quête:the man x

Visionary producer Ibrahim Alfa Jr, who's been traversing the rave's farthest fringes since the late '90s, returns with his most focused and concise set to date, an anthology of undulating, bass-heavy experiments that surveys techno and its distorted history, printing fractured pulses and cybernetic synths over vanishing snapshots of jazz, funk, trip-hop, broken beat, dub and ambient music. It's a body of work that coalesced during a difficult time for Alfa.

After returning to Brighton and sobriety in 2022, he was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, subsequently suffering two debilitating heart attacks. With his immune system compromised, isolation was the only option, so for months on end Alfa devoted each waking hour to his art, recording samples, building digital synths and effects and meticulously sequencing some of his waviest, most experimental material to date. Over this period he finished over 500 tracks, writing impulsively and constantly challenging himself. "There was nothing to hold me back," he explains. "I just had music, I didn't know if I would see the next day."

Now recovered from his ordeal, Alfa looks back at this prolific period with optimism and fondness. It was a chance for him to reconnect with his art holistically, writing purely for himself without any outside influence. Because, at this stage in his life, Alfa has already been through a series of artistic evolutions. When he was still just a teenager, he penned a slew of grinding, jacking techno 12"s (under a variety of mysterious monikers) in the late '90s before re-emerging a decade ago with the acclaimed 'Hidden By The Leaves', an album made up of deeply personal archival tracks that were thought to have been lost. A few years later, Alfa returned wholeheartedly with a series of records for Mille Plateaux that redrew the boundaries of his "Black political music without words." And on 'Infinite Black Inside', those different strands are muddled with Alfa's profound life experiences and he expresses himself free of any self-imposed boundaries, writing quickly on a hybrid analog-digital setup to document as many ideas as possible.

There's a palpable sense of liberation that drives the album's opening track, 'Subutrax', lubricating polyrhythms that isolate the connective tissue between footwork and Detroit techno as they slip between looped electric piano vamps and vaporous synths. On 'Naked Lunchbreak' meanwhile, the beat generation's excesses are illustrated by mesmeric fast-paced acoustic drums that Alfa balances out with brassy drones and euphoric keys. He captures rubbery hits from a Ghanaian djembe on 'Drum Slinger', re-sequencing them into seismic waves that rumble underneath live woodwind blasts. And on 'Capture', decelerated breaks and garbled voices tumble into humid pads, suspending the album somewhere between the chill-out room and the night sky. It's a record of new beginnings and fresh narratives that collapses the hardcore continuum, revealing a sonic signature that's Alfa's alone.

Man nehme eine Prise Rock, füge ein paar Hip-Hop-Einflüsse hinzu und kröne das Ganze mit starken Texten. Man denke an Nu-Metal mit viel weniger Metal und einer funkigeren Note. So klingen die 90er-Jahre-Legenden Senser. Wenn du diesen Sound magst, wirst du die Neuauflage 2023 ihres Debütalbums »Stacked Up« lieben, die das ursprüngliche, neu gemasterte Album plus ungehörte Bonustracks auf zwei Discs enthält.

• “Guerrilla Girls!”, Ace Records’ much-anticipated first release of 2023, takes us on a thrilling ride from punk’s mid-70s origins, via the left-field post-punk groups, jangly female combos, grunge bands and vigilante Riot Grrrls of the 80s and 90s, to the she-punk bands of recent years – a five-decade alternative to the macho hegemony of rock.

• The collection highlights songs that emerged out of a dynamic underculture of female creative expression. What unites the featured artists is a healthy disregard for the way the music industry ties up its female performers into pretty, neo-liberal packages. From Patti Smith, universal mother of the punk movement, to the Bags, Bikini Kill and Skinny Girl Diet, this music is anti-A&R. Including lesser-known names such as San Francisco street punk Mary Monday and London-based experimentalists pragVec, it shows that, rather than being a few novelty bands existing on the margins, these performers represent a stronger, more three-dimensional version of the female experience.

• Glorious resistance was on display in the first wave of UK female-fronted punk bands. Poly Styrene’s charged vocals on X-Ray Spex’s ‘Iama Poseur’, for instance, were a deliberate refusal to be a pretty punkette. With 15 year-old Lora Logic on saxophone, X-Ray Spex epitomised a fearless, self-defined agency that was at odds with the pastel shades and flowery, submissive Laura Ashley version of 1970s girlhood. By the early 80s, there was a hugely vibrant scene propelled by the diverse rhythms and voices of post-punk feminism. Lora Logic had left X-Ray Spex to form the interweaving textures of Essential Logic, the Mo-dettes mangled ska and off-kilter pop, and Birmingham band Au Pairs sliced political rigour into their lyrics and funky guitar work.

• Some female artists took that elemental energy into pop, creating pop-punk with a twist. We’ve Got A Fuzzbox And We’re Gonna Use It!! made a statement on music technology and female power with a cheeky play on words. Their song ‘Rules And Regulations’ shows that what Guerrilla Girls do well is debunking – taking genres of popular song and turning them inside out – like the way the Pandoras and the Pussywillows would amp up the driving beat and high vocals of the 60s girl group style, and subvert it with a DIY garage element.

• In its fanzine culture, use of montage and DIY music, 90s Riot Grrrl bands such as Bikini Kill and Bratmobile drew direct inspiration from 70s punk, articulated through the prism of Third Wave feminism. Too often, Riot Grrrl gigs were invaded by men intent on heckling “the enemy”. Liz Naylor, manager of British Riot Grrrl band Huggy Bear, says that their concerts became war zones. From the US grunge and Riot Grrrl scenes emerged more female instrumentalists, with bands such as L7 and Babes In Toyland proving that it was possible to recruit cutting-edge drummers, bass players and guitarists. Lori Barbero, whose relentless power drumming is a major element of Babes In Toyland, took the one instrument that has been a staple of male rock’n’roll and made it her muse.

• In the 2000s a new generation of girl-punk bands drew on the Riot Grrrl underculture to form their own sound. London trio the Tuts refashioned C86, Riot Grrrl and lush dream pop on songs like the ironically titled ‘Let Go Of The Past’, while the Regrettes injected shots of ska and doo wop into their explosive West Coast pop-punk. What began with Patti Smith and 70s punk has grown into a vast, spikey infrastructure of girl music. Many take inspiration from their foremothers, like Skinny Girl Diet whose vigilante feminism and punk distortion has been championed in return by Viv Albertine of the Slits. As long as these female artists stay aware of their musical vision and what they are trying to express – in a sense, A&R themselves – the underculture will continue to grow and flower. And this “Guerrilla Girls!” compilation is a celebration of that power.


• The back sleeve of the release features a scene-setting introductory essay by Lucy O’Brien (author of She Bop: The Definitive History Of Women In Popular Music). Each of the two discs come in a swanky inner bag containing a track commentary by compiler Mick Patrick (Ace Records’ long-serving champion of female artists of all persuasions) and exclusive interviews with many of the featured artists by Vim Renault and Lene Cortina (founders of the Punk Girl Diaries webzine).

XDCVR_ unveils 'I HATE THAT SHIT, I HATE ALL THAT SHIT' a blistering sonic manifesto on the 'performativity of decay'.

In a world saturated with digital perfection, the album emerges as a vital, hand-made act of electronic rebellion.

Framed as a "soundtrack for the end stretch" the record explores the notion that societal decay is not a passive process, but an active performance—a machine chugging along long after its wheels have fallen off.

This is cyborg music for a bifurcated reality: carbon-fiber toughness shielding a core of systemic rot. The sound palette is intentionally raw and imperfect, a direct challenge to the sterile, automated order of what the artist calls the "techno-fascist oligarchy."

Tracks eschew conventional temporality, mirroring the feeling of existing in two concurrent timelines—one hyper-aware of the collapse, the other numbly consuming it.

Drawing a line from the Cold War anxieties of the past to the data-farming dystopia of the present, 'I HATE THAT SHIT…' posits art as the last authentic incubator for societal change. It is, in the artist's words, "a deliberate 'fuck you' to the oppressive order of the status quo. This is not easy listening; it is a contested space, a lit fuse, and a necessary noise for our complicated times."

