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Massive vocal driven Garage House pressure here, from way way back in 1992! Yes, 'Follow Me' is one of THOSE records, one that transcended genre boundaries on it's release and continues to do so today. A true classic piece of NYC goodness from back in the day. The super production team of DJ Pierre and george Morel could only deliver the heat and that's exactly what they did - created a timeless House record with the bassline that just doesn't let up! This is the sort of track that got hammered on the US House scene, found a home in the UK Garage world and got spin at almost any and all clubs where the DJ's had half a clue and an iota of taste! Containing the original 3 mixes released in '92 now's your chance to bag a bonafide, hands down classic record! 'Follow Me' has been skilfully remastered from all original master sources and fully licensed and reissued officially for 2017.

2026 Repress!

LIMITED EDITION SPLATTER VINYL

More Strictly Rhythm GOLD right here. An all-time, hands down, unstoppable CLASSIC record from way back - 1995 to be precise. If you don't know this record it's possible you've been in a coma, living in a cave with no electricity or have literally just arrived here on planet earth. Either way, once you hear 'Higher State Of Consciousness' you certainly won't forget it. Produced by Philly's legendary Josh Wink and released by the forward thinking A&R team at Strictly. At the time there was very little to nothing that even came close to this release. The 'Tweekin Acid Funk' mix being the highlight and the version that caught everyone's ears and captured minds worldwide across radio-waves with endless rewinds on MTV and in the clubs. Foreseeing the impending 'Breaks' boom that came around in the mid to late 90's 'Higher State...' was one of those rare moments where a record truly transcends genre boundaries and found it's way into DJ's boxes and bags on every scene. A mighty, evergreen slab of wigged out, acidic, breakbeat chaos. Essential. This one's a tasty 2017 reissue and remaster, featuring all 3 mixes, unedited, as per the original release way back when. Do not sleep.

Für Chantal Michelle ist das Komponieren von Musik wie eine Art Choreografie. In surrealen Klangwelten verbinden sich verschiedene Töne miteinander - sie bewegen sich zusammen und entfernen sich dann wieder voneinander - in einem Prozess, der sich ständig im Hörfeld wiederholt. Diese sich ständig verändernde Konstellation zeigt, wie zerbrechlich und veränderlich Wahrnehmung sein kann, ein Thema, das in Michelles Arbeit immer wieder auftaucht. Michelle, die schon früh eine Tanzausbildung absolvierte, bringt eine ausgeprägte räumliche Sensibilität in ihre Arbeit ein: ein intuitives Verständnis dafür, wie Formen koexistieren und sich durch drei Dimensionen bewegen, sowie eine Wertschätzung für die Schönheit, die sich in ungewöhnlichen Gegenüberstellungen von Materialien und Ideen findet. Seit sie 2021 ihre Solokarriere gestartet hat, hat sie internationale Anerkennung für ihre geduldigen, akribischen Aufnahmen bekommen, die oft zusammen mit Installationen, Mehrkanalkompositionen und Klangskulpturen entstehen. Innerhalb dieser subtil verwirrenden Klangarchitekturen können neue Beziehungen entstehen, neue Grenzen gezogen werden, und die Zuhörer werden zu einer Erfahrung von Zeit eingeladen, die sich der Linearität widersetzt. All Things Might Spill, Michelles erstes Album für Shelter Press, ist eine Auseinandersetzung mit anhaltender Spannung und der mysteriösen Erfahrung der Zeitdehnung in den Momenten kurz vor einem Bruch oder Zusammenbruch. Die Musik bewegt sich in einem Raum der Instabilität, und obwohl sie durchgehende Töne und definierte melodische Phrasen verwendet, herrscht eine Atmosphäre der Unentschlossenheit - wie ein Moment der Unruhe, der auf unbestimmte Zeit in der Schwebe bleibt. Ein Großteil des Albums wurde in den Wintermonaten 2024 in Berlin aufgenommen, wobei viele frühe Morgenstunden in einem Raum subtiler Unruhe verbracht wurden. Man sagt, dass Licht in die Dunkelheit eindringt, und diese Übergangszeit, die von Erwartungen geprägt ist, ist in der Musik zu hören. In ,Presence of Border" winden und verflechten sich nebulöse Stimmen, während sie über mehrdeutigen Harmonien schweben, die sich in unendliche Ferne zu erstrecken scheinen. Die beiden kurzen Stücke ,Magnetic Field I" und ,Magnetic Field II" enthalten bearbeitete Aufnahmen einer Tromba Marina, gespielt von der argentinischen Klangkünstlerin Alma Laprida. Die Gegenüberstellung von kratzigen Tönen und hauchzarten Obertönen erzeugt tamburaähnliche Drones, die den Zuhörer in einen schwer fassbaren Mittelpunkt ziehen. Später auf dem Album gibt es in ,Drying of Frozen Soils" modale Klarinettenlinien von Severin Black, die anfangs in dem nebligen, synthetischen Hintergrund fast nicht zu hören sind, bevor sie sich zu einem gespenstischen Kontrapunkt entwickeln. Eine ähnliche Struktur aus Unklarheit und Klarheit prägt den Titeltrack, in dem wortlose Gesänge eine laute Feldaufnahme durchdringen, die auf einer Fähre aufgenommen wurde, die den East River von Brooklyn nach Manhattan überquert. Das ist Musik mit einem weitläufigen Terrain und einer dichten Atmosphäre. Veränderungen sind langsam, aber dramatisch, jede Verschiebung ist sorgfältig geplant, um Gefühle des Staunens und der Vorfreude zu wecken und gleichzeitig eine erhabene Sensibilität dafür zu bewahren, wie einzelne Klänge mit der Bewegung ihrer Umgebung in Beziehung stehen. Michelle verzichtet meisterhaft auf Narrative und komponiert in drei Dimensionen. Wir bleiben mit der Mehrdeutigkeit des Wortes ,might" zurück - der anhaltenden Möglichkeit des energetischen Ansturms des Bruchs, des Ausbrechens, mal am Horizont, mal unmittelbar bevorstehend, irgendwie beides gleichzeitig.

Well, this release is like the icing on the cake for me. This is the first release I tried to sign to Vinyl Fanatiks once I knew we were creating a record label in early 2019. The problem being though - we couldn't locate Dimension! But now we have and I can finally bring to you my favourite rave release from back in the day!

Six killer tracks - zero filler here! A slice of UK dance music history that inspired so many.

Der mehrfach preisgekrönte Londoner Jazz-Saxofonist startet mit seinerm neuen Soloalbum sein eigenes Label.

