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Thirty years after its release, Robert Miles' 'Children' remains the most famous instrumental electronic track
in the world. To celebrate this anniversary, a special numbered collector’s reissue is being released.
Dedicated to one of the most iconic pieces in electronic music history, this edition features artwork that stays
true to the original 1996 debut."

This is the Dahmers third album “Creature Feature” and the band continues to dig deeper in to a world of dark things, the things that don't belong, provokes, gives you the creeps or just makes you want to look away. “Our vision has been to explore and develop the bands sound but also to maintain the bands profound and colorful essence. “We want people to get excited when they hear the album, take them with us to another planet and make 'em forget about all the trouble in the world for a while” - Christoffer Karlsson (Lead singer/guitar)
The album was recorded and co-produced by Johan Gustafsson aka “The Johan and only” from the Hives in studio Ingrid in Stockholm. There's a new level and feel to the production with guest musicians on some tracks. With instruments like brass, cello, flute and piano the songs reaches their full true potential, along with added synth elements this gives the band a fresh feel. There's a wide variety of songs on the album where every track has it's very own theme, sound and characteristics. Where deep subjects like darkness, sorrow and alienation are being explored along with the bands continuing homage to the classic slasher and giallo flicks of the 70's and 80's, but also songs about a Swedish fakir, cults, rats and creatures from outer space. This album is a celebration to trash culture and to the underdogs, all delivered with a catchy uplifting chorus that The Dahmers is known for.
Creature Feature will be released on the bands own label Eerie sounds and will be out on February Friday the 13th.

With Alouette!, Les Louanges attempts to make sense of his human condition and Québécois identity by bringing guitars and Joual (the French language dialect spoken in Québec) to the forefront while still fuelling his signature grooves. More rock-oriented than his previous albums, this third effort is luminous yet rich in sounds, emotion and political commentary. It unfolds through a journey that will lead Loulou to encounter universal experiences such as illness, death, and true love.

The album is also the result of an artistic quest that began during a period of self-reflection, when Vincent Roberge (aka Les Louanges or Loulou) seized the opportunity to take a break after his last extended tour. Alongside the existential questions typical of someone approaching their thirties came a rediscovery of the classics—from Leonard Cohen and Prince to Richard Desjardins and the nursery rhyme that gives the album its name–, followed by total exploration. In addition to playing most of the instruments himself, the singer-songwriter revived obscure Quebec records through sampling and got to experiment with actual sound recording. Roberge co-produced Alouette! with his long-time collaborator Félix Petit (because why change a winning formula).

Four years after the success of his sophomore album Crash, Les Louanges returns more confident than ever, thanks to a renewed cultural and emotional baggage that allows him to reflect on the past to better engage with the present, while also enjoying it to the fullest. All of this, without overlooking the future, which he foresees with hope despite the collective challenges that await us.

The 12" vinyl is now back from the pressing plant after months of delays. Availablefrom Phobia records treat your ears to something beautiful today, love from the Klaptrapers to all the drinkers, stinkers & thinkers out there. Line- up incl. members from Doom or/and Visions Of War

Whole Cake Island: Sweets and Dangers in an Unforgiving World! As Luffy and his crew face an Emperor, Big Mom, for the first time, they must join forces to save Sanji in the extravagant kingdom of Totto Land.

Composer: Kohei Tanaka
Kohei Tanaka has been a lyricist, composer and arranger for a multitude of animated works and video games, including Sakura Wars, Assassination Classroom and the One Piece saga, since its inception.

To celebrate over ten years of groove and sonic elegance, Roche Musique presents its “BEST OF” compilation, available exclusively on vinyl. A handpicked selection of 20 essential tracks tracing the label’s DNA — a refined blend of modern soul, nuanced electronics, and timeless groove.



Featuring the label’s cornerstone artists — FKJ, Darius, Kartell, Zimmer, Cezaire, Crayon, Dabeull, Lossapardo — alongside acclaimed collaborators such as Reva De Vito, Darianna Everett, Ayelle, Leven Kali, Panama, Chester Watson, Sølv, and more. From “Vibin’ Out” to “Espoir”, through “Wildflowers” and “I Can’t Stop”, this compilation captures the very essence of Roche’s sound: warm, heartfelt, and endlessly groovy. A pure analog listening experience designed for true music lovers and vinyl collectors — every groove telling the story of a decade of passion and sound.

We've got a bit of an obsession with Hozan Yamamoto here at Mr Bongo! A legend of Japanese jazz, he is rightly regarded as a true master and was recognised as a "living national treasure" by the Japanese government in 2002. Over five decades he pushed the genre into new directions, absorbing fusion, funk, spiritual jazz and many other sounds, resulting in a discography studded with gems of rare beauty. Exploring his back catalogue has taken us on an engrossing journey that now sees us reissuing another work from this ground-breaking musician.

Though not translating perfectly into English 'Akuma Ga Kitarite Fue Wo Fuku', (kitarite has not been a modern expression in Japanese) roughly means 'The Devil Comes Playing The Flute' / 'The Devil Is Coming While Blowing The Whistle' or 'Devils Flute’. It is the original soundtrack to Kôsei Saitô’s 1979 mystery and suspense movie, ‘Devil’s Flute’. The film is based on a story by the famous author, Seishi Yokomizo, and is centred around a much-loved fictional Japanese detective, Kosuke Kindaichi. A Japanese Sherlock Holmes that has been popular for generations.

Hozan Yamamoto was invited to compose the soundtrack directly by the producer of the film, Haruki Kadokawa. Mr Kadokawa also hired keyboard player and producer Yu Imai as assistant producer on the project, resulting in a stunning cosmic, breaks and beats-laden, funk, disco soundtrack extravaganza.

When it comes to the soundtrack and the technology of the time, Hozan Yamamoto and Yu Imai got inventive, tripped out, funked up, and experimented, creating a quirky soundtrack masterpiece that needed to be heard more outside of Japan. Differing from the more traditional Japanese music orientation of some of his other albums such as 'Beautiful Bamboo-Flute' (also released on Mr Bongo) the album showcases a number of genres, from lush atmospheric incidental music to disco and funk grooves, experimental nuggets, drum and flute workouts, to neo-classical and more.

A special record that showcases the further depths of this wonderful musician's talents.

BOSLTD013 brings Luminér in a tight, floor-minded 12" that leans into the warm end of micro house and minimal without losing its bite. Analogue Forma is all about motion and detail: elastic grooves, crisp drum work, and that slightly dusty, hardware-fed sheen that sits perfectly between deep and functional.
Across four cuts, the record shifts from rolling, hypnotic pressure to sharper, twisted angles, keeping the swing present and the space alive. The B-side closes with “Forma (Gogan Remix)”, flipping the original into a more driving, late-night tool while staying true to the release’s analogue character. Vinyl only, built for DJs, and made to live in the mix.