Matt Gold and Dustin Laurenzi present Devotional Fade, a collaborative record of electroacoustic rhythmic improvisations – equal parts meditation and dance, released on We Jazz Records, 24th April. Laurenzi and Gold, key collaborators in the Chicago creative scene and with genre spanning artists such as Bill Callahan and Makaya McCraven, step forward here with a major artistic statement, a product of extended improv sessions capturing the duo's hypnotic interplay. This is the sound of two of Chicago's most vibrant instrumental voices listening deeply, communing in sound.

Recorded in Laurenzi's attic studio, Devotional Fade emerged from a series of weekly sessions over the course of a single month. The duo kept the tape rolling continuously each day and selected a number of immersive sonic worlds to present, oscillating between patient, sacred minimalism and wild, dancefloor-worthy combustion.

The pair set two parameters to heighten the sessions' stakes: editing would be kept to a minimum, and a rule of "no pitched overdubs" was put in place – ensuring that all melodic and harmonic gestures would have to be committed in real time. Laurenzi and Gold held true, only sparingly adding a stray shaker or brush to these already largely complete improvisations. Devotional Fade is imbued with quiet propulsion and ecstatic repetition.

Matt Gold is a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer based in Chicago, IL. His work pulls from diverse traditions of electric and acoustic music. Matt has performed across six continents and contributed to over fifty recordings as a collaborator and instrumentalist, garnering critical praise from Pitchfork for playing "one of the most exhilarating guitar solos of recent memory, in any genre." Gold has several long-running collaborative bands spanning jazz, folk, experimental, and chamber music including Sun Speak, Storm Jameson, and Tin. He performs and records with an array of creative artists including Makaya McCraven, Marquis Hill, Jamila Woods, Natalie Merchant, and Greg Ward. Gold co-curates the record label and concert series Flood Music.

Chicago saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Dustin Laurenzi has developed a personal approach to improvisation and composition that has garnered the attention of the city's creative music community. Laurenzi's music is inspired and informed by jazz, folk, and improvised music. His inventive improvisational sensibilities have made him a sought-after musician in many circles of Chicago's vibrant music scene and beyond. Laurenzi has toured extensively with songwriter Bill Callahan and is featured on Callahan's 2024 release Resuscitate! He has toured with Grammy award-winning artist Bon Iver and appears on the band's critically lauded 2016 release 22, A Million. Laurenzi has also performed with Jeff Parker & The New Breed, Marquis Hill, Makaya McCraven, Matt Ulery, Japanese Breakfast, and This Is The Kit.

Loukeman is a Toronto-based producer, DJ, and songwriter. His music pulls from folk, pop, rap, and R&B, creating his own warped yet familiar forms. He’s earned support from the likes of a wide range of artists including Fred again.., Obongjayar, Aminé, Skin on Skin, Ecco2k, and more. He’s delivered official remixes for PinkPantheress, Vegyn, and Obongjayar, and he’s shared stages with some of the most exciting acts in the underground. Most recently, he's produced 5 tracks on ASAP Rocky's long awaited record, 'Don't Be Dumb.' Having garnered praise for his self-released Sd-1, Loukeman followed up with Sd-2, which established his cultural and critical presence.

Sd-2 — the second of a planned trilogy -- continued his display of range as one of the most exciting producers in recent years. Following the release, praise followed from the likes of Pitchfork, Resident Advisor, Mixmag, and numerous others. He launched a series of club nights titled BRXZN WXRLD in 2024, which sold out across London, Los Angeles, Toronto, and NYC. A recent guest mix on Rinse.fm provides a glimpse into his eclectic mix style and range of edits. His music has been used by a multitude of brands from Burberry, and Stussy to Nike and Apple. With a forthcoming album in 2026, he's also caught the attention of several pop acts as a producer and co-writer.

Venetia presents The Face of The Deep EP. The rising artist from Belle-Île-en-Mer, delivers an elevated deep house record infused with shades of melancholy and nostalgia, exploring a rich spectrum of moods and emotions through driving rhythms, pulsating energy, and deep, resonant basslines. Crafted for late-night dancefloors or early-mornings, wrapped in warm, immersive textures, culminating in an outro that feels like soundscape frame of a moving film.

In 1978, Muddy Waters released one of his most essential works towards the end of his career.

Titled I'm Ready, the album was produced by Johnny Winter and followed Hard Again, their first collaboration.

It was immediately hailed as a blues classic.

The collaboration between Winters and Waters resulted in three albums, which blues fans describe as a unique combination
that showcased Muddy Waters' rawness and years of experience to perfection. The impressive roster of featured artists included
“Pine Top” Perkins on piano and Walter Horton on the harmonica, making it a dream late-career collaboration.

I’m Ready won the Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording.

I’m Ready is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on pink coloured vinyl.

Despite building their careers out of strikingly different musical places, both dBridge and Radioactive Man have taken influence from the field in which each other operate. dBridge (Darren White) was part of the iconic drum & bass outfit Bad Company and he helms one of the scene's most solid and quality imprints in Exit Records and Radioactive Man (Keith Tenniswood) was born from the acid house scene and the off kilter electronics of his Two Lone Swordsman projects (alongside Andrew Weatherall) which led him to create his decidedly UK take on Drexciyan electro. It's by no means a stretch to learn that both producers have crates that contain their favourites from each genre but they've also found a mutual respect and connection in the studio over the last few years, leading to the dBRm moniker for Craig Richards' The Nothing Special label.

Comprised of double bassist Julian Tjon Sack Kie, drummer/percussionist Mill Voyance, and harpist Ranie Ribeiro, this marks their debut 7" release as Sons of Jumira. Recorded live at NOIIS in Zurich, Switzerland. Taking inspiration from the West African Mandinka concept of Jaliya, the practice and art form of the Jali (griot), as well as the Mandinka tuning Tomora. These elements converge in a sound rooted in storytelling and musical expression.

The concept for this one is as wonderfully odd as we have ever heard: Argentinian Federico Durand draws on his collection of Cinderella stamps and looks to translate their modest scale into sparse arrangements and carefully spaced notes. Small motifs drift across analogue synth tones, all shaped with tape hiss and soft saturation. Pieces move slowly, often built from repeating figures that shift in pitch and melody, feel tentative, sometimes dissolving into low drones or faint harmonic clouds. There is little percussion, with rhythm implied through looping patterns and subtle timing changes. Tracks favour brevity and minimalism and the result leans into a darker mood than his earlier work, with a muted, slightly worn character that makes it all the more real.

the producer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ and record collector Gabriel Cyr AKA Teleseen releases 5th album 'The Emotional Life of Savages' via French imprint Goldmin Music.

African rhythms, Latin heat and otherworldly electronics collide like neurons, processed through a New York state of mind. The pancontinental sounds are mirrored in his own life, which has oscillated back and forth between various countries.

A jazz background combined with a love for house and techno are ingrained in the grooves. Also key is the samba, baile funk and MPB that inspired him while living in Rio de Janeiro, plus the sounds he reabsorbed on returning to NYC's club scene.

This wide range of influences spanning the global underground coalesces into a rich, vital and coherent whole. Warm and soulful, but also evoking an intoxicating, heady atmosphere, the hypnotic and ultra-rhythmic tracks subtly shift and build to fever pitch, due primarily to deft polyrhythmic drums and percussion - both played and sequenced.

"Working on this record I finally found myself able to manifest a certain sound I'd been hearing in my head for years, combining the rhythmic intensity of afro-house and afro-Brazilian music with the more cosmic sounds of Detroit and deep house", explains Cyr on his musical vision.

The gentle sundowner glow of 'Myrtle Avenue' with its textured synth waves and wandering Parrish-esque keys acts as a precursor to the potent nocturnal adventure to follow: 'Espelhos' captures a similar essence to Black Science Orchestra's classic 'Save Us (The Jam)', before the heat goes up and heads go down for the eastern-tinged, autotune-laden fire of 'Khalil'.

