Поиск:synthesis

We’re proud to present the first-ever official reissue of Rold Lebo - "Dansez Otiere" — a folk-jazz treasure from 1986, originally released in the Republic of Congo on vinyl and cassette (self-released on small quantities). This vinyl gem revives the energy and elegance of a rare record, now brought back into the light — a timeless work, finally restored to its full glory.

This album alternates between the call to celebrate the ancestral homeland and cultural identity and poignant ballads about love, exile and homesickness. It is a work that is both intimate and cosmic. Finally restored to its full glory, it returns on vinyl for the first time since its initial release.

This is an essential restoration — a sophisticated synthesis of Congolese Folk-Jazz, subtle soul, and deeply introspective rhythms. Recorded in the 80s, the album channels a timeless spirit, exploring multilingual themes of ancestral identity, the melancholy of exile and the delicate games of love.

Rold Lebo’s music is a profound emotional capsule — once overlooked, now revived for a new generation of listeners eager to explore the sophisticated sounds and resonant stories of the Republic of Congo.

Phase alternations arise where overlapping waves diverge in phase, revealing the hidden
geometry of sound. A phenomenon that Peryl deliberately allows to happen — thus placing
the physical and technical aspects of music at the center of attention. His new album
builds on a fundamental idea of electronic music — but reimagined.

The person Peryl and his needs steps into the background during production —
functioning merely as a channel that intuitively receives and transmits what long-studied
machines, in dialogue with the subconscious, collectively bring to the surface.

The result is a collection of nine tracks, like emanations of precisely crafted analog
synthesis. No sound returns the same way twice. This fragility fuels the urgency — a
creative necessity to listen, to commit, to allow form to arrive before it dissolves again.

Rhythm is no longer on the grid, but a series of small shifts, offsets, and delays. Loops fall
slightly out of sync. Deviation creates friction, and friction creates energy. Through the
layered interplay of phase-driven effects — chorus, phaser, flanger — the sounds begin to
breathe in alternate rhythms. Hollows emerge. Swells fold into one another.

Challenging these swells is an essential part of Phase Alternations. Effects come alive in
subtle shifts, industrial textures whisper melodies, folding and unfolding in rhythms that
emerge through their own logic.

Peryl presents the result of an experiment: the sound itself chooses its form.

Lapalux (Stuart Howard) is a UK-based experimental electronic music producer known for his emotionally charged sound design, intricate textures, and immersive sonic storytelling. With releases on Brainfeeder and widespread critical acclaim, Lapalux has built a loyal global following and earned consistent airplay on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, and NTS. His work has been championed by DJs including Mary Anne Hobbs, Benji B, and Tom Ravenscroft, and praised by outlets such as The Guardian, Resident Advisor, XLR8R, and Clash. Lapalux's music occupies a unique space between IDM, ambient, and leftfield electronica — rich in atmosphere, detail, and feeling.

On the Grid is Lapalux's latest EP — a deeply intricate, hardware-driven exploration of rhythm and emotion that fuses fragmented IDM with warm analogue tones and deep dynamics. The EP showcases Lapalux's continued evolution as a producer, balancing intricate sound design with powerful melodic undercurrents. It follows years of refinement in the studio, drawing on his signature use of modular synthesis, Digital and analogue hardware and organic imperfections. With a limited vinyl pressing and strong fan demand, On the Grid stands as a key release in Lapalux's catalogue and a compelling addition to any store's forward-thinking electronic selection.

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?

Welcoming London-based artist House on the Strand to the Eastern Nurseries fold following his impressive 2024 debut, "Heroine", Ruben Elbrond-Palmer channels a sombre, cinematic sense of sound with "Unrest".

Interpolating the visual sensibilities of some of his favourite artists, filmmakers, and photographers into the sonic field, Elbrond-Palmer’s palette cuts loose from the percussive elements of his previous work, blending analogue synthesis with repurposed guitars, haunting melodies, and field recordings that call to mind the hazy delirium of a dusty summer’s day. Sitting at its core, "Unrest" places harmony front and centre, with each sombre movement rising and falling as electric fences hum, helicopters hover overhead, and unknown events are set in motion.

Deceptively simple, the resultant album is gestalt—an elegy of melancholic moments, lost to the world.

Mastered by Ike Zwanniken of Hysterical Love Project - mainstay mastering engineer behind majority of INDEX, Co:Clear & Theory Therapy Releases

Established in 2019, Eastern Nurseries is a platform for deeply emotional contemporary electronic music based between Porto and Newcastle upon Tyne. Curated by Rui P. Andrade (aka Canadian Rifles) and Christopher Macarthur Owen (aka Burning Pyre).

The label has released a steady yet considered magna of records from Hasfeldt, Emma Acs, innerinnerlife and VAs encompassing the likes of Conna Harraway, Severin Black & Slowfoam.

Eastern Nurseries no. 41

Written & produced by Ruben Elbrond-Palmer

Recorded in London, Kobaek & Aude, 2019-2024

Mastered by Ike Zwanikken

Cover photo by Andrew Weathers

Seeking out the inspirational intersection between free improvisation, rave and ancient mysticism, Plants Heal deliver an album of kaleidoscopic, organic beatdowns to Quindi.
Plants Heal is a collaborative project between Dan Nicholls on synths, Dave De Rose on drums and Lou Zon (aka Louise Boer) on visuals. The roots of the project are entwined with Dan and Lou's London-based event Free Movements, which began in 2018 to explore how instrumental music could merge with live electronics and DJ sets. Dave and Dan found themselves playing together frequently at the event and as part of Dave's free improv project Agile Experiments, with their accomplished track records as multi-instrumentalists reaching across many layers of music culture. The particular synergy of their partnership taps into the subliminal, surreal and transcendental soundscapes, but they're reliably anchored by instinctive rhythms and driven by a natural flow-state.
From the tentative steps of their first collaborations, Dan and Dave coalesced Plants Heal as a more pronounced project with Lou's live visuals, culminating in a first self-released album in 2021 and since organically fed and watered through continued performances across adventurous festivals and intimate club spaces. Every incremental step along the path of the project yielded new surprises and the deepening sense of a unique, powerful energy. The trio opted to pour this energy into two days of studio sessions at Sonic Playground Studios in Athens, maintaining their unplanned approach and letting the music and visuals unfold in the moment. The end result is Forest Dwellers, a sincere document of truly free music that uses the rhythmic structure of dance and trance music as a springboard into heightened consciousness.
Throughout the album you can hear hints of the familiar - dub techno shimmers, trip hop boom-bap, kosmische momentum, snarling bass modulation, new age ambience and even the odd sizzle of disco. But none of these references are explicit, and they weave in and out of less placeable expressions deeply bedded into Dan and Dave's sonic practices. The end result is a swirling tapestry of unspooling groove, wide open and agile enough to shift gears mid-flow - just as comfortable letting the propulsion melt away as locking into a four-to-the-floor throwdown. From the slippery syncopation of 'Avena Moon' to the angular bait-and-switch of 'Alien Hardware', 'Yarrow's starry-eyed reverie and the rolling, warm-hearted funk of 'Space Ballad', the Plants Heal sound world is expansive and equally enthusiastic for immediate musical motifs as much as wild abstraction.
Lou's visual practice is an intrinsic part of the project. During performances she improvises with analogue footage from her library run through video mixers and synthesisers, focused on medicinal plants such as yarrow, hawthorn, nettle and thistle. All those plants feature in processed form on the cover of the record, which was designed in collaboration with Lou's brother Arthur Boer. Meanwhile, Lou recorded additional footage in Athens during the recording sessions to feed into the continued cycle of the project's live evolution.
Forest Dwellers' meaning honours this cycle and its reflection of the eternal undulations of the natural world. It's also a sincere tribute to the spiritual importance and radical potential of the dancefloor, drawn from the freedom taught by jazz and dedicated to reclaiming lost ideas about community, agency, bodies and the enduring allure of the unknown.

