NEW ARRIVALS

"The Sound Leaves" began as an interactive sound performance and installation based around humans’ impact on the environment and how that impact is altering the sonic landscape of our world. As ecosystems change due to climate collapse, the sound of those ecosystems changes too. "The Sound Leaves" used an amplified collection of autumn leaves to encourage participants to listen closely to how their actions alter the sounds of the fallen leaves by walking on and through them for a period of time. By amplifying these sounds, processing and mixing them live, and playing them back via a set of speakers directed at the installation, the performance heightened the sonic changes participants’ actions create. From that performance, a sound piece by the same name was composed using the recorded sounds with additional instrumentation. It was installed as a temporary exhibition on site at Philbrook Musuem of Art during the winter of 2023, emanating from a grove of oak and elm trees. A year later, as the climate crisis worsened, those same sounds were reprocessed and reconsidered, creating a more ghost-like approach, "In Collapse."

A quiet show of strength from Chicago’s budding Dub Techno specialists, Kino Disk, hustling 11 permutations of dub-suffixed ambient, techno, and elemental abstraction by label regulars and new figures, warmly advised FFO Huerco S., Echospace, Short Span, Vialan... In the space of 20 odd releases since ’24, Kino Disk has emerged as a key point of interest for off-grid dub aficionados. ‘American Dub Electronics’ now opens an ideal entry portal to their microcosm for the curious and early followers alike, rendering 11 exclusive bits that speak to the label’s fine grasp of variation within a theme. Trust it’s not just 11 slice of M-Series worship, as a webbed spectra of interrelated, American POV’s on the same gauzy spirit emerges from their collected vapours. Building on the smouldering embers of over 30 years of precedents in this field, the set sways from the moonlit tidal movement of Psalm Star Electric’s ‘001’ to the unmoored slosh of 8006 (whose ‘8004’ was a sleeper gem of ’25) with a particularly nocturnal appeal. Eustress practices the most Catholic form of dub house in the darkly luminous ‘mm’, and Eden Aurelius’ Ring impress with the ASMR-like sensitivities of ‘Changeling’, and another label regular Point Survey with the phasing dub noise of ‘Print-Through’. Keener observers may recognise those names already, but perhaps not the new ones here, notably Corbin Cary & Taylor White’s Permutia duo, secreting the fine lather chords and sandman bassline of ‘p1.2’, or HPIN with the early SND-style puckered glitch of ‘Remote’, Uos’ washed-out textures on Uos in ‘Uos Jelly’, and dreamily poised dub waltz of ‘Speedwalker’ by a.m.p & b.p.p.

Fog is Marija Rasa’s debut album on Short Span as emer, and her first cut to wax. It follows a single featuring Ugnė Uma for Stroom and a wonderful debut tape for the now cult (I hope!) incubator label Lilerne Tape Club. It’s for dreamers. Very dub. Soul. Ambient too. A bit of Detroit-like post industrial imagining. You can read it is as a new and different version of a very classic dub technique from the producer in many ways - Marija at the mixing console and effects desk, conjuring a new versioned music through radical restructuring and an instinctive reshaping of space + melody + lyric in studio experimentation. Tracks are pinned down by thick and enveloping bass while other elements float in and out, fleeting narcotic or hypnagogic notes of fantasy and song form bob in and out of focus. Scant colours and disorienting voice and melody sit suspended, occasionally coalescing and breaking out into moments of radiant beauty and slowly burning manifestations of warmth and presence shooting through the heart and gut.

Bass Culture is a landmark studio album by Linton Kwesi Johnson and is widely regarded as one of the defining works of British dub poetry. Produced in collaboration with Dennis Bovell, the album seamlessly blends powerful spoken word with deep roots reggae and dub. Featuring contributions from members of Matumbi, it includes standout tracks such as "Bass Culture" and "Reggae Fi Peach," a tribute to anti-racism activist Blair Peach. Addressing themes of social justice, identity, and inequality, Bass Culture remains as relevant today as it was upon its original release.