Multiinstrumentalist, Produzent und Künstler Shabaka (Hutchings) veröffentlicht mit "Of The Earth" sein drittes Soloalbum, das gleichzeitig das erste ist, das über sein eigenes Label Shabaka Records erscheint und komplett von ihm selbst geschrieben und produziert wurde. Auf "Of The Earth" kehrt Shabaka zu seinem charakteristischen Saxophonklang zurück, ergänzt durch ausgefeilte Elektronik und Produktion sowie traditionelle Holzblasinstrumente und Perkussion aus aller Welt. Diese Kombination unterstreicht sein vielseitiges Talent und prägt den Gesamtklang des Albums. Hutchings genießt hohes Ansehen für seine Arbeit mit The Comet Is Coming, Sons Of Kemet, Shabaka And The Ancestors sowie für die beiden jüngsten Soloprojekte "Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace" (2024) und "Afrikan Culture" (2023). Als Musiker arbeitete er bereits mit einer Vielzahl namhafter Künstler zusammen, darunter Andre 3000, Floating Points, Mulatu Astatke, The Sun Ra Arkestra, Lianne La Havas, Saul Williams und viele mehr. "Of The Earth" erscheint als schwarze Vinyl-LP, als limitierte kornblumenblaue Vinyl-Edition und als CD. Beide Vinyl-Formate enthalten ein Booklet mit Hutchings' eigenem Artwork.

Recorded spontaneously in a single afternoon, the album captures an unguarded musical conversation between two of the most compelling voices of their generation. Born in Brixton and now based in Harlem, Ruben Fox has emerged as a major presence on the international jazz scene, renowned for the depth of his sound, the emotional clarity of his ballad playing, and a voice rooted in tradition while speaking firmly in the present. His work follows collaborations with artists including Wynton Marsalis, Barry Harris, Roy Hargrove, Jon Batiste, and George Coleman, and builds on the critical acclaim of his 2021 debut Introducing Ruben Fox.

Micah Thomas is one of the most celebrated pianists of his generation, praised for a style that is both restlessly inventive and deeply grounded in the history of the music. A Jerome L. Greene Fellow and Juilliard alumnus, Thomas has worked extensively with Immanuel Wilkins, Joshua Redman, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Billy Drummond, and has been recognised by DownBeat, Jazz Magazine, and The New York City Jazz Record as a defining contemporary voice. Fox and Thomas first developed their musical relationship while studying at Juilliard, where they regularly played duo sets. In Two Minds was recorded on a whim at Chris Pattishall's apartment in Washington Heights, with no rehearsal, no edits, and no agenda beyond mutual respect, listening, and shared musical values. Over three hours, the pair simply showed up and played.

The result is an intimate, conversational record that foregrounds generosity, empathy, and deep musical listening. Sparse, direct, and emotionally rich, In Two Minds offers a rare document of two artists meeting in real time, balancing history, intellect, warmth, and spontaneity.

A mix of metallic doomgaze, epic gothic soundscapes and post punk attitude. Loud and crushing, yet sharp enough to stick in your head for days. There are two kinds of heavy bands: the ones that make a lot of noise and the ones that drag you somewhere you didn't know you needed to go. Cwfen (pronounced 'Coven') are the latter, and Sorrows is a record that doesn't just crush - it haunts long after the final note. The allure of Cwfen's sound lies in contrasts: the glacial ferocity of Amenra, with the velvet-and-razor vocals of King Woman, and the rotting grandeur of Type O Negative. It's as hypnotic as it is harrowing, but somehow even better than the sum of those parts. Since emerging from Glasgow's underground just 18 months ago, Cwfen's reputation is growing, selling out shows and pulling growing audiences into their doom-laden fever dream. Released in October, the band's debut single 'Reliks' was a hit with fans and critics, landing a spot on Kerrang!'s release of the week playlist. And rightly so. Their sound devours and delights in equal measure. "Cwfen have emerged from the darkest depths of the Caledonian underground with a beguiling blend of doom metal and gothic post-punk for those who like to live deliciously." Kerrang! Sorrows lives in the space around doom where the weight of the riffs is matched by the weight in your chest, where the lyrics and the songwriting are as important as the music itself. Loud and crushing, yet sharp enough to stick in your head for days. It builds, burns, collapses, resurrects. Big on riffs, bigger on feeling. The kind of songs you carry with you. Singer and rhythm guitarist Agnes Alder bears her claws one minute, then whispers the next, as the band follows like a storm front, rising, breaking, drowning you in the weight of it. From the guttural Penance to the lush Whispers, to the feral Wolfsbane and the insurrectionist Rite. It includes a long reworking of Embers and Bodies, the two self-recorded demos that launched them into the scene with a bang and their growing legion of fans already adore. Intricate vocal arrangements, heavy and harsh guitars, a mix of atmosphere and heft, it undoubtedly punches above its weight for a debut. As Agnes says: "When we stopped trying to fit into any one space, what came out was this beautiful mix of dark and light. Something visceral and cathartic." This is a band that sits right in the boundaries between the heavy genres, pulling in everyone from the young goths and to the die-hard metalheads alike and 'Sorrows' truly does deliver in spades. Make no mistake, Cwfen are set to be one of the names to watch in 2025. FFO: Chelsea Wolfe, Zetra, King Woman, Type O Negative, Alcest, Faetooth, Liturgy. Limited vinyl pressing, 500 copies in transparent red vinyl. Full colour Gatefold outer sleeve, with a full colour printed inner sleeve, Full download included as well.

The Golden Age of southern soul lasted from about 1962 to 1975, when disco ripped the heart out of it. And although it may seem as though the blend of country, gospel and R & B that emerged from the great studios in Memphis and Muscle Shoals in that decade was entirely fresh and new, like any other genre classic, southern soul picked up musical cues and absorbed influences from a whole variety of sources: horn lines from Louisiana's swamp pop, lyrical themes from the blues, songs from country music, and of course so, so much from the black churches. Part of the 'History of Soul' series, this LP reveals the musical antecedents that gave southern soul its inspiration. The music here will tell you the real story - and it will knock your socks off too! Notes by John Ridley.

In 1962, Black Music was making its transition from R&B to soul and the Chicago music industry was exploding, producing thousands of records and dozens of new labels. The two biggest black labels Vee-Jay and Chess led in the creation of the distinctive, smooth, Chicago soul brand with names familiar and not so familiar: the former with Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler and the latter with Mitty Collier, Etta James and Billy Stewart. And yet it's the smaller labels that make up the bulk of the Chicago story: Hawk with Geraldine Taylor, Lu-Cee with Roberta, M-Pac with Dorothy Prince and it's here that we explore some of the finest sounds of the era in this collection. Extensive liner notes written by Robert Pruter, author of the acclaimed 'Chicago Soul'. Side One. 1. The Town I Live In - McKinley Mitchell 2. I'm The One Who Loves You - The Impressions 3. Shake A Tail Feather - The Five Du-Tones 4. Mama Didn't Lie - Jan Bradley 5. Make It Easy On Yourself - Jerry Butler 6. Seven Day Fool - Etta James 7. The Blues Don't Like Nobody - Tony Adams 8. I've Got To Get Away From It All - Mitty Collier 9. How Much Longer - Geraldine Taylor 10. I'm On The Prowl - Roberta. Side Two: 1. Fat Boy - Billy Stewart 2. Can't Take No More - Ted Taylor 3. I Don't Want To Suffer - Walter Jackson 4. Open Your Heart - Sugar Pie DeSanto 5. Shook Up Over You - Dee Clark 6. Something's Got A Hold On Me - Etta James 7. Why Not Tonight - Dorothy Prince 8. Delilah - Major Lance 9. Money In My Pocket - Moss Tolbert