Chaos is fundamental for creating something powerful. It teaches us to be at ease with how things are, to listen to ourselves, and find our own order’. (Enrico Sangiuliano)

Pioneering, avant garde yet chart-storming sound designer/producer/live performer Enrico Sangiuliano drops EP ‘Order In Chaos’ as release #1 in his self-destructing countdown imprint ‘NINETOZERO’, out 20th November. The EP’s three tracks respectively represent a triptych of sound exploring tension, release, and dissolution, with violinist and composer Vito Gatto joining Italian techno/melodic maestro Sangiuliano for tracks 1 and 3. The EP blends electronic, classical and electro-acoustic genres, resulting in a fresh, unique product that defies typical techno expectation, as Sangiuliano and Gatto explore the concept of disorder as a creative playground.

‘With this chapter, we dive into chaos – something that can be uncomfortable, but is the place in which you can find unexpected or new ideas. Chaos is fundamental for creating something powerful. It teaches us to be at ease with how things are, to listen to ourselves, and find our own order’. (Sangiuliano)

The ‘Order In Chaos’ EP continues a momentous year for Enrico Sangiuliano, and heralds his upcoming all-night-long SOLO show at Nitsa in Barcelona (Nov 28th, tickets here). His highly acclaimed NINETOZERO label has also previously featured Charlotte de Witte, Antonio d’Africa, Mattia Saviolo, GMS, Alex Lentini, STOMP BOXX, Zimmz, Secret Cinema and About Sofiya.

Vito Gatto is a Milan-based violinist, composer and sound explorer. He is the founder of label/collective NeMu (‘Neutral Mutation’) producing Italian projects at the interface of electronic and organic sound. His self-description as ‘Making sounds, looking for silence’ makes him the perfect collab partner for ‘Order In Chaos’, which ‘embraces the paradox: chaos births order, and order dissolves back into chaos.’

‘Whilst classically trained, I have always been fascinated by the world of electronic music, in all its expressive forms’ Gatto says. ‘I use real instruments and natural sound sources processing them through electronics to enhance their unpredictability, always remembering that the core of music - whether classical or electronic - is communication and storytelling. This philosophy guided our creative synthesis on this release.’

The collaborative workflow combined remote and in-person studio work over roughly a year, culminating in these three key tracks reflecting different musical and conceptual layers.

‘Order In Chaos’ EP tracks:
Enrico Sangiuliano & Vito Gatto ‘Adaptation for Strings and 909’: A cinematic overture built from the raw intimacy of Vito Gatto’s violin, processed and layered with unquantized 909 drums. Out of grid, out of rules. Drama and turbulence surge until thunderous kicks strike like sudden storms. ‘This track symbolises both of us. Vito sent the strings, I added the iconic Roland 909. It has no structure and no grid, the arrangement is not precise, it’s a very pure track and a great example of disorder and freedom.’
Enrico Sangiuliano ‘Order in Chaos’: The title track is a pure techno weapon and dancefloor igniter: rolling, stripped, euphoric. A shape-shifting lead synth constantly mutates, flirting with disorder until the kick restores gravity. Chaos becomes dancefloor order.
Enrico Sangiuliano & Vito Gatto ‘Dissolution’: The closing moment. Strings and drums dissolve into a weightless drone. Beatless and infinite, it invites surrender into space. ‘This cinematic track slowly melts ‘Order in Chaos’, adding processed organic sounds and field recordings from the mountains.. coming back to nature, and silence.’ (Gatto).

Still #0 to go in the NINETOZERO countdown… And then what? With Sangiuliano, it’ll be something unexpected and brilliantly innovative.

No Static Automatic is proud to cap off the year with the electrifying *Cabin Pressure EP* from seasoned producer and sound designer **Luke Sanger**.

Set for release on limited edition vinyl, this four-track weapon is a potent fusion of classic electro rhythms and Sanger’s signature world of bleeps, wobbles, and modulated
chaos.

With a career spanning two decades at the nexus of music and technology, Luke Sanger is a relentless innovator. While his roots are often linked to techno, his artistic output defies easy categorization, constantly exploring the full spectrum of electronic music. On the

*Cabin Pressure EP*, he turns his focus to electro, injecting the genre with his uniquely off- kilter and captivating sound.

The EP is a masterful display of analog synthesis. Sanger crafts simple, infectious basslines and leads, then sets them in motion, allowing them to converse, modulate, and evolve into a complex tapestry of sound. The result is a listening experience that is as intellectually fascinating as it is physically compelling. Over a bedrock of sturdy electro beats, Sanger layers acid basslines with wild envelope modulation, distorted humanoid samples, and an array of wobbly, techy textures designed to bring dancefloors to a state of ecstatic, unstable bliss.

This is a record built for impact. The *Cabin Pressure EP* is not just a collection of tracks; it's a dynamic tool for DJs, guaranteed to become a secret weapon in sets that demand character and forward-thinking energy.

The Xuntanza series returns with its sixth volume, reaffirming the collaborative spirit that has made it a reference within contemporary electronic music.
In this new chapter, five artists from singular sonic universes come together on one record to shape a collective journey: Legowelt, Synth Alien, Vema Diodes, Irrational Language, and Sound Synthesis.
The result is a mosaic of sounds in tune with the open and daring identity of Fanzine Records. Join this new Xuntanza and be part of the history of Fanzine Records.

EB-REX kicks off EB003 with atmospheric, driving techno single 'The Core' by Estella Boersma. The label's third release, EB003, expands it's sonic scope and delivers a bright, peak-time techno experience. The release concludes with a delicate IDM cut, leaving the listener suspended between nostalgia and motion. EB-REX, a Berlin-based Techno label founded by Estella Boersma in 2024, stands as a testament to versatility and artistic freedom. Drawing inspiration from the halcyon days of old-school rave and the relentless drive of Techno's present, each release embodies a synthesis of the past and the future.

Finally out is this eagerly-awaited release of SUNANDBASS Recordings, Hits Me In Waves EP by Mark System. Friends and close members of the SAB family know it's been brewing for the last decade, appearing in bits in aftermovies and we are beyond excited to now share it with the world.