Eternal Rhythm: Conversations and Travelations with Don Cherry and Graeme Ewens is the book on Don Cherry we have been waiting for - not a biography written from the outside, but a portrait built from the inside, from hours of cassette-taped conversations recorded since 1979 by writer Graeme Ewens, a confidant, travel companion, and close friend of Cherry. Published by Ars Nova Workshop, this is an intimate, free-flowing document of one of the most unique and innovative voices to emerge from the Sixties free jazz movement. Through Ewens' vivid storytelling and Cherry's own reflections, Eternal Rhythm traces a life lived in constant motion - artistically, spiritually, geographically. From the pocket trumpet alongside Ornette Coleman to the organic music years, from Stockholm to Morocco to India, Cherry never stopped moving, never stopped listening, never stopped absorbing. What emerges here is unfiltered insight into the evolution and working life of a true musical nomad, a rich exploration of creativity without borders. For anyone who has ever spun Complete Communion, Eternal Rhythm, or Organic Music Society and wondered about the man behind the music, this is essential reading. Thread sewn, 200 pages, A5 format, printed in black and white and color. Highest recommendation.

Originally released in June 2009, The Ecstatic stands as a defining artistic statement from Mos Def (now known as yasiin bey) — a richly textured return to form that reaffirmed his status as one of hip-hop’s most adventurous and intellectually engaged voices. Arriving a decade after his celebrated debut Black on Both Sides, the album was widely regarded as his strongest work in years, earning near-universal praise for its lyrical breadth, eclectic production, and thematic ambition.Musically, The Ecstatic weaves a global sonic tapestry shaped by an array of forward-thinking producers including Madlib, J Dilla, Oh No, Preservation, Mr. Flash, Chad Hugo (of The Neptunes), and Georgia Anne Muldrow. The resulting soundscape is both rooted in hip-hop tradition and unbound by genre, integrating elements of jazz, soul, Middle-Eastern inflection, and experimental sample work. Tracks like “Supermagic” and “Twilite Speedball” establish a vibrant, restless energy that mirrors the album’s expansive creative scope.Lyrically, yasiin bey traverses personal, political, and philosophical terrain with characteristic incisiveness, confronting social inequality, Western imperialism, and questions of cultural identity with poetic urgency. Embracing risk and complexity rather than nostalgia, The Ecstatic remains a mature, deeply felt body of work whose ambition, depth, and enduring resonance have solidified its place as a standout entry in Mos Def’s catalog and in modern hip-hop history.

