MUSIC

Guest Bartender Deborah Toyota is the collaborative project of Julia Shapiro and Samur Khouja, two artists whose long-running creative dialogue shaped 'Music for Babies', an instrumental record built on tenderness, experimentation, and restraint. The band name was inspired by a poster for an event in Hydra, Greece featuring “guest bartender Maria Nissan.” The idea of a guest bartender sparked an inside joke between the artists, eventually inspiring a project name that reflects the spirit of the music: odd, playful and not too self-serious. The album grew out of a shared curiosity: what would it sound like to make something genuinely new, for the very beginning of listening? Designed so that it could be a baby’s first encounter with sound, the album inhabits a space that is both nascent and cutting-edge. It treats infancy not as a novelty, but as a conceptual constraint: one that deserves care and curiosity. The result is music that functions simultaneously as lullaby, ambient composition, and quiet experimentation. Both artists arrive at Guest Bartender Deborah Toyota with distinct but complementary histories. Shapiro is known for her work in Chastity Belt, where understatement and melodic clarity often mask emotional weight. Khouja’s projects—including Conscious Summary and his production work with artists such as Cate Le Bon—lean toward textural precision and left-field pop architecture. Music for Babies is not a departure from those paths, but a parallel one—quieter, slower, and deliberately unguarded. If those other projects speak outward, 'Music for Babies' listens inward. It is the sound of two people choosing tenderness as a method, and experimentation as an act of care. A record made not to impress, but to accompany—to exist in the background of early life, shaping a listener before language, before memory, before expectation.

The Trilogy Tapes back with quietly unhinged classical chamber musics from guess-again specialists Cop Tears, sort of Graham Lambkin does early music vibes, 10/10... Attending to an emergent TTT touchstone of recent times - as in Jack Sheen’s works, thru aspects of Will Bankhead’s What We and Guild mixes - Cop Tears lean into interests in quieter chamber music laced with threads of lo-fi, folk and jazz that tie ‘The Rules of the Game’ to the label’s key corpus. The 13 pieces follow five years from the trio’s ‘Theodor Adorno: Piano Works’, and five again from their debut ‘Thirteen Harmonies (1986) Selections From John Cage’s ‘Apartment House 1776’’, with enchanting slants on cherry picked pieces that endure, some over 600 years later, on the strength of their timeless arrangements. In key with the label's thing, everything is swaddled in ferric gauze - possibly posited on auld tape recorders - and holds a peculiar, homely, discordant charm (including fits of giggles and room noise) for the duration, which never tests the patience. The C.14th, polyphonic chanson Ars Nova masterpiece of Guillaume de Machaut ‘Puis qu’en oubli’ is the set’s oldest, along with ‘Quam pulchra est’, a mid-C.15th work for recorder trio by John Dunstable, placed on the same page with the more angular chamber jazz modernism of ‘Selections from Piano Sonata after a Conversation with Jonathan Gean (2016)’ and their take on the naïf wooze of ‘Children's Music, No. 1, II: Modern Dance (1973)’ by Valentin Silvestrov. Our percy is the dreamy, creaking baroque elegance of ’S’io men vo (1618)’, but it’s best advised to take it all in one at your leisure...

Originally released in the wake of ML Buch's art-pop modern classic 'Suntub', "Suntub Extras" paints in similar shades, fixing up its precision-engineered sketches in a personal space between Kate Bush's 'Hounds of Love', OPN's 'Replica' and Cocteau Twins' 'Victorialand'. Without the pop accouterments that made 'Suntub' so tantalizing to the almost-mainstream, Buch's tangled productions lay bare the various ingredients that have shaped her taste over the years. Fleetwood Mac was maybe the most obvious reference back in 2023 and undoubtedly her vocal harmonies and precision songwriting looped right back into the radio rock of the '70s and '80s, but strip the vocal away and something very different emerges. Her repeating guitar phrases - heard so vividly on the gorgeous 'Sway walking' - sound far more meditative and moving when they're isolated, decoupling the music from AOR and jacking it directly into the new age continuum. Here, Buch has more in common with Daniel Lopatin (or even Mark McGuire), playing out familiar riffs but treating them as if they're Reichian iterations. She introduces a larger (laptop-powered) ensemble on 'Suncrumb trail, Staging', providing a virtual tune-up with willowy guitars, boxy drums and that warm fretless bass that was all over 'Hounds of Love'. But as soon as any of these tracks seem to move towards their goal, Buch inevitably cuts away to a different scene. Here, she diverts our ears to alt-rock pastiche 'Growing eyes, Blade of cloud, Rolling chill', caking her Rembrants guitars in tape echo before picking up the thread again on the generous 'Moving Light, Change', a slo-mo reverie that provides the album with its thematic apex. But it's the brief finale that has our hearts; on the impeccably-titled 'Halfdark, Slow blinking', Buch accurately duplicates Robin Guthrie's groggy processes, strumming decelerated chords into cavernous echoes.