If you could go back in time ten years, what would you want to tell yourself? This was a question Khruangbin posed to themselves when approaching the ten-year anniversary of their debut album, the once cult classic, now genre-defining work The Universe Smiles Upon You. “If we could go back and tell ourselves how much was going to happen to us after that record, what would we want to
celebrate?” asked Laura Lee, bassist, vocalist, and founding member of the band. Instead, they thought: “Let’s do it again.”
The Universe Smiles Upon You ii was recorded on January 4-6, 2025, in the same family barn of guitarist Mark Speer, across the
same dates where TUSUY was first conceived ten years earlier. Though the conditions were the same–dirt floor, brutally cold,
minimal sound isolation, all takes live–the songs aren’t. They’re re-approached, some changed more than others, harnessing the lightning-in-a-bottle energy of TUSUY while discovering what would be unique this time around, in this stage of the band’s life.
The result moves like ripples on the water across ten hypnotizing tracks, the barn creating a sense of spaciousness, serenity and creative freedom, nearby wildlife (listen out for the birds on “August Twelve ii”), rattles and creaks of the barn and all. It’s a tapestry of small movements in nuanced arrangements, slowly revealing the new life, stories and character of someone you’ve met again for the first time in ten years.

A collection of previously unreleased material (between '75 & '90) by Enno Velthuys.
Compiled by Hessel Veldman.

"Hello boys and girls, my name is Enno Velthuys and I am the idiot of the group (and also the
most intelligent, the most sensitive, the most artistic and he who has to carry the heaviest
load, because this boy's luggage, DAMN, it's pretty heavy).
Luckily, I had already been through a lot when I got this ‘knock in the head’. Sex, drugs, lots
of rock and roll and a sunny childhood with beautiful views I look back on with nostalgia.
Later on I lost my focus and I only thought about one thing: how to get out of it (that damn
problem, my shifted reality, my blind spot, that piece of poisoned apple of forbidden
knowledge choking my throat)!

But I can't think my way out of it, psychiatrists are just ordinary people, and very heavy pills
suppress everything (I'll just take my pills) FLASH!

You ask me what it takes to create music or art that is meaningful and tells a story. It’s hard
when you haven't had enough setbacks, nothing more than maybe a little blues. I'm not
saying it was the right path, but at least I've come a long way. And now I'm a fish in a pool.
Please understand that this is very disturbing. It's not my waterway. A fish belongs in a river.
And my star sign is fish. >))D

See you soon, EnnO"

Über die Jahre hat Numero eine Menge Aufnahmen aus den Tiefen Detroits ausgegraben. Aus allen möglichen Mini-Motowns haben wir Soul, R&B, Funk, Disco, Boogie und aufgrund der Nähe auch Gospel entdeckt. Frühere Untersuchungen der Labels Revival und Big Mack brachten mehr als nur ein paar neue apokryphe Hymnen zutage, und Great Lakes Gospel Vol. 2 versammelt ein Dutzend interessanter Kirchengruppen, die sich hingebungsvoll an die Ausläufer des Genres heranwagen. Verlier dich in ekstatischem Chor-Funk, Kanzel-Rap, direkt eingespeisten Gitarrensoli und dem Heiligen Geist, sollte er dich bewegen. Schau dich im Raum um. Mit diesem Ding könntest du eine Kirche gründen.

Over the decades, Numero has excavated a metric ton of recordings from the depths of Detroit. From all manner of mini Motowns we’ve uncovered soul, R&B, funk, disco, boogie, and by nature of proximity—gospel. Previous examinations of the Revival and Big Mack la- bels turned up more than a few new apocryphal hymns, and Great Lakes Gospel Vol. 2 compiles a dozen curious church groups devotionally reaching towards the genre’s frayed edge. Get lost in ecstatic choir funk, pulpit rappin’, direct-injection guitar solos, and the holy spirit, should it move you. Look around the room. You could start a church with this thing.

With »News from Planet Zombie«, The Notwist return to view after years of exploration and experiment with an album rich in both melancholy and positivity, sketched across a suite of thrilling, fiercely committed pop songs. It’s an album reflecting a chaotic world, but responding with warmth and generosity, to achieve creative and spiritual consolidation. Recorded in their home base of Munich, it reconnects with the security of the local to explore the troubles of the global: a guiding impulse writ large across this album’s eleven songs. It’s also the first studio album since 1995’s »12« that the entire band recorded together in the studio in its expanded live formation.

A new album by The Notwist is always a curious endeavour; their musical language is as consistent and resilient as the contexts for creativity are unpredictable and ever shifting. For »News from Planet Zombie«, the core trio of Markus and Micha Acher and Cico Beck embraced the plural possibilities of writing together, bringing songs to the collective and then arranging, rehearsing and recording that material live, in the studio.

The result is an album that’s energised, fully in ›the now‹, with spectacular moments where you can hear the magic bubbling up in the dynamic between the Achers, Beck, and fellow members Theresa Loibl, Max Punktezahl, Karl Ivar Refseth, and Andi Haberl. If »Teeth« begins »News from Planet Zombie« quietly and reflectively, by »X-Ray« everyone’s supercharged, blasting out future anthems with the collective energy cranked up high. The chiming keys of »Propeller« skim the instrumental’s surface like stones across burbling water; »The Turning« clangs its way into one of the album’s most heartwarming melodies.

»News from Planet Zombie« was recorded over one week at Import Export, a non-profit space for arts and music. You can tell, too; there are some pleasingly rough edges here, as though The Notwist’s striving for hazy perfection means they’re also confident enough to let the songs breathe and mutate between our ears. That openness to chance also takes in guest turns from friends both local and international, reflective of a cosmopolitan Munich: Enid Valu joins in on vocals, while Haruka Yoshizawa guests on taishōgoto and harmonium, Tianping Christoph Xiao on clarinet, and Mathias Götz on trombone.

The Notwist aren’t best known for cover versions, but »News from Planet Zombie« features two: a gorgeous version of Neil Young’s »Red Sun« (from 2000’s »Silver & Gold«), which the group originally developed for a theatre play directed by Jette Steckel, and a take on Athens, Georgia folk-pop gang Lovers’ »How the Story Ends«. They slot into the album’s narrative perfectly, nestling in like old friends, revealing The Notwist as poetic interpreters. Played well, the cover version is both acknowledgement of fellow travellers and act of generosity, and The Notwist nail both aspects here.