'Hits Me In Waves' unveils three currents at once, the surging pull of inspiration, the sweep of new love, and the beautiful embrace of La Cinta's waters, all washing over in unison. Thus, each track of the EP explores a wide range of emotions and moods, expressed in multiple styles within drum & bass; the lead single 'On An Island', sets the tone with unmatched sound design, rich musical elements, and raw, uncompromising production. Next comes 'Point Of Reference', built for the dancefloor and eternally young in its refined appeal. 'Celebration' follows, a powerful track that ties the listening journey together, pairing heavy low-end weight with slick musicality to keep it both melodic and full of energy. 'Where's The Dog' stands out for its playability and tough bass synthesis, making it the hardest-hitting cut on the record. Closing the EP is the beautiful and introspective 'Started At The End', a deep dive into Mark's musical mind, offering a classic, emotive finale.

Hits Me In Waves is more than just a collection of tracks, it's a reflection of Mark's long-standing relationship with SUNANDBASS and our shared vision for music that speaks to the soul and stands the test of time. Spanning from Ibiza, this release embodies the SAB spirit: pushing the boundaries of drum & bass while fostering connection through rhythm, movement, and community.

Opsin- the new collaborative alias of longtime friends and producers Keydell and Kincaid - announce their debut LP on wax, Through The Wall, from London-based record label Hypnic Jerks.

Artist Info:

Opsin is the debut project between artists Keydell (Liam Keydell Myers-Cook) and Kincaid (Joe Arthur). The Pair have previously released on the following labels: Well Street Records, Banoffee Pies, Redstone Press & Bliss Print.

Both have extensive work in sound design and collaborated on the soundtrack for Mithridate at London Fashion Week 2024. Kincaid also produced the soundtrack for Alexander Whitley's Anti-Body Ballet.

Release Info:

The album is named after the birthplace of its creation. Sharing files between bedroom walls during COVID-19. Keydell's meticulous Ableton-based resampling of found audio and modular synth racks, and Kincaid's Reaktor-driven synthesis in Logic.

Draws on a wide spectrum of electronic influences the album infuses elements of rave, techno, industrial and ambient sounds, whilst never quite landing in any specific genre.

Second release from London label Hypnic Jerks on 4 sides of 180 gram vinyl, in a gatefold sleeve designed by Jacob Wise and mastered by Rashad Becker.

A followup from their first release - Toumba's debut physical release 'Rosefinch', which saw later releases from Hessle Audio and Nervous Horizon.

Continuing his refraction of the rave continuum into pointedly dislocated, delicately bruising sound system meditations, Low End Activist returns to Peak Oil with a second instalment in his Airdrop series. This time around, he channels the ghosts of foundational tech-step and the quantum leaps of late-90s D&B to provide the inspirational fuel for his skeletal, astral constructions. A strong stylistic thread continues to weave through the LEA output from his earlier self-released EPs and Sneaker Social Club albums, where haunted atmospherics, blown out subs and snatches of breaks dart around each other in empty dancehalls, but the finer point of the sound design and synthesis makes very specific references to landmark moments in hardcore's evolution.

By weaving his own autobiography into the music, the Activist maintains a fundamental theme of his work to date. 'Colin's Golf', 'Smithy's Porsche,' 'Merv's Lazy Eye' and 'Brillo's Teeth' are all personal codes harking back to the formative Oxford rave scene. With the framework in place, he uses textures, timbres and studio tricks from scene-leading pioneers and local heroes of the era as ingredients in thoroughly modernist concoctions. None of the reference points are deployed as literal callbacks — they're waymarkers for the creative process and faint triggers bedded deep into Airdrop II's strange formations. Fleeting sonics might trigger latent memories for those who were there. For everyone else, Airdrop II is another step further along rave's eternally unspooling odyssey, guided by decades of precedents on a path into the future.

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

Blue note / Schema / Far Out recordings artist shares a new compilation of golden age italian library music.

Following his acclaimed five-part Viagem compilation series celebrating Brazil's forgotten bossa nova and samba jazz, Far Out, Blue Note and Schema recording artist and international DJ Nicola Conte turns his curatorial attention homeward with Viaggio, an extraordinary exploration of Italy's library music renaissance 1970-79.

The 12-track compilation spotlights the remarkable creative explosion that occurred during the seventies: when some of the greatest yet most historically overlooked composers, including Amedeo Tommasi, Alessandro Alessandroni and Max Rocci, were composing and recording huge amounts of original music for film and television libraries.

Unlike commercial releases designed for mass consumption, library music was created specifically to accompany images on screen. This meant creative freedom for composers who imagined scenarios, feelings and worlds to soundtrack. Pressed in limited quantities, these recordings were distributed only to internal circles of music supervisors, journalists, and television professionals – making them virtually invisible to the general public for decades.

"This is a journey through a largely forgotten world," explains Conte. "While major jazz recording opportunities were scarce, an incredible network of small labels owned by publishing companies – often created by the composers themselves – began to flourish. This created an open space where musicians could express more experimental and free thinking sounds."

At the heart of Viaggio stands Amedeo Tommasi, the sophisticated jazz pianist who emerged in 1960 backing international stars like Chet Baker, Bobby Jaspar, and Jacques Pelzer. Tommasi was among Italy's earliest artists to introduce Black US modal jazz influences, and when traditional recording opportunities dwindled, he pivoted to soundtrack and library music, helping define a distinctly Italian sound that bridged experimental jazz with the emerging possibilities afforded by developments in synthesizer and recording technologies.

The compilation features rare gems from small label outputs, namely the Cenacolo and Rotary label catalogs. Tommasi's contemporaries include the great Alessandro Alessandroni and his vocalist wife Giulia De Mutiis (Kema), Stefano Torrosi (under the alias Farlocco - meaning fake/phony), and Belgian composer Joël Vandroogenbroeck. The recordings capture the technological evolution of the era as beguiling synthesis often combines with global influences spanning Brazilian rhythms, jazz-funk explorations, and Middle Eastern scales.

"You can hear both the haunting melodies and sun-kissed atmospheres so typical of Italian culture from that era," Conte observes. "Some of these albums could have been proper artist releases, while others were specifically designed for accompanying images on screen, yet all were crafted with exploratory creativity that still resonates powerfully today."

12” vinyl, full sleeve artwork with Mordançage front cover artwork by artist Jo Torres, design & centre labels by Ciaran birch. Limited run of 300.

“Singing Vessels” draws inspiration from the sonorities and aesthetics of Amazonian medicine ceremonies and traditional Andean music. At its heart is a collection of clay whistles from ancient South America, whose timbres conjure the vibrant soundworld of the Andes. The piece also incorporates shamanic instruments from the Amazon, such as the shacapa — a bundle of dry leaves whose rustling produces a deep, soothing texture with remarkable sensory resonance.

Interwoven with generative electronics, live looping and synthesisers, these organic timbres create evolving psychoacoustic spaces where the mystery of nature meets inner realms of perception and consciousness. The piece unfolds as a ceremonial passage through a shamanic ritual: beginning in a dense jungle of sounding entities, rising into moments of cathartic purging, dissolving into states of blessing and communion, and finally returning to the here and now with renewed awareness.