Enigmatic label/collective life is beautiful fully establishes its lore on a colossal 3LP sprawl: 39 tracks of whimsical outsider biz arcing from lo-fi strums to asymmetric pop, jazz improv, poetry, noise, abstract hip-hop, spoken word and whatever else captures the thing, from artists you'll know and a fair few you won’t, featuring Bianca Scout, aloisius, VOICE ACTOR, James Massiah, Kenichi Iwasa, THE NARRATOR, Isaiah Hull, Pretty V and many, many more. A self-styled gesamtkunstwerk, life is beautiful was established by aloisius in 2022 as a radio show, before turning into a collective, a series of live performances, and then inevitably a record label a year later. Their first comp makes some attempt to pull all their various strands into something cohesive, but like many of the best collectives - Mica Levi’s Curl crew for example - so much of the beauty and joy comes from following the breadcrumb trail deep into wherever they take you. This is a label, after all, that dumped their demos and experiments ("resources and inspiration") on a file exchange portal on their own site, so you get the idea that nothing is quite fixed, and there are no easy answers - just the pleasure of tagging along for the ride. The set opens with tracks from each of the founders, who establish the label's core sound. NWAKKE begins with 'i need you in a positive way', a cloudy hypnagogic R&B marvel that juxtaposes cool-headed vocal runs with tape-fucked field recordings and piano. Then, the mic's handed to Amber Joy, aka THE NARRATOR, who also serves as the label's artistic director; on 'SUDDENLY', she oozes a skittish post-everything collage that chops cheap synths and choral vocals into a dreamy modern hymn. aloisus' 'you are god' runs out of its stuck groove as if it emerges from the very same thought, blurring gospel moans across LinnDrum loops. Bianca Scout hands us a taster of her collaborative work with London's Cajm on the hypnotic 'Welcome to Hello', while poet Isaiah Hull teams up with y+Your for the wonked 'vampire money'. Basically there's a whole record of music from the crew before 'veneration...' even begins in earnest, and it only gets better from here, running through aesthetic experiments from multi-instrumentalist Kenichi Iwasa, self-styled "beat wizard" psychedelic ensemble. (who's one half of Brum's Everything is Psychedelic with Tony Bontana) and Thom Dehli before we reach the compilation's crown jewel, a 21-minute live jam from okk70 ensemble. We can't tell you exactly who's playing, but it's worth the price of entry alone, a squirming slo-mo jazz side that gets to the roots of the life is beautiful sound - like some cross between ’87 era Prince and Oren Ambarchi’s Ghosted Trio, except deep in the basement. Elsewhere, there's a chewably eccentric solo moment from Bianca Scout ('superscribe 24'), a phenomenally moody collaboration between VOICE ACTOR and aloisius ('24'), a spirited, lo-fi transmission from London's josiane pozi and a deeper than deep jam from orchestra379, aloisius' "collective improvisation project" that's featured artists like Ben Vince, Kenichi Iwasa and abi asisa. Label comps are often a slog but this one's stuffed to the gills with genuinely creative experimentation from some of the scene's most interesting outsiders, the sprawl really does come close to harnessing the vibe.

cv313’s Altering Illusions returns with five signature cuts alongside a rare, otherworldly dub from the elusive Radius project. Mixed and recorded in Detroit, the collection distils cv313’s deep, reductionist techno into long-form, analogue meditations. Remastered by Stefan Betke (Pole) at Scape Mastering, the sound is given renewed depth and clarity without losing its raw, submerged character. This edition also introduces an additional piece drawn from the interpolation tapes series, pushing further into cavernous low-end and hypnotic repetition. Across its runtime, Altering Illusions moves with patience and weight, built from sub-bass pressure, minimal structure, and finely tuned atmospherics—hallmarks of cv313’s enduring approach to dub techno.

Rattly, stripped-to-the-bone IDM gear that harks back to simpler times, BOT1500's second proper album is simple and elegant, more concerned with the emotional weight of its melodies than the complexity of its beats. You might remember Shinichi Koboyashi's last BOT1500 album 'Surreal', that appeared back in 2022 on AD93's Lith Dolina sublabel. And since then he's been relentlessly prolific on his Bandcamp, issuing regular single track updates that chart his creative process. But 'The Black Sea' is his first longer set in a while, assembling a handful of tracks that highlight his recent interest in minimalism, emotion and dub production techniques. The familiar monosynth groans and dry, jazzy breaks on 'Abstract Springs' might resemble Squarepusher for a moment, but it's much chillier, sparser gear, with space around each element that softens the impact of the hyperactive edits. And on 'Shadows', that same mood pervades the track even when the beats have been silenced; Koboyashi gives just as much importance to his chiming analog synths, coaxing out fragile melodies that sound as if they've been plucked out of time. And there's a precision to his programming that's immediately impressive. On 'XB 1', his soft focus glitches and woody hits graze the post-dubstep landscape but subtly reframe it, setting the meticulous rhythms against echoing single note sine hits and melancholy pads. And the track's sequel 'XB 2' is an even harder punch to the gut, with exquisite melodies and knife-edge drums that shuttle us right back to 1996 for a moment, an underground dominated by Clear Records, Spymania and Rephlex.