The album then intensifies further still on the percussion-heavy, big bottomed cosmic throb of 'Jaguar', whilst Brazilian flavour meets tech house rush on 'Fundos', before the party reaches its feverish close on the wiggling batucada- meets-tribal-house of 'Temporada De Seca'.

Born in the north eastern United States, as an adult Cyr has always been nomadic. He has sought to live and immerse himself in other cultures and absorb their sounds, but eventually always succumbs to the Big Apple's magnetic pull. Back home, a key inspirational catalyst for the album was the Brooklyn-based party Africainoir, where he's a resident DJ.

Alongside cutting his teeth producing illbient/hip hop and working as an engineer, he ran his own studio for period, before starting his own label Percepts, on which to release his dub techno style debut. He has since released on 100% Silk, Boomarm Nation and Feel Up Records, and now 'The Emotional Life Of Savages' marks Teleseen's first album for Goldmin.

Ian Simmonds presents his new album "The right side of kind" on Goldmin Music. Ian Simmonds is one of the most creative Nu-Jazz/Downtempo producers of the last 20 years.
Although these words can't describe his music properly as the man is always looking for an innovative sound that could cross the boundaries of musical styles. The Welsh-born found his inspiration in music from all over the world and his songs don't only express one clearly defined feeling. They are more of a subtle mix of emotions that let the listener interpret it his way. As Ian said himself: "I think there's a lot of beauty in melancholy". For example, he spent over a year living in a castle in Germany to record his last album " The Burgenland dubs" in a solitary atmosphere where he could really think, breathe, make a plan. That's the point, Ian is always re-thinking things over, looking for a new source of inspiration which results in a constant evolution. He had the chance to collaborate both with amazing musicians like Goldfrapp and electronic music heads like Mathias Kaden, Soulphiction, Krause Duo..

'Sometimes life can kick you in the nads,' says Dominick Martin (aka Calibre). 'When life does do that, I need to make music like this. With its tones of hope and gospel-level layers of self-recorded vocals. Raw, uplifting, soulfull... Even to the most ardent of Calibre follower, ' Grow' sounds like nothing else he's done before. Yet it's not actually on the album it gave a name to. Partly because its ultimately positive veneer (even though it was written in the midst of two toxic relationships - one personal, one with the bottle) doesn't quite complement the deeper, more contemplative aesthetic of the album. But also because this is the start of a whole new story for Calibre...

'A part of Dominick is a poet and a part of him is a man who's lived through Northern Ireland at its worst,' observes Craig Richards . 'There's a gentleness and a tension to him and his past and his experiences. Somewhere in that middle ground is his music.'

Taken from a interview by Dave Jenkins for DJ Magazine.

"Disco Chimi" by Dominican-raised Cuban artist Charles is the second release on Coco Maria's newly found Club Coco label. Comes with 4 paged insert with liner notes and art.

Charlie Chimi — the alter ego of Charles Garmendia — is a globe-trotting, kaleidoscopic creator best known for La China de la Gasolina. A percussionist for legendary Zamrock band WITCH, L’Eclair, and other international acts, Charlie moves fluidly between roles as a live performer, studio musician, and visual artist.

Like the iconic Dominican street burger it’s named after, the Charlie Chimi project is a spicy mélange of Afro-Cuban rhythms, funk-driven basslines, and playful, inventive wordplay — touching on everyday rituals like making lunch, as well as the trickier themes of illusion, hustle, and deception in the animal (and human) world.

Charlie has assembled an international crew of “Chimis” to help him run the numbers, delivering a dizzying, theatrical live show that feels like peeking into the hazy back room of a bodega: old men slamming dominoes, bachata blasting, and a cosmic sandwich opening a wormhole to somewhere far stranger.

Odyssey was originally a CD-only release by Japanese duo Master Mind (Hiroshi Ogawa & Hisaki Kurosawa) and was their 3rd full-length album. 30+ years later it is now available as a double LP on the California-based Forest Jams label. Its one of many albums of this particular genre that came out in the decade but one that is wholly unique with the depth in its sculpted sounds and the transportation it provides to an audio realm of equally fantastical and soothing proportions. For fans of ambient, lush gardens, auditory massages, RPG OST/BGM, and Kankyō Ongaku. Licensed by NHK Publishing and limited to 300 copies.

Papa Nugs returns for the third installment in the Nug Nation series on his imprint Suckerpunch, this time bringing along Confidence Man’s Sugar Bones for a vocal feature. Drawing inspiration from early 2000s house, electro & electroclash, Nugs once again brings a forward thinking take to his inspirations from the past

NEW IDEA SOCIETY signs to Relapse and offers their new album, Fire on the Hill. The band has taken on differing shapes and forms over the years, but at its heart is the duo of Mike Law (Wild Arrows) and Stephen Brodsky (Cave In, Mutoid Man), a pair enraptured and united by the alchemical power of songwriting. With a connection that can be traced back to their high school years, between them exists an intuitive understanding that informs exactly what NEW IDEA SOCIETY is at any given point. Although the pair have come a long way since their earliest explorations in audio in the late 90s, the roots of their alliance were forged in those makeshift basement studios. For Fire On The Hill, Law and Brodsky took a more collaborative approach to songwriting than on previous releases. With Brodsky describing their process as “microscopic” and Law marveling at the particulars of the minutiae they pored over, the attention to detail and their meticulous approach to making adjustments in service of the work shines through in the cohesiveness of this collection of songs. With demos passed back and forth over months - Brodsky sending them in the early morning, and Law taking the evening shift - the songs evolved naturally; refining a chord progression, adapting a lyrical perspective, or in the case of the track Lantern, rewriting the words entirely. Thematically the album is about love, in its many forms. With each track detailing some element of navigating emotional relationships - the beauty, the pain, the loss and the hope - the duo have captured the immediacy and urgency of such feelings, tempered by a sliver of yearning that stops short of tipping into nostalgia. Now with years of experience to their names, alongside a developed vocabulary and extended sonic palette to draw from, they have created something specifically and idiosyncratically NEW IDEA SOCIETY. Fire On The Hill is them in full flight, at the height of their powers. Short: NEW IDEA SOCIETY signs to Relapse and offers their new album, Fire on the Hill. The band has taken on differing shapes and forms over the years, but at its heart is the duo of Mike Law (Wild Arrows) and Stephen Brodsky (Cave In, Mutoid Man), a pair enraptured and united by the alchemical power of songwriting. FFO: CAVE IN, MUTOID MAN, EMMA RUTH RUNDLE, HARVESTMAN, BIG BRAVE, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX, JESU

In Sheep’s Clothing announces the long-awaited vinyl pressing of Marc Leclair’s beloved 2005 album Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes. The album will also be available on streaming for the first time via Community Music Group.

For years after Marc Leclair released Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes, he heard from listeners who had lived with the record in an unusually intimate way. Many described how the music became part of the emotional landscape of the months leading to birth. “I never expected that,” Leclair says. “Many women told me they listened to the record throughout their pregnancies. They said it made a real difference, that it helped them. It became more than just a record.”

First issued on CD in the early 2000s, Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes (Music for Three Pregnant Women) now returns in a new edition from In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi, appearing on vinyl for the first time as a double LP. The record is being pressed in Detroit at Archer Record Pressing, the historic plant behind deep-groove classics by Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Underground Resistance, UR’s Jeff Mills, and J Dilla.

Listeners who know the Montreal-based Leclair through his better-known work as Akufen might be surprised by the tone here. During the same years he was shaping the intricate micro-sampling tracks that made Akufen a cult figure on labels including Perlon, Force Inc. and Trapez, Leclair was quietly developing this far more personal project. The meticulous craftsmanship remained the same, though the focus shifted from the hyper-detailed cut-up rhythms of his dance records toward something slower and more atmospheric. “I always compare my work to a jeweler,” Leclair says. “It’s really very precise. I’m a bit of a detail freak. I can spend hours or days on just one phrase in one song. Everything has to be perfectly put together.”