Nervio Cosmico is an electroacoustic experimental duo based in Bristol, formed by Chilean composer Daniel Linker and Italian sound artist Matteo Amadio. Blending acoustic instruments from ancient South American shamanic traditions with live looping, generative sound design, and live electronics, they craft sonic journeys that explore perception, consciousness, and a spiritual connection with nature.

No Speakers scores a major coup here by signing a Detroit legend from Underground Resistance's Galaxy 2 Galaxy. This guy's shared stages with figureheads like Jeff Mills, Carl Craig and Goldie so his creds cannot be questioned. His signature fusion of jazz and electronic fire burns bright here with A-side bangers 'Layers to This' and 'Bridgehouse' primed for future classic status as well as peak-time destruction. Flip it for South London's L.A. Synthesis remix. No stranger to dropping their own iconic techno, their take twists and turns into otherworldly soundscapes. Label boss El Prevost closes the EP with a savage twist of 'Bridgehouse' that is dark and twisted in all the right ways.

DJ Feedback

Kai Alce:
"Bridgehouse is just that, a bridge to the future."

Chris Udoh:
"Bridgehouse is an exceptional cut! "

Kosh:
"Nice release."

D'Julz:
"Best EP I heard in a long time. Lovely."

Radio Slave:
"So good to see La Synthesis here !!! and another great EP. from Jon. Full support."

ICYKOF:
"This is really fun. Love the first track."

Barbara Preisinger:
"The original tracks are sounding great to me and will go into the box. Thanks a lot!"

Orlando Voorn:
"Dopeness, all killer no filler."

Okain:
"Classy stuff."

Cristi Cons:
"Very nice, thanks."

Ryan Crosson:
"El Prevost remix is great, also enjoying the la synthesis remix."

Harri:
"Nice, will play and support."

Domenic Cappello:
"Jon is Detroit royalty, love this."

DJ Hutch:
"Love this release. Bridgehouse remix is crazy."

Harvey Sutherland:
"Bridgehouse is hot, thanks!"

Colin Dale:
"Excellent EP. All the cuts rock."

Greg Gow:
"Nice soulful tracks full support."

Laurent Garnier:
"Cool deepness."

Aleqs Notal:
"Jon Dixon, always on fire!!!"

Man Power:
"Layers to this is great."

DJ Bone:
"Smooth and funky release. Very nice."

Eudemonia marks a significant milestone with its 20th release: Cerebral Waves, the debut EP from Irish sound engineer and producer Kevin O'Reilly, known under his alias Otherend. This four-track collection dives deep into the electro continuum, weaving together cerebral rhythms, acidic textures, and cosmic atmospheres.

The EP includes three original tracks built around crisp drum patterns and spacious synths, offering a thoughtful take on electro with subtle cosmic touches. It closes with a remix from Sound Synthesis, who brings a smooth melodic drive while keeping the release’s spacey character intact.

Cerebral Waves is a bold introduction to Otherend’s sonic universe and a fitting landmark for Eudemonia’s evolving catalog. Electro heads, space voyagers, and acid lovers—this one’s for you.

Elations Recordings presents "Depois do Silêncio", an intimate, forward-looking acoustic bass, digital keyboard and synthesiser recording by Brazilian avant-garde jazz luminaries Zeca Assumpção and Lelo Nazario. This release celebrates almost fifty years of the duo's friendship and musical affinity, continuing a musical dialogue between long-time collaborators. The duo began working together with Hermeto Pascoal's "Grupo Vice Versa" in the mid 1970s before forging one of Brazil's most adventurous experimental jazz groups "Grupo Um" in 1976; releasing three albums with a shared avant-garde and lateral, exploratory approach to sound fusing jazz and contemporary synthesis with expanded and prepared acoustic playing.

"Depois do Silêncio" reflects the duo's long development of a shared conception of music, resulting in a work that is both timeless and modern. The music on the album was primarily recorded in Nazario's UTOPIA Studio, São Paulo, in 1994, featuring Assumpção on acoustic bass and Nazario on his newly acquired Ensoniq TS-12; these recordings were supplemented with acoustic bass for "Quintal da Memória" in 2018 and completed with an additional layer of rich, complex analog and virtual synthesis following their rediscovery of the material in 2022.

Assumpção's deeply expressive acoustic bass playing forms the backbone of these compositions, augmented by Nazario's expansive and exploratory approach to synthesis, its constantly shifting timbres "making music a living organism, which adapts to situations as they appear." Nazario explains that "although the themes are written, much of the music is improvised based on an organic development of ideas, all intertwined and interrelated exactly as happens in a living organism".

The album title "Depois do Silêncio" (After Silence) references a phrase by the writer Aldous Huxley; "after silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music". Assumpção and Nazario continue a search for new forms of musical expression, and here they succeed in creating music that "expands the sound of musical instruments, so opening new horizons in the minds of listeners".

East Kilbride’s Scott Fraser finally comes good on a 25 year promise to his younger self with his debut solo album on his own label DX Recordings out of London. This record represents the closing of this chapter and the opening of a new one.

A truly international and collaborative project pulling together the help and talent of friends around the world with mastering by Radioactive man Keith Tenniswood, cut by Frank Merritt at The Carvery and world class US visual art and design legends, Tim Saccenti and Nick Martin on photography, artwork and design.

Limited to 300 solid red heavyweight vinyl copies, brown kraft sleeves; individually hand stencilled and numbered by the artist, printed inserts feature a collection of moments and images from the last 25 years - the studio, the equipment, the people and the places that came together to make this release. Japanese rice paper inner sleeves.

Limited edition hand printed screen print by Niall Greaves at Newbridge Print Studios in Newcastle on the first 30 copies exclusively available via the DX Recordings Bandcamp page.

Musically diverse, crossing styles, flavours and moods, threaded meticulously with razor sharp Roland TR606 programming and glued together with a Space Echo, Expanded opens with the sub aquatic funk of ‘Eden And After’. Side one takes you through banging electro on ‘Energy In Constitution’, the dark dub techno of ‘To The Letter Of My Oath’, leaves you disappearing through a black hole on ‘The Path Of Helium Rain’ and the sound of aliens talking through FM synthesis on ‘Collected Stills’. On side two: a slice of dark, heavy instrumental hip hop gets things started with ‘Where Is That Perception? ‘. Next we get into some straight 4/4 club techno with cut up drums and bumping baseline in ‘Mi Dominante’ before moving through some blissed out Detroit vibes on ‘Earth Looking Inwards’, a rough as you like TR606 driven experimental electro groover ‘Object of Life’ and finally closing out with the Ectomorph inspired stark electro of ‘Steel (NB_BLOOD cut)’.

Mastered by: Keith Tenniswood at Curve Pusher, Hastings

Cut By: Frank Merritt at The Carvery, London

Distributed by: Rubadub, Glasgow

Artwork by: Timothy Saccenti, Nicholas Martin, Scott Fraser

Photography by: Kate Green, Javier Gonzalez, Scott Fraser, Timothy Saccenti

Solid red vinyl (300 copies), 30 coming with a limited edition screen print designed by Timothy Saccenti, Nicholas Martin and Scott Fraser, hand screen printed by Niall Greaves at Newbridge Print studios in Newcastle.

