New releases today: All genres

Review: Emergent talent B Ai, hailing from China, contributes to Paris-based label and Chat Noir family member Cosa Vostra, following storm surging releases on Motivation, Altered Circuits and Picnic Records. Spanning post-EBM lasershot fires and SFX-ed spanners-in-works, 'Act5' kicks off 'Blue Or Red' with a tense introductory interstate hyperride, while 'Glance Back' offers us a contrasting chance to look back down the road on whose mac we've just blazed a thick, blackened tire tread trail. Diego Santana crops up on the B1 titler, guiding through a tight Italodance au-diorama, while another fellow producer, David Agrella, lets us down further on the synth tubular breather 'Danse'.

Review: Something ineluctable about the year 1999 haunts music. It's as though the cusp of the millennium wrought a flurry of pre-terror romance, that last slice of postwar epochal gold reaching an ecstatic, elliptical peak before the crossing of a limp, millenarian threshold. Ernesto's second EP for French label Sour leaves us as loosened and open as any such nostalgic rendezvous could, assuming you were born before the fated date. Over brilliants like 'Morning Sweat' and 'Hardware Boogie', the producer joins the likes of Moop Jr. and Lekind in crafting timbral and sophisticated tactiles, chunked analogue basses and filter-designed keys, deepening and advancing our taste in Gay Paree sensuality.

Review: James 'Burnski' Burnham already runs about 7398 labels but recently kicked off another, Gravitate. The mission is simple - to put out club-ready cuts that have plenty of character. All of these come under the same name as the label and artist which indicates how much it is a label all about the music. The first one has a JayDee-style dark bassline, the second one brings old school house rawness that brings to mind the MAW sound and the third one is a more roomy cut with space for the synths to encourage a bit of introspection. The closer is the best of the lot, a silky deep house groove with real drive and trippy synth details.

Review: Haggerston-based production wizard Jeigo kicks off the year after a standout 2024 by serving his own label Fleurella Records' first release. For the occasion, he reissues his track 'Pearl Leaf' which sits in between the worlds of Bicep, Sasha and UKG. It has floating pads and airy, organic beats that carry you away on a melancholic mood with deeply buried vocals adding a blurry, heart-tugging hook. On the flip are two new and unheard jams. 'Headpains' is full of a flurry of breaks but is also laden with introspective emotion in the vocals and chords and 'The Days You Were Here' is a more downtempo cut with shimmering pads, pitched-up vocals and languid bass.

Review: The Instinct train rolls on with more of its signature and explosive garage goodness. Label head Burnski invites Mattik to take charge of this one and he comes good from the off. 'Bubble' has an impossibly naughty low-end oscillation, watery bass sounds and crispy 2-step percussion all designed to get top lips curled and floors bumping. 'Systemattik' is another smart garage workout with ragga vocals, snappy drum programming and warped synth stabs. 'Active' keeps things bumping with a retro UKG flavour and 'Megatone Saxon (Manchester Massive)' (feat TG) shuts down with irresistible rhythms and old school synth motifs as well as some rudeboy bars. Perfect.

Review: With fine EPs on Seven Hills, Flight Mode, Spectral Bounce and Mephis to his name, Uruguayan producer Molen is an artist on the rise. Here he makes his bow on the admirable Craigie Knowes, an imprint renowned for its high-quality threshold. He sets the tone with the head-nodding, 90s IDM style excellence of 'Machanism' - all 'Selected Ambient Works' chords, spooky electronic textures and manipulated hip-hop beats - before charging towards the dancefloor on the Drexciya style electro hustle of title track 'Machine Dreams'. Over on side B, 'Replicant' sees him bolt waves of psychedelic, early progressive house style acid lines and TB-303 tweaks to a punchy electro breakbeat, while 'Dream 2' is a gorgeous slab of shuffling, mid-tempo electro marked out by attractive melodies, lilting acid lines and immersive chords.

