Collection: New Releases

Double 12" release The Story — From the Streets of Rome to the Male Productions Label In the early 1990s, Rome lived in a kind of suspended moment. The city was still tied to its historic clubs, yet in the outskirts—inside abandoned warehouses, quarries along the coastline, and the wooded parks north of the capital—something new was beginning to stir. A nocturnal, constantly shifting movement fuelled by a hunger for freedom and a sonic curiosity that reached far beyond the mainstream. Moving through this ferment was Francesco “Chicco” Furlotti. First an organizer of unconventional parties and underground nights, he soon became one of the driving forces behind Rome’s itinerant rave scene. Furlotti sensed that a wave of change was about to sweep across the city. It wasn’t just about parties: it was the rise of a culture, a new way of thinking about music, community, and belonging. It was within those nights—later held with official permits, properly built sound systems, and an ever-growing crowd—that Furlotti recognized the existence of a distinctly Roman sound, and the need to capture it, preserve it, and give it tangible form. So, in 1991, he decided to take a bolder step: to found an independent record label—small, determined, and far removed from the commercial logic that dominated at the time. That was the birth of Male Productions. Male was not a label like any other: it was a workshop, a gathering point, a creative hub where DJs, producers, friends, and wanderers converged. Within that environment, an artistic core took shape—Stefano Di Carlo, Leo Young, and Mauro Tannino, along with other collaborators orbiting around Furlotti. From their synergy emerged a project whose very name declared its mission: The True Underground Sound of Rome. The collective did not simply aim to release music; it sought to tell a story of Rome through sounds that defied categorization: house, techno, ambient, electronic mysticism, psychedelic visions… a unique blend, instantly recognizable, emotional, and experimental. The sessions unfolded using essential yet razor-sharp gear: Roland drum machines, analogue synthesizers, Akai samplers, stripped-down mixers. Few tools, endless imagination. The first result of this work was the 12” Secret Doctrine, released in 1991 in an extremely limited run—around 500 promotional copies, according to accounts. The record captured something that until then had floated only in the air of Roman raves: enveloping atmospheres, deep rhythms, melodies built to make the mind travel far beyond the dancefloor. A sound that did not imitate what was happening in Detroit, London, or Berlin, but absorbed those influences and re-sculpted them with a distinctly Roman sensibility. Yet, precisely because it was independent and detached from commercial circuits, Male’s output remained sparse: few EPs, few copies, irregular distribution. Over time, those records became rare artifacts—almost mythical objects within the Italian electronic scene. The legacy of Male Productions seemed destined to survive only in the memories of those early years, in the stories told after raves, and in the private archives of a handful of collectors. Many years later, thanks to the almost accidental rediscovery of a few original copies of the first two releases issued by Male Productions, it became possible to undertake a meticulous process of recovery and restoration of the audio etched into those grooves, with the aim of preserving as fully as possible the quality and character of that unrepeatable sound. We are therefore able today to present — at last in a complete and faithful form — the first two mixes created for Male Productions, now released on a double vinyl that brings back into the present the exact moment when it all began: the nomadic nights of the raves, Furlotti’s vision, the creativity of Di Carlo, Young and Tannino, and the sonic identity of a Rome in the midst of transformation. This is not merely a reissue. It is a historical document. A fragment of a culture that changed the city. The authentic sound of the Roman underground, finally returned to the world.

Convertible returns to Sweet Free Association with a set of three driving house cuts! "Kicking off the year with the return of one of last-years breakout producers Convertible offering up his latest sure shot for the label. The Free EP reflects its name - a package of cathartic music that is just asking to be played out late and loud in the club - but as always with Convertible, it has that timeless and beautiful quality - these tracks are for life! Up until this point, Convertible has been a very mysterious figure, with very little online presence, but with this his second EP (and arguably a more upfront release), Free not only proves that he is more than a one hit wonder, but 2026 could be his year! Support from: Dr Banana, Job Jobse, Midland, Make A Dance, Ryan Elliott, Silverlining" All tracks written and produced by Convertible. Mastered by Frank at The Carvery. Comes in gradient-coloured sleeve.