maya ongaku has always been searching for what exists just beyond the edge of perception. Since forming in the seaside towns surrounding Enoshima, the trio has followed a path guided less by intention than intuition, allowing songs, ideas, and experiences to emerge through a process they describe as 自然発生 (shizen hassei), spontaneous occurrence. Nothing Space Music is the deepest expression of that philosophy to date. Written in the aftermath of several years of international touring, the album emerged from a growing desire to reconnect with silence. As stages became larger and the world around them moved faster, the band found themselves drawn toward the quieter spaces beneath it all. What began as a reflection on stillness & silence eventually expanded into the idea of "Nothing Space". To realise the album, maya ongaku created an entirely new environment for themselves. Near a seaside shrine in their hometown, the trio transformed a large soundproof building into Nothing Space Studio, a space built specifically around the needs of this record. Nothing Space Music: a meditation on presence, perception, and the possibility of rediscovering the world through attentive listening.

Hailing from the seaside communities surrounding Enoshima, a small island located 50 km southwest of Tokyo, maya ongaku is a ragtag collective of local musicians whose brand of earthy psychedelia transcends widely beyond the roots of their inner souls. The name derives not from any kind of ancient civilization, but rather a neologism defined as the imagined view outside one’s field of vision. The band—currently a trio of Tsutomu Sonoda, Ryota Takano, and Shoei Ikeda—finds sanctuary at the Ace General Store, a beachy vintage shop and salon-like space just hidden from sight from the bustling, touristy riverside Subana Street. Between discussions on music and art, curating the vinyl section and manning the register, and chatting up with locals young and old, the members find time to jam and record their spontaneous ideas in the studio tucked away in the back. It’s in this unlikely setting where maya ongaku finds its origins, the culmination of what Sonoda describes as 自然発生 (shizen hassei), meaning spontaneous generation, or the supposed production of living organisms from nonliving matter.


Approach to Anima, the group’s debut album released on Guruguru Brain, finds maya ongaku building a foundational groove while tapping into their innermost psyche. Sonoda’s malleable guitar and vocals, Takano’s sinuous bass lines, Ikeda’s floating woodwinds, and a sprinkling of delicate percussion—all coalesce into an aural experience that’s assertive yet abstract, calm but unsettling. The slow building, sax-laden “Approach” serves as an introduction to maya ongaku’s world, while the appropriately-named “Water Dream” floats its way toward the gentle finale of “Pillow Song.” It’s a concise distillation of their many interests and influences, from Neo-Dada and Fluxus, to where contemporary art intersects with the development of modern recording technology in the ‘60s and ‘70s.


As the title suggests, Approach to Anima is not intended to be a terminus; it’s merely the beginning of an exploration. The three childhood friends that comprise maya ongaku are always looking beyond the confines of the idyllic but rapidly gentrifying enclave of their beloved Enoshima. Feeding off of the energy that still radiates from the triumphant, decade-long journey of their label bosses’ band Kikagaku Moyo, who rose to global prominence from scrappy beginnings busking on the streets of Takadanobaba, they hope to go wherever inspiration takes them, to anywhere around the globe where their music can find a home.


Ultimately, maya ongaku’s uninhibited world-building will make it possible for us to see the unseen, expand the possibilities of the naked eye—all through the unbridled vibrancy of their music. 

'Denshi Ongaku No Bigaku Vol. 4' is Cosmocities' new compilation put together by label owner Matt Soulie which further explores the depth and diversity of Japan's electronic underground music scene. "Since its inception, the Denshi Ongaku No Bigaku project has celebrated the artists and sounds that have profoundly influenced the Cosmocities vision. Across four volumes, the series has journeyed through ambient soundscapes, deep house, boogie, jazz-infused electronics and forward-thinking club music. Volume 4 shifts the focus firmly towards the deeper end of the dancefloor, bringing together timeless classics, rare gems and sought-after reinterpretations from some of Japan's most respected producers. Opening proceedings is Kaoru Inoue's remix of Soft's "Art Farmer", a rolling percussive Afro-house excursion rich in hypnotic groove and organic rhythm. XTAL's "Heavenly Overtone" follows with a beautifully cosmic house journey, combining shimmering keys and celestial atmospheres that perfectly capture the compilation's expansive spirit. On the B-side, Slow Didi's "Follow Me (Hidaway Mix Instrumental)" delivers a deep and hypnotic groove before Tokyo Black Star's "Fantastique Voyage" channels the soulful, sophisticated energy of classic 1990s deep house. The journey continues with Manabu Nagayama and Soichi Terada's "Low Tension", presented here in a sublime instrumental remix by Satoshi Fumi and Yoshi Horino, where warm piano melodies and elegant synth work create a timeless late-night mood. The final stretch moves into more driving territory. Hiroshi Watanabe's "The Orionids (2025 Revised)" subtly raises the tempo, blending deep house sensibilities with sleek tech-inflected textures. Kaoru Inoue's "Ground Rhythm", reworked by The Backwoods, plunges deeper into hypnotic territory with a heads-down groove designed for intimate basement spaces and low-lit dancefloors. Closing the compilation is Bitowa and YAMADAtheGIANT's "Forest (Mixtacy Exclusive Version)", a trippy, immersive finale that leaves listeners suspended in a dreamlike state between nature, rhythm and imagination. A carefully curated collection of deep, cosmic and forward-thinking sounds, Denshi Ongaku No Bigaku Vol. 4 once again showcases the enduring creativity, innovation and global influence of Japanese electronic music."