Lee 'Scratch' Perry – Disco Devil Vol. 3 continues this archival run from Studio 16, collecting six extended mixes cut at the legendary Black Ark between 1977 and 1979. Drawing together key voices including Jolly Brothers, Max Romeo, Leroy Sibbles and Devon Irons, the set captures Perry’s studio at full tilt—stretching rhythms into hypnotic, echo-laden excursions. From the meditative pull of ‘Conscious Man’ to the driving force of ‘Dread Lion’, these versions foreground the interplay between vocal and dub, with Perry reshaping each track through space, repetition and raw analogue effects. Later edits of ‘Forward With The Orthodox’ and ‘When Jah Come’ round out the set, linking the original sessions to their continued legacy. A vital snapshot of Black Ark-era invention, where roots reggae meets dub at its most exploratory.

The new opus on Macadam Mambo is a very special double LP by the Italian artist Oltrefuturo. Inspired by the Adriatic Sea where he is coming from, Valerio (Oltrefuturo) composed 8 tracks in between Ambient, Dub and Downtempo full of emotions reflecting his environment. The Music is gorgeous with special vocals and atmospheric lines, and very cool down beats. It’s an album to listen at home but it can easily be played in the club at the right moment (check the tracks “Die Kosmmische Trance” and “Ritmo Tre”). 8 long tracks specially pressed on 2 vinyls for a louder sound. TIP!

The legends of the golden era of Italian soundtracks and library music go by many names, but the backbone of that era’s definitive sonic identity is most often identified as I Marc 4 (also known as Marc 4 or I Marc Quattro). While the moniker might be less familiar to the uninitiated, it is a simple acronym derived from its founding members: Maurizio Majorana (bass), Antonello Vannucchi (organ), Roberto Podio (drums and percussion), and Carlo Pes (guitar). The number "4" serves to highlight the core synergy of these four master musicians. Their journey began in Rome’s vibrant jazz scene of the 1950s and early 1960s, where they honed their craft as members of the RAI national orchestra and collaborated with the most prominent jazz and pop icons of the day. However, it was their pivotal role in defining the Italian cinematic sound of the 1960s and 1970s that secured their legacy. Their unmistakable style was an eclectic fusion of beat, jazz, classical, and Latin influences—textured with early synthesizers, experimental sound effects, and a blend of electronic and baroque instrumentation. Consequently, their initials are etched into the credits of countless landmark recordings by legendary composers such as Nino Rota, Armando Trovajoli, Gianni Ferrio, Alessandro Alessandroni, Piero Umiliani, and Ennio Morricone. Beyond their work as session luminaries, they produced a vast body of library music under their own name at the legendary Telecinesound Studios in Rome. These recordings were released through prestigious library labels like Sermi, Ricordi, and Fonit Cetra, as well as through their own imprints: Nelson Records, Silver Men, and Silver Music, spanning a definitive series of sixteen albums. Ten of these volumes were issued on Nelson Records during the 1970s, featuring the now-iconic military stencil design. Each release was color-coded: red (G.L.P. 1001), dark blue (G.L.P. 1002), gold (G.L.P. 1003), light green (G.L.P. 1004), brown (G.L.P. 1005), black (G.L.P.1006), light blue (G.L.P. 1007), yellow (G.L.P. 1008), orange (G.L.P.1009), and cool green (G.L.P. 1010). The series was completed by two elusive companion releases: S.M. 2001 on Silver Music and S.M. 2002 on Silver Men, both presented in the same distinctive brown sleeve. Rediscovered in the 1990s and 2000s, these Nelson releases have since achieved cult status among collectors, producers, and DJs worldwide. The final two installments, S.M. 2001 and S.M. 2002, remain the rarest and most enigmatic of the set. Often overlooked, they contain some of the most profound "hidden gems" in the group’s catalog. The tracklist traverses a wide stylistic spectrum: from the rare groove and proto-hip hop energy of "Trama Nella Metropoli", "Beat Morbido", and "Candy", to the lush cinematic atmospheres featuring the ethereal vocals of Edda Dell'Orso on "Summer In Love", "On The Rain", and "Arcobaleno". The collection is rounded out by sophisticated jazz pieces like "Flauti Ensemble", "Passeggiata", and "Atmosfere Dolci”. Sonor Music Editions has meticulously curated the finest moments from these two rare albums for this first-ever dedicated reissue. Bringing together the best of Silver Music (S.M. 2001) and Silver Men (S.M. 2002), this release retains the iconic stencil artwork but introduces a striking silver finish. This design choice honors the original ten-album sequence while shedding new light on these outstanding recordings—works that remain, in every sense, golden.