Review: Danny Krivit remains in a class of one when it comes to meticulous and masterful edits of classics. He puts out a fair few of them too, but the quality levels never dip, as is the case again here when he throws it back to the energy of his native New York's most legendary dancefloors. Opener 'Flying Machine' by War was originally composed for the 1978 film Youngblood and is a dramatic Latin-infused instrumental packed with swirling flutes, fierce perc and a breakbeat that's fuelled countless Afro house tracks. It's a fiery dancefloor weapon that hasn't been on 7" before and it comes backed with 'How Much Are They', which dives into deep dub territory with help from post-punk legends Jah Wobble, Jaki Liebezeit and Holger Czukay. It's a real mind melter packed with mad effects.

Review: Neil E and Big City Bill's latest doubles as the second offering from Spincycle, yet another a split 7" single on 180g vinyl. The twins' journey began two decades ago high up in an unnamed mountain range, where they met, after which they descended onto the city in search of purpose. Thus spake Zarathustra: down below, they toiled away in dimly lit garages, decoding mysterious symbols cast on walls by home-gaffed fluorescent lights. At first, their work seemed like madness, but there comes a time in every madman's life when toil leads to breakthrough. Thus were sowed the two fine harvests you hear here: 'Dry Rub', with its tugging taut sound design, and 'The BBV', a mistier firmament of altitudinal unknowns. No need to map out the terrain first - just give in to your ears.

Review: Heavyweight sonic Afro-botics from Nikodemus, Barzo and Mr Doris on 7" wax. The trio team up here with Dinked Records for a double-bill 7" in veins of amapiano and broken beat, primed for crate sifters and floor ambulants alike. On the A, 'Want Some More' delivers Mr. Doris' signature blend of rhythmic muscle and Afro-Latin swang, while the flip flops Nickodemus with Barzo and Zongo Abongo for 'Show Your Power': a bold, percussive cut straddling broken beat, house, and ska. Somewhere between 126 and 128 BPM, both are utter floor finishers and could easily intro your next Afro-house set as they could provide it a sense of continuous, mid-set body.

Review: For the latest missive on their reissue focused Rezpektiva imprint, Parisian label KMA60 takes us back to 1997 and the sole release from Bert Boon and Jaco Van Rijswijk as N.O.T, 'The Sound'. Flipping the order of the '97 12", this edition begins with the pair's original mix - a warm, colourful slab of purist, UK style early tech-house of the type most associated with Pantone-obsessed producers Circulation. On the flip-side opening 'Nice & Tide Mix', the Belgian duo opt for a chunkier and more bass-heavy late 90s deep house sound - all restless keyboard stabs, sampled house beats, effects-laden vocal snippets and winding acid lines - while the 'Dream Mix' is a bold, heavy and lightly psychedelic techno reinterpretation.

Review: London DJ and producer Jules Von Daniken sets his phasers to fun, returning under his Phase O'Matic alias for another fresh EP-label inauguration (Blur Detection Program). His third release for 2025 (it's only May, god damnit), 'Behind The Glass' smashes through two-way mirror with gloomy glom-on acid, sparky redux design, slithery melodies and claspy 909 snareology, all of which together increment in intensity over a four-step dance inductor, seconding with the speak n' spelt post-new wave pranger 'Retroflex' and ending on the Robo-voiced 'Finetune (Darkest Day)'.

Review: Indo-Ukrainian producer Mayank Saraiya, under his Pontiff Ordric alias, helms the third chapter of the Barbatus series with a new four-track release that continues the label's deep-space electro saga. Based out of the Barbatus label's inner circle, Saraiya not only crafts the music but also handles the mix and mastering, giving this entry a tightly unified sound. 'Secrets Of Nexus' and 'Laboratory's Hazard' pulse with crisp, syncopated drums and shimmering 80s-inspired synths, while the B-side moves into darker, more propulsive territory i 'Ancient Technology' runs on acidic undercurrents and robotic swing and 'The Dawn Of Machines' closes the set with a steady proto-trance march that edges into cinematic territory. It's a new release that never leans too heavily on nostalgia, instead reanimating vintage electro textures with just enough detail and narrative flair to keep things compelling. Riddled with sonic in-jokes and pirate lore, this one rewards both the dancers and the heads i electro as odyssey, with its boots still muddy from the last expedition.