Born in Victoria, B.C., and shaped by formative years in Vancouver, artist and producer Sophia Stel found a rapt cult fanbase with her 2024 debut EP Object Permanence, a fiercely vulnerable collection of genre-agnostic earworms fueled by her full-bodied, affecting alto. By following her intuition and going against the grain of online fads, Stel is setting trends, not chasing them - always creating from a place of true originality. Her self-directed, sometimes spurâÇ`ofâÇ`theâÇ`moment digicam visuals for tracks like "I"ll Take It" and "You Could Hate Me" have the fuzzy realism of vintage photos or cherished memories: effortlessly cool without ever trying to be. In addition to earning co-signs from Troye Sivan and A.G. Cook and being selected for this year"s DAZED 100, she recently made her runway debut at Ann Demeulemeester"s PFW SS26 show and embarked on her first headline tour, which included a performance at Pitchfork Festival in Paris, following the release of her sophomore EP How to Win At Solitaire. Continuing to push the boundaries of today"s music landscape while honing a truly singular, post-genre sound that"s all her own, Stel is currently working on her debut album.

Renowned producer Elliot Garvey, also recognised as Quartz, has unveiled a 4-track EP for us at System Music. This exceptional collection of unconventional yet functional 140 tracks solidifies Quartz's position as a boundary-pushing artist, showcasing his versatility beyond his renowned Drum & Bass repertoire.

Entitled "Apparitions," this EP showcases Quartz's ability to craft mesmerising compositions while staying true to his signature sound, which is both acoustically dense and hyper-futuristic, typically defying traditional structures.

Elliot's mission to fashion music with absolute integrity and sincerity yields an authentic and credible experience yet again. The rugged and gritty essence of this 4-tracker serves a purpose, with its distorted and offbeat character making Quartz one of the most inventive mavericks of recent years.

Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Jennifer Warnes' Pop Classic on Crystal Clear Green Vinyl!
All-Tube Mastering by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering from the Original Master Analog Tapes on 180 Gram Vinyl!
One-Time Pressing of 3,000 Individually Numbered Copies!
New Inner Sleeve and LP Labels!
Pressed at RTI!

Impex Records is celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Hunter with a one-time, individually-numbered pressing of 3,000 in crystal clear green vinyl! Jennifer Warnes’ acclaimed follow-up to Famous Blue Raincoat features a Grammy-nominated recording by Elliot Scheiner and all-tube mastering by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering using Jennifer’s personal original analogue master tapes.

‘The Hunter’ was released five years after her breakthrough with ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’. A TOP 100 LP when first released in 1992, The Hunter’s audiophile credibility is best summed up by Elliot Scheiner’s Grammy-nominated recording and mix. It contains the charting single “Rock You Gently,” a sonically dense yet expansive cover of The Waterboy’s classic “The Whole of the Moon,” a soulful Jennifer Warnes/Leonard Cohen composition “Way Down Deep,” Todd Rundgren’s “Pretending to Care” and even a Donald Fagen tune (“Big Noise, New York”). She owns every tune here, backed by a-list session players who ground the songs with solid and unobtrusive authority, letting Jennifer’s peerless interpretive skills bring the soul of every lyric to the forefront. Ms. Warnes uses her voice to serve the lyrics, allowing the song to return the favour.

“The follow-up to Warnes’ FBR offers crisp percussion cues, solid bass throughout – but especially during “Way Down Deep” – and a surprise chamber quartet on the title track” – Neil Gader, TAS Guide to Audiophile Demo Disc

Arista (now Sony/BMG) never released The Hunter on vinyl in the U.S. A regular-weight LP floated around Europe for a while but is not noted for exceptional sound or quiet vinyl.

“Remastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, the sonics are luscious. Warnes has always had an audiophile’s ear and was hands-on with this effort–one of the last from now-defunct Cisco Records. It soars effortlessly, restoring warmth and delicacy and easily besting the earth-bound but otherwise excellent CD. It’s an example of both an artist in full charge of her powers, and analogue art its very best.” – Greg Cahill, The Absolute Sound

WRWTFWW Records presents an ultra limited (100 copies !) vinyl edition of Meemo Comma’s Decimation Of I album, originally released digitally in 2024 on Mike Paradinas' Planet Mu label. The collector’s pressing is housed in a heavyweight sleeve.
Decimation Of I is the fifth album by Brighton-based electronic musician Meemo Comma. It's a work based on the Strugatsky brothers‘ 1971 novel Roadside Picnic, a book that was also turned into the Russian cult classic Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky. The inspiration came from reading the book alongside the backdrop of global climate disasters where an environment is rapidly becoming less habitable, all while powerful nations occupy and commit genocide.

The rough story of both film and novel is about a select group of characters exploring a land that has been transformed by alien visitors. We never meet the extraterrestrials, nor is it important to, we only have the artefacts left behind. The environment itself becomes the character, neither wholly Earth-like nor alien, but a surreal blend of both, inviting introspection on our insignificance amidst profound change. Within this land’s rebirth, our characters confront ego death, a necessary step towards the profound revelation, the discovery of one's true desire in the absence of ego.

The album opens with the innocent flutes of ’They, spoke,‘ and the disorienting electronica of ‘The Soldier‘ building towards the Terry Riley like undulating clarinets of ‘The Poet’, whose intertwining synth organ drones set the scene. Nods to the seventies electronica of Wendy Carlos and Eduard Artemyev can be heard with the use of Bach melodies in ‘P3Alpha Exotoxin‘ and ‘Area X,‘ however each of these songs draw the listener to primal noise undercurrents, their disintegrating melodies hinting at humanity's gradual dissolution, unveiling profound revelations beyond our comprehension.

As the album reaches its midpoint, ‘Spectral Alignment‘ paints a hazy morning prairie scene with Aaron Copland style French horn, restful woodwinds, spatial arpeggios and a warm drone culminating in an emotional pitstop as the soldiers wake in the dewy morning of this alien landscape, unaware the last of their humanity remains.

The last sentence in Roadside Picnic “HAPPINESS FOR EVERYBODY, FREE, AND MAY NO ONE BE LEFT BEHIND!” is the inspiration for ‘As It Is Written.’ We can either take from this the total annihilation of self has been filled with propaganda from their homeland, or the epiphany of their own autonomy in the war against a land and its inhabitants.