'Denshi Ongaku No Bigaku Vol. 3', a Cosmocities compilation put together by label owner Matt Soulie which continues the journey through Japan’s diverse sonic landscape. "Since its inception, the Denshi Ongaku No Bigaku project has paid tribute to a musical culture that has profoundly influenced the Cosmocities vision. Where the first volume explored dreamy ambient textures and deep electronic moods, and the second shifted focus towards boogie-laden rhythms and jazz-fuelled dancefloor excursions, Volume 3 finds a natural balance between introspection and movement. The compilation opens with Yosi Horikawa’s sublime “Bubbles”, an ambient masterpiece whose delicate organic textures gently set the tone. Chari Chari’s “Luna de Ritmos” follows with deep, ethereal house atmospherics before Force Of Nature’s hypnotic “Skyy High” guides listeners further into immersive territory. The journey continues through the experimental electronics of XTAL’s “Skygazer” and the analogue warmth of Takuya Matsumoto’s “Jump Rope Music”, while regular Cosmocities contributor Yuu Udagawa delivers the sophisticated high-tech jazz house groove of “Little Secrets”. On the second half of the collection, Kuniyuki’s remix of Slow Didi’s “Follow Me” brings rich jazz-inflected elegance, leading seamlessly into the futuristic techno-swing fusion of DJ Eiji Takehana featuring Yusuke Nakamura’s “Deep Track Jazz”. Tominori Hosoya’s “Summer Dreamers” adds a deeply emotional and dreamlike house moment before Azzurro’s “Just A Touch Of Love” shifts the focus firmly towards the dancefloor with a hypnotic late-night thumper. Closing the compilation is AcidGelge’s “Fatality 4”, a beautifully spacey and atmospheric finale that leaves the listener suspended somewhere between the club, the cosmos and the imagination."

"4 more additions (under various guises around 1984) to the beautiful world of Jan Van den Broeke in response to the almost 10 year anniversary of `11000 Dreams` "

In 2009, the label Art Yard sent a probe into the outer regions of contemporary electronic music, releasing Berliner Ring's "Orbital" album, a dub techno hymnal for Berlin’s orbital ring road. Drawing together the disparate elements of invented instruments, modified keyboards, customized rhythm and string machines, it was built around moods and themes drawn from the Berlin landscape. One member of the Ring, Alexander Christou, also a part of the Berlin electro rock group Elecdrones, recording for Katzensonne. The band were “not interested in the crafting of chunks of music ready to be consumed”. Christou has since been recording under the moniker Al Chem, crossing analogue and digital realms, synthesizing a kind of philosopher’s stone. As Al Chem, he released on Tummy Touch Records, and now follows with a collection of foggy electronic dub meditations recorded between 2000 and 2005 in a full album. In the battle to harness the elements, ancient mists permeated Chem’s music. A murky, mercurial humidity saturates the project. A distinctly north European descendant of dub, a kind of Seventh Seal that Bergman could have made, if provided enough hydroponic infusions. No Hopper is a rework of the Ras Michael song No Hoppers, from his legendary album, Rastafari Dub, Chem's version shuffles the pack of electronic percussion with organic, Moondog-like rhythms and hazy atmospheric chords; The Prophet pinpoints Chem's GPS firmly in Berlin, just as The Red Tower blurs that kick-drum parallel between reggae and house music; Baudelaire sputters digital delay, piling on the pressure, a clatter of surgical implements performing an operation out of Dead Ringers, the patient storming out of the theatre with loosely fitted mechanical body parts; the instrumental No Hopper only serves to highlight the distant gathering storm. Ladder of Perfection rounds off the set with a drone, creaking with bubbling digital mud pools.

On his standout debut LP, DJ Grzyb marshals a rudely squashed swamp dance at the head of his octet, The Make-Believe Ensemble, landing with early support by Nathan Gregory Wilkins, babyschön, Skyrager (Psychemagick), Tom Ravenscroft, Elena Colombi The lessons of dub, new age ambient and Italian cosmic disco that fed into the proto-Goa melange continue to inspire DJ Grzyb and his band of slow disco marauders on this trippy 14-track journey. Their first venture unfolds as a sort of album-cum-mixtape, all handling a vast array of East-West instruments - from brass and woodwind sections to sitar, tanpura, and trad. Thai khaen, ching, pi phu Thai - in a wandering sort of cinematic, narrative-driven fashion. It’s almost entirely yoked to a purposefully slow pace, but does prang out a sore thumb ‘The Three Deaths’ ft. Naphta, aiming it all squarely at the feet of Vladimir Ivkovic or Andrew Weatherall fiends.