Brochure is back for the first 12” in our Soft Rock for Hard Times series, transforming Holly Near’s iconic soft rock stepper “Back Off” into a synthesizer driven disco dancer. Rebecca Felix joins the band to sing lead vocals and nails the stern yet blasé delivery that makes the original so captivating. After wrapping their cover, Brochure returned to the studio to produce the Paradise Mix which has its sights on Italian shores, winding seaside roads and open air night clubs. On side B, Jex Opolis’ Good Timin’ Dub delivers a hypnotic house groove that is guaranteed to put evil thoughts in your mind and happy steps in your feet. Dreems rounds out the record with an echo and delay fueled odyssey for his Risky Connection Dub which takes the song on a deep, dubby trip.

the first-ever reissue on studio mule of the debut album by japanese jazz legend and bassist yoshio ikeda. having performed with such illustrious figures as sadao watanabe, masabumi kikuchi, and terumasa hino, ikeda’s first album as a leader features pianist and vocalist ichiko hashimoto—also known for her involvement with yellow magic orchestra—berlin-based jazz pianist aki takase, and leading japanese drummer motohiko hino. avant-garde yet imbued with a distinctly japanese sense of melancholy, this is a work that resonates profoundly with the present moment. the gem “whispering weeds,” highlighted by thrilling piano and hashimoto’s evocative scat vocals, was also included on a compilation by bbe. remastered from the original master tapes by kuniyuki, the album has been revived with a richer, more lustrous sound in this definitive reissue.

Six years after their last full-length release, Satoshi & Makoto return with Mirage Café, the highly anticipated new album on 8mm Records, in collaboration with Standart Magazine. A carefully crafted and long-awaited work, Mirage Café is more than an album — it is a fully immersive sensory experience. The Japanese duo expand their signature sound into deeper and more cinematic territory, blending refined electronica, ambient textures, subtle jazz inflections and understated groove with remarkable elegance and control. The title evokes an imaginary café — a space of contemplation, connection and inspiration. The partnership with Standart Magazine reinforces this conceptual layer, bridging music and coffee culture into a cohesive narrative that feels both intimate and international. The result is an album that unfolds like a slow ritual: warm, enveloping and meticulously detailed. Throughout the record, Satoshi & Makoto demonstrate a mature and confident songwriting approach. The production is rich yet restrained, atmospheric yet rhythmically engaging — balancing introspection with forward motion. Lush harmonies, delicate arrangements and immersive sound design create a listening experience that rewards both focused attention and late-night drifting. With Mirage Café, the duo not only meet expectations after a six-year silence — they surpass them. This is a masterwork of nuance and vision, poised to become a defining chapter in their discography and a standout release in the contemporary electronic landscape.

Following on from his debut album, Miles Spilsbury returns to New Dawn with Spirit Level. A new project in collaboration with close friend Gorse Panshawe (formerly known as Slugabed - who also produced Miles Spilsbury's first album Light Manoeuvres). Recorded over one weekend in a weaving shed in Frome, in the English countryside. Surrounded by reels of yarn, they explored saxophones, flutes, dusty old keyboards & drum machines. The resulting record conjures the murk and moss of Forestland and grounds with grooves from the Bongo setting on a Casio keyboard. Jake Long added mallet drums from his London studio to round off the album.

