More from the Relaxin Records axis! 

'"Light Decline" is mostly built from manipulated samples. The lyrics are inspired by and addressed to those who have pissed me off. Bass is the only played instrument.

The songs sound sad, even though ‘sad’ has no real existence - it’s just a sensation produced by atoms ricocheting off each other mechanistically in an otherwise empty void. However this record has a natural tendency towards sad, and it’s worth recognising the significance of that.'

Great Area are currently supporting the amazing Mark William Lewis on his UK tour. Essential for fans of Bar Italia, Dean Blunt / Hype Williams and the World Music label, early Peaking Lights and The XX. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: More excitable melancholy from the indelible Relaxin stable. Great Area look set to win the hearts of taste makers and cool kids alike this year with their gloriously sad songs and sincere, honest story telling.

TRACK LISTING

1.light Decline 
2.pest 
3.hazards 
4.fun 
5.the Laws Of Physics 
6.100% Enthusiastic
7.if You Stop Moving You Don't Exist, If You Fall Behind You're Dead 

Matt Berry returns with his first new solo album since 2021’s ‘Blue Elephant’. This time he delivers a Soul and West Coast Psych-inspired collection of songs, which attach an innate sense of melody to a lush, contemporary take on classic recording techniques. All of this is allied with Matt’s rich voice and unique lyrics.

The album’s opening single ‘I Gotta Limit’ is a sharp, pounding number with vocal duties shared with Kitty Liv. Elsewhere, there are collaborations with Eric D Johnson of The Shins, and Golden Globe-winning actress Natasha Lyonne. In the past four years Matt has been busy with a number of projects, including his Library Music collaboration with KPM ‘Simplicity’, and his EMMY award nominated role as Laszlo in ‘What We Do In The Shadows’.
 
This record, his 8th studio album for Acid Jazz, sees him return to his love of music.

TRACK LISTING

1. Why On Fire?
2. Silver Rings
3. Interlude
4. Be Alarmed
5. I Gotta Limit
6. Wedding Photo Stranger
7. Stay On The Ground
8. I Entered As I Came
9. There Are Monsters
10. To Live For What Once Was
11. Canada Dry
12. The Snakes Will Slide
13. Interlude 2
14. Sky High

Following the success of his debut EP on WeMe records, Binary Digit is back with a brand new 6-track EP dedicated to the mythical Balearic Islands. From the very first tracks, we find the atmosphere represented by the legendary island of Ibiza, synonymous with partying, relaxation and getting high. The rest of this EP is a good definition of the well-being and the holy and benevolent feeling that all these clubbers can offer every year, who come to party in an atmosphere of sharing and respect, and above all who make a point of honor of ecology by favoring swimming. The track "Smkndpe", literally translated from Latin as 'how to better consume your herbal tea', is already a hit on Tik Tok to accompany the best female influencer of the moment! We end this EP with the track "Overdoze In Ibiza", which will bring this well-deserved vacation to a close.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Imagine Radioactive Man and Luke Vibrant jovially skipping through the white sands of Talamanca beach. Braindance and acid with the sun on its face and given a pastel blue wash. Ace!

TRACK LISTING

1 Desilusion In Palma 
2 Ale By The Sean
3 Corner Office Acid View
4 SmknDpe
5 Bongoz
6 Overdoze In Ibiza

Star Creature alumni Saucy Lady does a spot of moonlighting on Dippin', delivering the forth LP from this Boston-based boogie bug. Featuring a few cool collabs and some creative cover versions; its boogie-centred dynamics veer casually at times into house and pop-territories with assured confidence and style.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: A truly charismatic songstress and star operating within the new boogie and modern funk landscape. Much like Manchester's Sarah Bates or Glasgow's Hidden Groove / Tension, Saucy Lady runs the whole shebang herself - from vocals to drum hits to squelches and sirens. "Love Fest" is one of her strongest releases to date.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1.Falling In Love
2.What If? (feat Jay Mumford)
3.Break The Ice

Side 2
1.Silver Haze (feat Derrick McKenzie)
2.What You Won't Do For Love (feat Yam Who?)
3.Love Lock
4.Sao Paulo

It's fitting that the Stones Throw alum would tap Star Creature for round 2 on this next phase of his already impressive musical journey. Coming off several incredible albums ranging from beats, RnB, jazz-funk and all sorts of in between fusions for Stones Throw Records, arguably one of the most influential underground labels of last couple decades, Stimulator Jones pushes us even deeper into the underground clubset on "The Stimulator Tracks Vol 2" via Tim Zawada's Chicago-based Star Creature label.

Whereas Vol 1 gave us part Larry Heard, part Ten City, part Ron Trent; Volume 2 comes a bit harder to the face with even more original analog production gear and techniques diving further along the historic progression of Chicago house music. "Cali Red", the lead single and opening A1, kicks this off with a massive, big-room space stomper - might leave dents on the dancefloor if it wasn't so atmospherically lifting.