Kim David Bots and Lyckle de Jong's "Land of the Few and Far Between / Songs for St. Michel" via South Of North. "Environments are sticky, they stick to whatever happens within them. They can’t help it. And neither can you. Land of the Few and Far Between / Songs for St. Michel is a collection of musical ‘figures’ written and recorded in 2022 and 2023 using a method Lyckle and Kim call the ‘snelkookpan’, translated as the pressure cooker. The ’snelkookpan’ in essence is trying to write and live-record as many musical figures in a given timeframe in a specific place. For ‘Land of the Few and Far Between’ this was an afternoon and evening in an exhibition Kim had curated about collecting and memory in The Hague. For ‘Songs of St. Michel’ this was 6 days in the basement of an art institution in Maastricht where they were joined by Otto de Jong on guitar. The figures are usually worked out by ear, sometimes improvised, sometimes written down, but often they are simply remembered and soon after recording forgotten. For ‘Land of the Few and Far Between’ they recorded ten figures. For ‘Songs for St. Michel’ fifteen. Of each a selection of five ended up on this seven inch. F. van Abeelen (one of whom’s drawings is pictured on the sleeve of this seven inch and of whom 750 drawings were part of the exhibition mentioned above) was forced as a boy to hide in a basement for years. Only a small window gave access to the outside world. That sliver was his reality. After these years in hiding he began drawing his sliver of reality obsessively. Daily series of similar drawings that he would meticulously catalogue in an organizer. We never met F. Our friend who discovered the drawings in a closet of psychiatric nursing home Dorestad never met F. We only recorded ten musical figures next to 750 drawings by F. St. Michel is a house that stands on the outskirts of Maastricht. It is built on the floodplains of the river Maas and living there you see the river change daily. It is a river fed by rain. No rain means a low river. Rain means a river that sometimes comes frighteningly close to flooding. Which it sometimes does. Due to the ebb and flow of the Maas, stuff is deposited in the boggy areas that are its floodplains. A shoe, a CD, a drone, some wood. Places impress themselves onto what you are doing. You become an unwitting prop in the place’s story. The first ‘snelkookpan’ happened in 2017 in the water-basin of one of the earliest concrete structures in the Netherlands; a bunker that was part of Amsterdam’s defensive line, built around the 1890’s. Something that used to house water was now empty. For three days Kim and Lyckle recorded improvised music there, which is still alive on a hard drive somewhere. In 2020 they recorded ‘the third of May’ at an old pumping station in Den Helder; an eleven part piece of auditory historical-horror which was released by South of North in 2024. Since 2023 Lyckle and Kim have mainly recorded live shows. With a Clarinet, kawai K1, Ipad, organelle, samplers and a variety of instruments curated for their minimal size or odd sound they’ve made chains of brief and improvised mini compositions inspired by browsing environments (digital and otherwise). Land of the Few and Far Between / Songs for St. Michel adds to this growing collection of recordings for environments that are somehow sticky."

Garefowl is an international collective of musicians combining strings and electronics: Nathan Bontrager (viola da gamba/harmonium/banjo), Stuart Graham (bouzouki/harmonica/harmonium), Chris Jones (concertina/mandolin), Ewan Macdonald (fiddle/smallpipe drone), Richard O’Flynn (island sounds/percussion/XRD drones), Jess Whelligan (cello). "Garefowl is a project connected to the archipelago of St Kilda, Scotland. Ewan Macdonald and his father Murdo, relatives of one of the men who killed the last Great Auk (Garefowl), conceived the project to reflect on and mark this family history. Things That Vanish was recorded on Hirta, the main island of St Kilda, at night. The soundscapes of Hirta breathe across the record: a quiet rolling swell of winds, waves, birds, and the otherworldly thrum of the snipe. Taking influence from the traditional folk music of St Kilda, the tunes on the record are inspired by the threatened seabirds of the islands. The band were intrigued by the folk stories around these birds, and how they often are depicted to imbue a primal, dark and haunting nature. In such tales, the birds retain a quality akin to a sea monster: preying upon calves and sheep, and believed to be the pelagic souls of drowned sailors or the cursed spirits of cruel captains. No synthesizers were used on the recording. Instead, the production draws entirely on sampled and processed field and hydrophone recordings collected on St Kilda. Additionally, drones were created through a process pioneered by Richard O’Flynn and Joe Gardner. Rock or bone samples are analysed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), which creates a spectrum with peaks corresponding to the sample’s chemical composition; this spectrum can then be mapped to sine waves, forming a drone." Stock Status and Shipping Information In our checkout you can opt to group items in your order into a single shipment, or opt to ship them separately, as they become available. If a physical stock item shows as “On Backorder” that means that the item is, to the best of our knowledge, available from the supplier and should ship to you within the time-frame indicated. If there are any issues with availability, we will notify you. Please also note that all shipping dates for Pre-Orders are estimates and subject to change.

Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (2) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (3) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (4) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (5) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (6) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (7) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (8) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (9) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (2) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (3) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (4) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (5) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (6) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (7) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (8) Mystica Tribe & Scopeotaku - MYSTICA TRIBE MEETS SCOPEOTAKU artwork (9) Buying Options CD (Compact Disc) Available Now SPS26126 CD | Release date: 8th October 2026 £14.99 LP (Black Vinyl) Available Now SPS26126 | Release date: 8th October 2026 £25.49 LP (Colour Vinyl) Available Now SPS26126 CV | Release date: 8th October 2026 £30.49 Blue vinyl with hand written insert. Mystica Tribe and Scopeotaku, having formed an international dub alliance, release "Mystica Tribe Meet Scopeotaku" via 13 / Silentes. "Taking their sounds into melodic experimental electronic dub territory. Previously, both have fused their own cultures and personalities into numerous dub releases. Now they are expanding their parameters by collaborating on a project that encompasses both their love for psychedelic and electronic audio combined with heavyweight dub reggae rhythms. Mystica Tribe is the musical alias of Tokyo, Japan based producer Taka Noda. Drawing on a wide range of influences from dub, soul, bass and rhythm & blues. Mystica Tribe has been developing a very distinctive sound that exists in a weird freaked out zone, between dub and techno. Noda is especially interested in deep psychedelic music and this is reflected in his productions. Which are equally suited for late night listening sessions or on bent broken dancefloors. Scopeotaku is the alter ego of Scott Prentice, a Glasgow, Scotland based artist. Scopeotaku has experimented with audio since purchasing a sampler and a four track cassette deck many many moons ago. His love for left-field dub and eccentric sounds have led him to create a variety of output, from industrial ambient, illbent electronics to mutant dub."

After some years of (non)hiatus, Contagious are back with a new album that furthers the evolution of their uncompromising sound. The album features the high caliber talents of guests: Valentina Magaletti, Sofia Jernberg and Andrea Belfi. “Being” is conceived around the different activities pursued by the band since the release of their first (self-titled) album. Members: Sabine Erklenz, Andrea Neumann and Mieko Suzuki have been concentrating on performing, composing and organizing their own event series “Partners in Crime” at Morphine Raum, Berlin. This series is an ongoing process of inviting musicians to collaborate, share and record new material - unrestricted by genre or anything else. It was during these sessions, “Being" was conceived and recorded. Inspired by the wide range of lifeforms found in nature, the track titles are once again dedicated to species that challenge binary notions of sex. The album conveys the band’s brutal approach to improvised processing - tense buildups, powerful grooves and delicate release. Contagious’ signature sound very much suits the wild vocal extensions by Sofia Jernberg, obsessive drum patterns by Valentina Magaletti and the Moondog-esque, hypnotic percussion of Andrea Belfi, all of whom offer powerful contributions to a tracks on the LP. The overall result is a blissful and loving punch in the stomach

This album is created over the past years with my brother Alfred. This period has been spiritually transformative for me. It reflects the playfulness and authenticity that comes out of releasing deep traumas and healing wounds. This music comes from a deep place of joy and connection with my brother and with the essense of being a child. being filter free and in contact with the most uncomplicated and loving parts of ourselves, still emphasizing magic and mystery, like childhood does without asking for permission or confirmation.

it took me a while to actually see the music as an interconnected piece. I have been taking in and out material, re mixing, removing, rearranging, re producing and regretting all along the way. but suddenly when we mastered this selection on a cassette tape recorder, the meaning started to reveal itself and drawing threads back in time.

bivabippalukka is playfulness, intuition, transition and myths. the page of cups. the ideas rising, the energy flowing, flowers, stars and jumping creatures on the verge of dimensions. fortune telling, magic cards, secret caves and things that disappear right in front of you.

many talented guests playing with me and my visions on the album.

bossa nova is the most comforting genre for me. and we need comfort in these times. we need comfort to heal and feel joy to be able to keep dreaming and manifesting - and transmuting the world.

i am not gonna play this music live in the form it appears. i will still continue playing spiritual ambient music. this work is something else. it is pocket of joy, a cup with a fish. it is a step on the journey, like everything else.