Following the success of the first vinyl release from the Moroccan label Sotor Records, featuring Zadig, Perc & Oscar Mulero, Sotor writes a new chapter in its discography with its second vinyl release. Meaning "lines" in Arabic, Sotor reflects its commitment to championing the diversity of the techno genre.
The label's ninth release, "Processing Range," is a musical ode to the lines of space-time. With four original tracks from the Portuguese producer, Sotor invites you on a techno journey between mental tension and physical release.
The album opens with DJ Dextro's "Controle," which delivers a massive, sharp rhythm, dystopian synths, and a true immersion into a techno black hole.
The journey continues with the second track on side A. This time, DJ Dextro unleashes an uncompromising version of "Blue Dot," achieving a precarious balance while showcasing his signature percussive style. The Portuguese artist delivers the perfect track to unleash a crowd.
On the B-side, DJ Dextro offers us the eponymous track, "Processing Range." We're quickly drawn into an allegory of this decadent modern world where humanity is rushing towards its own destruction. Expect dusty techno rhythms and that sumptuous synth that sounds like the end of times. Probably a future classic!
And you'll finish on a gentler but no less dynamic note from DJ Dextro. He concludes the EP with "31 Atlas," which will leave you weightless with its galloping bassline and abyssal synth.

Between flesh and silicon. “Under My Skin” (2026) is the first album by IADI, released by Neo Life. A record like few
others, highly conceptual, cover art included. Its essence lies in the folds of the increasingly ambiguous relationship
between man and machine, where the former designs the latter and, perhaps without fully realizing it, is gradually
destined to adapt and be reprogrammed by it. Each track of “Under My Skin” is, in fact, a sort of interface, connector, or
any other imaginative point of contact between two creative phases, amid emotional impulses and binary calculations.
The sonic architecture oscillates between analog warmth and algorithmic coldness, constructing landscapes in which
pulsating synthesizers and mechanical rhythms seem to question each other. There's no linear narrative, but rather a
progressive immersion in a zone of near-friction, where the comfort of technology coexists with more than a faint
musical uneasiness, like a background noise that never ceases to remind you who's truly in charge. In “Under My Skin”,
the machine is neither an enemy nor a simple instrument: it's a real presence, intimate, even tactile, amplifying desires,
fears, and dreams of dawns beyond the digital realm. Intelligent dance music. Less noise, more sensations. Electronic,
but profoundly human.
The final result, then, is a music project that speaks to the present, yet sounds like an X-ray of the future, capturing that
fragile moment when humanity and technology stop observing each other from afar and begin to merge, track after
track. It's no coincidence that IADI's album opens with “Impulse”, an immediate expression of an electrical impulse, for
both humans and machines, which is also the language of the nervous system, as fast as it is vital—pure energy and
rhythm, a track as intense as it is irregular. And after this introduction, it's the turn of the equally erratic “Axon”, whose
title describes the neuron that transmits the signal over distance, telling the listener to sit back and relax for a new
journey through the notes toward the more melodic “Cortex”. The cerebral cortex, the ultimate seat of thought and
memory, becomes the source from which the musical flow of the first part of the work is drawn.
Then, suddenly, an automatic, or instinctive, response to the constant succession of impulses: “Reflex”, or zerotemperature techno, with a fragmented pace, featuring vocal samples, breaks, and restarts. In the producer's
imagination, the subsequent, and conversely placid, “Neuron” represents the emotional core of the second part of the
work, providing a kind of respite from the seething vibrations. While the neuron is the basic unit of the nervous system,
the synapse is the functional connection point between one neuron and another effector cell, essential for the
transmission of nerve impulses and communication in the nervous system, enabling functions such as learning and
movement. Likewise, a track like “Synapse” once again illuminates the path traced by IADI. The more experimental and
streamlined “Static” instead suggests true ordered chaos. “Dreamstate” is the conclusion suspended in the void, relating
to that dreamlike state between waking and sleeping, where consciousness fades toward infinity and visions begin. Pure
fading into the subconscious. Eternal return to where it all began. Dancing is a form of consciousness. Every beat is a
question. IADI, however, holds all the answers you need.

Stacey Kent is an American jazz singer in the mould of the greats, with a legion of fans, a host of honors and awards including a Grammy nomination, album sales in excess of 2 million and more than one billion streams, and Platinum, Double-Gold and Gold-selling albums that have reached a series of chart-topping positions.

Stacey, a comparative literature graduate with a passion for music, travelled to Europe to further her studies after receiving her degree from Sarah Lawrence College in NY. Through a series of twists of fate, she found herself in London where she enrolled in a graduate music program at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she met her future husband and musical partner, Jim Tomlinson.

Kent's musical journey began with childhood piano lessons. A keen ear and true voice lead her to search out opportunities to express her love of music. However, nothing suggested the shift from the academic path to the one that propelled her to international recognition as one of the foremost jazz singers of her generation. With a catalogue of 13 studio albums, including the Platinum selling, Grammy-nominated Breakfast On The Morning Tram (Blue Note/EMI 2007) and an impressive list of collaborations, Stacey has graced the stages of nearly 60 countries over the course of her career.

Her worldwide fan base is testimony to her ability to express the emotional heart of her songs with delicately nuanced interpretations that transcend borders and defy categorization. Her unique multi-lingual repertoire includes standards, chanson, Bossa Nova, and originals written by Jim Tomlinson, her saxophonist/producer/composer/arranger husband in collaboration with the Nobel Prize-winning author, Kazuo Ishiguro with whom they have worked since 2006. She has also recorded with Brazilian legends, Marcos Valle, Roberto Menescal and Danilo Caymmi, and the celebrated French string quartet, the Quatuor Ébène.

Stacey's last studio album, Summer Me, Winter Me, was released in November 2023 on Naïve Records. A collection of fans' requests from her as yet unrecorded concert repertoire, Summer Me, Winter Me entered the French jazz charts at number 1 and has quickly established itself as a new highlight in her discography. She now returns with A Time For Love.

Célia Oneto Bensaid reveals the full palette of the master of minimalism: original works, opera and film transcriptions, hypnotic flashes and introspective tenderness.

This album paints a sensitive and vibrant portrait of a composer in constant metamorphosis, for whom repetition becomes breath, emotion and light.

These resonances together form the true ‘Echoes’ of Philip Glass


[b] The Poet Acts (Music from the motion picture "The Hours") [Arr. for Piano Solo by Michael Riesman and Nico Muhly]

[d] "Trilogy" Sonata: II. Knee Play 4 (From" Einstein on the Beach") [Arr. for Piano Solo by Paul Barnes]
[e] "Trilogy" Sonata: I. Dance (From "Akhnaten", Scene 3) [Arr. for Piano Solo by Paul Barnes]
[f] Mad Rush The Hours (Music from the motion picture "The Hours") [Arr. for Piano Solo by Michael Riesman and Nico Muhly

"BLUNTS ROLLED" GSF13 the first posthumous release of unheard music by RAS-G'. Eighteen raw transmissions: unreleased beats, remixes, loops & smoky spacecraft meditations arranged in true mixtape spirit exactly as RAS envisioned them. This isn’t a vault dump, it's RAS_G in full form - unfiltered, joyful, psychedelic & rooted in the low end theory.
"BLUNTS ROLLED" continues the ASP mission: connecting hood to heaven, ancient to future, earthly to astral. These sounds crackle with cosmic dust & Cali sunshine - grounded in LA soil, projected into Saturn’s rings. Featuring transmissions from ASP family Kahil Sadiq, The Koreatown Oddity, Zeroh, and even G himself... voices and energies orbiting each other in intimate, galaxy-folding, head-nodding, fronto-scented universes.