The project began almost accidentally. A few members of Leclair’s circle became pregnant nearly simultaneously, including one who had long believed she couldn’t conceive. The first track he recorded for the project wasn’t meant to advance a larger concept, he says. “It was meant to highlight the fact that three of my closest friends became pregnant at exactly the same time.”

Leclair was already a father with a three-year-old daughter, so the emotional terrain of early parenthood was familiar. Gradually the idea expanded. “I began thinking, why not make a whole album that celebrates this and also follows the entire pregnancy, the nine months,” he says. The music developed piece by piece, including a track originally commissioned by the Berlin experimental duo Rechenzentrum that would later become the album’s opening movement.

Nearly seven years passed between the first composition and the finished album, and the music mirrors the strange arithmetic of pregnancy itself. What begins as a single idea multiplies outward, sounds layering and branching until the album feels less like a sequence of compositions than a living process unfolding in time. “I work very slowly,” Leclair says. “Everything has to be something I’m completely behind. I never want to rush anything. I want things to come naturally.” Across its 72 minutes, the album blossoms with the patience of a long meditation on time, growth and emergence.

When Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes first appeared via Mutek, it circulated quietly but steadily. Critics who discovered it later recognized its unusual scope. In a 2006 Pitchfork review, Mark Richardson gave the record an 8.1, calling “150e Jour” “an unfailingly gorgeous and tightly sequenced quilt of guitar and piano samples reminiscent of Tangerine Dream,” and describing “85e Jour” as infused with “viscous pop ambient drift, the gauzy synth pads ebbing and flowing with rhythm.” Boomkat described the album as “a majestic opus from a producer that's always promised so much — here delving into a panoramic construction of almost visibly radiant music that works so beautifully through each and every second of its 72 minute lifespan.”

The new In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi edition finally presents the record in the format Leclair long imagined. “I always thought that record deserved a vinyl edition,” he says. Spread across two LPs, the music now has room to unfold at its natural pace. More than twenty years after it first appeared, Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes remains what it was from the start: a carefully shaped meditation on transformation and the quiet miracle of life beginning.

‘An Undying Love For A Burning World follows Converge’s Love Is Not Enough this year as a pivotal metal album about acknowledging the darkness for what it is and trying to accept it.’ - the QUIETUS

‘Neurosis Know You’re Hurting. Their Stunning New Album Is a Life Preserver.
An Undying Love for a Burning World, the band’s first album with new member Aaron Turner, is a reminder of how even the darkest music can be a guiding light’ - 9/10 ROLLING STONE

Evolution can be ugly and beautiful, painful and euphoric. An Undying Love For A Burning World is the first new release from Neurosis in a decade, and a potent statement of intent and rebirth - one that marks the first new steps of resolve and resilience.

An Undying Love For A Burning World is an epic album of colossal hypnotism - beautiful, fearsome and utterly compelling in a way that only Neurosis can be. Aaron Turner (Sumac, Isis) joins the band on vocals and guitar, a name whose legacy is intertwined with the band’s own and a true kindred spirit.

“From the moment I first heard Neurosis over 30 years ago, I felt this was the music my heart and mind had been seeking but not yet heard. Now after many years travelling along various musical paths of my own, the singular sound and spirit embodied by Neurosis continues to speak to the depths of my being. It is an honor and a true pleasure to have been welcomed so warmly into a band that not only shaped my perspective on the limitless possibilities of music - but has lived and exemplified the necessity of upholding creative integrity and camaraderie above all else.” - AARON TURNER

Neurosis have never been afraid of change, and here they embrace endless regeneration, surrendering to the emotional exorcism through heaviness and distortion that their music incites. Just as the universe tends towards balance, Neurosis’cacophony of noise, rhythm and dissonance always resolves towards moments of beauty. The addition of Turner's powerful vocals and wildly creative and unhinged approach to guitar proves to be a vital force as Neurosis find themselves again at the mercy of evolution and expression.

On every song in the band’s history, Neurosis shifts restlessly between tension and relief, invoking a feeling both feral and transcendent in listeners. The band describe their songwriting process as an inescapable impulse to create with each other - a need rather than a choice. Indeed, the band insist that their return is “not a reunion - we never broke up.”

The album was recorded by Scott Evans (Kowloon Walled City, Sumac, and Great Falls) at Studio Litho in Seattle during three weekends this winter, and mixed in three days just six weeks before release at Evan's Antisleep Audio in Oakland.

Neurosis will play their first show in seven years on the traditional lands of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana as part of Fire in the Mountains festival by special invitation of Firekeeper Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to reducing youth suicide in Indian Country.

FITM, is a unique festival known for bringing epic music to epic landscapes with the intent of reconnecting and immersing oneself with the natural world, and strengthening our ancestral roots as human beings - an aim which aligns directly with Neurosis’ deep-rooted power.

Stay tuned for further news over the coming months.

PREVIOUS PRESS:

‘In less skilful hands, this relentless sonic oppression would be gruelling, but by expressing human frailty with such visceral abandon, Neurosis have once again turned darkness into euphoria.’ - 4/5 THE GUARDIAN

‘The Oakland band has evolved from gritty metallic punk to harrowing post-hardcore prog to the majestic doom of their current phase’ - 7.9 PITCHFORK

‘It’s not often an album of such stature exceeds one’s anticipations, but Honor is too astounding to not be revered.’ - The QUIETUS

“Fires Within Fires is the summation of thirty years of experimentation in tonality and texture. Yes, NEUROSIS are firmly positioned within the extreme metal underground yet their music, with its ability to generate images of beauty akin to those many of us have experienced in our own lives – not to mention the loss that accompanies them – challenges this categorization. ‘’ - WIRE MAGAZINE - FULL PAGE REVIEW.

"Their intensity remains undimmed on Fires Within Fires...The already converted will take heart from the evidence that age is unable to wither the fury of this heaviest of bands." - KERRANG! 4K REVIEW

"Every monstrous sludge riff gnashes menacingly for the right amount of time and every delicate moment of folk-inspired drift is emotionally exacting. Neurosis continue to create art without equal, and Fires Within Fires is another worthy addition to an awe-inspiring canon containing a number of truly pioneering and timeless albums." - METAL HAMMER - 8/10 LEAD REVIEW

An instrumental counterpart to ‘Man Kill Man’ by Lone Ark meets The 18th Parallel, ‘Kanata’ marks the debut solo release of Japanese saxophonist extraordinaire Yuko Arakawa.

A member of ZIONHILL SESSION—the collective led by Mr. Saito, who also lends his trombone to this recording—Yuko Arakawa channels a deep reverence for the legacy of Count Ossie and the pioneers of Nyahbinghi instrumental reggae. Her playing moves with a spiritual intensity, echoing the meditative roots sound of Cedric 'Im' Brooks, while igniting flashes of raw, untamed energy reminiscent of Sugar Belly. The result is a living, breathing sound—both grounded in tradition and reaching beyond it.

Roberto Sánchez delivers a deep Mutron Bi-Phase dubby mix that expands the sonic horizon of the track. True to its title, ‘Kanata’ (彼方)—a Japanese word meaning ‘far beyond’ or ‘in a distant place’—invites the listener into a meditative journey, drifting across time, space, and memory.

First ever vinyl release of this massive classic psychedelic black rock funk compilation. Lovingly reproduced for audiophiles on black vinyl and packaged in a fully artworked sleeve and labels and shrinkwrapped. Limited edition vinyl press! “One of the best compilations of formerly released material ever made. A classic” “The whole compilation is pretty damn sweet, but anything dug up by Iron Knowledge is essential listening”!

As Corsica draws to a close, this is our homage to a space that has been our home for 18 precious years. A space that has nurtured us and allowed us to evolve - to find our own way of raving. The Rupture way. The Corsica way.

We wanted to celebrate 18 precious years with a release that truly embodies the spirit of Rupture at Corsica Studios. The music on this EP has mashed up the dance, time and time again!