Enigmatic UK producer Dylan Henner announces new album of deeply considered and choral-laced experimental ambient music Star Dream FM, said to be taped from a mysterious radio broadcast that plays his favourite memories from adolescence.

Though (clearly) fictional, the backdrop to new album Star Dream FM represents a tactile canvas on which the record’s true meaning is painted. It is, through Henner’s now-characteristic employment of ambient-textured synthesis, marimba, digital choir, and processed voice, a study of late adolescence and the experience of being seventeen.

Little is known about Dylan Henner, who landed on the ambient scene in 2020 with cassette releases for Phantom Limb, Belgian label Dauw, and cult tastemakers AD93. He barely promotes himself publicly, instead choosing to communicate through disarmingly poetic song titles. His debut album “The Invention of the Human” (AD93, 2020 - a recipient of BBC 6Music’s Album of the Year honours) responds to a set of philosophical questions - what exactly makes us human? What good is civilisation when there’s so much misery attached to it? How will technology affect humanity in the long run? In 2022, he released follow-up You Always Will Be on AD93, which traced the course of a single life from birth, to childhood, to adolescence, adulthood, parenthood, middle-age, old-age, and demise. He has also covered Raymond Scott, Terry Riley, Aphex Twin, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Su Tissue among numerous further projects.

Introducing Beautiful, a 4-track, club-focused EP by Copenhagen’s Hekt on Numbers. It hints at his mass appeal while featuring club-ready vocal collaborations from close friends Henriette (on ‘Beautiful’ and ‘You Won’t Believe’) and Catharina (on ‘Anytime Anywhere’), who together record as Smerz.

Working entirely without samples, Hekt is a sculptor wielding digital synthesis and sticky hooks, with each element carefully constructed from the ground up and the process just as important as the finished result. “It’s about trying to be honest with what I like at every level,” he says. “To maximise the points where I'm forced to check in with my feelings on each aspect of the songwriting, sound design, mixing, and any other aesthetic choice. Creating digital approximations tilts towards an uncanny space where everything is crystal-clear but also kind of warped.”

On opening track “Beautiful”, the descending bass and acid lines are inspired by tracks Hekt and friends used to test subwoofers in the cars they rode around during their teenage years. “You Won’t Believe” started off as a MIDI piano sketch that accelerated towards the epic emotional impact of EDM stadium-fillers like Avicii and Eric Prydz. In a playful nod to internet culture, Hekt recalls that “I had this idea for adding a vocal that played on YouTube thumbnails and self-promotion. I called Henriette when she was in France and asked her to phrase it as epic as possible, and she sent two ideas over for ‘Beautiful’ and ‘You Won’t Believe’.”

On ‘Anytime Anywhere’, Hekt reimagines his sound at 110 BPM. What began as studio experiments morphed from Neptunes or Timbaland-style productions into a crunchy pressure overload closer to Gescom via Lazer Dim 700, with Hekt also adding his own vocals.

'Transplant Rejection’ is the work of Estonian artist and IDA Radio co-founder Robert Nikolajev, this collection of seven ‘almost’ dark ambient tracks embody the melancholy of autumn whilst hinting at the forthcoming eternal winter. A man with many hats, Nikolajev operates on the fringes of the leftfield house underground for labels such as Incienso, Collect-Call and Sad Fun as well as being one half of the sporadic DIMA DISK act with Ragnar Rahouja. Eschewing the more rhythmic side of his productions for this Muscut tape, Nikolajev taps into the fictional soundtrack atmospheres the label is known for and brings his own brand of wistful, introspective world-building by way of machine harmony to the now Tallinn based imprint.

There’s a lo-fi, grainy quality running throughout the collection, a kind of sepia-toned nostalgia that envelops the listener and disorientates any perception of time or place. Buried vocal fragments sit in the mix on ‘Stifled’ alongside decaying synthesiser drones whilst ‘DDM’ channels an edgy post-rock dirge with its use of sagged bass guitar. Overall, an inspired look into the more ‘at home’ side of this increasingly prolific Estonian artist.

El AMBIE—TÓN is back. The reference #002 is an exercise of Memory (Memoria), it is a place where the water blooms on the earth and the wind in the mountains. It is jungle and city. Mountain and noise. Imbalance and harmony. It is a lake in the sky, a forest between seas. A still cloud in la cordillera, a name that floats. This collaboration between Colombian Drone Mafia and Gibrana Cervantes is the beginning and end of a fragile geography, like the magic and mafia of our platanal.

But who is behind this new combo and bridge between South and Central America? CDM is the new alias of Nyksan, a Bogota-born techno-affiliated deejay and sound artist who is also one of the co-founders of TraTraTrax. From the other side, Mexican composer and violinist Gibrana Cervantes is one of the most outstanding string voices in the daring electronic music landscape in recent times. The duo's cabalistic work creates intricate and dark ambient, all woven around gut-moving sonorities. Colombian Drone Mafia dissolves the boundaries between synthesis and field recordings, crafting experimental yet primitive textures that infect listeners through the layered melodic spaces that Gibrana masters.

We cordially invite you to listen to this journey of immersive drones through vegetation and concrete jungle, music that is at times contemplative and at other times violent. Music framed between deep listening and deep boredom. A glimpse of the sound of the end.

Celebrated DJ, producer, and sonic explorer Auntie Flo (aka Brian d’Souza) — described by The Guardian as “one of global club culture’s most vital voices” — returns this autumn with ‘Birds of Paradise’: a rhythmically rich, emotionally resonant, and ecologically grounded new album, out 23 October via his A State of Flo imprint. The album will be launched with a special live show at London’s Jazz Caféon the same day.

‘Birds of Paradise’ draws on d’Souza’s global club experience while deepening his connection with the natural world. Built around classic Roland drum machines and iconic vintage synths, the record is a joyful, body-driven celebration of rhythm and movement, but one grounded in ecology and place. The album’s spiritual centre lies in Saligao, Goa, near d’Souza’s maternal homeland where his Auntie Florie (where the name is derived from) is buried. Where he found his ‘paradise’ nearby, staying in a converted fisherman’s hut and recorded dawn choruses from a riverside studio overlooking mangrove-lined waters. Environmental textures from Japan also make their way into the music, creating a sonic map rooted in lived experience.

“Birds of Paradise is about finding beauty and rhythm in a chaotic world. It’s about listening, to nature, to our bodies, to what’s real. It’s a reminder that dance music can be both joyful and grounded.” The album blends Afro-Latin polyrhythms with Western 4/4 patterns, fusing instinctive, dancefloor energy with field recordings that anchor the music in the earth. Described by d’Souza as “tropical with a few deeper edges, a balance of light and dark.”

The new record follows the acclaimed ‘In My Dreams, I’m A Bird and I’m Free’, which earned 4 stars and Global Album of the Month from The Guardian, featured in Disco Pogo’s Albums of the Year, and received support from Luke Una, Resident Advisor, Juno, Bandcamp, Mixmag, DJ Mag, Electronic Sound, The Skinny, Beatport, Ban Ban Ton Ton, and more. The album’s launch show at Omeara London sold out. Other recent projects include the ‘Outernational Dance’ EP on cult label Multi Culti, event series ‘Plants Can Dance (and Mushroom’s Sing)’ which explore plant and fungi bioelectricity as a means of live composition, and ‘Black Beacon’, a haunting cassette release and soundwalk series recorded on the abandoned military island of Orford Ness. There, d’Souza explored the eerie intersection of nature, decay, and deep time, gaining special access to restricted buildings to capture long-form soundscape compositions.

