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Review: There's a delightfully celebratory feel about this debut volume of Cititrax Tracks, a new 12" series from Minimal Wave offshoot Cititrax. As beautifully presented as we've come to expect, Tracks Volume 1 boasts a quartet of dancefloor-ready smashers from a blend of new faces and label stalwarts. Amato (aka The Hacker) kicks things off with the glistening EBM funk of "Physique" - all restless synth refrains and pounding bottom end - before LIES affiliate Tsuzing go all dark, psychedelic and twisted on the thrillingly intense, acid-flecked "King of System". An-I go all DAF (with a touch of Front 242) on the fuzzy and dystopian stomper "Mutter", before Cititrax regulars Broken English Club delivers a storming chunk of industrial-tinged analogue funk ("Glass"). Bravo!

Review: Earlier this year Minimal Wave offshoot provided one of this year's most visceral dancefloor weapons in Kino-I, the debut from Doug Lee's new An-I project. Taking inspiration from techno, jack, industrial and punk, An-I successfully drew a line under some of the Berlin-based artist's previous disco-flavoured endeavours. And then some! If you like the Kino-I 12" you will love the new triplet of An-I productions housed on this appropriately titled Gutz 12". The title track alone should come with a health warning; such is the furious onslaught of machine funk it contains, whilst the unnerving "Rut" is the most schizophrenic production you will hear this year. Best of all id closing track "Save Us" sounds like a cross between in Aeternam Vale and Silent Servant. Pressed on a rather thick and dashing slab of magenta orange vinyl!

Review: Blue Foundation returns with another lush and immersive album that deepens their signature blend of dream pop, shoegaze and ambient electronics. Crafted over three years by the much loved Danish duo Bo Rande and Tobias Wilner, Close to the Knife explores themes of melancholy and introspection through layered textures and haunting vocals from Wilner and Nina Larsen. Guest appearances from Scarlet Rae, Helena Gao, and Sonya Kitchell enrich its emotional depth, while contributions from Chinese experimental noise band Wang's Xie Yugang and drummer Federico Ughi add complexity to this shapeshifting soundtrack.

Review: It's been a delight to see Oliver Ho's Broken English Club project develop artistically over recent times, with some fine records for Jealous God and Veronica Vasicka's Cititrax label along the way. Suburban Hunting sees Ho deliver his debut Broken English Club album, featuring some 11 tracks of primitive electronics and cinematic pseudo techno cuts. Tunes like "Vacant", "Derelict", or "Scum" all share a loose techno framework, but the real aesthetic is much vaster than that, verging on remnants of post-punk, industrial and all that goodness and hybrid class that came out of the late 1980's. It's another fine addition to the sublime Cititrax discography, and we recommended it just as much as the previous numbers.

Review: Talk about unearthing forgotten gems, or indeed gems that were never really known in the first place. Back in 1983 Soren Fauli - then 19 years old, now an established Danish artist - decided to step away from the punk bands he'd been playing with and indulge his inner autobahn. Daily Fauli was the one-time project result, with this raw, mechanical but intimate record, which has as much in common with Kraftwerk as it does Powell, the only product. While there's a rough and ready (and charming) aesthetic to the record, despite his age at the time, and the fact he had very little idea what to do with the Casios in hand, it's incredibly accomplished stuff. The playful, shuffling warbler 'Bus' representing the lighter end of a spectrum that runs as fast as the edgy arpeggiations of 'Speed' and the pared back, proto-punk runaway train of 'Hard Kogt'. A fantastic album and an interesting talking point.

Review: Minimal Wave have done the right thing here and repressed HSTA by Das Ding, undoubtedly one of the most popular heavyweight reissues of their reign thus far. Das Ding is of course Dutchman Danny Bosten, active in the mid 1980s from his Southern Holland base releasing his pioneering brand of electro as well as his friends' music via his own Tear Apart Tapes cassette label. HSTA refers to the Highly Sophisticated Technological Achievement tape Bosten released on the STUM label from which Minimal Wave also took several tracks including the title jam, which you're likely to hear Funkineven dropping these days. It's worth investing in this for "Take Me Away" alone, which sounds likes its been beamed down from the future despite its three decade vintage (Weatherall's a big fan of this one) and the remaining six tracks are just as thrilling.