Under the name The 4th Street Orchestra, in the mid-70s Dennis Bovell released a series of albums for the UK sound system scene, each pressed in limited quantities. YUH LEARN! stands as a fine example of Bovell’s creativity and production skills, a record with a strong Jamaican roots appeal, loved by sound system selectors and capable of taking every listener on a deep journey through the many shades of dub music. This is a limited-edition vinyl only, first time reissue of one of the rarest and most sought-after albums from Dennis Bovell’s legendary catalogue.

Here’s a monster of its own. Not to be confused with Trevor Jackson early 2000 project (even if the british producer has obviously been informed by post-punk, dub, post-industrial and the likes) Playgroup was more than anything a collective, based somewhere around Bristol and London. Drummer Bruce Smith was the key figure behind the project. Neneh Cherry husband and fabulous motorik force for The Pop Group, The Slits, New Age Steppers, African Head Charge and – more recently - Public Image Limited, Bruce brought the post-punk aura into the realm of controlled chaos with several partners in crime. Playgroup is the so-called English version of Jamaican dub, informed by the industrial revolution and the studio wizardy of On U Sound acolytes. Crucial Tony (Creation Rebel, Dub Syndicate, Singers & Players) on bass and guitars, Sean Oliver (New Age Steppers, Rip Rig & Panic) on guitar, the almighty Style Scott (Creation Rebel, Dub Syndicate, New Age Steppers) on drums and percussionists Eskimo (African Head Charge, Creation Rebel, Mark Stewart And The Maffia) and Bonjo I (African Head Charge) are among the main conspirators here. Produced by none else than Adrian Sherwood Epic Sound Battles Chapter One still resonates with its original dark humor and guerrilla warfare tactics.

Debut solo album for Alternative TV front man and long-time running UK punk scenester, originally released in 1980 on Deptford Fun City Records. Mark Perry was also the man behind the iconic Sniffin' Glue zine, founded in July 1976. The album was produced by Grant Showbiz, principally known for his work with The Fall, The Smiths and Billy Bragg, and it is literally an art-rock nugget. Sort of an autobiographical work, the record is full of twisted hooks, showing the dark side of post-punk. Less hysterical than the output released with Alternative TV, Snappy Turns should be considered as a post-apocalyptic pop record. It could have been easily included in the infamous Nurse With Wound list (guess what, his former band was there) introducing several connections to the so-called "grey area". In particular, the disturbing tape loops and the violin heard in "Death Looks Down" are perversely informed by late Throbbing Gristle, a band seriously informed by the same aesthetics (Alternative TV used to rehearse in TG studio in Hackney back in the days, while former ATV member Alex Fergusson founded Psychic TV with Genesis P-Orridge). As the shadow of doubt surrounds the nearby future, Snappy Turns could be easily an appropriate soundtrack. Contains two bonus tracks from the 1980s 7" Whole World's Down On Me.

Barry Brown in fine style, produced and arranged by Linval Thompson with rhtyhms from the Roots Radics and King Tubby's mixes...nuff said!