Alongside his production work, d’Souza has emerged as a leading voice at the intersection of sound and science. He curated music for Imperial College’s groundbreaking psychedelic therapy trials, developing six-phase playlists to guide participants through psilocybin-assisted sessions treating conditions such as fibromyalgia and gambling addiction. His five-hour ambient set at Watching Trees Festival, selected as Resident Advisor’s Mix of the Day, continued this exploration into the therapeutic potential of sound in altered states. He also spent six months collaborating with BBC producer Tom Raine on a documentary for BBC World Service, centred on a two-week journey through Kenya and Goa. There, he performed live, led plant music workshops, and joined a deep listening retreat rooted in field recording. “I realised my studio isn’t just four soundproofed walls filled with instruments — it’s the journey itself. It’s the people I meet, the natural world I listen to, and the connections I feel.”

This same commitment to deep listening fuels his live concept Plants Can Dance, a project that combines the biosonification of plants and fungi with modular synthesis. The next event, on 14 September at Hideout Hackney Wick, will feature performances by Stella Z and Lapalace, with d’Souza and resident Lamine playing live alongside responsive plants in collaboration with Repot Hackney Wick and the label Music To Watch Seeds Grow By. “I’ve spent years exploring how electronic music can connect us, not just to each other, but to the natural world. Whether it’s translating mushroom data into melody or capturing birdsong at dawn, it’s about finding resonance across bodies, ecosystems, and machines.”

Rooted in his Goan and Kenyan heritage and shaped by years of travel and collaboration, d’Souza’s creative mission is simple: to reconnect the electronic world with the natural one. Through A State of Flo, he continues to blur the boundaries between club culture, sound art, and ecological awareness.

Parallax explores the shifting boundary between human intuition and algorithmic logic, a space where two perspectives converge and blur until the center is lost. Composed through a hybrid system of voltage-controlled hardware and digital manipulation, the five tracks apply FM synthesis, granular processing, and bit-level degradation to rigid electro structures. Sequences are shaped by modulation instability and clock drift, gradually disrupting pattern integrity and simulating a loss of systemic control. Precise yet disrupted grooves hint at a deeper malfunction, as if something is corrupting the system from within. Parallax is the gap between the human who creates and the algorithm that imitates.

After an initial European release in 1976 on the Isadora label Age Of Earth was re-issued on Virgin Records in Summer 1977 and fast became a beacon for electronic music and what was becoming known as ambient - Some cite its very title as helping introduce 'new age' music - This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1977 Virgin Records release and is pressed on 180g heavyweight vinyl.
Guitarist and synthesiser player Manuel Göttsching formed Ashra after disbanding Ash Ra Tempel, the outfit he had led since 1971. Moving away from the space rock of his previous group, Ashra was a far more electronics-based project. Recorded in Berlin, between March and June 1976, the four pieces on the album represent the very best of what became known as Kosmiche: dreamily repetitive, glancing to the stars while keeping feet firmly on the ground.

New Age Of Earth is a record full of contrasts: the throbbing, techno-predicting Sunrain opens the album; with its waves and crickets sound effects, Ocean Of Tenderness pulses gently like a space-age early Fleetwood Mac; Deep Distance brings elements of surf music into glacial electronica. At 21 minutes long, Nightdust occupies all of the album's second side, a ruminative, slowly unfolding piece that, after its crescendo, gives way to Göttsching's impressively celestial electric guitar solo.

More Rice and Jugaar Records – Two Bangkok-affiliated labels – bring together an assemblage of their mutual friends for a heady, floor-focused VA with moods to soundtrack peak flow, after-hours rabbit holes, and just about everything in between.

Rudoh of Jugaar Records fame kicks us off with ‘Madoh’, a bendy groove that initially bares flex of early 2000s Minimal with its trimmed, rubbery percussion and obscured vocal snippets. As the track progresses, a hefty break and a catchy synth line bolster things before breakdowns unfold like little trippy slumbers rudely interrupted by bold, punchy drops.

Next up is Tokyo legend Gonno who follows up with ‘Rad’, a broad-shouldered banger propelled by a heaving kick and clap combo. A wrought synth is paired with odd shocks of acid and a sequence that flickers like a strobe. All the while a thick, gnarled bass line rumbles underneath, keeping vibes at boiling point throughout.

More Rice’s DOTT follows up with a swampy excursion propelled by a potent kick and nimble submarine tones. Drums are neatly stacked in polyrhythms as an infectious swing unfolds, one that’s decorated with ghostly synths and a generous dose of psychedelic synthesis.

Sarayu – also of More Rice fame, closes things up with ‘Fuijan Groove’, a brilliantly lean cut that lets the subs do the talking. Sharp tonal blobs flesh out a simple but highly effective march as spectral pads expand in plumes of smoke until the conclusion of a rich and varied record that unites two kindred labels perfectly.’

‘More Rice and Jugaar Records – Two Bangkok-affiliated labels – bring together an assemblage of their mutual friends for a heady, floor-focused VA with moods to soundtrack peak flow, after-hours rabbit holes, and just about everything in between.

Rudoh of Jugaar Records fame kicks us off with ‘Madoh’, a bendy groove that initially bares flex of early 2000s Minimal with its trimmed, rubbery percussion and obscured vocal snippets. As the track progresses, a hefty break and a catchy synth line bolster things before breakdowns unfold like little trippy slumbers rudely interrupted by bold, punchy drops.

Next up is Tokyo legend Gonno who follows up with ‘Rad’, a broad-shouldered banger propelled by a heaving kick and clap combo. A wrought synth is paired with odd shocks of acid and a sequence that flickers like a strobe. All the while a thick, gnarled bass line rumbles underneath, keeping vibes at boiling point throughout.

More Rice’s DOTT follows up with a swampy excursion propelled by a potent kick and nimble submarine tones. Drums are neatly stacked in polyrhythms as an infectious swing unfolds, one that’s decorated with ghostly synths and a generous dose of psychedelic synthesis.

Sarayu – also of More Rice fame, closes things up with ‘Fuijan Groove’, a brilliantly lean cut that lets the subs do the talking. Sharp tonal blobs flesh out a simple but highly effective march as spectral pads expand in plumes of smoke until the conclusion of a rich and varied record that unites two kindred labels perfectly.’

2025 Repress

Norbak returns to HAYES with Casa - intricate low-end work, weighty atmospheres, and vowel-like synthesis flowing seamlessly between club energy and soundsystem resonance.