What's the point of the howl of string to speaker, the hammering of stick-on skin? Is it transcendence, elevating the human spirit by catharsis in sound? Or is it summoning chaos, a purgatory in which to bask in all that’s unclean, the better to feel alive?
Why not both? Because that’s what’s on offer on Diet Of Worms, the second Rocket release by The Shits, Leeds via Newcastle’s titans of disgust and deliverance. This is a feast for the senses in the worst way possible - primal rock boiled down to its essence and flung full in your face. Using repetition, tortured vocal invective and heads-down intensity as blunt instruments, these eight tracks are an unprecedented torrent of acidic salvation. Whilst lurking somewhere on the decadence-destruction axis between the nihilism of prime Stooges and the bloody blackout of Braimbombs, Diet Of Worms is possessed of a legitimately uncompromising hostility that both elevates and debases it to co-ordinates unknown.
There are revelations here in the riffage and the rancour, even if they are the kind that occur in the bleary miasma of the lock-in, or witnessing the streetlight blur of the subsequent stagger home. Even more single-minded and remorseless than the band’s Rocket debut ‘You’re A Mess’, this is a record that demands full immersion. Whether it’s ‘Then You’re Dead’ hammering on a pulverising garage-stinking riff until it begs for mercy, or ‘Change My Ways’, whose Creedence-In-Hell swagger and lurch is that of abjection transmuted into joy, this is psychedelia forcibly removed from its comfort zone of pastiche, and thrust into a bad-trip realm of the vivid and nightmarish.
But rarely has the process of making beauty and horror indivisible seemed like so much fun. If Werner Herzog was right, and the only harmony in the universe is that of overwhelming and collective murder, then The Shits are the true music of the spheres.

Step into the second chapter of the The Jazz Sinners saga dedicated to cool, groovy and sinful
Jazz. The Jazz In You goes deeper with richer grooves, glamorous moods, pure analog soul.
A cinemac journey through jazz’s most seducve decades, pressed and presented with
uncompromising audiophile standards. This is jazz that moves, seduces, and stays. Every cut is pure
jazz alchemy. Rare, prisne vintage first pressings and top-er sources only. No shortcuts, no
compromises. Mastered organically for a full 360° sound spectrum, where every nuance and every
breath feels as if the players were right there in the room. The mood is cinemac, midnight cool. Jazz with a;tude inspiring shadowed alleys, smoky clubs, late-night elegance.
Music that speaks equally to jazz lovers, lounge selectors, DJs, and serious collectors.
At the heart of the journey, instantly recognizable landmarks light the way:
Gloria Lynne’s “The Jazz In You”, Benny Golson’s “Tippin’ On Thru”,
Nina Simone’s “Central Park Blues”, Diane Maxwell’s “Love Charms”,
Sabu Marnez’s “Enchantment”, and Zoot Sims’ “Recado Bossa Nova – Pt.1”.
Timeless names, meless grooves, each cut is chosen for its power to move and to suggest feeling
and emoons. Behind the selecon stand true masters of mood, with over thirty years of digging,
taste, and style shaping every decision.
On this double vinyl, the experience is treated with the respect it deserves. Pressed under expert
supervision, housed in a premium 100% Italian-made cover on luxurious 350g cardstock, with polylined inner sleeves designed for long-term preservaon. Built for collectors. Made to last
generaons and here is the promise: Triumphant. Timeless. Deeply grooving.
Soulful vocals, hard-swinging combos, cinemac big bands, Afro-Lan heat, late-night Blues. Every
track is a winner. The Jazz In You is feeling. It’s a;tude. It’s moon and emoons.
Now, sit back, close your eyes and get ready to find something captured, once again, that escapes
explanaon … The Jazz Sinners’ way!

Every Little Word “The Best of the Bonus Tracks” is an exclusive vinyl release of the best tracks taken from the Slim Dunlap double-cd reissue EVERY LITTLE WORD. “Slim Dunlap, who I don’t know if a lot of people are very familiar with, but he was a member of the Replacements. And he was really a unique guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the deepest and truest rock and roll souls I’ve ever heard. He has two fabulous solo albums out that I would tell everyone to run out and get" - Bruce Springsteen

First time on vinyl. This is not a crappy picture disc but new vinyl tech that is a tried and true hi-fidelity record on one side and 9 layers of printing on the other. It's a work of art. Only 1000 of this edition are being made.

With Appearances by
Chandra Sanchez
Frank Iero
Jessey Chandler
Keith Goodwin
Lolly Hopwood
Tim Arnold

Chris Acker’s latest collection of songs, Famous Lunch, is in his words, a “growing pains album.” When writing the record, the New Orleans' based folk musician found himself hunting for a voice that wasn’t just an imitation of the one he’d been using on the last 30 songs he’d made. “At the same time, I worked hard to find a certain voice for myself over the previous 3 records and I didn’t want to abandon that.”

While the album finds him continuing to transcribe life’s fleeting and provocative banalities with refreshing grace, the songs on Famous Lunch are intentionally more absurd, stylizing his lyricism as both poetic and disarming simultaneously— commencing with “Sh*t Surprise”—an earworm with a vernacular that stays true to its title. Inspired by George Saunders and Sasha Pearl (and wanting to make a song that sounds like Eagles saying the word “sh*t” over and over), “Sh*t Surprise” is the most Chris Acker song possible, in that its earnestness arrives in spades and comes varnished with a one-of-a-kind, spectacular gnarliness. “We’d match our breath in the upstairs room and we’d hold together ‘til I smelled like you,” Acker sings, before nose-diving into that unforgettable chorus about stepping in a smelly, disgusting pile of sh*t.

More than anything else, Famous Lunch finds Chris Acker at his most sentimental and grateful, as he sings about Bunn coffee machines, gas pumps smelling like “the underside of a fingernail” in August, “10-inching” bread, stealing country club lawn-mower motors, father-son fables, impatient buffet lines, and a broom that “hasn’t been used since the last time I used it.” Acker’s eye for detail remains, and his lexicon includes phrasings that spin out like a hypnotic wash cycle. Seeing the world through his eyes, language remains something worth falling into—growing pains and all.