Review: Originally tucked away on a 2020 12", Quiroga's 'Snaporaz' EP gets the treatment it always deserved with this expanded, four-track edition from Balearic archivists Archeo. Based in Naples, Quiroga stretches his original into a languid, Rhodes-soaked jazz-house glide on the A1ifull of crackling percussion, soft-focus pads and a bubbling low end that carries the melodic line into increasingly heady territory. A loose hand drum finale seals it with flair. 'Escorpiao' on A2 is subtler but no less vibrant, a slick fusion jam where keytar and cowbell meet over a featherlight grooveibalancing restraint and virtuosity in equal measure. The B-side belongs to Rome's Francesco de Bellis, appearing under his L.U.C.A. alias. Known for his Edizioni Mondo material, he warps 'Snaporaz' into a dreamlike new age dancer, slowing the tempo and steeping it in hazy atmospheres and woozy melodies. His 'Quirky Beat' version strips it further, letting skeletal drum edits carry the mood alone. Bridging Neapolitan warmth and Roman oddball finesse, this is a limited edition reissue that more than earns its second life.

Review: Back by popular demand comes this four track revisitation of the famous 80s synthpop classic, which emerged in December 2024 with the kind of slightly Euro twist in the vocal department you might expect from the Netherlands-based Random Vinyl stable. The Master Mix is perhaos the most poignant, given that its airy, lush pads were put together by the late producer Marc Hartman who very sadly passed away in August 2024 at the far too young age of 58. But all four show due reverence to this monolithic moment in electronic music history, without resisting the temptation to add a little new. Grey-t stuff.

Review: Sancra's Echoes of the Infinitive is a standout second release of 2025, showing the producer's versatile and emotive sounds as he heads through techno's many shades. Opening track 'Oblivion' sets the tone with driving dancefloor energy and celestial melodies, while 'Androgena' dives into deeper, darker acid-techno terrain, which is refined yet intense. On the B-side, 'Exodus' blends neo-trance and electro with uplifting, spiritual pads for something that works the mind and body and closing track 'Until We Arrive' shifts the pace with a meditative live jam that feels introspective and serene. From peak-time power to after-hours reflection, Sancra delivers on all fronts here.

Review: Wordlessly issued by the 2022 launched label Different Times, this minimal-trance-breaker from Shjva and Stereometrix (Ukraine) follows after the former duo broke from their shared Plan alias formed in 2021. They now operate separately but on a single record; sometimes collaborative chemistry works best when it goes hand-in-hand with individual creativity. Three A side inductors by Shjva kick the record off through a range of tensile tools, from velocity sensitive e-drum primers to sweeping mini-dub-trance workouts, reducing the listener to a puttylike state. Then comes Stereometrix's sole contribution with 'No Need To Squeeze', which deserves its singular B-side status as the digging inquisitor's choice, with its flexuous melo-arps, distant silences and sample-and-held counterpoints: truly a melodic masterstroke.

Review: When this French producer released 'Rose Rouge' on his 2000 landmark album Tourist, it was more than a track. It was a manifesto. Built on hypnotic jazz loops, tight house rhythms and a sample from Marlena Shaw's 'Woman of the Ghetto', it was a vision of dance music that was cultured, expansive and deeply groovy. Its sophisticated blend of electronic textures and classic jazz sensibilities earned it a rightful home on Blue Note Records, elevating it beyond clubs and into the canon of genre-defying music. It remains a defining moment of jazz-house fusion. Two decades on, Jorja Smith brought her unmistakable voice to the track with a smoky, soulful reinterpretation that paid homage while casting it in a fresh r&b light. Joy Orbison's remix of her version on Side 2 injects another layer of evolution. It stretches the track into a deep, slow-burning cut, rich in atmosphere and bass weight, yet restrained and emotive. Together, these versions celebrate the enduring legacy and adaptability of Rose Rouge across generations and genres.

Review: Thierry Tomas wears his influences on his sleeve on this new one for Deeppa Records with elements of jazz, deep house and electronica all making themselves known. The title cut 'Why Why' is a lovely loose limbed jumble of live-sounding percussion and stylish vocal soul, and the revered Fred Everything reworks it into a lush, pad-laced daydream. 'Life's Great' is a playful, shuffling groove with lovely swing, and 'Blue Birds Fly' then hist harder with hypnotic piano. Last of all, 'Dad's Vinyl' is a nice smoky and jazzy grove marbled with great samples and a carefree vibe.