12th Isle ready the first of many new releases after a break over the first half of 2025. Radx is a new collaborative endeavour between label artists X.Y.R. and Vlad Dobrovolski (½ of S A D) exploring a shared appreciation of vintage 80s & 90s synthesisers, ambient-adjacent furniture music and, er, dragons. Referencing the electronica of artists such as Kim Cascone/Hydrosphere as well as the sci-fi literature of Michael Swanwick where dragons act as living machines, the pair combine various synthesis models, pedals and samplers for an album that sits somewhere firmly between each of their solo works. From the cathedralic ascension of ‘Heavenly Shepherd of Silence’ to the back-room bean bag swirls of ‘Ovgo’s Etheric Mind’ and dense, jungle-like humidity of ‘Liminal Space’, the more ambient-leaning end of the catalogue is built upon further.

Written & Produced by Daniele Serraino (D/n), and Carlos Pineda (Linear Phase) all rights reserved

"Static Rite" is the result of a sonic dialogue between two producers-D/n and Linear Phase-united by a deep, hypnotic, and physical approach to techno. The EP unfolds within the realm of hypnotic/RAW tech- no, where repetition becomes a perceptual language and sound turns into ritual.

Italian-born, Berlin-based D/n contributes the A-side with "Resonant Shift" and "Blind Motion," two tracks built on dub textures, dark atmospheres, and broken rhythmic structures. His magnetic, slow-burning sound reflects years of evolution from the underground acid scene to immersive techno sets in venues like Tresor and Zur Klappe. D/n's tracks have garnered support from renowned artists.

On the B-side, Spanish producer Linear Phase offers "Mandatory" and "Silent Widow," showcasing his refined modular synthesis and deep sound design. With over 50 releases on labels like Drumcode LTD, Planet Rhythm, and Edit Select, his style fuses ambient depth with raw, hypnotic intensity.

On Biotope, Valentino Mora ventures even further from the dancefloor, delving into a rich, psychoacoustic realm shaped by modular and spectral synthesis. Built primarily around the Rossum Panharmonium, a module that analyzes and re-synthesizes audio into evolving harmonic clusters in real time, the album conjures an imagined ecosystem, where sound behaves with the logic and fluidity of organic life. Eschewing traditional field recordings, Mora instead sculpts textures and gestures that feel deeply natural yet are entirely synthetic. Inspired by elements such as soil composition, air, humidity, light, temperature, and the chemical properties of both land and aquatic environments and the living creatures that inhabit them, the soundscapes emerge as a kind of sonic biology. The result is a collection of slow-moving, tension-laden compositions that blur the boundaries between physical sensation and abstract design. Biotope unfolds like a closed ecosystem: modular synthesis treated as a breathing entity, shaped by resonance, friction, and organic motion. It embodies a kind of mystical biology, where textures mimic living forms, and frequencies pulse with intent. This is music to be felt as much as heard, Biotope invites you to listen with your skin, not just your ears.

The KNOW was an early 80's electronic duo, comprised of brothers Garry and Neil Todd from Stoneydelph, Tamworth (near Birmingham), UK. After playing in a conventional rock group and having to deal with the issues of too many cooks spoiling the broth, they decided to stay a two piece while the affordability of synthesisers and drum machines came in handy to replace additional human band members – shall we say for the better in the end?!

Regarding the name, Neil says: “Garry and I came up with this name in relation to the saying, oh you know he’s in “The Know” you know.“ The KNOW released only two tracks “Times Change“ and “Knights of Pleasure“ on a 7“ single in 1982, which is ultra rare now (only being sold once on Discogs for almost €300). Neil used Korg Micro Preset M-500, Moog Liberation, Roland Jupiter-8 synthesisers, and a Roland CR-8000 drum machine to create these two minimal synth pop anthems.

The original masters have been lost over the years, but the recordings have been carefully digitized from vinyl and meticulously restored and remastered and sound better than ever before. Additionally, five cover versions have been added by no less than minimal electronic synth pop heroes BLIPBLOP, doing both tracks, the THE SILICON SCIENTIST adding his dreamy synth pop melancholia signature sound, FLASHBACKS (aka Echo West, Silent Signals) with his icy cold yet playful minimal electronics, and TWINS NATALIA featuring KRIISTAL ANN delivering a rather faithful to the original yet up-to-date version while adding lots of new bits like a choir, vocoder, and one of Dave Hewson's unique synth solos.

All of this is pure and classy 80s electronic synth pop bliss!

Phantasy are delighted to introduce Greek duo Boys' Shorts for their debut EP on the label, ‘Athena’. The project of music obsessives Vangelis and Tareq, the Boys’ Shorts sound has helped redefine timeless strains of disco, house and Italo for Europe’s queer club underground, with similar charisma spilling into their collaborative productions on labels including Live at Robert Johnson, Permanent Vacation and Polari.

Boys' Shorts appearance on Phantasy is coupled with their most ambitious and fulfilling songwriting to date. Featuring a rare vocal performance from beloved selector and cosmic disco expert Budino, appearing alongside Elisa Paradiso, the instantaneous lead cut ‘Summer’s Here and Summer’s Missing’ recounts a sun-drenched romance cut short. The duo’s soft, bittersweet synthesis mingles with Budino’s Italian-language lyrics, gently pulsing to find closure, or at least further pleasure, while up late in a Balearic discoteque.

Under those same hot lights, Boys' Shorts go deeper still with the leading oscillations of ‘Stereo on Acid’, in which classic, wobbly-hearted 808 sounds flirt playfully with a bassline that bumps like downtown traffic on a sweltering Athens afternoon. Reflecting the hidden pleasures and true underground culture of the city after nightfall, title track ‘Athena’ is a sensual and sophisticated groove with an epic yet understated touch, that one can imagine soundtracking a future soiree or centuries of ancient history alike.

Limited edition, 6 track, 180 gram gold vinyl.

Returning for a second release on his own House of Jack imprint: Gunjack serves up another 180 grams of forward thinking techno music with a remix by Oliver Kucera of Djax/R&S acclaim. "Breakfast at the Guillotine" Shows the increasing use of custom modified, vintage synthesizers alongside FM synthesis to achieve a unique sound that is refined, while still maintaining a raw and industrial feel. With nods to 90s electronica like FSOL or AFX, the devil is in the details with each track forming part of a larger narrative while remaining firmly anchored in the Gunjack sound. "This feels to me; more like a concept album than a collection of tracks. I wanted this record to reflect the current, dystopian version of the future we were promised - a place where we are all having 'Breakfast at the Guillotine'."

- Gunjack

Ranging from dancefloor friendly electro to industrial breakbeats and lo-fi Hip-hop. ''I don't want to fly'' is a musical trip showcasing the many aspects of Geyzel's talent, both in terms of synthesis as well as in production skills. Serge Geyzel has been continuously active in the field of electronic music over the past few years. With releases on labels such as Mechatronica, Adepta Editions, Brokntoys just to name a few, he now returns at To Pikap Records with a multicoloured solo EP.

Slowly yet firmly blooming into focus, An Unfinished Rose is the new album from Australian duo Troth.

This is their first since relocating to Hobart, Tasmania and their introduction to Night School Records. With a detailed web of past releases on labels A Colourful Storm, Mammas Mysteriska Jukebox, Knekelhuis and Bowman’s own Altered States Tapes imprint, An Unfinished Rose is the group’s most realised and composed work thus far. While still drawing on the improvisatory and DIY practices that informed Troth’s beginnings, it points to a new incarnation of the duo’s music; an intentional language emerging from the fog of obfuscation and mists of uncertainty.