Rolling Stone calls award-winning Florida musician Selwyn Birchwood “a remarkable, contemporary bluesman…a powerhouse young guitarist and soulful vocalist.” Now, this mesmerizing guitarist, lap steel master and cinematic songwriter unleashes the powerful new album Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues, further blazing his own musical trail.

Birchwood’s sound is an intoxicating mix of deep blues, blistering, psychedelic-tinged rock, booty-shaking funk and sweet Southern soul, played and sung with true blues passion. From an emotionally devastating whisper to a soul-baring scream, Birchwood’s vocals command attention. Schooled in the blues' storied traditions (he toured with and was mentored by the famed Sonny Rhodes), Birchwood maps out a dazzling future for the blues with his visionary music.

Selwyn Birchwood is one of the hardest-touring artists on the Alligator roster, and will support the new release with shows throughout the U.S. He's no stranger to European stages either, with plenty of tours there under his belt, and having just completed over a month's worth of European dates, 27 shows in all, with 24 taking place in France, three in Belgium and one in Czechia.

Chris Liebing's first full solo techno LP, 'Evolver' is released on 27th March 2026, via his own CLR imprint. The German techno don's LP features a host of collaborators across music, images, and artwork. Luke Slater, Charlotte De Witte, Speedy J, The Advent, Terence Fixmer, Pascal Gabriel, Daniel Miller contribute to the music, while long-time collaborators Studio Bergfors deliver design, and legendary photographer Anton Corbijn shot Liebing for the project.

The Evolver LP is the sum total of Chris Liebing's three decades at the beating heart of techno. It's the record only someone whose first break as a techno DJ was playing five hours at Sven Väth's infamous Omen in Frankfurt - and who has ridden out every twist and turn of life and subcultures since, while remaining rooted in the true school, dark, sweaty techno sweat pits of the world - could have made. It's the result of deep introspection, but it's about utter immediacy. It's the sound of someone previously driven along by compulsion and happenstance at last finding the confidence to be utterly intentional about their practice, allowing them to take the most classic, familiar, proven elements from the past and render them completely new.

Evolver is also Liebing's first completely solo album. There are collaborations, yes: with old friends from the OG techno generation, Luke Slater, Speedy J, and The Advent, all on uncompromising form, and with new generation figurehead Charlotte De Witte, who provides a thrilling narration of total surrender to the moment on acid clarion call "Symphonie des Seins". But unlike all Liebing's albums to date, there's no co-pilot. Every structure, every mixdown, every choice serves his singular vision of how his untold immersion in the surging currents of the world's greatest clubs should sound. The elements are all those forged in the white heat of Omen and Tresor in the mid 90s - brutal repetition, titanium kick drums, industrial atmospherics, but also dark rave euphoria, ever present surging acid lines just on the cusp of trance, and just enough human voices to remind you of bodies on the dance floor - but rendered with all the extraordinary accumulated skill and technological developments since then.

It's Chris's vision entirely, his musings on sound, technology, and life birthing tracks like "Roy Batty." Inspired by thoughts of AI becoming sentient and hungering for more life like Rutger Hauer's titular Blade Runner character, it was one of the first tracks to emerge and a foundation stone for the album. And in pursuit of that vision, it's built like a "proper album". The anticipation and menace of intro "Unfold" tip over into the glowing hot high drama psychedelia of "Symphonie…" then the breathless headlong rush of The Advent collab and on through an unfolding narrative that goes deep, goes dark, opens out into grand vistas, takes strange turns before finally landing on the alien landscape of… well… "Endtrack".

Not everything is pummelling on Evolver - the dazzling title track feels like you've been welcomed into the courtly dance of a higher dimension civilisation, and the audacious Speedy J collab "Shaping Frequencies" is a beatless flow that tests the boundaries between signal and noise. But for all its complexity, conceptualism, and stylistic branching out, every last part unmistakably powered by that dark techno-cavern energy above all else. All of it positively radiates the qualities of Liebing's greatest work and sets to date - but somehow even more so than before. Whether you're listening for aesthetic inspiration, cerebral stimulation or just that raw physical power, this album will sweep you up into its momentum and won't let go of you until it's done.

From his roots in House, Alex Finkin is a renowned producer and creative director. Working in his Paris studio he has developed numerous projects, notably his own (Roseaux), as well as commissions for radio and television. Meanwhile, with 30 years of production and DJing under his belt, Rocco Rodamaal belongs to the elite circle of House innovators who continue to influence the scene. He's played alongside some of the best in the industry showcasing his versatility and deep understanding of the genre, and remixed artists including Marshall Jefferson, Kerri Chandler, Louie Vega & Moodymann, Todd Terry, Barbara Tucker and Robert Owens to name just a few. Alex Finkin befriended Rocco Rodamaal, who he met via the soulful Parisian club Djoon, where Alex was resident from 2006 to 2014. They have since collaborated on a number of projects together, including "In Da Hood" released on COD3 QR in 2023. Kenny Dope's "O'Gutta" remixes are a series of house and club-focused reworks characterized by raw, gritty and often stripped-back percussion, which he now brings to "In Da Hood".

Ross McMillan, known professionally as Carlos Nilmmns, is a Scottish electronic music producer, DJ and composer originally from Glasgow. Over the years he has collaborated with a range of notable artists, including Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning figures, including Kenny Dope, Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson and Davina Bussey, plus respected artists like Niko Marks, Rolando, Laurent Garnier, Santiago Salazar, Hardrock Striker, Karl The Voice, Zadig, Ben Sims, Andrés (who worked with Jay Dilla and Moodymann), and YouANDme. His music has been released on Planet E, Trax, Cocoon, Ornaments, Circus, Virgin, Skylax/Universal Music France and more. His style draws from house, techno and jazz influences, often combining analogue and digital production methods. A returning regular and COD3 QR favourite, he's back with another stunner in "Latin Quarter".

K' Alexi Shelby is a prominent figure in electronic music and with a career spanning decades, he's established a significant influence on House and Techno. Throughout his career he's worked with many well-known artists and remixed tracks that are now key pieces. The cultivation of his massive musical catalogue has overflowed into albums and the three labels he heads. It's also led to legendary collaborations with artists such as The Pet Shop Boys, Robert Owens, Kenny Dixon, Roy Davis Jr., Maurice Joshua, Terry Hunter, Joe Smooth, Steve Silke Hurley, Tyree Cooper, Ron Trent, Glenn Underground, Larry Heard, DJ Pierre, Carl Craig, Felix da Housecat, Marshall Jefferson, Will Smith and countless others. Already respected around the world as a true underground House legend, he delivered "Flame" in 2025 for COD3 QR. Now he's back with "When I", another deep and sexy cut.