Double O wrote ‘Corsica Jungle’ with the intention of capturing those peak 5am emotional Corsica vibes. Love and respect to dBridge & Skeptical for contributing to a project so close to our hearts with tracks that represent our sound so perfectly: dubwise, killer breaks and peak dancefloor energy! The EP closes with a spoken word poem from Mantra.

Viva la rave!

Corsica Forever!

As Corsica draws to a close, this is our homage to a space that has been our home for 18 precious years. A space that has nurtured us and allowed us to evolve - to find our own way of raving. The Rupture way. The Corsica way.

We wanted to celebrate 18 precious years with a release that truly embodies the spirit of Rupture at Corsica Studios. The music on this EP has mashed up the dance, time and time again!

Double O wrote ‘Corsica Jungle’ with the intention of capturing those peak 5am emotional Corsica vibes. Love and respect to dBridge & Skeptical for contributing to a project so close to our hearts with tracks that represent our sound so perfectly: dubwise, killer breaks and peak dancefloor energy! The EP closes with a spoken word poem from Mantra.

Viva la rave!

Corsica Forever!

Das Erste, was man hört, ist eine einsame, klare Gitarre und ein sanfter Gesang, der von "city scenes caught up in the moment" erzählt, bevor das Schlagzeug einsetzt und es losgeht! So beginnt die atemberaubende, kraftvolle Eleganz von The Spatulas neuestem Album ,A Blue Dot". The Spatulas, das sind im Wesentlichen Miranda Soileau-Pratt und wer auch immer sie rekrutiert, um ihre Vision zu verwirklichen. Alles begann in Oregon, wo frühere Veröffentlichungen wie ,March Chant" und ,Beehive Mind" mit dem Schlafzimmer-Schmerz von ,Beyond the Implode" und der wackeligen Psych-Magie von ,Garbage and the Flowers" glänzten. Doch obwohl diese Elemente nicht verschwunden sind, ist ,A Blue Dot" ein ganz anderes Kaliber. Ein Umzug nach Cambridge, Massachusetts, und eine notwendige personelle Veränderung haben das, was einst eine beständige, schimmernde Lockerheit mit voller Rockdynamik war, verwandelt. Die neue Besetzung (Gitarrist Luke Einsiedler, Bassist Elijah Bodish und Schlagzeuger Greg Witz) hat ihren Sound zu einer lauten Masse aus harter und stimmungsvoller Jangle-Explosion verdichtet. Der Post-NZ-Glory-Pop von Barbara Mannings SF Seals ist hier zu finden, ebenso wie der dichte Wirbel von Rain Parade. Fachmännisch aufgenommen im Suddenly Studio von Emily Robb, gemischt von Evan Mersky und von Sarah Register zu vollendeter Kohäsion gemastert, klingt das Ganze laut und stolz. Seit der Fertigstellung dieses wunderbaren Albums sind Miranda und Elijah nach Indiana gezogen, wo glücklicherweise eine neue Besetzung gefunden wurde. Aber ein noch glücklicheres Ende ist, dass diese spezielle Crew noch nicht fertig ist mit dem gemeinsamen Musizieren, und hoffentlich wird diese elende Welt noch lange genug existieren, um im Sommer 2026 eine Tour an der Ostküste mitzuerleben. Man kann sich im Leben wenigstens auf eine Sache freuen! - Max Milgram

Irgendwo in den Hügeln von Cincinnati gibt's einen Sender, der Radiowellen in alle Richtungen schickt. Der Strom fließt durch die Luft und trifft auf deinen Empfänger mit einer Ladung, die, wenn sie verstärkt wird, einen organischen Sound erzeugt, der nur von Doctor Bionic kommen kann. Sie sind zurück mit einem brandneuen Album - dem vierten Teil der Terrestrial Radio-Reihe mit dem Titel Electric Pollen. Wie seine Vorgänger wurde das Album von dem in Cincinnati ansässigen Produzenten Grimez aufgenommen, produziert und gemischt. Er holt sich eine wechselnde Besetzung talentierter Musiker, um Instrumentals aufzunehmen, die man am besten als Organic Groove beschreiben kann. ,Wir kommen zusammen, um gemeinsam zu jammen und die Musik zu machen, die uns am meisten inspiriert", sagt Grimez. ,Wir haben uns auf die Musik konzentriert, die wir lieben, und das Ergebnis ist ein Album, das wir mit ganzem Herzen lieben. Ich würde sagen, 90 % unserer Musik ist improvisiert." Fans des Projekts werden in den Liner Notes viele bekannte Namen entdecken. Obwohl die Aufnahmen locker und spontan sind, folgt jedes fertige D.B.-Album immer einem konzeptionellen Thema. Das Thema wird oft durch ein Kunstwerk bestimmt, das Grimez inspiriert. ,Ich kaufe oder lizenziere ein Kunstwerk, das mir ins Auge fällt, und setze dann Musik dazu", erklärt er. ,Ich habe viele Werke, die sich als Albumcover eignen würden, aber ich habe noch nicht die richtige Musik dafür gefunden." Dieser Prozess ist Teil dessen, was die Musik von Doctor Bionic von anderen Instrumentalproduzenten unterscheidet.

'Lookaftering' von Vashti Bunyan wird 20 Jahre alt. Aus diesem Anlass und zum 80. Geburtstag der Künstlerin erscheint eine erweiterte Ausgabe. Neben dem Original-Studioalbum auf Disc 1 enthält die Expanded Edition auf Disc 2 Demoversionen, alternative Takes und Live-Aufnahmen aller Original-Tracks des Albums. Außerdem begleitende Kommentare von Vashti Bunyan höchstpersönlich, Produzent Max Richter und Devendra Banhart sowie ein 16-seitiges Textheft mit einer Sammlung von Gemälden von Vashtis Tochter Whyn Lewis - Gemälde, die zufällig die Texte des Albums widerspiegeln.

Die Demos stammen aus den Jahren 2001 bis 2005 und wurden von Vashti zu Hause aufgenommen, wobei sie sich selbst auf akustischer und elektrischer Gitarre begleitete und mit Synthesizern experimentierte. Der Sound ist im Vergleich zum fertigen Album natürlich etwas zurückgenommen, doch die Live-Version von Lately, aufgenommen bei einem frühen 'Comeback'-Konzert in Los Angeles im Jahr 2006, mit der gleichen Instrumentierung wie auf dem Album, ist absolut perfekt.

Es ist eine wunderbare Erfahrung, die Demos und die endgültigen Versionen nebeneinander zu hören, während man die Sleeve Notes liest. Man erfährt und hört, wie sich die Songs und das Album entwickelt haben, und Vashti und Max Richter (der das Album produziert und auch darauf gespielt hat) erklären, wie alle beteiligten Künstler (Devendra Banhart, Johanna Newson, Adem Ilhan, Robert Kirby und Mitglieder der Band Vetiver), die von Vashtis Originalalbum 'Just Another Diamond Day' von 1970 berührt waren, die Gelegenheit ergriffen, dabei zu sein.