Thompson Sound proudly presents LINVAL THOMPSON & FRIENDS VOLUME 1, a set full of classics and the definitive roots reggae compilation of 2020. This solid set showcases a unique string of top reggae aartists including HORACE ANDY, FREDDIE McKAY, CEDRIC “CONGOS” MYTON, JUNIOR DELGADO or the same LINVAL THOMPSON, all of them at their best during the golden era of reggae (late 70´s early 80´s). All the songs has been produced by Linval Thompson who also offer us in this set two previously unreleased songs by Horace Andy and U Brown, which makes the set even more special. This compilation is the best opportunity to enjoy such an amount of reggae stars in one unique set; it also is the best way to highlight the importance of Linval Thompson as a producer, contributing to the solid development of Jamaican popular music

Classic 1978 album with Linval Thompson on vocals. Recorded at Channel One and mixed at King Tubby's. Essential in every collection!

An ode to a very good girl, Luna. It is my hope this record is soothing and trippy because it is trippy how soothing she is to me ºo∞Oº

Rough Trade Records release Volume 2 of seven-inch singles boxset.

Nine disc set includes repressings of handpicked 1980s and 1990s releases from The Fall, Scritti Politti, Robert Wyatt, Aztec Camera, The Go-Betweens, Jonathan Richman, The Sundays and Mazzy Star

Additionally The Smiths’ The Headmaster Ritual becomes a Rough Trade single especially for this release at Morrissey and Marr’s request, with unique b-side plus new artwork from Morrissey

Sleeve notes feature new interviews with Rough Trade co-MDs Jeannette Lee and Geoff Travis, plus contributions from Elvis Costello, Harriet Wheeler, Anton Corbijn, Stewart Lee and more.

Rough Trade Records release a second volume of their acclaimed boxset series tracing some of the key seven-inch singles in the independent label’s history.

Following the first set which came out last year and focused on the indie’s first few years of existence, Volume 2 will feature nine seven-inch singles from the 1980s to the early 1990s, marking the period when Rough Trade came of age as a label.

Handpicked by Rough Trade’s co-MDs, Jeannette Lee and Geoff Travis, the tracks represent a mix of key releases and personal favourites.

Starting with The Fall’s 1980 Totally Wired, Scritti Politti's The Sweetest Girl, Robert Wyatt's Shipbuilding, Aztec Camera’s Oblivious, The Go Betweens' Cattle and Cane, Jonathan Richman's That Summer Feeling and The Sundays' Can’t Be Sure have all been repressed on seven-inch, including b-sides, as they were released by the label at the time.

Mazzy Star’s cover of Love’s Five String Serenade, which appeared on Rough Trade’s single’s club in 1993, appears as the original release, but its b-side has been switched at Lee and Travis’ request for David Roback and Hope Sandoval’s version of Slap Happy’s Blue Flower to create a unique “covers release”.

In addition to these original releases, Volume 2 also boasts a ninth, ‘new’ single which has been created at the request of members of The Smiths, and will only be available in this edition. Although it was released in Netherlands, The Headmaster Ritual had never been an official Rough Trade single until now.

At Morrissey and Marr’s request the track from Meat Is Murder is backed by I Want The One I Can’t Have as its b-side, while Morrissey has overseen the creation of brand new artwork for the seven-inch. In keeping with his use of found art for The Smiths’ singles, he sourced an image of the American actor Billy Halop from 1939 especially for this single.

Both band members have contributed to the sleeve notes that accompany Volume 2, which also includes contributions from Elvis Costello, Stewart Lee, Roddy Frame, Green Gartside, Jonathan Richman, The Sundays’ Harriet Wheeler, David Gavurin and The Go-Betweens’ Lindy Morrison and Robert Forster. Plus, there is a brand new, extensive interview with Travis and Lee, who discuss the label during the 80s and 90s, the music and their collaborations with the artists featured.

The sleeve notes also contain memorabilia and imagery from the Rough Trade archive, along with contributions from Anton Corbijn, Laura Levine, Paul Slattery, David Corio and more, who photographed the artists at the time.

Like its predecessor Volume 1 – which included singes from Augustus Pablo, Young Marble Giants, Cabaret Voltaire, The Raincoats and more – this second Rough Trade seven-inch boxset is strictly limited to 1000 copies worldwide.