"I got to know visual artist, musician, and producer Guido Erfen and sound engineer, acoustic artist, and percussionist Michael Springer as part of a group of five by the name of SHM1. The members of the group organised concerts at Rhenania, a disused grain silo, where I performed with The Absurd in 1988 and 1989. The band was also featured on one of Erfen's tape releases. Erfen and Springer met when they were still at the same secondary school and soon became close friends and musical allies. With the other members of SHM they built an independent network for creating and distributing music beyond the mainstream in Cologne. Rent at Rhenania was incredibly low, allowing a recording studio to be established there. The first traces of the Ukrainian Underground arrived at Erfen's door via a cassette tape with three bands from Kharkiv and Kyiv, the package including a long essay which detailed the rock scene in the two cities by Sergey Myasoyedow. In 1986, Myasoyedow, together with Sasha Panchenko, had founded the “Novaya Scena“ rock club in Kharkiv, presenting bands inspired by punk, the avant-garde, dadaism, and even medieval melodies. If Erfen hadn't been part of the independent mail-art scene, he wouldn't have had the chance to discover this unorthodox music. It was the summer of 1990, shortly before the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine became an independent state the following year. In 1991, singer and keyboard player Soloveyka from Kharkiv arrived in Cologne and gave Erfen half a dozen cassettes with underground bands from Ukraine and a handful with bands from the Soviet Union. Intrigued by the original music of many of the acts, he visited Ukraine twice, made friends there, compiled a tape with his favourite tracks and finally succeeded in convincing Hamburg label boss Alfred Hilsberg to present underground music from Ukraine on the CD “Novaya Scena“ via his label What's So Funny About (the original home of Einstürzende Neubauten). The album compiled 20 tracks recorded between 1986 and 1992 by 14 bands out of Kharkiv and Kyiv– music beyond the usual Perestroika records, often with jarring dissonances over grooves that fans of Captain Beefheart or The Fall would certainly enjoy. On the other hand, there are tracks featuring flute and trumpet that seem inspired by folk, classical music, and punk. Ghostly chamber prog miniatures by Cukor Belaya Smert (lit. Sugar White Death) from Kyiv featuring, among others, the classically trained pianist and singer Svitlana Nianio (née Ochrimenko) and guitarist, visual artist, and spokesman Yewgeny "Yenia" Taran. Nianio sang in her native Ukrainian, as did two more of the bands. Today, this seems more relevant than ever, more culturally and historically significant from a Ukrainian point of view than it was even in 1993. Young Ukrainians were amazed at that time that rock music sung in their native tongue could work! It is in the aftermath of the “Novaya Scena“ album that the music on this LP was created. About a year after the release of the CD in August 1993, Nianio and Taran came to Cologne to work on music for the dance production "Transilvania Smile" by the dance theatre ensemble Pentamonia2. The seeds for the Traces of Ukrainian Underground in Cologne were sown. Starting in 1994, a series of informal recording sessions took place at Michael Springer’s Phanton Studio and at SHM studio in Rhenania. Together, these sessions formed the basis of the four different incarnations of the Ukraine-Cologne connection heard on STROOMS’s compilation.

With this confident and ear-catching EP, Montreal's NAFF Recordings introduces us to a new name: Glob Deejay, the musical alias of fantastically named graphic designer-turned-producer Stone Burleston. Deep, dreamy, dubby and informed by micro-house, Burleston's debut EP offers a fresh take on the kaleidoscopic, morning-ready Canadian deep house sound favoured not only by NAFF but also Mood Hut and 1080p. He sets the tone with the spaced-out, morning-fresh warmth of 'Clowns', before doffing a cap to dub techno on the billowing deep house headiness of 'Talking'. Layers of opaque melodic motifs and minimal house beats are the order of the day on 'Glob FM', while 'USwirl' is sparse, glitchy and hypnotic with some genuinely poignant piano motifs. Closing cut 'Sponj', meanwhile, may be the most picturesque of the lot - and that's saying something.

Since opening an at-request-only record shop in a Crystal Palace warehouse, Palace Vinyl have now offshot into sublabel Brixton Row. Here they welcome London techno god of decades Grant Dell for the new 'Purple Kutz' EP, and warning: the bass load here is not light by any margin. 'This Spiritual Muzik' will leave your legs shaking, and 'Masonic Mantra' only lets up the heft at the slight cost of extra snap. Then the bloody fantastic B-side: 'Still Letting Go' demonstrates how to have fun while plunging straightward into narrative darkness, a hair-flipping vocal line showing us "this is how I do it!". The music is confidently centred in its own swirling ruminance; DJs needn't fear phase issues.

NYC-via-Atlanta's Fugitive Artifact arrives with a quartet of cuts that live in the shadows between grimey tech, noir house and full-blooded Chicago jack. This is not just revival music because it respects the founders, nods to John Carpenter, and then does something distinct and fresh. The A-side is psychedelic and properly unnerving with driving basslines, syncopated claps and atmospheric swells that pull you down the wormhole into a world of in-salubriousness. The B-side pushes the tempo into techno realms before closing with an ominous grey dawn. Freaky, and we like it.

Taking the helm for this mission is Gamayun, a top-tier pilot specializing in precision orbital maneuvers. Gamayun's expertise in navigating complex gravitational anomalies is critical for the "Data Sciencer" mission's success, ensuring the orbiter maintains the perfect trajectory for long-range sensor deployment.