"Recorded in Los Angeles over the course of a single day at a studio in the Eagle Rock neighborhood, Dois Desertos was produced by Mario Caldato Jr. and emerged without a predetermined plan or schedule. The project took shape during Portuguese musician João Pimenta Gomes' stay in Los Angeles with his family. During that time, through Rodrigo Amarante, João met Mario and Samantha Caldato, as well as musicians Abe Rounds (drums and percussion) and Gabe Noel (bass and cello). From those encounters, the album began to unfold organically. Working from simple scores—some containing little more than chord progressions—the sessions left plenty of room for improvisation. Every performance was captured live, in a single take, with no overdubs. The mixing process, also carried out live by Mario Caldato Jr., followed the same philosophy: effects and level adjustments were performed in real time and printed directly to the final two-track master. At the heart of the album's sound is the Cristal Baschet, a rare instrument played by rubbing glass rods with the hands, causing metal resonators to vibrate and produce an ethereal, resonant tone. João describes its sound as "a trace, almost like a shadow." Rather than taking the lead, the instrument serves as a textural foundation, while the bass and cello carry the melodic lines. Some of these melodies are original compositions, while others draw from traditional Portuguese fado, reimagined through an open and exploratory approach. The album has a dreamlike atmosphere, reflecting the perspective of someone experiencing Los Angeles from the outside—not in a rush to belong, but fully receptive to the city's unique energy. Two films helped shape this imaginary landscape: Model Shop (Jacques Demy, 1969), in which the French filmmaker uses Los Angeles as a pretext to simply observe and inhabit the city, and Thom Andersen's Los Angeles Plays Itself. The result is Dois Desertos, an album that, in João's own words, "could never have been made anywhere else." With Dois Desertos, João Pimenta Gomes invites listeners into a deeply immersive experience, revealing a more exploratory side of his artistic practice while reinforcing Amor in Sound's commitment to releasing original works that engage with the many languages of contemporary music."

Midori Takada and Jakob Bro follow "Until I Met You with" From "Such a Blue Sky", recorded at Tokyo’s AVACO Studios. "The Japanese percussionist and Danish guitarist build an intimate form of acoustic ambient from piano, percussion and acoustic guitar, with delicate melodies unfolding through spacious, meditative arrangements. Both musicians share an exploratory approach to sound, and their close interplay gives the record the feel of an unhurried conversation, moving between subtle rhythmic detail, melodic guitar and open stretches of sound."

Unfeasibly tight Tokyo trio Kukangendai transmute cues from Tuareg blues, motorik krautrock, and jazz, into fascinating abstractions oscillating between driving pointillism reminding of Oren Ambarchi & Konrad Sprenger works, to time-bending avant expressions akin to Derek Bailey, all with signature dexterity and discipline, spellbinding in their focussed nuance. RIYL Kakuhan, Carl Stone, Mark Fell... "Since 2016 the band have set up shop in their studio and venue space, Soto, which houses an incredibly well tuned and powerful sound system that has become a well known destination for touring musicians. In March of 2025, Marionette was celebrating a belated 10 years of activity with label showcases across Japan in collaboration with Dotei Records, and Soto was inevitably one of the stops as many label alumni have set foot in the venue over the years. This is where I got to experience Kukangendai perform for the very first time and knew right then we were destined to work together. Kukangendai embody an undeniable sense of timing and precision through collage-like repetition of minimalist phrases that manifest as a single unified rhythm. Their latest offering for Marionette, titled Baquet Wheel, is a purely acoustic endeavor, remarkably recorded live using Taku Unami's special binaural microphone. The trio seamlessly twist polyrhythms and melodies rooted in jazz, krautrock, blues, and Tuareg producing a timeless sound that preserves the primitive and memory evoking narratives buried deep within the music. Over the course of five tracks, the visceral nature of Kukangendai’s dynamic evolves from playful riffs that are seemingly familiar yet strikingly original, making it impossible to discern exactly when this material was conceived. Kukangendai have maintained a prolific yet relatively low profile for the last two decades, with a handful of self-released editions on their own labels (Soto and Leftbrain) as well as a collaborative album with pioneering electronic music composer Ryuichi Sakamoto in 2018, then venturing outside Japan in 2019 to release their first widely distributed album on Ideologic Organ, a label curated by Sunn O)))’s Stephen O'Malley. Other collaborative projects to date include an album produced with rap group Moe and ghosts, live performances with Keiji Haino and with poet Gozo Yoshimasu, productions with the Chiten theater company, and most recently a remix album of their works featuring Carl Stone and Madteo."

Lyonnaise folk experimenters Adiciatz pucker up a fine debut of pastoral strum and creaky, subtly psych-tinged electronics drawing from Occitan folk and weft with harp-like taisho koto, calling to mind Natural Snow Buildings via C93. “Musique Domestique marks the debut full-length from French duo Adiciatz, a project that emerges from the shared musical curiosity of Manon Nogier and Guillaume Lespinasse. Living near Lyon and making music together since before the pandemic, the pair developed their sound during lockdown improvisations at home — a creative process that quickly revealed a unique musical chemistry rooted as much in folk tradition as in experimental exploration. Drawing on a wide palette of influences — from Occitan poetry, delicate folk to drone and spontaneous sound exploration — Adiciatz makes music that feels both intimate and expansive. Nogier’s voice and amplified taisho koto weave through Lespinasse’s keyboards, machines and percussive touches, forming a sonic world where ritualistic soft folk melodies coexist with subtle electronic textures. Their live performances, including an appearance at the Meakusma Festival, where their set blurred the line between concert and séance, have already shown how this blend comes to life in front of audiences, with hypnotic vocals, spiralling chords and slow, trance-like rhythms inviting listeners into a space that is both meditative and evocative. On Musique Domestique, those live-rooted sensibilities are distilled into recorded form. The album moves fluidly between rich pastoral folk and instrumental meanderings. Musique Domestique announces Adiciatz as a compelling new voice at the intersection of folk, experimental and electronic music crafted with care and intuition.”