And that narrative, the way the album plays out? »News from Planet Zombie« acknowledges the distress of our current geopolitical impasse, while reminding us there are collective ways forward. Fed through the figure of the zombie, Markus Acher explores our anxieties: »In the title and some lyrics I reference B- and horror-movies, which is a reference to the crazy world at the moment, which seems to be like a really bad and unrealistic B-movie.« But there’s a reminder here not to lose the thread entirely, that these things, too, will pass.

»The river here in Munich I often go to has been there forever and will be there long after us,« Acher reflects, pinpointing an important source of succour for him, »always the same but always changing. Very calming, but also always reminding me that like this river time only flows into one direction and you can’t go back. Every moment is very precious.«

Artwork by Marie Vermont

The Notwist:
Markus Acher: vocals, guitar
Micha Acher: bass, sousaphone, euphonium, trumpet
Cico Beck: electronics, keyboards, guitar, recorder, percussion
Theresa Loibl: bassclarinet, clarinet, piano, harmonium, organ
Max Punktezahl: guitar
Karl Ivar Refseth: marimbaphone, vibraphone, glockenspiel, congas, percussion
Andi Haberl: drums, dulcimer
+
Enid Valu: vocals on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11
Haruka Yoshizawa: taishōgoto on 6, harmonium on 9, 10, 11
Tianping Christoph Xiao: clarinet on 4, 10, 11
Mathias Götz: trombone on 4, 10, 11

Destruction, killing, is all that’s in sight. Unleashed in 1988 at a time when Death Metal as a genre was still at its infancy and the vast majority of bands were yet to release their first album, BOLT THROWER’s debut In Battle There Is No Law! already hit the nascent underground with full force. Only preceded by a handful albums like DEATH’s Scream Bloody Gore, NAPALM DEATH’s Scum or NECROPHAGIA’s Season of the Dead, In Battle There Is No Law! is widely considered a landmark record and ranks among the very first Death Metal albums ever.

Consisting of 8 tracks and clocking in at just around 28 minutes, the album originally released by Vinyl Solution is arguably BOLT THROWER’s rawest and most primal effort. Despite the uncompromisingly rough sound and their Crust and Punk influences still being rather obvious, the characteristics BOLT THROWER would go on to be hailed for, are already represented albeit in rather crude form, though. Rather than to its detriment, it’s this very unfiltered roughness that`s somewhat missing from their later albums that gives In Battle There Is No Law! its special unmistakable charm. Instead of putting emphasis on distinctive melodies and mid-tempo groove, the songwriting leans more towards all-out attack.

Destruction, killing, is all that’s in sight. Unleashed in 1988 at a time when Death Metal as a genre was still at its infancy and the vast majority of bands were yet to release their first album, BOLT THROWER’s debut In Battle There Is No Law! already hit the nascent underground with full force. Only preceded by a handful albums like DEATH’s Scream Bloody Gore, NAPALM DEATH’s Scum or NECROPHAGIA’s Season of the Dead, In Battle There Is No Law! is widely considered a landmark record and ranks among the very first Death Metal albums ever.

Consisting of 8 tracks and clocking in at just around 28 minutes, the album originally released by Vinyl Solution is arguably BOLT THROWER’s rawest and most primal effort. Despite the uncompromisingly rough sound and their Crust and Punk influences still being rather obvious, the characteristics BOLT THROWER would go on to be hailed for, are already represented albeit in rather crude form, though. Rather than to its detriment, it’s this very unfiltered roughness that`s somewhat missing from their later albums that gives In Battle There Is No Law! its special unmistakable charm. Instead of putting emphasis on distinctive melodies and mid-tempo groove, the songwriting leans more towards all-out attack.

A journey into the raw and visceral origins: from the demo sessions mixed by Steve Albini to the night of the very first secret show on December 20th, 1988. In the heart of Chicago, Geordie and Martin Atkins turned frustration and distance into pure creative energy, recording the now-legendary "Black Cassette" demos at Albini"s house. Distorted, menacing bass lines, unruly oscillators, and Albini running endlessly up and down the stairs between the basement drum room and the pantry control room defined a sound that was brutally direct and uncompromising. The first interactions with the Yamaha drum machine foreshadowed elements that would later shape parts of the album. Those sessions sparked essential ideas, while the future studio - purchased from Steve and moved to Wabash Ave - would soon become the core of Invisible Records and Killing Joke"s operations. On the other side, a truly rare document: excerpts from Atkins"s very first show with the band, at Burberries in Birmingham on December 20th, 1988. In a small, mirror-lined club filled with tension, adrenaline, and inevitable collisions with the walls, Extremities, The Fanatic, Intravenous, and The Beautiful Dead were performed publicly for the first time. It was the night when everything ignited: the blast beat still in its embryonic stage, the controlled fury Geordie demanded - "can you go a bit more Moonie on it?" - and above all Jaz"s theatrical yet strikingly genuine laughter. Not just joy, but a declaration: a giant "fuck off" to the doubters and a prelude of what was about to come. A raw, essential, indispensable testimony: the birth of an era.

A journey into the raw and visceral origins: from the demo sessions mixed by Steve Albini to the night of the very first secret show on December 20th, 1988. In the heart of Chicago, Geordie and Martin Atkins turned frustration and distance into pure creative energy, recording the now-legendary "Black Cassette" demos at Albini"s house. Distorted, menacing bass lines, unruly oscillators, and Albini running endlessly up and down the stairs between the basement drum room and the pantry control room defined a sound that was brutally direct and uncompromising. The first interactions with the Yamaha drum machine foreshadowed elements that would later shape parts of the album. Those sessions sparked essential ideas, while the future studio - purchased from Steve and moved to Wabash Ave - would soon become the core of Invisible Records and Killing Joke"s operations. On the other side, a truly rare document: excerpts from Atkins"s very first show with the band, at Burberries in Birmingham on December 20th, 1988. In a small, mirror-lined club filled with tension, adrenaline, and inevitable collisions with the walls, Extremities, The Fanatic, Intravenous, and The Beautiful Dead were performed publicly for the first time. It was the night when everything ignited: the blast beat still in its embryonic stage, the controlled fury Geordie demanded - "can you go a bit more Moonie on it?" - and above all Jaz"s theatrical yet strikingly genuine laughter. Not just joy, but a declaration: a giant "fuck off" to the doubters and a prelude of what was about to come. A raw, essential, indispensable testimony: the birth of an era.