Tracklisting:

7" - RT056 - 1980

The Fall - "Totally Wired"

B-Side: "Putta Block"

7" - RT091 - 1981

Scritti Politti - "The Sweetest Girl"

B-side: "Lions After Slumber"

7" RT115 - 1982

Robert Wyatt - "Shipbuilding"

B-Side "Memories of You"

7" - RT122 - 1983

Aztec Camera - "Oblivious"

B-Side "Orchid Girl"

7" - RT124 - 1983

The Go Betweens - "Cattle and Cane"

B-Side: "Heaven Says"

7" - RT152 - 1984

Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - "That Summer Feeling"

B-Side: "This Kind of Music"

7" - RT0507S - 2026

The Smiths - "The Headmaster Ritual"

B-Side "I Want the One I Can't Have"

(Originally released in the Netherlands 1985 with B-side Oscillate Wildly - new B-side for this release selected by the band)

7" - RT218 - 1989

The Sundays - "Can't Be Sure"

B-Side: "I Kicked a Boy"

7" - 45rev19x – 1983

Mazzy Star "Blue Flower"

B-Side: Mazzy Star  Five String Serenade

(the single was originally released with B-side Under My Car, but has been changed at Rough Trade’s request for this edition)

Epic 2 hour trip of astral-planing, ambient psychedelia shimmering with displaced traces of pop, slurred acid grooves and ample flange. Definitely one for the road or rail trip this summer, and FFO The KLF, Fennesz, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Eno. “From the edges of a hallucinatory torpor, Rue des Garderies continue their explorations in psychedelia — Femacosmé presents here a new piece recorded live at the Pe:rsona festival, at Domaine des Éveils in the summer of 2025. An adventure guided by blur, the intangible, the impermanent, where layers, voices, sounds, and organic and synthetic echoes resonate, emerge, then fade away — as if to deceive reality, or at least our perception of it. More than two semi-improvised hours in which Rue des Garderies (Sweetzak, Désiré Bonaventure & Vasco Cesaretti) summon us to an astral yet motionless journey — somewhere between ambient, IDM, and post-pop.”

After a successful run of early EPs and his debut double LP You!, Producer and Singer-Sing Writer Alek Lee returns to Antinote with his new album Like a Flower — an 8-track journey (plus 3 digital bonus dubs) that feels like open-heart surgery. With raw vulnerability, Lee exposes his deepest fears, pain, and inspirations, singing straight from the gut, but also sending words of inspiration and hope. From dub-infused vibes like the opening track Alright featuring My Lord, to grungy ‘90s trip-hop stylings on Compensation and the title track Like a Flower, the album showcases Alek’s wide emotional and sonic range. He shifts seamlessly into smoky, Sade-esque moods on tracks like Change, Let the Sun Just Shine, and Hold On — intimate ballads exploring heartbreak and existential reflection. With his signature blend of melodica, live percussion, guitars, vocal choirs, and lush '80s synths, Alek Lee locks you into his unique sonic universe. His brutally honest, yet deceptively simple lyrics are dressed as balearic dub-pop bangers.