Taj Mahal Travellers’ Tokio Hasegawa yields his 2nd Stone Music side of slowburn, longform ambient guitar and avant-folk works, recorded live, 2023, in open air at Japan’s Off-Tone Festival and the Mithila Museum in the mountains of Niigata. Breezy gems shimmering with the influence of Eno and Vini Reilly on the A-side, and drifting farther out into free expressions calling to mind Marginal Consort and Popol Vuh meets Ghédalia Tazartès on the B-side “Stone Music returns with Into the Cosmic Forest, a deep and patient journey into open-air improvisation. The group was founded in 2022 by Tokio Hasegawa, a core member of the legendary Taj Mahal Travellers, and brings together a wide circle of musicians from Japan’s ambient and experimental scenes. While the name is new, the spirit continues. Stone Music extends the free-form, site-responsive approach that defined Taj Mahal Travellers — music shaped by environment, duration, and collective awareness rather than fixed structure.Into the Cosmic Forest consists of two long-form pieces, each exceeding 20 minutes, both recorded live outdoors. Side A was captured at Japan’s Off-Tone Festival. It unfolds slowly and organically — layers of voice, strings, electronics, wind instruments, and percussive textures gradually forming a shifting sonic landscape. Side B was recorded on the grounds of Mithila Museum in the mountains of Niigata, an art space managed by Hasegawa himself. More intimate in atmosphere yet equally immersive, the piece centers on voice and subtle interplay, allowing space and silence to become part of the composition.What you hear is direct and unpolished: air moving, sound resonating, musicians responding to each other and to their surroundings in real time. Following tours in India during 2023–24, with performances in national museums and universities, Stone Music continues to explore music as shared space rather than spectacle. Into the Cosmic Forest invites listeners into that space — unedited, unhurried, and fully alive.”

By gathering so many far-flung but fully committed experiments within 78 minutes, the greatest accomplishment of White Elephant is laying bare his febrile creativity and commitment to growth. Head scratching has never been so much fun.” Peter Margasak, The Wire “An enormous sense of fun underpins this exhilarating ride…Leo's art is tantalising in every sense.” Daniel Spicer, New Internationalist “A dazzlingly chaotic, care-free compilation… Confrontational, complex and utterly compelling.” John Parry, Backseat Mafia “The ideal introduction to a deeply political artist whose output grazes tropicalia, funk carioca, samba, noise and even free jazz.” Boomkat Hive Mind are excited to have worked with Rio de Janeiro based label QTV, to bring you this retrospective from the cosmic joker of contemporary Brazilian music, Negro Leo. NEGRO LEO - White Elephant 2LP It's hard to know where to start with Negro Leo. I could start by saying that Negro Leo's background is in Anthropology and Sociology, and that he didn't start making music until he was 28 years old. I could tell you that in 2020 Paula Gaitán (who has also made films about Arto Lindsay, Eliane Radigue and Agnès Varda) made a documentary film called Riverock: É Rocha e Rio, Negro Leo about him. I could also tell you that in 2021 he became the subject of a scholarly book called Deixa Quimar (Let It Burn) written by philosophy professor and music critic, Bernardo Oliveira. I could also tell you that during his recording career over the past nearly 20 years he has collaborated with a who's who of artists at the cutting edge of contemporary Brazilian music including producers Sergio Machado and Renato Godoy and musicians such as Fábio Sá, Lucas Pires, Kiko Dinucci, Juçara Marçal, Domenico Lancellotti, Ricardo Dias Gomes, Eduardo Manso and of course his wife, Ava Rocha. These are some of the artists who have over the years, helped Negro Leo de Pindaré-Mirim (Maranhão), or Leonardo Campelo Gonçalves as shown on his passport, realise his unorthodox, unpredictable and deeply political musical vision. The music on this retrospective, which draws together songs from his 14 albums, EPs and singles released since 2012, ranges widely and wildly across genres and styles, from the urgent and angular no-wave inspired punk-funk of Niños Heroes or Ilhas de Calor, through the psychedelic hoedown of Noite Invertida or the beautiful and delicate Esferas and on to the maximalist hyperpop of more recent works like RELA or Desejo de Lacrar. Negro Leo consistently confounds, confuses, disturbs and provokes. His music is explicitly and fiercely Brazilian and draws on the history of black Brazilian music for inspiration - Gilberto Gil and Tropicalism, Itamar Assumpção and the Vanguard Paulista, Funk Carioca, the Boi's rhythm from the northern carnivals, the samba of the streets and the country - it's all thrown into the mix, along with free-jazz, noise and various chunks of non-Brazilian pop. Leo's music and songs serve as an essential documentation of the country's rapidly shifting social fabric in the digital age, a time in which the country and its people feel lost in a 'jungle of pixels'. Some of these surreal songs can feel overwhelming at times, like a wall of noise full of unfamiliar sounds and rhythms, but there's an unapologetic punk spirit behind it all, alongside a genius composer. It's worth pushing through the that sense of overwhelm to the place where the beauty and complexity of the composition and songwriting shines.