Hardcore thrash punks VITAMIN X return with a new album in 2026 via Svart Records Amsterdam’s hardcore legends Vitamin X are back with their seventh album Ride The Apocalypse, the band’s most intense and ambitious album to date — released by Svart Records in March 2026. Mastered by Joel Grind (Toxic Holocaust, Municipal Waste) and featuring apocalyptic artwork by Andrei Bouzikov (Municipal Waste), the record delivers 16 tracks of pure mayhem: faster, harder, and heavier than anything the band has done before. Everyone who’s heard the early mixes agree — this is the strongest Vitamin X album yet. For over two decades, Vitamin X has been one of the most explosive and influential forces in crossover hardcore punk. Emerging alongside the early wave of modern crossover and thrash-revival bands like Municipal Waste and Wolfbrigade, Vitamin X carved out a sound that is unmistakably their own: ultra-fast, razor-tight, socio-political, fun, and always completely unhinged. They’ve released albums on iconic labels such as Southern Lord, Havoc, and Tankcrimes, and worked with legends like Steve Albini, John Baizley (Baroness) and J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.). Their video About to Crack reached millions of views. The band has played over a thousand shows worldwide and appeared at festivals such as Hellfest, Maryland Deathfest, EXIT, and Obscene Extreme. With Ride The Apocalypse arriving in March 2026, Vitamin X enters a new chapter — sharper, faster, and more devastating than ever.

Hardcore thrash punks VITAMIN X return with a new album in 2026 via Svart Records Amsterdam’s hardcore legends Vitamin X are back with their seventh album Ride The Apocalypse, the band’s most intense and ambitious album to date — released by Svart Records in March 2026. Mastered by Joel Grind (Toxic Holocaust, Municipal Waste) and featuring apocalyptic artwork by Andrei Bouzikov (Municipal Waste), the record delivers 16 tracks of pure mayhem: faster, harder, and heavier than anything the band has done before. Everyone who’s heard the early mixes agree — this is the strongest Vitamin X album yet. For over two decades, Vitamin X has been one of the most explosive and influential forces in crossover hardcore punk. Emerging alongside the early wave of modern crossover and thrash-revival bands like Municipal Waste and Wolfbrigade, Vitamin X carved out a sound that is unmistakably their own: ultra-fast, razor-tight, socio-political, fun, and always completely unhinged. They’ve released albums on iconic labels such as Southern Lord, Havoc, and Tankcrimes, and worked with legends like Steve Albini, John Baizley (Baroness) and J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.). Their video About to Crack reached millions of views. The band has played over a thousand shows worldwide and appeared at festivals such as Hellfest, Maryland Deathfest, EXIT, and Obscene Extreme. With Ride The Apocalypse arriving in March 2026, Vitamin X enters a new chapter — sharper, faster, and more devastating than ever.

REVNOIR is one of the most exciting new forces to emerge in the rock and metal world. Officially unveiled in September 2023, the project has been quietly evolving behind the scenes for nearly two years, led by the talented trio Maxime Rodriguez-Medallo, Julien Ho-Tong, and Kaz Nakazawa. Blending elements of modern rock, crushing metal, and dark electro, REVNOIR crafts a powerful, melodic sound that resonates with both emotional depth and cinematic intensity. Since their formation, the band has made impressive waves—already surpassing 1 million Spotify streams across their four latest singles and building a loyal listenership with over 70,000 unique monthly listeners on the platform.

Their explosive live energy was on full display when they joined Future Palace on a European tour and later proved their rising star status with a sold-out headline show at La Maroquinerie in Paris (550 capacity) in April 2025. Now signed to Arising Empire, REVNOIR are gearing up for their next big chapter: supporting Coldrain on their massive UK/EU headline tour this winter. Spanning 17 dates across 10 countries, including major stops in the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, and more, the tour marks Coldrain’s first European run in over four years and is set to draw thousands of fans each night. As main support on every date, REVNOIR will be performing in some of the biggest venues of their career so far—introducing their sound to a whole new wave of international listeners and firmly cementing their place among the most promising heavy acts of this new generation.

With »News from Planet Zombie«, The Notwist return to view after years of exploration and experiment with an album rich in both melancholy and positivity, sketched across a suite of thrilling, fiercely committed pop songs. It’s an album reflecting a chaotic world, but responding with warmth and generosity, to achieve creative and spiritual consolidation. Recorded in their home base of Munich, it reconnects with the security of the local to explore the troubles of the global: a guiding impulse writ large across this album’s eleven songs. It’s also the first studio album since 1995’s »12« that the entire band recorded together in the studio in its expanded live formation.

A new album by The Notwist is always a curious endeavour; their musical language is as consistent and resilient as the contexts for creativity are unpredictable and ever shifting. For »News from Planet Zombie«, the core trio of Markus and Micha Acher and Cico Beck embraced the plural possibilities of writing together, bringing songs to the collective and then arranging, rehearsing and recording that material live, in the studio.

The result is an album that’s energised, fully in ›the now‹, with spectacular moments where you can hear the magic bubbling up in the dynamic between the Achers, Beck, and fellow members Theresa Loibl, Max Punktezahl, Karl Ivar Refseth, and Andi Haberl. If »Teeth« begins »News from Planet Zombie« quietly and reflectively, by »X-Ray« everyone’s supercharged, blasting out future anthems with the collective energy cranked up high. The chiming keys of »Propeller« skim the instrumental’s surface like stones across burbling water; »The Turning« clangs its way into one of the album’s most heartwarming melodies.

»News from Planet Zombie« was recorded over one week at Import Export, a non-profit space for arts and music. You can tell, too; there are some pleasingly rough edges here, as though The Notwist’s striving for hazy perfection means they’re also confident enough to let the songs breathe and mutate between our ears. That openness to chance also takes in guest turns from friends both local and international, reflective of a cosmopolitan Munich: Enid Valu joins in on vocals, while Haruka Yoshizawa guests on taishōgoto and harmonium, Tianping Christoph Xiao on clarinet, and Mathias Götz on trombone.

The Notwist aren’t best known for cover versions, but »News from Planet Zombie« features two: a gorgeous version of Neil Young’s »Red Sun« (from 2000’s »Silver & Gold«), which the group originally developed for a theatre play directed by Jette Steckel, and a take on Athens, Georgia folk-pop gang Lovers’ »How the Story Ends«. They slot into the album’s narrative perfectly, nestling in like old friends, revealing The Notwist as poetic interpreters. Played well, the cover version is both acknowledgement of fellow travellers and act of generosity, and The Notwist nail both aspects here.

And that narrative, the way the album plays out? »News from Planet Zombie« acknowledges the distress of our current geopolitical impasse, while reminding us there are collective ways forward. Fed through the figure of the zombie, Markus Acher explores our anxieties: »In the title and some lyrics I reference B- and horror-movies, which is a reference to the crazy world at the moment, which seems to be like a really bad and unrealistic B-movie.« But there’s a reminder here not to lose the thread entirely, that these things, too, will pass.