Steig ein in die neueste Mega-Firma von Seattle, Telehealth. Sind sie Rebellen, die mit Synth-Punk/New Wave die Grundlagen unserer techno-kapitalistischen Hölle untergraben wollen? Oder sind sie Unternehmer, die Marken aufbauen, um die Märkte zu stören und die Massen auszunehmen? Der einzige Weg, das rauszufinden, ist, ihr Debütalbum für Seattles älteste Mega-Firma, Sub Pop Records, zu kaufen. Green World Image folgt auf eine ausgedehnte US-Tournee, ein selbst veröffentlichtes Album und eine knackige 7"-Single aus dem Sub Pop Singles Club aus dem Jahr 2023. Für Fans von B-52s, Water From Your Eyes, Devo und Snooper. Die Kalshi-App ist ein ,Prognosemarkt für den Handel mit der Zukunft", eine Plattform, auf der Leute auf das Ergebnis von fast jedem realen Ereignis wetten können - von der Genauigkeit der Wettervorhersage bis hin zur Frage, ob in Gaza offiziell eine Hungersnot ausgerufen wird oder nicht. Als der Mitbegründer der Plattform, Tarek Mansour, Ende 2025 als offizieller Wett-Partner zu CNN kam, meinte er nach dem Deal: ,Die langfristige Vision ist, alles zu finanzieren und aus jeder Meinungsverschiedenheit einen handelbaren Vermögenswert zu machen." Telehealth wurde in dem chancenreichen Umfeld des Post-COVID-Seattle als skalierbares Musik-Startup mit ähnlichen Zielen gegründet. Das Unternehmen wurde 2022 von dem Ehepaar und Glücksspielbegeisterten Alexander Attitude (Synthesizer/Gesang/Gitarre) und Kendra Cox (Synthesizer/Gesang) gegründet, zu denen sich die langjährigen Mitarbeiter Ian McCutcheon (Schlagzeug), John O'Connor (Bass) und Dillon Sturtevant (Gitarre) gegründet. Die Gruppe will alle Meinungsverschiedenheiten darüber, wie die chaotische lokale ,Musikszene" weitergehen soll, zu Geld machen. Kann man DIY sein und gleichzeitig eine gute Suchmaschinenoptimierung haben? Kann man progressives kulturelles Ansehen und bares Geld gleichzeitig verdienen? Ist Kunst, die durch ,Kulturförderungen" der Tech-Industrie finanziert wird, irgendwie langweilig, authentisch gorpcore (junge Männer leben laut der New York Times den ,Quarter-Zip-Lifestyle") oder ironischerweise punkig? Für Telehealth ist die Antwort auf diese Fragen nicht ja oder nein, sondern eher eine unerschlossene Lücke im Musikmarkt, die auf eine Band wartet, die visionär und verrückt genug ist, auf die Verbreitung zu setzen. Produziert von Trevor Spencer, Green World Image, ist das zweite Album von Telehealth (nach dem Debütalbum Content Oscillator und einer Veröffentlichung des Sub Pop Singles Club, beide aus dem Jahr 2023) und sein Börsengang mit den Angel-Investoren Sub Pop ein vertikal integriertes Kunstwerk für die Post-Grunge-, Post-Flanell-Seattleiter und Konsumenten auf der ganzen Welt, die ebenfalls bereit sind, ihre eigene Leidenschaft für Musik zu finanzieren. Das traumainformierte, ergebnisorientierte und äußerst tanzbare Weirdo-Punk-Album ist inspiriert von Attitudes Zeit als ehemaliger Architekt in einer Climate PledgedÖ-Stadt, die mit ihrem Netzwerk aus effizient zonierten 5-über-1-Gebäuden die Kunst der ,Green World"-Architektur perfektioniert hat. Der PNW-Post-Punk von Telehealth schafft ähnliche architektonische Räume, in denen sich die glänzenden, futuristischen, techno-industriellen Rhythmen und Synthesizer des Seattle der Bezos-Ära mit dem rohen, unabhängigen Underground-Sound vermischen, den die Stadt aus kulturellen und Marketinggründen liebevoll bewahrt. Das Ergebnis? Stell dir XTC, REM und YMO vor, mit einem stärkeren Fokus auf ROI. Stell dir The B-52s vor, aber B2B. Stell dir einen intelligenteren Brainiac, einen transhumanen Gary Numan oder einen terminalen Online-Pylon vor. Endlich eine Band mit so vielfältigen Talenten, dass sie sowohl in deinem Keller als auch in den Amazon Spheres spielen kann.

[a] 1[USER ONBOARDING SEQUENCE]

Sixteen killer 70s reggae funk and soul cuts from the likes of John Holt, Lee Perry, Cornel Campbell, The Cimarons, The Chosen Few and more featuring superb reggae takes on songs by artists including The Jackson 5, William DeVaughn, Diana Ross and The Supremes, War, The Temptations, Roberta Flack, The Stylistics and others!

Well-documented is the influence of American black music on Jamaican styles of the 1960s – from the birth of ska music, when The Skatalites ska-ified the jump-up southern USA rhythm and blues music of Rosco Gordon, Louis Jordan and Fats Domino, through to the creation of rocksteady when Jamaican artists like The Techniques, The Paragons, Alton Ellis and The Melodians turned to the slower rhythms and soulful harmonies of groups such as The Impressions and The Drifters for inspiration. 

Less-well established is that in the 1970s Jamaicans didn’t (shock!) stop listening to American black music styles, with many 70s reggae artists as invested in soul, funk and the proto-disco sounds of Philadelphia, as was the case with rhythm and blues in the previous decade. In the 1970s, while Jamaica promoted its own roots reggae styles around the world, powerhouse USA soul labels such as Motown, Philadelphia International and Stax Records were at the same time all popular on the island.
This interaction between American and Jamaican music was not limited to Jamaica. In Britain, first-generation Caribbean-émigré children in the 1960s and early 70s grew up with an equal love of both soul and reggae, which manifested itself in the home-grown arrival of lovers rock in the mid-1970s.
Soul Jazz Records’ new ‘Reggae Island Soul’ tells this story of how soul and funk-infused reggae in the 1970s united the sounds of Jamaica, USA and the UK into a highly addictive cultural hybrid of styles.

Błoto’s bold 2020 debut brought forth three albums in just twelve months. This prolific creative burst, followed by an ongoing tour and involvement in other projects, meant that fans had to wait over three years for the next release. During this time, new ideas took shape, and the vision for their fourth LP crystallized. The wait for Błoto's new album is nearly over. As always, autumn signals the arrival of Grzybnia (Mycelium).

The idea for the album had been simmering within the band since the release of Kwasy i zasady and finally took shape in late January 2023 at Warsaw's Studio Pasterka, under the careful guidance of Piotr Zabrodzki. It was by far the most fruitful session in the group's history, with ideas flowing in abundance. The chosen tracks not only resulted in two well-received singles, Szlam / Ścieki and Bakteria, but also provided enough material for an EP set to drop next year.

The seemingly chemical title of the album Kwasy i zasady (Acids and Bases) ultimately referred to interpersonal relationships, describing traits that prevent harmony. The album embodied the polarization of societies in the 21st century. The metaphor of Grzybnia (Mycelium) goes a step further. It emphasizes the importance of cooperation as a fundamental skill that can yield various results (fruits, fungi)—both good and bad. Above all, it underscores the power of collective action beyond divisions.

In a complex, unstable modern world that is breaking apart into pieces, the concept of mycelium offers a powerful model. Mycelium thrives in degraded, seemingly lifeless environments created by humans. A key aspect of the broader significance of mycelium is that cooperation benefits all involved parties, where each contributes something and receives something in return. Mycelium is a symbiont, meaning it forms a symbiotic relationship with certain tree species through mycorrhiza, where the roots of the trees and the mycelium exchange essential life-sustaining substances. This results in mutual benefits. The world of mycelium exemplifies cooperation.

A single mushroom, like a person, dies, but mycelium endures, much like humanity itself. Thus, similar to culture, it is immortal. Błoto operates in a manner akin to mycelium. It undoubtedly belongs to the underground realm, embodying the essence of the underground. It is also a destructor of music. In what sense? The Polish Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk noted in her book Primeval and Other Times that “... Mycelium thrives by drawing the last remnants of life from what dies, decomposes, and seeps into the earth. Mycelium is the life of death, the life of decay, the life of what has died.” In the same way, Latarnik, Cancer G, Wuja HZG, and OlafSaxx, through their collaboration, process cultural products to create entirely new and surprising combinations. The result of this work is both edible and poisonous mushrooms, manifested in the form of fat beats, house, spiritual jazz, improvised music, illbient, organic techno, and genre-defying electronics.

The peak mushroom season in Poland occurs in autumn, which is why Grzybnia will be released on October 11, 2024, via Astigmatic Records.

Strut proudly presents the first-ever reissue of a landmark 1974 Ghanaian highlife classic Sikyi Highlife by Dr K. Gyasi & His Noble Kings, originally released on Essiebons.