Review: Detroit's Rich Wade is a human production line of always effective and subtly charming house music that provides a great foundation for any set. He is a master of cooking up delightful loops and deploying them to perfection so that you cannot help but get swept up and taken along for a ride. 'Contact' kicks off here with his signature drums and jazzy melodies that bring a playful edge. 'Low Down' brings funky bass wiggles and disco styled percussion and 'Fade Away' lands with a heavy, sweaty throb while the Philly disco strings add a touch of class. 'Night Chaser' shuts down with a more introspective feel and some emotive chords that heighten the last night mood.

Review: Raised on gospel in Mobile, Alabama, Lynn White's path to soul stardom began in Ike Darby's record store, where her habit of singing along to the songs that boomed from the speakers spiralled into a recording deal, not to mention eventual marriage with the store owner. Her 1978 debut on Darby wove a string of local releases, but it was her smouldering 1982 single 'I Don't Ever Wanna See Your Face Again' that caught the attention of Memphis soul legend Willie Mitchell. Signing to Waylo, White spent the 80s carving out a distinctive place in Southern soul, with highlights like the modern soul favourite 'See You Later Bye'. This reissue brings together two standout tracks from her early 90s period: the Lanier & Co. assist 'I Don't Know Why' and a tender cover of George Jackson's 'The New Me'.

Review: Iowa's Zuul hand modulates the proverbial Pressure Control with a five-track slab of tightly wound menace, shifting gears from his earlier appearances on Exarde and White Scar. As head of Laik, Ollie Burgess has previously shown a taste for precise, brooding rhythms; but here, he leans rawer, drawing on EBM, new beat and the wave-inflected electronics of the late 80s, invoking spirits of early Frankfurt and Ghent while keeping an eye firmly on the functional demands of contemporary sets. There's a nitty tension running through each cut, making them as suited to murky warm-ups as to teeth-gritting peak hours.

Review: Scruscru and Los Protos hook up on the former's ever-reliable label for some more funk-fuelled and sample-heavy madness. This eight-tracker draws on the best of Library, jazz, hip hop and soul and collides elements of all of those together with some raw, and what sounds like, MPC beats, all tapped out with a lovably loose vibe. Some like 'Local Sugar Diggers' look up towards a sunny, cloudless sky, others like 'Dreams Of Sonora' are swaggering broken beat workouts with sensuous sax lines setting a steamy tone. 'Por Do Sol Em Shelekhmet' is another highlight with its aloof, angelic vocal tones.

Notes: Inside the brand new issue:

Cosey Fanni Tutti: The industrial music icon has been to Hull and back with her new album 2t2. By Claire Biddles

Quinton Barnes: The Montreal rapper and producer flips the script in a new project with free musicians. By Emily Pothast

David Van Tieghem: The New York percussionist who has played with everyone on the Downtown scene receives a dedicated collection of his own work. By Robert Barry

Happy Family: Over four decades the Japanese group have moved from rigorous prog to euphoric harmony. By Daniel Spicer

Amina Claudine Myers: Honing her skills on the old school nightclub circuit, the keyboardist is now forging ambitious suites for choir and pipe organ. By Stewart Smith

Quade: Landmark album. By Lucy Thraves

Milk Eyed Sigh: Let it bleed. By Misha Farrant

Liu Zhenyang: Language games. By Josh Feola

Invisible Jukebox: billy woods: Will The Wire's mystery record collection be recognised by Backwoodz Studioz's main man? Tested by Mosi Reeves

Global Ear: Bratislava's LGBTQI+ scene creates safe spaces amid repressive policing. By Chiara Rendekova

Unlimited Editions: LA's Colorfield label creates spontaneous studio magic. By Daniel Spicer

The Inner Sleeve: Circuit Des Yeux on Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising

Against The Grain: Jo Hutton celebrates radiophonic art as a unique field of creative endeavour

Epiphanies: Daniel O'Sullivan steps outside of himself via the ambiguous, understated moods of library music