»The river here in Munich I often go to has been there forever and will be there long after us,« Acher reflects, pinpointing an important source of succour for him, »always the same but always changing. Very calming, but also always reminding me that like this river time only flows into one direction and you can’t go back. Every moment is very precious.«

Artwork by Marie Vermont

The Notwist:
Markus Acher: vocals, guitar
Micha Acher: bass, sousaphone, euphonium, trumpet
Cico Beck: electronics, keyboards, guitar, recorder, percussion
Theresa Loibl: bassclarinet, clarinet, piano, harmonium, organ
Max Punktezahl: guitar
Karl Ivar Refseth: marimbaphone, vibraphone, glockenspiel, congas, percussion
Andi Haberl: drums, dulcimer
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Enid Valu: vocals on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11
Haruka Yoshizawa: taishōgoto on 6, harmonium on 9, 10, 11
Tianping Christoph Xiao: clarinet on 4, 10, 11
Mathias Götz: trombone on 4, 10, 11

Ali Renault re ignites the Vivod catalogue after a four year hiatus with Circle of Sins — a solo EP built for italo fiends, horror romantics, and synth obsessives alike. You already know the vibe: detective-noir disco, low-slung BPM swagger, basslines that churn like midnight fog, and those unmistakably icy Renault melodies slithering through the mix.

Four tracks, one ultra-limited 12″, just 150 copies on the planet — each hand-numbered. They’re going to vanish faster than you can say “don’t sleep,” so get that pre-order in before they’re gone to the underworld.

Eight years have passed since 8 regards obliques, the album in which Jaumet reinvented his spiritual jazz classics, letting them drift into other dimensions. Since then, an intense tour alongside Thomas de Pourquery and a new recording adventure with Zombie Zombie have taken him on the road. Yet it is in the inspiring calm of his brand-new studio in Bagnolet that he found the material for Du cortex à l’iris, his new album recorded for his label Versatile Records. Du cortex à l’iris continues this delicate balance that defines Jaumet’s signature: a constant tension between hypnotic abstraction and an almost animal groove. "To reduce the distance between my cortex and my senses, in order to compose mental images with sounds," he says. This intention runs through the entire album: a desire to make people dance, yes, but with echoes of EBM, bursts of cinematic landscapes, and that singular way of slowly inducing trance rather than declaring it. Saxophone, synths, analog drum machines: the arsenal remains familiar, but the approach is even more direct. Playing fast, composing in the moment, letting the hand run before the mind corrects. Capturing something primal, spontaneous, almost raw – as if the sound were really passing, this time, directly from the cortex to the iris.

A companion piece to the album, Right Now!, this collection contains additional recordings from those sessions, as well as remixes and reimaginings of songs from Right Now! All songs, except for “Reap What You Sow,” have never been released. The psychedelic improv supergroup featuring Dave Alvin and Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven, Cracker, Monks of Doom, Eyelids), David Immerglück (Counting Crows, John Hiatt, Monks of Doom, Camper Van Beethoven), drummer Michael Jerome (Richard Thompson, Better Than Ezra, John Cale), and singer/songwriter Jesse Sykes (Jesse Sykes & The Sweeter Hereafter) continues to defy expectations and genre on Spellbinder!

The Sound Migration SYT reissue campaign continues with the 1994 single Echo System / School Of Thought. Originally released on Astralasia's Magick Eye Records records, it features two long spacey psychedelic acid cuts plus a fresh set of remixes with E-Talking delivering a refined tech house version and Trent taking things in cosmic disco direction.

ZHERAV unleashes hypnotic Middle Eastern grooves on NAJA / BAZAAR 45 for Batov’s highly collectable 45 series.

New Zealand-based producer ZHERAV announces his debut release, NAJA / BAZAAR, a double single and 45 on Batov’s Middle Eastern Grooves series. The record fuses psychedelic rock, hypnotic rhythms, and electronic production influences, creating a sound that moves between swung grooves and cinematic, reverb-soaked textures.

ZHERAV draws from his background in house and techno, layering live guitar, bass, and synths over programmed drums. “I had a production template for house music on Ableton” he explains, “and I thought about how to switch to this Middle Eastern sound using the same format”. Most of ZHERAV’s tracks developed through improvisation - starting with programmed drums, then experimenting around scales on instruments until something works. ZHERAV has already received support from independent radio in Australia and New Zealand, and encouragement from international artists like Ko Shin Moon.

Both tracks explore Middle Eastern scales, bringing a distinct flavour to the grooves, while maintaining ZHERAV’s signature hypnotic layered sound. ZHERAV had something in mind related to snakes and their charmers when creating the A-side, NAJA (“Indian Cobra”). An ominous bassline loops repeatedly over snapping drums and percussion, whilst ZHERAV improvises guitar riffs and effects over the top.

"¡Qué ardiente!" combines the best of Los Roger's limited discography, one of the most influential Amazonian cumbia bands from Iquitos, Peru.Their discography dives deep into Cuban-influenced sounds, where the guitar shares the spotlight with powerful percussion and-with tracks like 'Descarga Roger's'-with the vocals as well. A thorough look into one of the most essential Psychedelic cumbia bands in Peru. Iquitos, one of Peru's most remote cities and the capital of its Amazon region, was the epicenter of the psychedelic cumbia movement. Countless bands emerged from this place, each with a different fate in their musical journeys. Some rose to become international stars and flag bearers of cumbia, while others remained local legends, their fame never traveling far beyond the Amazon jungle. Los Roger's achieved great success in Iquitos and served as the foundation and inspiration for many local bands that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s. "¡Qué ardiente!" combines the best of the band's limited discography. The recordings come from their first 45 RPM single and their two mini Long Plays for the FTA label, as well as their only elusive LP from 1971, "¡Qué ardiente!", ("How Burning!") recorded for the prestigious IEMPSA label. Los Roger's came to an abrupt end just one year after the release of their LP, at the peak of their career, due to their disappointments with the music industry.

Soft Echoes presents the first physical edition of ‘In a Few Places Along the River’ by Abul Mogard as a limited run of 500 vinyl copies. Originally released digitally in 2022, the album now appears in its intended form, marking the label’s second release.

Three long pieces, composed between 2019 and 2022, emerged from Mogard’s meticulous experimentation with analogue and digital instruments. Slowly evolving harmonic fields of layered drones and spectral textures drift across the record. They are enhanced by reverb from Scotland’s Inchindown oil tanks, which hold the longest reverberation of any man-made structure, giving the music a haunting resonance and a sense of suspended space.

‘Against a White Cloud’ and ‘In True Contemplation’ open the album with their nocturnal tones that gradually intensify into dense, immersive waves of sound. Side B is devoted to the 21-minute elegiacal piece ‘Along the River’, which flows between weight and silence, unfolding with reflective depth and moments of subtle transcendence. As one listener observed, “His music doesn't break the wilful suspension of disbelief: you stay in its trance.”

“Recording for this album began in 2019, when I was still living in London,” Mogard explains. “The first version of ‘Along the River’ was created at my studio near Brick Lane. It started with experimenting around a chord progression inspired by a classical piece I had once been recommended, though, strangely enough, I no longer recall what it was. Early in 2022, I revealed the identity behind Abul Mogard and wanted to mark this new period, so I decided to release it quickly, by myself, as digital-only.”