A defining recording of the era, Sikyi Highlife bridges tradition and innovation at a pivotal moment in Ghanaian music. Deeply rooted in the classic 1950s–’60s highlife sound, K. Gyasi drew inspiration from the ancient sikyi drum-dance of the Akan people of southern Ghana, shaping the album’s rhythms around its distinctive pulse.

The vocal arrangements echo the traditional Akan modal style, grounding the music firmly in Ghana’s cultural heritage. Yet Sikyi Highlife is equally forward-thinking. As electric guitars became standard in highlife during the 1960s, the 1970s ushered in further experimentation. The Noble Kings broke new ground as the first highlife guitar band to incorporate keyboards and a full horn section into their sound, expanding the genre’s sonic possibilities while retaining its rootsy spirit.

Gyasi’s approach was part of a broader indigenisation movement among Ghana’s electric highlife bands in the post-independence era. Inspired by the nation’s ‘African Personality’ ethos and reinforced by Afrocentric messages arriving from American soul and funk, artists began reclaiming traditional forms within modern arrangements. Contemporaries included Koo Nimo, who revived the older palmwine style, and drummer Nii Ashitey, whose Wulomei band pioneered a folklorised Ga highlife sound from 1973.

Like many musicians of his generation, Gyasi was a passionate supporter of Ghana’s independence movement. In 1963, he travelled as a musical ambassador alongside Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, performing across North Africa and the USSR and carrying Ghanaian culture onto the world stage.

The Noble Kings’ mid-’70s line-up featured some of the country’s finest musicians, including guitarist Eric Agyeman (who led the band at the time), Thomas Frimpong on drums and vocals, Ernest Honny on organ, and bassist Ralph Karikari - who was renowned for his innovative technique of translating the rhythms and tonal language of the traditional talking drum onto electric bass.

Upon its original release, Sikyi Highlife became one of the biggest-selling albums of the 1970s for Essiebons, earning Gyasi the affectionate honorary title of “Dr” from his devoted fans. Today, the album remains an evergreen classic, still cherished across Ghana and beyond.

Holy Sun Opera House at its core is soprano and drummer Krissy Barker with composer dl Salo. Along with a revolving cast of collaborators, singers and performers, they create emotionally engaging and haunting symphonic music embellished by electronics, heavy drums and synthesizers. The group has been described as “Opera Cult” and as one who would play at the Roadhouse in Twin Peaks. They draw influence from early Dead Can Dance, Fever Ray and Klaus Nomi.

The Holy Sun Opera House is the group's self-titled debut set for release in May 2026 on the label Hologram Opera. The self-produced album was conceptualized as a way to describe an obsessive mind with music and inspired by the recurring dreams of singer Krissy Barker. In it is a realm of shifting rooms, dilapidated houses and passages. These unsettled rooms and spaces pose a striking confrontation of fear and anxiety from deep within.

In its conception, The Holy Sun Opera House was written as a passage through these ethereal dreams and spaces. The song Latched On depicts the compulsive psyche as a draining physical entity attached. While Voice of Gob, Decrepit Mansion, and Room with the Rain observe and attempt to find acceptance in this conflict. The Passages I & II travel between the curtains to the unknown entity residing in The Attic, who looks inside the mind of the dreamer and determines she has no soul.

The album blends genres with electro, darkwave, and contemporary classical music. The ritualistic passages of the choir throughout the album are reminiscent of Wicker Man and 1970's mystic cults, praising the deities residing within the dream. The arrangement of synths, electronics, heavy drums and operatic singing lend itself to something uniquely memorable.

**ON RANDOM COLOUR VINYL** PRIMITIVE RING consists of Bert Hoover (bass/vocals), Charles Moothart (guitar/vocals), and Jon Modaff (drums). The Los Angeles power trio formed in September 2024 when Hoover and Moothart came together seeking a new creative outlet. In 2025, the band released four 7"s on four different labels (Greenway, In the Red, Reverberation Appreciation Society, and Fuzz Club UK). They hauled amps and drums into bars to hone the sound of the newfound brotherhood that is Primitive Ring. Rock and roll is in its essence a primal experience, and the name reflects that. Three individuals collide and egos rattle, shedding layers and growing new limbs. Archetypes flash to the rhythm of a freight train and the crown is passed hand to hand like a good luck charm, symbolic and communal. Rock and roll is for the people and Primitive Ring is for the taking. At least it will be when the band's debut LP is hurled into the future via In the Red Recordings. Primitive Ring is 11 tracks coming in just under 42 minutes. It was recorded by Mark Rains in December of 2025 at The Station House in Echo Park. The album is the genesis story of a lightning bolt flashing in the eternal drama of creation and destruction. The album showcases the distinct writing styles of each member, but the overall aesthetic is a woven tapestry demarcating the timeless meridian. The record is the spawning of a collective vision. This is something we all share, and we must remind one another how electric humanity can be.

The Voodoo Universe is now complete! The masterpiece combining the Trilogy 1-3 will be released on November 27th and is a magnificent work show of the multifaceted genius.

Concerts by successful musicians often have an air of church-mass: Fans pay homage to their idols, hailing them, giving the impression of following them blindly. Parov Stelar, a globally successful musician from Austria, is one such artist. Is this art of seduction a kind of Voodoo, Black Magic even? Who can tell? It makes no difference whatsoever, as to his fans Parov Stelar easily passes as a High-Priest of grooves that perfectly understands how to put them in ecstasy.

In Voodoo, Bondieu, a higher being communicates to the masses through priests called Loas. Parov Stelar manages to do so with his music. Voodoo Sonic was born and delivered with the idea to replace the conventional album with several EPs, allowing greater musical freedom and the possibility to explore the many sonic landscapes of Voodoo Sonic.

Now the Voodoo Sonic Universe is complete and celebrated with all three parts combined into one ultimate and highly demanded package. It's a Parov Stelar work show which makes it possible to enjoy his diverse sound world in all of its facets.

The Artwork for Voodoo Sonic was designed and painted by Parov Stelar himself. From the art studio to the recording studio, on to the dance floor in the form of art and beats. Parov Stelar is an all in one king of art.

The icing on the cake is the Voodoo Sonic documentary, which can be seen on all Parov Stelar channels available. (coming September 2020).

If you want to see Parov Stelar live, you will get the chance in summer 2021 at festivals in many countries following by a headliner tour across Europe towards the end of the year.

Introducing Whoman, a Brussels trio formed by Mira and Ambroos De Schepper and Lou Wery, after several years of concerts and sonic explorations between electronic and acoustic formats. Born from travels, rehearsals, and fragments accumulated in various living spaces, About Honey has patiently taken shape, like a collection of soundscapes and intimatenarratives. The richnessof the textures and the fluidity of the arrangements are striking. Acoustic guitars, mandolin, and tenor guitar converse with synth pads and delicate vocal harmonies, sketching a shifting sonic universe where pop energy and introspective folk atmospheres intersect. Finalized at Studio Ledeberg in Ghent, the album bears the mark of these years of concerts, particularly the tours in mountain refuges that refocused the band"s attention on the essence of the songs: voices, harmonies, and collective breath. Like the honey from which it borrows its metaphor, About Honey concentrates multiple influences to reveal a singular color: the textured expanse of Animal Collective and Panda Bear, the luminous melancholy of Fleet Foxes, and the abundant songwriting of Dirty Projectors. In ten tracks, Whoman delivers a dense and luminous debut album, both organic and inventive, where the delicacy of the vocals and the richness of the arrangements combine to create a warm and vibrant record, revealing a unique new voice on the Belgian indie scene.