Benny Rodrigues a.k.a. ROD unveiled his new moniker, The Lost Souldancer when he dropped "No More Voices" for COD3 QR last year. In his own words, Benny says: "The Lost Souldancer is about coping with the loss of what once was. Finding comfort in the invisible rather than what can be seen. Disconnect to connect in order to be loved rather than liked." He continues this ethos with the delicate and melodic closing track "Life and Death".

High Cube is the beat-focused brainchild of Brian Foote (Peak Oil, Leech) and Paul Dickow (Strategy, Community Library), two low-key legends of the American experimental underground. After some 30-odd years of making music separately and together, Foote and Dickow are collaborating in earnest for the first time as a duo. For this debut, the pair enforced a simple, stringent set of rules: five instruments, a one-hour timer, and a total ban on overthinking.

The result is a record that is the sound of two old friends unplugging the usual levers and letting the "accident" of their chemistry take the wheel. It is drier, sparser, and decidedly "chunky"—a fictional band stepping into a suit to drive around for a while. It is neither dance nor chill-out, but a moody, complex trajectory defined not by the gear used to make it, but by the narrative mood it compels.

"Volcano Snail” starts things off in a disheveled shuffle, locking into gear with blurred and bubbling effluence. The shimmering dimness is lit low, with a woozy gait that recalls the headiest highs and luminescent lows of Jan Jelinek. “Underwater Welder” is a foggy, neon-lit cruise of skittering low-ends suspended in a permanent fall of color, while “A Dragon’s Treasure is its Soul” offers blown-apart, low-end city pop fragmented into an array of rhythmic detritus. Chordal textures hover in the air as a percussive loop takes its beguiling and frolicking shape.

B-side opener “Yonaguni” shapeshifts in real time, drifting with the grace of a glacier before bobbing in a frigid pool of vibrating clatter, static, and synth stabs. “Ofid+wor” offers a tried and true blitz of braindance, nodding to an endless list of 20th and 21st-century electronic body music. Buoyant closer “Mother of Thousands” holds a gravity-defying tenderness, pirouetting on a breeze with the elegance of effervescent longing. Woven together, the six extended tracks of High Cube are tethered to nothing but the ether—a giant sonic leap of peripheral absurdity from two artists with a lifetime of shared rhythm.

This Raven With A Crown 02 is a new fledgling label materializes in the Violent Cases universe. Corvus Corone - also known as the carrion crow - is stylistically dedicated to true Tribal sounds.This is not chipmunk tribal with laughing gas voices, this is serious stuff as you can expect from Violent Cases because evil forces are invading lala land and we need to gather the tribes. The roadmap for the project covers territory cultivated by the likes of Isotope, LBE and DSP just to name a few reference points.
First in flight is a full release by As’teka Nahuatl who just featured on MSTR 13.
Corvus Corone is styled by TDSiGNZ, whose design skills consistently lend the Violent Cases sub-labels a fresh, disciplined minimalist touch. As he previously created for “Endless Night”... More is forthcoming - because the Violent Ravens nest has another spawn in the breed. Keep an eye out for their upcoming signs!
Mastering by Stefan ZMK.
A1 – Musicō'teka
20k rig in the catacombs of the pyramid of the sun. Join the war dance. 160 beasts
A2 - Tekno Drops (feat. Lil’ Nahuatl)
Serious old school dancefloor vibes under the wings of crows circling above. 170 beasts
B1 – Shaman Children
Inducing a long trancy journey heeding the shaman’s call. 170 beasts

Indie Stock places itself in a context it adores and defies. Every wall is movable and no accident is an accident. Just as a song is made out to be one thing it reveals itself to have been the other all along. Make no mistake, there is something at the heart of it all, even though its pulse resonates from all directions at once. The listener becomes the toad, gladly boiled in a shimmering liquid until it is too late: The bass kicks in and cant be unheard.

From 2, Amsterdams self-proclaimed troupe of folk mutants, take stock of it all on this record: hushed affect in tumultuous settings, a mole insurrection of epic proportions, the secret workings of pornography platforms and memory. One song might invite to dance, stumble or float, while another is what a ghost should sing. Above all, it is real. Palpably real in a way only the fabrications of true devotees might ever be. What is a consoculator, again?

Magestic EP with Korus from Intersphere :)

BIG true NL underground sound !

A true hidden gem from the early days of the internet, TRANCEFELD’s “Love Song” finally resurfaces more than twenty years after its creation.



Originally composed in 2002 by the underground German producer, this cult deep house track, defined by its unforgettable bassline, psychedelic vocals, and delicate violins, now receives a long-awaited official re-release. It arrives alongside a brand-new single, “Echoes Within Silence,” a hypnotic tech-house journey that immerses listeners in a world of rhythm and emotion. TRANCEFELD’s timeless, Berlin-infused sound is back.

Auf ,Emeralds", dem zweiten Longplayer von Parlor Greens, präsentiert das Trio eine sorgfältig zusammengestellte Auswahl dessen, was funkige Orgelmusik leisten kann. Drei wahre Meister ihres Fachs: Tim Carman (ehemals GA-20) am Schlagzeug, Jimmy James (True Loves, ehemals Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio) an der Gitarre und Adam Scone (Scone Cash Players, The Sugarman 3) an der Orgel. Erfahrene und gefühlvolle Profis, die sich zusammengetan haben, um mitreißende, funkige Instrumental-Jams zu kreieren. Parlor Greens sind in Bestform: Sie sind eingespielt und selbstbewusster denn je, was ihre Identität und ihre Ausrichtung betrifft. Der Opener des Albums, ,Eat Your Greens", beginnt mit einem von Charles Earland inspirierten Four-on-the-Floor-Beat, wobei Jimmy und Scone den Song wie einen überladenen Güterzug vorantreiben, der einfach nicht zu stoppen ist. Greens", startet mit einem von Charles Earland inspirierten Four-on-the-Floor-Beat, wobei Jimmy und Scone den Song wie einen überladenen Güterzug vorantreiben, der einfach nicht zu stoppen ist. ,Lion's Mane" zeigt eine etwas raffiniertere Seite des Trios, mit Anspielungen auf einen von Scones Orgelmentoren , den unvergleichlichen Dr. Lonnie Smith. Um seinen Bandkollegen in nichts nachzustehen, demonstriert Tim Carman in ,Letter To Brother Ben", einem gospelartigen Shuffler, warum er den besten Shuffle diesseits des Mississippi spielt. Und obwohl die Ergebnisse stärker denn je sind, war die Stimmung bei dieser zweiten Aufnahmesession ganz anders. Als sich die drei zum ersten Mal in Loveland im Colemine's Portage Lounge Studio trafen, war die Atmosphäre von einer gewissen Frische geprägt. Es war neu, es war das erste Mal, dass sie alle zusammen spielten. Es war aufregend, es war Neuland. Die Session für Emeralds lastete viel schwerer auf allen drei Mitgliedern. Da alle drei mit persönlichen Tragödien in ihrem individuellen Leben zu kämpfen hatten, war die Session für die Gruppe ein echter Moment der Freude. Nur drei talentierte Musiker, die nun als Freunde in einer vertrauten Umgebung Musik schreiben und spielen. Nirgendwo wird die Bedeutung dieser Session deutlicher als beim letzten Titel des Albums, ,Queen Of My Heart", einem Stück, das Jimmy für seine Mutter kurz nach ihrem Tod geschrieben hat. Mit schwerem Herzen und voller Emotionen ist Colemine Records sehr stolz darauf, das zweite Album dieser drei Meister präsentieren zu dürfen. Parlor Greens präsentiert_ Emeralds.