After returning to Rome, Mogard created the other two pieces, working with new digital instruments alongside his modular synthesiser, and integrated recordings from the London sessions. The music reveals a patient attention to texture and space, defining his usual restraint. Mogard adds, “I was trying to explore very subtle changes in the spectral characteristics of the music using extremely slow, intertwined tones.”

Described by critics as one of Mogard’s most melancholic and absorbing releases, the album maintains an austere beauty and contemplative weight, leaving a lingering impression that lasts far beyond the final note.

The music has extended beyond the album itself, with tracks appearing in films and contemporary artworks. Most notably, Swedish artist Peder Bjurman’s ‘Slow Walker’ audiovisual installation and French filmmaker Fleuryfontaine’s politically charged animated film ‘Soixante-sept millisecondes’.

Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri and cut to vinyl by Lupo, the record emphasises the clarity and depth of Mogard’s frequencies, with each layer precisely balanced. The cover artwork and design are by Marja de Sanctis, who has collaborated with Abul since his first cassette release in 2012.

I fell into a deep sleep of reason Everything broken and hence when I woke up from that deep sleep of reason it all made sense

A Unique Artistic Partnership This project represents a distinct and carefully considered artistic endeavor. Developed by Mark Springer (Rip, Rig and Panic) and Neil Tennant (The Pet Shop Boys), it combines a suite for piano, quartet, and quintet with vocals, accompanied by lyrics offering thoughtful introspection. The collaboration explores the intersection of divergent creative approaches-one characterized by radical expression, the other by meticulous craftsmanship. The result is a work that invites reflection and demonstrates the potential of disciplined artistic dialogue.

The Sources of the Project Neil Tennant: I bought a book of Goya's print series Los Caprichos which had inspired Mark's music and saw that the artworks were a satirical, cruel, nightmarish portrayal of the politics, corruption and culture of his era, exploring his dreams - or nightmares - while exposing the double standards of the ruling establishment. The lyrics I wrote for "Sleep of Reason", in response to Los Caprichos, are intended to be sardonic and dreamlike, looking back to Goya's nightmares but then reflecting on my experiences in 21st Century popular culture and media in which I have located the "monsters" Goya saw in his dreams. It often feels like we're living in an era dominated by monsters with their grotesque egos hollering through social media, unfiltered and untruthful, leaving a trail of wreckage behind them. Maybe it's always felt like that.

Celebrating the first year of ‘NOW That’s What I Call Music’ – 1983. ‘Now Yearbook’ presents a stellar selection of 1983’s biggest and best hits… 80 huge chart hits from the year, alongside enduring and well-loved classics on 4 CDs. 1983 saw British artists achieving unprecedented success across the world with ‘Every Breath You Take’ from The Police being the year’s biggest seller in the U.S., and ‘Karma Chameleon’ from Culture Club being the top seller in the U.K. Breakthrough acts, achieving their first big hits – all here – include a staggering line-up of future superstars: U2, Eurythmics, Wham!, Paul Young, The Style Council, Marillion and Thompson Twins, to name a few..' Released on a LTD 4CD SET: This will be a limited run of 5000 4CD units housed in ‘hard-back book’ packaging and featuring a 28-page booklet that includes an overview of the chart music of 1983, a track by track guide including chart stats and fun facts, a selection of original picture sleeves and a quiz. 2CD Standard set and also a limited edition of 3000 units, pressed on 3LP translucent red vinyl...

ORANGE BLACK SPLIT VERSION! With no compromises on sound quality and an exclusive pressing designed for true vinyl enthusiasts, KRONERT002 is more than just a record—it's a collectible statement of artistry and innovation. Don’t miss your chance to own a piece of this journey.
Pushing sonic exploration even further, KRONERT002 embodies the raw essence of underground house music, capturing its energy, groove, and timeless appeal. This limited Coloured Splatter/Split vinyl is more than just a record—it’s a statement, a collector’s piece for those who live and breathe the rhythm.
Kronert crafts a hypnotic blend of rolling basslines, shuffled drum patterns, and atmospheric pads, seamlessly fusing classic house elements with a forward-thinking approach. The EP’s warm textures and intricate grooves ensure its versatility—whether igniting peak-time dance floors or setting the tone for deep, late-night sessions.

Audial is a party in Leeds that has made great moves in recent times and has become an essential night out for those who like heady underground sounds. It now takes the natural next step by branching out with a new label and a fresh VA to kick it off. City mainstay Keefy G serves up the first cut 'After Diz' - a raw, gritty garage house slammer with naughty bass. Joejoemojo's 'Moneymaker' spins out on dusty breaks and warped low ends that bring the filth and on the flip Kerouac drops the late night and eerie tech of 'Broken' with bleepy synths and sultry spoken words. Geeson3003 shuts down with a rework of a Streets classic that hits hard with a UKG twist.

“Certain albums hit like howling bullets at pivotal moments, tearing open the face of music to reveal hidden sonic muscles and fusing them back into something both strangely familiar and yet entirely unrecognisable. We believe this is one of those records.”

The double album Death of Music delivers 18 crooked vocal pops, some ruthless, others unexpectedly disarming. In some songs, Ajukaja & Mart Avi function like a two-headed saurus swinging its spiky tail to shady pop-house smackers. In others, Ajukaja's serene organ licks descend into subterranean caverns, allowing Avi to float to the surface on their wavelengths and turn his voice into billions of extinct moths, enslaved by the moonlight’s pull. There are songs that face destruction and those that seek to prevent it.

One kykeon rap goes, “If you die before you die, then when you die, you don't die!”. Ajukaja & Mart Avi have embraced this notion to create new music that allows them to thrive in the algorithmic wasteland. 13 years in the making, these 66 minutes are packed with lifetimes of truths you didn’t know you needed to know. They are Ajukaja & Mart Avi – two against death.

Produced by Ajukaja
Words by Mart Avi, Music by Raul Saaremets
Guitar and Bass by Sten Sheripov (Can’t Touch The Earth, Safe)
Sax by Steve Vanoni (I.D.O.L.)
Recorded between 2011—2024
Mastered by The Bastard
Cover Photo by fs
Sleeve by Marke, Mart Avi
Pressed in Tartu, Estonia

One of the UK’s most singular voices, Murkage Dave has spent the last decade crafting a body of work that refuses to fit neatly into any genre box. His music, loosely pop but informed by indie, outsider art, and an instinct for storytelling, is built on honesty, empathy, and fearless social commentary. Across his career, he has earned a cult following and praise from Pharrel Williams, Iggy Pop, BBC Radio 6 Music, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Clash, Complex, Highsnobiety, and Vogue. His debut album Murkage Dave Changed My Life (2018) amassed over 12 million Spotify streams, while follow-up The City Needs A Hero (2022) reached #10 on the UK iTunes Chart and #15 on the UK Independent Chart.

