. The situation quickly became untenable, especially since, just a month before the war began in March 1975, Khalife—fresh out of the conservatory—had given his first public concert to great acclaim. Then, everything collapsed. What does one do when trapped at home? Read books, play the oud, and turn those readings into songs. In his family’s de facto prison, Khalife began setting the poetry of the great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish to music. These songs, born of confinement, he carried with him into exile, driving to Paris where a producer offered him the chance to record an album. Naturally, the tracks were the ones he had been improvising at home from Darwish’s poems. The album’s title, Promises of the Storm, echoed the war that was just beginning. Khalife recalls that the album became a hit after a concert at the Fête de l’Huma, where 500 copies were sold in a single day. “Everything started there, and it never stopped,” he remembers. He would meet Mahmoud Darwish shortly after, at a dinner organized by mutual friends. From that moment, a deep friendship blossomed between the two men.


With Darwish’s words and Khalife’s music, the songs of Promises of the Storm are imbued with a powerful evocative force—melancholy, tenderness, and poetic resistance in the face of violence. The album catapulted Khalife to international stardom, leading to endless tours and recordings, yet he never abandoned his commitments.


Now, 50 years later, Promises of the Storm returns in a fresh recording, because history is repeating itself. After the Israeli bombings in Lebanon at the end of 2024, Khalife, who was on tour, found himself stranded in Paris. He remembered a recurring request from his son, musician Bachar Mar-Khalife, who had often urged him to re-record his now-classic debut album. One morning, oud in hand, Marcel knocked on his son’s door and said, “Shall we? I’m ready to record.”
These new versions are stripped down, raw, and intimate—just the solitary strings of the oud. Khalife sings as never before, his voice no longer marked by the fragility of youth but imbued with something deeper, freer, unshackled. It soars high yet resonates low, always clear, as if to escape sadness, to evoke love and violence, desire and exile. In just four songs, Khalife encapsulates a lifetime, and a philosophy of life. Rita tells of a love of Darwish’s, with the haunting line (translated from Arabic): “Between Rita’s eyes and mine, a rifle.” Oummi invokes the figure of the mother as a metaphor for the lost land. Promises of the Storm is a meditation on revolution, the hope for change, the melancholy of defeat, and the power of thought. Passport captures, through poetry, the feeling of being stateless—a citizen of everywhere and nowhere.
Time has only strengthened these texts and this music. History never repeats itself without a valid, indispensable reason for the present. That reason is fully contained in Marcel Khalife’s new interpretations, which have never sounded so clear, so right, so essential.

Double LP, pressed on gold vinyl. As part of Lineage II's 22nd anniversary celebration, NC America and Black Screen Records are proud to announce the first-ever Lineage II collector's edition vinyl album, which elegantly combines a track selection reflecting the game's iconic history and memorable musical identity. This vinyl album is now available for pre-order and will hit the stores in November. Arranged by composers Bill Brown (Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six), Jamie Christopherson (Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance), Inon Zur (Fallout 4), and NCSOUND, the track list is a collection of 40 of the most recognized pieces from the original soundtrack, carefully selected to create a cohesive listening experience rather than a complete collection. Published by NC, the album flows between calm, reflective village themes, atmospheric exploration pieces, and more intense, dramatic compositions tied to combat, progression and large-scale conflict. The track list draws from the original soundtrack's most recognized pieces and centers on two major regions: Giran and Aden. Early on their journey, players venture into the world's southern territory of Giran. As they explore the region's villages, tracks such as "Crossroad at Dawn," "Shepard's Flute" and "Caravans Crossing" help create a calm, grounded atmosphere that reflects the peaceful nature of travel through the area. In contrast, the world's northern territory of Aden reflects the game's grander, more conflict driven spirit. As players continue their journey, the Elven Village track "Unicorn's Rest" marks a turning point, gradually giving way to darker settlements and imposing castles through standout tracks such as "Knighting Ceremony" from the iconic Aden Castle and "Expedition March" from the Town of Oren, where tension, warfare and large scale conflict take center stage. Across both regions, the tracks are more than background music; they shape how players experience each location, from villages and hunting zones to moments of intense combat. This collection brings together the sounds that have defined Lineage II for the past 22 years, offering a reflective musical journey for both longtime players and new listeners alike.