Contemplating the role of the album format in an attention-deficient society, Speedy J presents Walkman -- a constantly shifting, 90-minute soundtrack to a journey of your choice. Jochem Paap's first solo album in over 20 years is a freewheeling, 20-track testament to his decades-deep studio skill and sonic versatility, running from skewed rhythmic rabbit holes to exploratory tonal abandon. For Paap, the traditional idea of the album had become obscured by listening habits and the non-stop information barrage of our digital lives. Having moved on from his breakthrough years releasing LPs and touring off the back of them, he was more inspired to develop his many-sided STOOR project and feed into a bigger artistic body of work than the temporary shelf-life of a single release. As is natural for any artist, his perspective shifted over time and he found himself drawn back to the idea of an album, realising he connected best with longer releases while he was on a walk, out for a run or generally in transit one way or another. With an endearing call back to the humble Walkman, he selected an hour and a half of material created during studio sessions at the beginning of 2025, perfectly sized to fit on two 45-minute sides of a cassette tape. As has long been the case for his studio practice, there were no fixed intentions when sitting down in the STOOR lab to start making noise -- just a wealth of experience and an expansive set of tools to start exploring with. From hours of jams Paap pulled together standout moments and moulded them into a mixtape-like narrative ranging from two-minute beat nuggets to full-tilt techno workouts and immersive ambient drops. Every sound is intentional, but the overall delivery is instinctive and curious, showing multiple new dimensions to Paap's sound and offering unpredictability at every turn. 'Arp Amp Chasm' opens the album up in a thick blanket of humming, harmonic waves with an electric emotional charge, while 'Ctrssalms17 (Cold Render)' journeys through evocative blooms of melancholic, gritty pads and rugged, half-submerged tech funk. 'Modern Birds (Origin Edit)' reaches skywards with grand sweeps of dynamic, brilliantly rendered synthesis. From the dexterous drum science of 'Drift Vector' to 'Osc Hop (Slow Collapse)'s lurching, beatless swamp of synths, on Walkman even the briefest snapshots leave an impression that lasts beyond the quick-scan cycle of the modern music experience. With his return to the album format, Paap's message is clear --put your headphones on, get outside and lose yourself in the sound of an artist constantly committed to moving forwards.

Schwarzes Vinyl! Doppel-LP im Klappcover. Ursprünglich 2017 rausgebracht und jetzt zum ersten Mal in Europa über Sub Pop erhältlich! Pure Comedy, das dritte Album von Father John Misty, ist eine komplexe, oft sarkastische und ebenso oft berührende Reflexion über die verwirrende Torheit der modernen Menschheit. Father John Misty ist das Projekt von Singer-Songwriter Josh Tillman. Wir könnten viel über Pure Comedy sagen, zum Beispiel, dass es ein mutiges, wichtiges Album in der Tradition amerikanischer Songwriting-Größen wie Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman und Leonard Cohen ist, aber wir denken, es ist am besten, wenn sein Schöpfer es selbst beschreibt. Los geht's, Mr. Tillman: Pure Comedy ist die Geschichte einer Spezies, die mit einem unvollständig entwickelten Gehirn geboren wurde. Die einzige Überlebenschance dieser Spezies, die sich auf einem grausamen, unberechenbaren Felsen wiederfindet, umgeben von anderen Spezies, die in dieser ganzen Sache viel geschickter zu sein scheinen (und für die sie eine Delikatesse sind), besteht darin, sich auf andere, etwas ältere, halb ausgebildete Gehirne zu verlassen. Diese Abhängigkeit bekommt im Laufe der Geschichte verschiedene Namen, wie ,Liebe", ,Kultur", ,Familie" usw. Mit der Zeit und da sich ihre Gehirne als bemerkenswert gut darin erweisen, Bedeutung zu erfinden, wo keine ist, wird die Spezies zum Lieferanten immer bizarrerer und raffinierterer Ironien. Diese Ironien sollen helfen, mit der abscheulichen Verletzlichkeit der Spezies fertig zu werden und zu versuchen, ihre Fantasie mit der Monotonie ihrer Existenz in Einklang zu bringen. So in etwa. Pure Comedy wurde 2016 in den legendären United Studios (Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Beck) in Hollywood, Kalifornien, aufgenommen. Produziert wurde es von Father John Misty und Jonathan Wilson, die Tonarbeit übernahm Mistys langjähriger Tontechniker Trevor Spencer und die Orchesterarrangements stammen vom bekannten Komponisten und Kontrabassisten Gavin Bryars (bekannt für seine umfangreichen Soloarbeiten und seine Zusammenarbeit mit Brian Eno, Tom Waits und Derek Bailey). Black Vinyl. Originally released in 2017 & now available for the first time in Europe via Sub Pop! Pure Comedy, Father John Misty's third album, is a complex, often-sardonic, and, equally often, touching meditation on the confounding folly of modern humanity. Father John Misty is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Josh Tillman. While we could say a lot about Pure Comedy including that it is a bold, important album in the tradition of American songwriting greats like Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, and Leonard Cohen we think it's best to let its creator describe it himself. Take it away, Mr. Tillman: Pure Comedy is the story of a species born with a half-formed brain. The species' only hope for survival, nding itself on a cruel, unpredictable rock surrounded by other species who seem far more adept at this whole thing (and to whom they are delicious), is the reliance on other, slightly older, half-formed brains. This reliance takes on a few different names as their story unfolds, like "love," "culture," "family," etc. Over time, and as their brains prove to be remarkably good at inventing meaning where there is none, the species becomes the purveyor of increasingly bizarre and sophisticated ironies. These ironies are designed to help cope with the species' loathsome vulnerability and to try and reconcile how disproportionate their imagination is to the monotony of their existence. Something like that. Pure Comedy was recorded in 2016 at the legendary United Studios (Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Beck) in Hollywood, CA. It was produced by Father John Misty and Jonathan Wilson, with engineering by Misty's longtime sound-person Trevor Spencer and orchestral arrangements by renowned composer/double-bassist Gavin Bryars (known for extensive solo work, and work with Brian Eno, Tom Waits, Derek Bailey).

After releasing two albums with the UK label Rocket Recordings, the Italian psych band Julie"s Haircut now release the new album on its own Label Superlove. With a title taking inspiration from the I Ching book of divination, and a six piece lineup introducing new singer and songwriter Anna Bassy joining the consolidated team formed by Nicola Caleffi, Luca Giovanardi, Andrea Rovacchi, Andrea Scarfone and Ulisse Tramalloni, Radiance Opposition collates an eight tracks cycle that generates a consistent yet multifaceted musical journey, combining psychedelia, electronica and polyrhythms - all blended together thanks to a syncretic vision juxtaposing apparently irreconcilable factors. None of this is more evident, perhaps, than in the opener "I Can See The Light", with its sudden yet flowing shift from a dark pulsating preamble to an invigorating, hypnotic coda; or in the transition from the stoner-drenched heavy chthonic blues of "Extinction Of The Sun" to the liquid nocturnal moods of closing piece "6AM Carpet Candlelight". But it is the whole record that finds a rare balance, with tracks melting deep atmospheres and summoning vocals, synth-driven shapes and dynamic cadences, noise textures and evoking chants - all of them making the album a cohesively transformative experience. Nestled in a visual frame by contemporary artist Zoë Croggon suggesting an aura of ritualistic tension and mystique, Radiance Opposition sets Julie"s Haircut in a renovated form, at once rooted in their history and rushed to a creative renascence.

Blending Afro-Uruguayan traditions with rock, soul, jazz, and funk, Ruben Rada has shaped the music scenes of Uruguay and Argentina from the 1960s to the present. Alongside Eduardo Mateo, he pioneered candombe-beat during his time with the legendary band El Kinto. In the early 1970s, he fused Afrobeat with rock in the trailblazing group Totem and later helped define the distinctive jazz fusion sound of Opa-collaborating with the Fattoruso brothers and Airto Moreira during his years in the United States. In the 1980s, Rada settled in Buenos Aires and assembled a powerhouse band featuring top talent from both Uruguay and Argentina. Together, they created a series of unforgettable albums that fused candombe with jazz and rock-marking one of the most celebrated periods of his career. Adar Nebur, originally released in 1984, captures Rada and his band at their peak. Backed by a stunning horn section, they blend Latin rhythms with jazz, soul, and the new wave sounds of the '80s. Now, more than forty years later, this hidden gem is being released internationally for the first time.