Review: Thanks to the eternally revered Minimal Wave imprint, out of NYC, Mark Phillips and Robert Lawrence's Five Times Of Dust project is going through a bit of a revival. The duo had first released some post-punk cassettes back in the 80s, and they clearly have not been forgotten. On this new remix EP, "Computer Bank" is given a makeover in the form of a The Floor remix, who proceeds to add all sorts of quirkiness over the tune's tough, heavy bass and driving rhythm; "Armoured Car" breaks the 4/4 in favour of something much closer to the band's original drum machine style. Once again, on the flip, we have a remix of "Like I Am, Comme Je Suis" by The Floor, who throws up a gnarly electro bass onto shady, neo-romantic vocals, and the whole things is finished off by "Imponative" from Unovodual and Tara Cross, who produce a slow, heady industrial groove for the dancefloor.

Review: A reissue of the third LP from Brian Leeds, an American DJ and producer based on Brooklyn, originally from Kansas City, if this is your first time coming across his work then prepare for a pretty deep dive into lush, dreamy soundscapes, otherworldly drone, and adventurous aural effects, all of which are realised with a musicality that goes well beyond many digital composers.


First unveiled to critical acclaim back in 2016, proof of concept is in the pudding here - one earful and you realise just how much here stands up to new productions today, explaining a little about why people were painting Huerco S as something of a visionary when the debut long form, Colonial Patterns, first arrived. Building on the blueprint laid out then, For Those Of You... is a rich and captivating ambient listening experience that's more than worthy of the spotlight second time round.

Review: Fans of mechanical techno-not-techno sounds will be all over Minimal Wave's latest transmission from 80s French underground heroes In Aeternam Vale. Having reissued several essential lost works from the outfit last year, most notably the proto-Sandwell sound of "Highway Dark Veins", Veronica Vasicka delivers another two tracks from the vault. Stylistically mirroring that previous two track release the title track is an equally brilliant synth-techno beast which could easily pass for a Function track today, while B-side "Calling Somewhere" sounds like a cold wave version of proto-halfstep. Needless to say, the fact that these tracks are 22 years old literally left us speechless.

Review: Beaming into the future from the 1980s Belgian EBM scene, The Klinik (now reduced to two core members Marc Verhaeghen and Mark Burghgraeve) are a pivotal force. They helped found the underground, all while influencing a generation of EBM artists both locally and internationally. ‘Pain And Pleasure’ was their first blush, first released as an EP on Antler Records in 1986. Now recovered and “album-ified”, it takes on a new form as a full-length LP elongation, retitled Plague & Pain And Pleasure. With a new sado-leathered, plague doctoral, marble vinyl aesthetic, this is an electrifyingly chalky expansion pack taking after the original three-tracker, and which proves again the dark efficacy of their gluttonous, motoric overwhelmer sound, evidenced on the likes of ‘World Domination’, ‘Go Back’ and ‘Outside’.

Review: The KVB are Klaus Von Barrel and Kat Day, a hugely prolific duo who eschew thoughts of sync bait or best new music columns in favour of the next gig and the next record. Having made some notable appearances on the Downwards label, the pair makes a further illustrious step up with Immaterial Visions, a collection of music released on the Minimal Wave sub label Cititrax. Veronica Vasicka has been a staunch champion of their music of late, regularly slipping The KVB tracks into her weekly EVR show so it makes for little surprise that she'd look to put out their music on Cititrax. The subsequent eight tracks make for the boldest, most confident statement thus far from The KVB, demonstrating their palette reaches beyond the shoegaze tag they are regularly adorned with in the music press. The previously released "Dayzed" and "Old Lines" in particular are superb.

Review: Martin Dupont was a French collective of immense talent originally founded by Alain Seghir in Marseille in 1980. Seghir called upon several different collaborators across the collective's career including the likes of Beverley Jane Crew, Brigitte Balian and Catherine Loy and all of them managed to tune into the same creative frequencies while serving up music that was colourful, enthusiastic, delicate, melancholy, and mysterious. Their seminal 1987 album Hot Paradox now arrives via a first-ever reissue on Minimal Wave and is one that transcends a tag as simple as new wave with its vibrant and emotive, sombre yet bright sounds that have made it something of a modern cult classic.