Auf ,Emeralds", dem zweiten Longplayer von Parlor Greens, präsentiert das Trio eine sorgfältig zusammengestellte Auswahl dessen, was funkige Orgelmusik leisten kann. Drei wahre Meister ihres Fachs: Tim Carman (ehemals GA-20) am Schlagzeug, Jimmy James (True Loves, ehemals Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio) an der Gitarre und Adam Scone (Scone Cash Players, The Sugarman 3) an der Orgel. Erfahrene und gefühlvolle Profis, die sich zusammengetan haben, um mitreißende, funkige Instrumental-Jams zu kreieren. Parlor Greens sind in Bestform: Sie sind eingespielt und selbstbewusster denn je, was ihre Identität und ihre Ausrichtung betrifft. Der Opener des Albums, ,Eat Your Greens", beginnt mit einem von Charles Earland inspirierten Four-on-the-Floor-Beat, wobei Jimmy und Scone den Song wie einen überladenen Güterzug vorantreiben, der einfach nicht zu stoppen ist. Greens", startet mit einem von Charles Earland inspirierten Four-on-the-Floor-Beat, wobei Jimmy und Scone den Song wie einen überladenen Güterzug vorantreiben, der einfach nicht zu stoppen ist. ,Lion's Mane" zeigt eine etwas raffiniertere Seite des Trios, mit Anspielungen auf einen von Scones Orgelmentoren , den unvergleichlichen Dr. Lonnie Smith. Um seinen Bandkollegen in nichts nachzustehen, demonstriert Tim Carman in ,Letter To Brother Ben", einem gospelartigen Shuffler, warum er den besten Shuffle diesseits des Mississippi spielt. Und obwohl die Ergebnisse stärker denn je sind, war die Stimmung bei dieser zweiten Aufnahmesession ganz anders. Als sich die drei zum ersten Mal in Loveland im Colemine's Portage Lounge Studio trafen, war die Atmosphäre von einer gewissen Frische geprägt. Es war neu, es war das erste Mal, dass sie alle zusammen spielten. Es war aufregend, es war Neuland. Die Session für Emeralds lastete viel schwerer auf allen drei Mitgliedern. Da alle drei mit persönlichen Tragödien in ihrem individuellen Leben zu kämpfen hatten, war die Session für die Gruppe ein echter Moment der Freude. Nur drei talentierte Musiker, die nun als Freunde in einer vertrauten Umgebung Musik schreiben und spielen. Nirgendwo wird die Bedeutung dieser Session deutlicher als beim letzten Titel des Albums, ,Queen Of My Heart", einem Stück, das Jimmy für seine Mutter kurz nach ihrem Tod geschrieben hat. Mit schwerem Herzen und voller Emotionen ist Colemine Records sehr stolz darauf, das zweite Album dieser drei Meister präsentieren zu dürfen. Parlor Greens präsentiert_ Emeralds.

Auf ,Emeralds", dem zweiten Longplayer von Parlor Greens, präsentiert das Trio eine sorgfältig zusammengestellte Auswahl dessen, was funkige Orgelmusik leisten kann. Drei wahre Meister ihres Fachs: Tim Carman (ehemals GA-20) am Schlagzeug, Jimmy James (True Loves, ehemals Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio) an der Gitarre und Adam Scone (Scone Cash Players, The Sugarman 3) an der Orgel. Erfahrene und gefühlvolle Profis, die sich zusammengetan haben, um mitreißende, funkige Instrumental-Jams zu kreieren. Parlor Greens sind in Bestform: Sie sind eingespielt und selbstbewusster denn je, was ihre Identität und ihre Ausrichtung betrifft. Der Opener des Albums, ,Eat Your Greens", beginnt mit einem von Charles Earland inspirierten Four-on-the-Floor-Beat, wobei Jimmy und Scone den Song wie einen überladenen Güterzug vorantreiben, der einfach nicht zu stoppen ist. Greens", startet mit einem von Charles Earland inspirierten Four-on-the-Floor-Beat, wobei Jimmy und Scone den Song wie einen überladenen Güterzug vorantreiben, der einfach nicht zu stoppen ist. ,Lion's Mane" zeigt eine etwas raffiniertere Seite des Trios, mit Anspielungen auf einen von Scones Orgelmentoren , den unvergleichlichen Dr. Lonnie Smith. Um seinen Bandkollegen in nichts nachzustehen, demonstriert Tim Carman in ,Letter To Brother Ben", einem gospelartigen Shuffler, warum er den besten Shuffle diesseits des Mississippi spielt. Und obwohl die Ergebnisse stärker denn je sind, war die Stimmung bei dieser zweiten Aufnahmesession ganz anders. Als sich die drei zum ersten Mal in Loveland im Colemine's Portage Lounge Studio trafen, war die Atmosphäre von einer gewissen Frische geprägt. Es war neu, es war das erste Mal, dass sie alle zusammen spielten. Es war aufregend, es war Neuland. Die Session für Emeralds lastete viel schwerer auf allen drei Mitgliedern. Da alle drei mit persönlichen Tragödien in ihrem individuellen Leben zu kämpfen hatten, war die Session für die Gruppe ein echter Moment der Freude. Nur drei talentierte Musiker, die nun als Freunde in einer vertrauten Umgebung Musik schreiben und spielen. Nirgendwo wird die Bedeutung dieser Session deutlicher als beim letzten Titel des Albums, ,Queen Of My Heart", einem Stück, das Jimmy für seine Mutter kurz nach ihrem Tod geschrieben hat. Mit schwerem Herzen und voller Emotionen ist Colemine Records sehr stolz darauf, das zweite Album dieser drei Meister präsentieren zu dürfen. Parlor Greens präsentiert_ Emeralds.

Schmitz is a cool guy. He dreams of meeting the ruler of the universe. One day, his dream comes true: he meets the electro goddess Irma. The compilation is a kind of audiobook in 13 acts, danceable and cool, fast and loud, an homage to all space cats. The LP comes with a booklet introducing the bands and telling the story.