AMEN is a word that moves between the sacred and the ordinary, across languages and cultures. An ancient, universal expression, born in prayer yet living beyond it — in daily life, especially in the Italian language, where it has become part of ordinary speech, used to accept, conclude, affirm, and let things be. The sixth release on e s p e r p e n t o opens a gateway into a timeless, transcultural dimension through a continuous, immersive sonic flow. While conceived as an intimate listening journey, this record emerged from a shared experience within the walls of Frequenze Studio (Monza). ESPER006 is the result of a three-hour improvised live session that brought together experimental music trio MYS and London-based producer Big Hands.

Archimboldos have clawed their way out of the starcaves of their primordial past and into the tranquil light of a coral garden on their third full length album, Crusta Arcana, a gumbo stewpot of transcendent electronica suffused with tribal rhythms and liquid ambience. Across a stereo field smeared with tolling bells, post-industrial folk percussion, and tinkling keys, Archimboldos soundtrack a science fictional journey, not into the depths of space, but deep beneath the waves. In the past the Chilean duo of Nicolás Carcavilla and Felipe Crocco have described their music as “liminal shrimp folk.” Here they continue this strange exploration when they visit the court of the prawns, producing stately electronic chamber orchestrations. Perhaps these are the frequencies used for ritual dream initiation into the mystery schools of drowned Atlantis. Weaving an ancient sacred science, Archimboldos take listeners on a mystic vovage into their singular crustacean mythology, the crusta of their hidden arcana. Archimbolodos are masters of conjoining cyclonic and centrifugal lines of electricity into spellbinding incantations. These deep-sea transmissions envelope the listener into aquamarine forcefields that are as hallucinatory as they are hypnotic. Navigating these strange fantasias could lead one to getting lost at sea, but the work is buoyed by the somnolent melodies of lonely harpsichords and swelling synth pads whose sustained tones reach towards distant shores. Sailing across a vast expanse of oceanic harmonies and percolating percussion, these pieces are as precise as the hand of a sailor on the rudder, moving with the tide. Casting their net wide across eight pieces, Archimboldos have made a big catch. From the emotive electronic counterpoint found on “Bursting Armor” to the blocks of seaweed tangled sonic sculpture trawled up from the ocean floor on “Aphelion IX.” Other songs are like samples of biological ambience collected from luminous tide pools: resplendent tones placed into a Petri dish of sound, swirled, cultured and fermented until it undulates with the rhythmic movement of microscopic lifeforms. Alternating between rippling minimalist sonority and pounding, progressive, synth-heavy entrancement, Crusta Arcana charts its own idiosyncratic itinerary of instrumental invention. All the while light is down streaming from the heavens to pierce the waters, here calm, there choppy. The intrepid musical captains commanding Archimboldos have laid a course for new archipelagos of the imagination, guided by heavenly constellations. -Justin Patrick Moore, author of The Radio Phonics Laboratory, Telecommunications, Speech Synthesis and the Birth of Electronic Music

Chamber folk whimsy from fallen choirboy Thomas Bush, chasing a 7” with Fergus Jones and an LP for Lost Domain with an elegantly woozy suite of skewed songcraft, subtly overeasy on the bittersweet blooz and detuned bliss-outs... "Since earlier solo efforts like Old And Red (2018), Preludes (2022) and The Next 60 Years (2024), Bush—currently based in Malmö—has traced a digressive path that has proven him capable of everything from murky wobbling dirges to uptight head-bopping laments to crystalline synth chords that hang precariously in the air over your new favourite bass line. Like its title, the album's songs/tunes/opportunities for pleasure offer the listener further evidence of a sensibility that is equal parts ambiguity and clarity. In addition to his solo work, Bush has worked with a range of collaborators in one-off configurations and longer term projects like RAP (with Guy Gormley) and cATHOLIC CHURGH (with Jon Auman). Critical responses to Bush's output have often focused on his predilection for certain folk-ish impulses and instrumentation, but, judging from releases like 2026's guld, his definition of "folk music" seems to have as much to do with A Guy Called Gerald as it does with Shirley Collins or John Martyn. For all of its diversity, what unites Bush's ever-expanding body of work is its dual commitment to experimentation and a job well done."