The rest of the EP follows heavily with a hefty bites of acid, deep, gritty filter disco, and borderline booty – the project lays down raw & uncut, heavy trax that somehow manage to stay soulful and breathable. Another big 12" that fits somewhere between a secret Ron Hardy rhythm weapon,  undiscovered basement reel-to-reel demo tape, and the output of the legendary Trax label.

This one is sure to sound slamming near any front left speakers with mastering job courtesy of underground East Coast techno veteran Dietrich Schonemann of Complete Mastering. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Cali Red
A2. Cytoplasm
B1. Fantasies
B2. Hold Plz

Some called Studio, the project of Swedish musicians Dan Lissvik and Rasmus Hägg, “the missing link between The Cure and Lindstrøm,” Pitchfork heard Durutti Column and Can, as the duo’s story became swept up in a loosely developing scene — adjacent first to the label Service (Jens Lekman, The Whitest Boy Alive) and later Sincerely Yours (The Tough Alliance, jj) — and a precursor to the 2010s boom at the axis of electronic and psychedelic music guided by indie greats like Caribou, Four Tet, and Darkside.

'West Coast', their seminal 2006 debut, captured a faraway romanticism of Balearic brushed up against Krautrock, disco, dub, and afrobeat, with pop lyricism lifted from new wave, all made modern by two art school grads in Gothenburg. First pressed in a small vinyl-only run via their own Information label, the album has been notably absent from most streaming services, and the internet’s record of its initial impact is all but fossilized from a bygone blog era, while its sound is simply untraceable to any one moment in music.

Outside of three 7” releases, they’d keep the music to themselves for several more years. In 2005, Hägg remembers, “We got our degrees and were kicked out of our studio spaces so all these recordings were just piled up. A year later we dusted them off and started to deconstruct and assemble them in a more drawn-out fashion.” In the same breadth, they cite DJ Screw, J Dilla, and Joy Division, along with early ‘80s European live DJ sets from the likes of Beppe Loda, Dj Mozart, and Baldelli as reference points. “The anything-goes mentality was very encouraging and was a big cornerstone to the Studio sound,” says Hägg. “But there’s so much more to the picture, we were not that young then and had lots of musical baggage in our suitcases, the new thing was that we finally let it all come through, not bound by any borders that was often the case with music identity in Sweden during the 90s.”

In the afterglow of the record’s 2007 reception, Studio receded from view, clouded behind a mountain of remix requests (including one for Kylie Minogue that saw release) and label bureaucracy. “It’s easy to wish we would have done some proper recordings of our own instead,” Hägg reflects. But both artists, now well into respective careers beyond Studio, have come to peace with West Coast as their most enduring effort together. Lissvik adds, “It serves as a good reminder for me to keep to that decision and promise and to continue exploring and growing.

TRACK LISTING

1. Out There
2. West Coast
3.Origin
4. Life’s A Beach!
5. Self Service
6. Indo

Ultimo Tango (Milan) & Glossy Mistakes (Madrid) are thrilled to announce the release of "Tribal Organic: Deep Dive into European Percussions 79-90", a compilation of otherworldly percussion-driven tracks, digging deep into this unknown realm of a past era

Compiled by Luca Fiore and Glossy Mario, the album takes listeners on a rhythmic journey through the diverse sounds of Europe from 1979 to 1990. This collaboration between two like-minded labels highlights forgotten recordings from across Europe, including works by artists from France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands...

Opening with the ethereal “Rainforest” by British female duo Ova, this collection weaves together nine tracks from artists who were deeply influenced by global percussion traditions. With hints of jazz, new age, gamelan, and West African rhythms, these tracks feature instruments like congas, tablas, and shekeres, and reflect a shared fascination with the organic beat of the drum.

From the industrial-meets-African grooves of Jean-Michel Bertrand’s “Engines”, to the hypnotic accordion and tribal chants of Cuco Pérez’s “Calabó Bambú”, the compilation offers a cross-cultural listening experience that is both meditative and invigorating. Despite creating these works in isolation during the last years of the Cold War, each artist was inspired by a borderless world of sound. The compilation pays homage to these nomadic musicians who respected the traditions they drew from, while contributing their own experimental takes on percussion-led music.In Tribal Organic, Glossy Mario and Luca Fiore have unearthed a treasure trove of rhythm-driven tracks that blur the lines between nations, genres, and cultures.

This compilation offers more than just music; it’s a listening experience that is both spiritual and grounded—bold, exploratory, and deeply rooted in the beat of the Earth.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Super intriguing dive into European percussion records over a fertile eleven year period. Each one a sonic curio that you want to explore every last detail of. Made even more mysterious due to the obscurity of some of the artists involved.

TRACK LISTING

A1. OVA - Rainforest
A2. Jean-Michael Bertrand - Engines
A3. Terry Keegan - Nutze Die Technik
A4. Slagerij Van Kampen - A Long Walk On A Short Pier
A5. Votu - Beyond
B1. For Drummers Drumming - Wok
B2. Calabò Y Bambù Luis Delgado, Cuco Pèrez Y Luis Palès
B3. Χόρες - Χόρες
B4. Angklung - Das Versprechen
B5. Cipriani One Man Band - From Peru To China