On Everything You Giveaway, Pablo’s Eye turn Richard Skinner’s seaside vignette into a drifting meditation on loss and camouflage, where a missing jade earring becomes a quiet parable about hiding what hurts in the very element that once held it.Everything You Giveaway feels like a record built around a single, small gesture: a woman sitting by the sea, unconsciously loosening one jade earring while the man beside her skims green pebbles into the waves. The moment passes almost unnoticed, but later, in bed, she discovers that one earring is gone. Instead of panic, she feels relief. In her mind’s eye, she sees it lying on the seabed, indistinguishable from the stones he threw. “The best place to hide a leaf is in a tree,” she thinks, echoing the logic at the heart of Richard Skinner’s poem “a remoteness from the centre” (from the light user scheme, Smokestack Books, 2013). That line – and the short narrative wrapped around it – becomes the emotional axis for Everything You Giveaway.In typical Pablo’s Eye fashion, the text is not treated as a literal script but as a set of images to be dissolved into sound. The waves breaking become slow, undulating pulses; the green pebbles, small percussive or melodic events that vanish almost as soon as they appear; the jade earrings, bright timbral flashes that suddenly go missing from the texture. The music hovers in a state of “remoteness from the centre,” circling around implied themes rather than landing on them. What matters is not the dramatic revelation of the loss, but the quiet, inward turn that follows – the sense that giving something away, or losing it, can sometimes feel like placing it more deeply inside the world, hidden in plain sight.The album’s title, Everything You Giveaway, makes Skinner’s line universal. It’s not just about earrings and pebbles, but about all the things we let slip – relationships, secrets, fears, versions of ourselves – and how they might be absorbed by the environments we move through. The seaside setting is both literal and metaphorical: a place at the edge, where solid ground meets shifting water, and where it’s easy to imagine objects sinking out of view, merging with their surroundings. Pablo’s Eye use this as a frame for their sound-world: a gentle, porous music where elements arrive, mingle and recede, and where the distinction between foreground and background is constantly eroded.This approach aligns with the group’s long-standing interest in spoken word, ambient drift and cinematic suggestion. Here, the poem’s final line operates almost like a compositional rule: hide things in their own element. Melodies surface only to dissolve back into textures that resemble them; voices appear briefly and then disappear into a murmur of similar frequencies; a motif is introduced, then later “lost” inside a denser arrangement. As listeners, we are invited to experience the same subtle shift the woman feels: the movement from anxiety to acceptance, from clinging to an object to recognising its place in a larger pattern.Everything You Giveaway thus becomes less a straightforward adaptation of Skinner’s poem than a kind of extended footnote to it. By dwelling on that moment by the sea – the waves breaking, the casual gestures, the delayed discovery – Pablo’s Eye offer a sonic meditation on how we hide, how we surrender, and how the world quietly absorbs everything we let go.

Really feeling this trippy acid treat by a one-of-a-kind Lolina; her 10th solo album since the last Hype Williams drop with Dean Blunt in the early 2010s, and typically riddled with low-key mischievous slants on mutant dance-pop, as heard in her regular midweek club night at ace London venue, Spanners. Chasing up her trip-hop tinted LP ‘Unrecognisable’ (2024), and a mix CD as Balmainjeans repping her club night ‘Distressed’, Lolina plays to an ideally unpredictable form with a shift into acid pop on ‘Monopoly of Mistakes’; featuring eleven concentrated formulations of dry drum machines x tweakiest 303 gunk gilded with those vocals that keep us coming back. The combo of silver box x slanted vox finds the DIY prism-pusher bending timelines thru lo-fi indie-pop with sound system steppas, basement noise, cold wave and free party acid tekno, but never quite settling into any one style. Maintaining her mutable range of variations within a theme, Monopoly of Mistakes really catches our breath with the way Lolina turns a paucity of ingredients into a dead satisfying thing. Whether commanding the 303 to the beat-less abstraction ‘Border Beach’ or alloying with wooziest keys and steppas fizz on ‘The Mercenaries’, or going deep into the lushest wormhole on the titular, 7 minute standout, her min-to-max sense of economy is key to this LP’s appeal. It’s there in the piquant synth-pop of ‘Menace’ and ‘Everlasting’ - think Wee Papa Girl Rappers via Dave Ball at John T. Gast’s - and calling to mind a lost SOPHIE x EVOL gem in ’Stand Off’. But it’s also finely measured with an utterly gorgeous new age miniature harking to classic Hype Williams on ‘Welcome to the Drift of Whats Already Begun’, and of course the zinging closer ‘Penalty’, where zippiest ‘80s french cold wave meets AFXian harmony and a sort of Dopplereffektish science-lab engineering in a chef’s kiss demo of the extended melodic wooo that sets all her work apart. Best believe it’s fully distinctive, addictive gear.