The upcoming release scheduled for 2026 is made by the Irish London-based artist Cherrie Bea. Emerging electronic artist carving out a distinct space in the UK scene with thoughtful, deep and atmospheric productions that blend house, ambient textures and soulful guitar work. Their debut EP Jafar’s 21st introduced a warm, late-night sound that’s already earned support from underground tastemakers and NTS. Their latest release, Pearlescent, highlights Cherrie Bea’s playful, experimental edge, a collection of carefully crafted tracks that invite listeners to feel, interpret and experience the music in their own way Cherrie Bea stands as a reserved and introspective figure within the electronic scene, serves as a true statement piece, live instrumentation, ethereal synths, processed vocals, and dense harmonies wrapped in a late-night / early-morning atmosphere. The forthcoming “Pearlescent” EP, released on Series of Taboo, fully embraces that mindset: 4 tracks blending house, funk, and a touch of electro.

Following an exclusive, instantly sold-out preview during ADE 2025, Shades marks the highly anticipated second release from Life Cycle. The official release is finally here, featuring two tracks that perfectly encapsulate the vision Life Cycle first introduced with its debut release, ‘Magic Happens’, a true musical journey without boundaries. With Shades on Side A and Love Touch on Side B, the record delivers two distinct sonic vibes, carefully crafted by the label’s founder and the producer behind the release, Fabrizio Fattore.

Thundercat's fifth studio album 'Distracted' features contributions from A$AP Rocky, WILLOW, Tame Impala, Channel Tres, Lil Yachty and a previously unreleased collaboration with the dearly departed Mac Miller. Distracted was primarily created in close collaboration with a new creative partner for Thundercat - the superproducer Greg Kurstin, known for his work with some of the biggest names in pop like Adele, Paul McCartney, Sia, Beyoncé, Beck and more - with additional production turns on the record from Flying Lotus, Kenny Beats (Kenneth Blume), and The Lemon Twigs. Distracted vividly captures the tension between overstimulation and introspection. Thundercat is deeply skeptical of technological “progress,” especially the way it’s narrowed our collective imagination instead of expanding it. He jokes about Star Trek and childhood dreams of space travel, then pivots to the anticlimax of reality: drones without lasers, phones that only upgrade cameras, innovation reduced to spying and access. The disappointment isn’t just about gadgets; it’s about what we were promised versus what we got.

Tip on sleeve. Latin Grammy-Winning Producer Pupillo Unites Global Artists on his new album, Co-produced by Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys), featuring collaborations with Rodrigo Amarante, Carminho, Adrian Younge, Gaslamp Killer, Cut Chemist, Hervé Salters, and more Drummer, percussionist and producer Pupillo, one of the most influential figures in Brazilian music and a four-time Latin Grammy winner, releases his first original album through the Los Angeles–based label Amor in Sound. The record brings together an impressive and diverse group of collaborators from Brazil and abroad. Amor in Sound is run by Samantha Caldato, the project’s executive producer and creative director, and Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys), who co-produced the album alongside Pupillo. The project was developed in a free, experimental environment, allowing the artist to explore the many rhythmic and sonic territories that have shaped his career — from Northeastern Brazilian traditions to jazz, hip hop, and cinematic soundscapes. Listen here. The album features special appearances by Brazilian artists such as Céu, Rodrigo Amarante, Agnes Nunes, Amaro Freitas, Davi Moraes, Alberto Continentino and Pedro Martins, alongside a strong roster of international collaborators, including Carminho, Gaslamp Killer, Loren Oden, Adrian Younge, Cut Chemist and Hervé Salters (known for his work with General Elektriks). The album’s 12 tracks were further enriched by contributions from Jeremy Gustin, Roberto Schilling, and other musicians who make Amor in Sound Studios in Los Angeles a place of creative exchange. Beyond his work as the drummer of Nação Zumbi, Pupillo has built a prolific career as a producer and collaborator with some of the most important names in Brazilian music, including Gal Costa, Nando Reis, Erasmo Carlos, Céu, and Otto, helping to shape the sound of multiple generations. This trajectory has earned him four Latin Grammy Awards. From Pernambuco, Pupillo is also an acclaimed composer for cinema, having written soundtracks for films such as Arido Movie and Blue Blood (directed by Lirio Ferreira), TheAssailant (directed by João Daniel Tikhomiroff), among others. This cinematic sensibilitypermeates the album, which unfolds like a film, moving through richly textured soundscapes that cross continents and musical traditions.