WILDFIRE is the long-awaited new studio album from Loreen, set for release on 27th March. Marking her first full studio album in nearly a decade, WILDFIRE is a powerful and intimate body of work that explores emotion, perception and inner transformation, a record that allows the full emotional spectrum to exist, from vulnerability and pain to freedom, love and truth.

The album features the global phenomenon “Tattoo”, alongside fan-favourite “Is It Love” and the transcendent new single “Feels Like Heaven”, co-written with Sia. Together, the tracks reflect Loreen’s unique ability to fuse raw emotional honesty with cinematic pop, creating music that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.

Loreen is the only female artist to have won the Eurovision Song Contest twice and has amassed over 9 billion streams worldwide. “Tattoo” topped radio airplay and singles charts in five countries, further cementing her status as one of the most distinctive and influential voices in modern pop.

With WILDFIRE, Loreen returns with an album that is fearless, expansive and profoundly human

Over half a century after it set them on the path to superstardom, Queen’s regal second album, Queen II, has been remixed and remastered.

Arguably the heaviest Queen album, Queen II was originally released in 1974 and widely heralded as their first true masterpiece. With Brian May and Roger Taylor as executive producers, the album has been stunningly mixed by the team of Justin Shirley-Smith, Joshua J Macrae and Kris Fredriksson.

As collaborative projects often do, 33 has in time found a more fixed form, a kind of structure that turned it from a loose collection of collaborators gravitating around founders Bill John Bultheel and Alexander Iezzi into something resembling more of a traditional band. Not that there is anything conventional in their creative process tho, nor in the music itself… Nontheless Tripolar - their second album and first for Haunter - seems to take them closer to song territory than ever before.

The (progressive) graduation of multi-instrumentalist Cem Dukkha and vocalist/clarinet player Ivan Cheng from collaborators to full-time members has brought 33 to a more refined awareness of their possibilities as a creative unit, although their compositional process has retained a high level of spontaneity and musical madness. Tripolar was in fact assembled by editing hours of improvisation that Bultheel, Iezzi and Dukkah recorded with no specific endgame in mind. The sessions saw them exchange a variety of acoustic, electronic and electric musical instruments: percussions, guitars, strings, piano, hurdy gurdy, synthesizers and even CDJs as a tool of live sampling manipulation.

By molding the pieces into what they are now, the band managed to concoct some beautiful vignettes of contradictory mental and emotional states, as sonically playful as a renaissance fair happening within a broken timestream. Cheng’s lyrical and vocal contributions helped them coalesce even further into proper songs, adding a melodic presence that’s at once seductive and uncanny. But vocal duties are often ceded to guests, namely Danish pop-neoclassicist Astrid Sonne, Kenyan metal guru Lord Spikeheart, Irish goth raconteur Olan Monk and Japanese body-poet Golin.The amount of different sounds arranged into each of the tracks produces a unique sense of awe and bewilderment, a testament to the incredible talent and craft the musicians have employed into putting together such a broad range of influences and approaches into a coherent and extremely effective musical journey.

An equally erratic thematic thread seems to run through all the tracks, one ultimately preoccupied with mental health and its ramifications. Without turning the project into a concept album, 33 and their collaborators have sprinkled it with references to personality disorders and mental conditions that are all too relevant to the contemporary age, reflecting on the lineage of human inner life. A wide display of lyrical and musical tools is employed to explore these themes, ranging from Sonne’s expressionist depiction of ADHD in the opener, to Cheng’s queer-themed reinvention of an Irish murder ballad in closing track ‘Babymusicc’. Tracing lateral trajectories for introspection, Tripolar is not only highly captivating, but it ultimately sounds esoteric in the best possible way: progressively revealing layer after layer of incredible aural magic, its true meaning living in the form and in its manic scope of energies.

Special Friend have become the masters of weaving elegant and sophisticated pop musical webs while staying true to their low-fi indiepop roots. The French/American duo (Guillaume on guitar and vocals, Erica on drums and vocals) manage to create a sound like no other band. When they play live, audiences marvel at the huge, intricate structures the band construct, while falling in love with the crystal-clear vocal melodies that are threaded in between the shards of guitar and the rattle of the drums. How can a duo achieve so much? UK audiences will be able to ponder this question in March: Special Friend are coming over from France to do a substantial tour of the UK. These shows are highly recommended!
The new album is more diverse that the last, with the high-tempo indiepop of first single ‘Breakfast’, the majestic, Yo La Tengo-like dreampop of ‘Clipping’ and the country-ish, gentle, homesick melancholy of ‘Isolation’. Final track ‘OOO’ is a bold piece of Krautrock-inspired experimentation; ‘Mold’ is a beautiful slice of slowcore and opener ‘Paint A Picture’ is modern pop at its catchiest and most direct.

‘Clipping’, the album title, refers to the discipline of pruning growth back, removing dead wood to create a perfectly shaped tree with abundant blossoms: an accurate description of the album, and of the songs that hang from its elegant branches. The album artwork is by Erica: Special Friend are in control of every aspect of this elegant artefact.
‘Clipping’ was recorded in 2025 at Studio Claudio by Alexis Fugain and Margaux Bouchaudon. Set in an isolated rural environment conducive to immersion, the band had seven days in the studio—significantly more than for previous records—allowing for greater care in the recording process, particularly for vocals and arrangements. Several tracks feature synthesizers and organs, acoustic guitar, and even an electric bass on “Sanctuary,” a first for Special Friend. Overall, the record benefits from a more developed and detailed production while preserving the band’s direct approach and spontaneity.

The album was mixed by Syd Kemp, who has worked with artists such as Thurston Moore, Ulrika Spacek, Caroline, Crack Cloud, and Vanishing Twin.
Special Friend’s previous album on Skep Wax, ‘Wait Until The Flames Come Rushing In’ was an underground hit, with a significant amount of airplay in the UK and in the US.
‘Clipping’ is a co-release with Howlin Banana Records and Hidden Bay Records (both in France). Skep Wax is proud to present the album in the UK and in North America.

Their debut album, Why Trains Crash was released in June of that year to rave reviews. In 2023 they released their follow-up LP, A Company Sleeve, solidifying their reputation with critics and fans alike for all- killer/ no- filler indie rock. Their third LP, Never Felt Bitter, will be released on March 27, 2026. The music on Never Felt Bitter -- the quartet's first release for Chicago- based Forge Again Records--is the result of playing together on hundreds of nights in innumerable bars and clubs across Southern California and beyond. Over the years the band has honed a fearsome melding of pop melodicism and raw physicality. Their knack for crafting catchy anthems for outsiders and underdogs has made them one of the most respected underground bands in L.A.