Over these 9 meditations on change, acceptance, renewal and rebirth, An Unfinished Rose finds Amelia Besseny and Cooper Bowman peeling back some of the roughhewn architecture that defined their earlier releases to reveal a masterful - if auto-didactic - use of space and melody. Composition and improvisation compliment and feed each other throughout, with locked-loop earworms providing the springboard for lines of clarinet or synth melody, and the negative space between chord clusters giving ample room for Besseny’s most confident vocal performances to date. Shaving off a little of the defining dissonance and tape compression of old reveals Troth’s music in radiant daylight, humbly accepting of its place in the world while yearning for better, more sympathetic modes of living. Leaning more heavily on acoustic instrumentation and post-production processes than previously, the result is a transcendent body of work infused with an almost zen-like presence.

Troth’s music exists in the border between forming and becoming, its goal to project a kind of preternatural beauty, leaving interpretation open to the listener. Field recordings, happenstance and improvisation may provide seeds for the duo’s compositions, particularly on Side A, but there is a deft touch of songcraft on show. Loam Loom Leaf Litter opens An Unfinished Rose, directly referencing natural cycles of life, death and regeneration, before the blissed-out drum machine groove of Gold Plum continues a discussion concerning the totality of nature and one’s place in it. Besseny’s vocal, swelling like an ocean churn in duet with itself is adorned with synthesised harp and a revolving synth pattern, conjuring plumes of medieval smoke. Thistle’s rounded, bass-heavy drums, nodding to the vast echo of dub, is a relatively new terrain for Troth. It’s propulsive and thumping, pulsing with a meaning and symbolism consistent with Troth’s past work, referenced overtly in Bessey’s lyrics - “Say it too much and it loses its meaning…”. Similarly, the sprawling modern-classical suite, Tides Reflected In Her Eyes, is intentional in its lyrical themes while traversing new ground, revelling in layers of bowed cello and vocal intonations. Side B’s 4 tracks feel like Troth’s most thoroughly accessible and affecting music to date. Leaning into their own detoured version of Synth Pop, Cocoonist explores downtempoisms via a crunchy low frequency synth, and dream-like, fuzzy trip-hop modalities, not unlike Besseny and Bowman’s other group, Th Blisks. Following on, Myrtle Mystes is an open and searching DIY pop song, forged out of drum machine, bass guitar and cello. (An) Unfinished Rose’s title-track is a clear stand-out, built upon an evocative rhythm sample that appears to change emotional resonance with each undulating repetition. Its cascading waves of affect, interjected with a subtle breeze of synth, bowed instrumentation and soaring, densely-layered vocals.

An Unfinished Rose is enveloping, warm, forgiving. Difficult, yet retaining a unique beauty. Troth’s music aims to celebrate the duo;s shared experiences of being in the world, despite the complexity often surrounding us all. Theirs is a message of hope and perseverance, learning and patience.

Lucy Duncombe and Feronia Wennborg compose a modern symphony for virtual choir on 'Joy, Oh I Missed You', muddling sound poetry with Nuno Canavarro and ‘Systemische'-style machine-damaged surrealism. Like a mashup of Lee Gamble's 'Models', Akira Rabelais' 'Spellewauerynsherde' and Robert Ashley's timeless 'Automatic Writing’ screwed to perfection.

Duncombe and Wennborg have been chewing over ‘Joy, Oh I Missed You’ for four long years, working their process until they were "queasily intimate" with their arsenal of artificial voice tools. Tracing the history of the technology, from voice synthesisers and chatbots to AI voice analysis tools, the duo experiment relentlessly to develop a digital-age response to IRL extended vocal technique - think François Dufrêne, Yoko Ono or Phew. Less interested in replicating human sounds exactly, they instead test how various tools might cough up their own idiosyncratic tics as they stretch and stutter through attempts to mimic their "fleshware" counterparts.

Duncombe's got prior form here, most recently re-synthesising her voice on the brilliantly oily 'Sunset, She Exclaims' 45 for Modern Love, following a stunner for 12th Isle in 2021. Wennborg brings along experience from her tenure as one half of microsound duo soft tissue, whose 2022 LP 'hi leaves' (Students of Decay) was a haptic treasure. These approaches mesh remarkably well on their first collaborative full-length, with Duncombe's eerie bio-electronic incantations providing the ideal foil for Wennborg's carbonated hardware processes. It's not completely clear where the human voice ends and the zeroes and ones begin on 'Your Lips, Covering Your Teeth', as rolling cyborg syllables tumble over OS-startup womps and surprisingly svelte outcroppings of glassy, synthetic glitches. The music is surprisingly mannered, a sonic reflection of the cover, where a mouth is pixellated until only colour swatches remain. Duncombe and Wennborg trace the gradual erosion of their voices, leaning into the chaos as their various tools veer off into unique patterns of failure.

What sounds like a far-off, ghosted folk rendition (we're reminded of the Icelandic laments that Rabelais chewed up on 'Spellewauerynsherde') is offset by gnarled, bitcrushed machine faults and pneumatic lip smacks on the brilliant 'Residue', and on 'Brushed My Hair', the duo massage the voice until it sounds like a flute. Assembling stutters and barks and sighs into a celestial chorus alongside time-stretched moans, they create a levitational atmosphere on 'Smell It', freezing the energy from bizarre pitch steps to configure a zonked vocal ensemble.

'Joy, Oh I Missed You’ is an album that, like its source material, constantly morphs, testing the boundaries of its concept repeatedly without bubbling over into conceptual goo. In fact, it's remarkably euphonious, even at its most theoretically abrasive; Duncombe and Wennborg wring out uniquely angelic formations through a process of trial and error that packs a surprising, hefty emotional punch.

Fishing for Gravel is the debut solo mini-LP from Dublin-born, Amsterdam-based producer Paraflow (aka Niall Rogers), via Superconscious Records. Known for his work as a music supervisor and dream pop collaborator (Officer John), Paraflow dives deep into a world of EBM and dub-infused electronics-granular textures, mid-tempo chug, and flashes of blissful uplift driving seven tracks of earthy, drum-heavy synthesis. Includes a rugged remix from Superconscious' own FIO. For fans of Jonquera, Parchman, BPM AM.

On their last trip to Silberland, Bureau B hurtled along the chrome highways and glass skyways of the kosmische landscape, powered ever onwards in perpetual motorik motion. This time, however, the Hamburg imprint opt for an unhurried itinerary, coasting far beyond the familiar rhythmic terrain to explore crystal caverns and emerald pastures, immersing listeners in the ambient side of this alternative Allemagne. Building on the tape loops, tone poems, and minimalist compositions of the 60"s avant-garde, these musicians utilised the sweeping scope of the synthesiser to create expansive meditations on outer-planetary escapism, human connection, and the natural world. This compilation offers a survey of this singular era, blending pioneering voices with lesser-known artists for an immersive sonic experience.