Review: **Repress** The Music From Memory label was launched by Redlight Records founders Tako Reyenga, Abel Nagenast and Jamie Tiller earlier this year, sporting a proud mantra of "giving overlooked and unreleased music that we love a second chance". The focus of attention for Music Of Memory's second release falls on the works of celebrated ambient composer Gigi Masin. Born in Venice, Masin's work has been sampled by the likes of Bjork and To Rococco Rot and his albums attract feverish acclaim, with Wind, Masin's privately pressed debut LP a desired rarity for the only the most well-heeled of second hand collectors. It's from this album and a selection of Masin's other released works that Music From Memory draw from for this stunningly meditative double LP retrospective Talk To The Sea, which also includes a healthy amount of unreleased material.

Review: Posuposu Otani is a mysterious throat singer and songwriter from Japan who dropped his debut physical album in March. By merging open-tuned guitar, Kohkin (aka the Jew's harp) and traditional throat singing, Otani creates a sound filled with rich harmonics and fluid rhythms that all evoke the mood of Impressionist art and explore themes of freedom, nature and self-discovery. Influenced by his punk roots, worldly travels and immersion in mountain life, Otani's storytelling music reflects his deep connection to the natural world and makes for a far-journeying listen.

Review: This eight-track release plunges listeners into a world of sci-fi techno, where melodic interludes meet deep, atmospheric edges. Side-1 opens with 'Fukaeri', a track defined by its broken deep beats and ambient drift, evoking a sense of floating through a distant galaxy. 'The Increasing Past' follows with gentle IDM beats, rich colo, and masterful productioniperfect for deep, immersive listening.'Tela' delivers a serene ambient experience, holding the quiet beauty of a rising sun with its delicate textures and evolving warmth. 'Gyeon' shifts into a slow breakbeat with a gentler, deeper approach that feels both introspective and expansive. 'We Are Not Alone' closes the side with cloud-like ambient soundscapes, hazy and airy, as rising vocal arcs add to its otherworldly aura. Lush, cosmic soundscapes and intricate beats create a masterful blend of ambient and techno elements, perfect for those seeking both depth and escapism.

Review: From pastoral 90s dance crossovers to left field analogue house mavericks and onto their current position as gifted, jazz-minded groove navigators, Ultramarine have never stood still over their long and winding career. At this point in time they slip into each new project with an ease and confidence which pours out of the music. On this new entry for Blackford Hill, they've chosen an unlikely muse in the Blackwater Estuary which runs into the sea just North of London. Quite whether you hear the undulating, tidal ebb and flow of large water masses in the music is subjective, but the mellifluous fusion of electronic and organic instrumentation is pure treasure for the ears, oozing warmth and full of charming surprises without ever sounding overwrought. By rights, Ultramarine should be considered a British cultural treasure and this album only confirms that fact.

Review: The Fallout: Soothing Sounds of the Apocalypse vinyl is a nostalgic journey through iconic hits of the 1930s, 40s and 50s that beautifully contrasts the dark, post-apocalyptic setting of Amazon's Fallout series. This 12-song collection includes unforgettable tracks by legends like Johnny Cash, Nat King Cole, The Ink Spots, Perry Como and Ella Fitzgerald, evoking a haunting yet charming atmosphere for fans of the show and the beloved video game franchise. Songs like 'I Don't Want To Set the World on Fire' by The Ink Spots and 'Orange Colored Sky' by Nat King Cole capture the eerie beauty of a world grappling with survival amidst ruins, while tracks such as 'Crawl Out Through The Fallout' by Sheldon Allman add a touch of dark humour.This soundtrack brings together timeless music that has helped shape the unique atmosphere of the series.

Review: In the widespread revival of Japanese ambient music, Hiroshi Yoshimura's music has been cast as some of the most cherished and reissued. Albums such as Music For Nine Post Cards and Green have enjoyed high-end editions in recent times, and now comes the turn of 1986 masterpiece Surround. It's been fervently pined for by the new wave of Far East ambient aficionados, and for good reason. This is Yoshimura at his best, delicately placing elegant musical figures atop oceanic pools of synth and leaving ample room for the mind to cast adrift. That might sound like a very generic way of describing an ambient release, but Surround's qualities transcend the formulaic trappings of the genre to become something truly magical.