Soundcheck: Al Karpenter, Anika, Black Arches with Sexton Ming, Blind IO, Ivor Callin, Rex Casswell, Nels Cline, Coffin Prick, Cosmic Ear, Angel Bat Dawid, Angel Bat Dawid & Naima Nefertari, Demonologists, Deradoorian, Peter Evans & Petter Eldh, Adam Fairhall & Johnny Hunter, Fatboi Sharif & Driveby, Flying Lotus, Mary Halvorson, Jenny Hval, IOM, Evan Johnson, Eleonora Kampe, Kelan, Phil Langero, Ingrid Laubrock, Annea Lockwood, David Longstreth/Dirty Projectors/s t a r g a z e, Lullahush, Sue Lynch & Regan Bowering, Mamuthones, Gabriele Mitelli: Three Tsuru Origami featuring Camila Nebbia, Mopcut, Moundabout, Bill Nace & Evan Parker, Maggie Nicols & Dan Johnson, Paal Nilssen-Love Circus with The Ex Guitars, Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet, Kory Reeder, Marc Ribot, Crystabel Efemena Riley, Scanner & Nurse With Wound, Ferdinand Schwarz, Nadah El Shazly, Sleep Unhealed, Alan Sparhawk, Spellling, Stereolab, Surgeon, Territorial Gobbing, Luca Tilli/Sebi Tramontana/Steve Beresford, Julia Olehla & Dalava, Kamasi Washington, Water Damage, billy woods, Youth Code, Various Marc Urselli's Best Of Ramones Redux, Various Marc Urselli's Ramones Redux, Various Only sounds that tremble through us, Various Planet Mu 30

The Columns: Avant Rock by Tony Rettman; Dub & Reggae by Steve Barker; Electronics by Emily Bick; Hiphop & R&B by Richard Stacey; Jazz & Improv by Bill Meyer; Modern Composition by Julian Cowley; Noise, Industrial & Beyond by Raymond Cummings; Size Matters by Byron Coley

The Boomerang: Ash Ra Tempel, Henry Badowski, Cindytalk, Julee Cruise, Purple Trap, Various Born In The City of Tanta: Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore & Bedouin Shaabi From Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75, Various Eli Roth's Red Light Disco: Dancefloor Seductions From Italian Sexploitation Cinema, Various Roots Rocking Zimbabwe, Various Secret Superstar Sounds: Scraping Bubblegum Off My Soul 1977-80

Print Run: America's Greatest Noise by Frans de Waard; Music In Orbit: Satellite Radio In The Streaming Space Age by Brian Fauteux; The Capitalist Imaginaries Of Popular Music by Charles Fairchild; Feel Like Going Home: Portraits In Blues & Rock 'N' Roll by Peter Guralnick; Krautrock Eruption: An Alternative History Of German Underground In The 60s And 70s by Wolfgang Seidel; Dub: The Sound Of Surprise by Helmut Phillipps (translated by Ursula Munch); Studio Electrophonique: The Sheffield Space Age From The Human League To Pulp by Jamie Taylor; To Hell With Poverty! A Class Act: Inside The Gang Of Four by Jon King

On Screen: Harmony Korine Baby Invasion; isold Uggadottir Cornucopia

On Location: Tribute To Maryanne Amacher, Paris, France; Hamid Drake & Michael Zerang Winter Solstice Concerts, Chicago, US; Rewire, The Hague, Netherlands; Only Connect, Stavanger, Norway; TLF Trio + CTM/Frederik Worm, Los Angeles, US; Wendy Eisenberg & Ryan Sawyer, London, UK; Counterflows, Glasgow, UK; From The Lips To The Moon, London, UK; MaerzMusik 2025, Berlin, Germany; Maher Shalal Hash Baz, London, UK; Big Ears, Knoxville, US

On site: Kathe Kruse, It's All Good Now, Berlin, Germany

Review: Club Squisito is an electronic band formed in 2005 by Valerio Semplici, who dominated the scene for a decade as a member of Black Box. Here he joins up with Marina Santelli for a blissful new house groove, 'Come Into My Life,' which has a striking falsetto vocal and mournful horns unfurling over soulful drums. The From P60 pairs it back to late night depths for intimate clubs and an Infradisco remixes it into a downtempo and dubbed out delight. The Rudi'Kasti remix is awash with sultry synth work and jazz romance to close out a wonderful, heartfelt EP.