Der postklassische Komponist, Klangkünstler und Kurator Matthew Patton ist mit seinem zweiten Album als Those Who Walk Away zurück. "Afterlife Requiem" ist eine Elegie für seinen Freund und Kollegen Jóhann Jóhannsson. Drones, Elektroakustik und fast vollständige Stille, extrahiert aus unvollendeten Aufnahmen auf Jóhannssons Festplatten, bilden die Grundlage für zwei Streichquintette - Ghost Orchestra (Reykjavík) und Possible Orchestra (Winnipeg) -, die in einem traurigen, langatmigen Werk verarbeitet und ausgelöscht werden. Patton hat auch wieder mit Andy Rudolph (Guy Maddin) und Paul Corley (Sigur Rós, Ben Frost) an der Koproduktion und dem Sounddesign gearbeitet, um eine brodelnde Körperlichkeit zu schaffen, die brodelnde Tiefen mit eindringlichen Bewegungen gespenstischer Streicher kontrastiert. ,Alles, was ich je geschrieben habe, ist ein Requiem. Alles ist ein Ende. Der Tod ist überall in dieser Musik präsent. In meinen Werken geht es um das Verschwinden - der Gegenwart, der Vergangenheit, von allem. Afterlife Requiem wird im Laufe seiner Dauer immer langsamer, es ist ein einziges großes Ritardando, die Zeit verlangsamt sich nicht nur, sie verschwindet. Ohne dass ich darüber nachgedacht hätte, ereigneten sich zwei miteinander verbundene Tragödien, die während des Schreibens, Aufnehmens und Arbeitens organisch an die Oberfläche kamen: der Tod meiner Mutter und der Tod des Komponisten und Freundes Jóhann Jóhannsson. Wenn ich mit dem Schreiben anfange, denke ich an nichts Bestimmtes, ich schreibe einfach, komponiere, nehme auf und höre zu ... aber irgendwas macht sich immer auf unvorhergesehene Weise bemerkbar oder drängt sich in den Vordergrund. Nach dem medizinisch assistierten Tod meiner Mutter wurde mir beim Ausräumen ihrer Wohnung klar, dass ich auch die physische Manifestation ihrer Welt auslöschte - und dass ich genau dasselbe mit der Musik tat, die ich schrieb und aufnahm. Während dieser Zeit wurde mir auch Jóhanns Tod immer wieder bewusst. Für Afterlife Requiem habe ich kurze, verlassene Fragmente aus Jóhann Jóhannssons Festplatten genommen und diese körperlosen Audio-Geister abwechselnd in meine eigene Musik eingebaut, wobei ich sie unrein gelassen habe - und dabei die Grenze zwischen Schaffen und Zerstören verwischt habe. Nach seinem Tod hatte ich diese Festplatten aus Jóhannssons Berliner Studio zum Anhören bekommen. Diese Musik war aufgegeben worden, in verschiedenen Stadien der Entstehung und Auflösung: ein Verzeichnis zerfallener und toter Erinnerungen, vergessen und jetzt nur noch in einer Reihe ineinandergreifender mechanischer Teile vorhanden, die mit der Zeit selbst versagen und verschwinden werden, wie alles andere auch. Monatelang hörte ich mir diese Überreste von Jóhanns Musik obsessiv an und versuchte, Hinweise auf Jóhann vor seinem Tod zu finden. Oft stellte ich fest, dass er das Aufnahmegerät noch lange nach Ende der aufgenommenen Musik laufen gelassen hatte. Er schien nicht zu bemerken, dass die Musik aufgehört hatte, oder registrierte nicht, dass dies das Ende der Musik war, oder vielleicht war er durch etwas anderes abgelenkt. Aber ich fand diese langen Stillephasen zutiefst emotional und berührend. Die verschwindenden Elegien von Afterlife Requiem sind weniger Musik als vielmehr Überreste von Musik. Auf diese Weise arbeite ich immer auf die Subtraktion von Bedeutung hin. Die Musik ist fern und verschwommen, beschädigt, geisterhaft und gespenstisch und deutet nur wie eine halb vergessene Erinnerung an das, was einmal existierte, eine verdichtete Darstellung von Verfall und Auslöschung. Ich habe dieses neue Stück von Anfang bis Ende mit diesen körperlosen Stillephasen aus Jóhanns eigenem Werk, Raum und Zeit unterlegt. Jetzt für immer verschwunden, bleibt seine aufgezeichnete Stille zurück; eine monumentale Leere, die der Welt verloren gegangen ist. Im gesamten Stück, insbesondere in den Abschnitten ,Memorial Environment", habe ich auch unzählige Geräusche aus der Natur integriert, von vulkanischer Lava über Lastenaufzüge bis hin zum menschlichen Blutfluss, dem Zischen von Turbinen und Selbstmordinjektionen. Der Künstler Robert Smithson sagte vor Jahrzehnten: ,Es ist die Dimension der Abwesenheit, die es noch zu finden gilt." Für mich misst diese Musik auch, wie die Zeit abläuft. Tatsächlich ist die Zeit bereits abgelaufen. Die Ewigkeit hat bereits begonnen." - Matthew Patton (Those Who Walk Away)

Here we have two luminaries of contemporary music, vocalist Audrey Chen and iconoclast guitar player Tashi Dorji, who both have proven themselves as key representatives of idiosyncratic music for the past 20 plus years.

Audrey, born into a family of material scientists, doctors and engineers, channeled those family genes through un-processed hyperextended voice, consequently transmutating her family's DNA into her very own sonic language of equal precision, discipline and creative power as her kins' professions.

Tashi, on the other hand, carries the mountains in his spirit: born in Bhutan, Southeast Asia, now residing in Ashville, North Carolina, close to the Appalachians. That earthly power is unmistakably present in his energetic guitar playing, which also incorporates folkloric elements of both his native country, and his homeland since 2000.

Those two strong musical personalities met on stage in the late summer of 2023 at Morphine Raum, Berlin. The fact that it took place in one of the birthplaces of techno music, seems to have pushed their performance towards an industrial, repetitive aesthetic of, at times, almost dancelike quality. However, as the track titles suggest, that classic forward pulsating rhythm, associated with electronic dance music, is bent at their heart's content, as are its appertaining clean melodies gnashed to smithereens.

On the release of his debut EP, aldn shares, “‘greenhouse’ represents my mind and thoughts. The individual songs represent the different plants within that greenhouse. Each song gets its own special attention and dedication just like a plant would. Everything on this EP was written and produced by me which makes them extremely personal to me, I’ve grown them all from a simple melody into what they are today. I want all of these songs to be put into your own interpretations to make them more personal to you.”

Through the interwoven storylines and soundscapes of greenhouse, aldn’s experimentation with a broadly sculptured experimental palette shares a snapshot into the worldbuilding he has created over the past two years, an honest representation of the thoughts you only feel comfortable sharing through the lens of your phone, and a therapeutic diary entry set to the dim lights of the corners of the club. As the world moved online in the past year, this new music became even more of a crucial component as a direct means of communication where crossed wires connect the dots more than ever.