Back in stock: Balearic/Downtempo

Review: Ahead of his second upcoming album For Today, Etnean artist Agosta presents two unreleased tracks on a new 7" featuring Giulia La Rosa's poetic vocals. These gems blend chill-out electronics with Balearic vibes that are perfect for the brighter days ahead. 'Serenade' offers a sophisticated mix of elegant dance and relaxed atmospheres with inspiration taken from artists like Felipe Gordon and Nutty Nys. Its fluid groove, gentle percussion and dreamy synths create an immersive intimate vibe and both of these tracks evoke sunset serenity with real warmth in the vocals.

Review: ANOTR turn the page on a bold new chapter with their second album, now out via their No Art imprint. Stepping out from their club-rooted origins, the duo now embrace a genre-spanning sound, weaving through shimmering disco, hypnotic alt-soul, raw post-punk, kosmische, and uplifter indie dance. Ahead of a global tour, the duo took refuge in psychedelic retreats in Ibiza, LA and the Netherlands, channelling the freedom unlocked in the act of microdosing psilocybin mushrooms. The revelations hereinafter steered them to using live instrumentation, as well as their first ever recorded vocals on key tracks like 'Set It On Fire', 'Care For You', 'Bad Trip' and 'Living In A Dream.'

Review: Since founding DiN in 1999, Ian Boddy has been driven by a passion for collaboration, particularly with artists connected to the pioneering German electronic scene of the 1970s. When a chance meeting with Harald Grosskopf at a Dutch music festival presented the opportunity to work together, Boddy eagerly embraced Grosskopf's ear; the latter's tutelage at the Berlin school spans decades, and he is most notably for his fellowship as a drummer with Klaus Schulze, whose influence looms large over Boddy's own work. But beyond percussion, Grosskopf's Synthesist album revealed his distinct melodic sensibilities, making him an ideal creative partner for Doppelganger. Blending Berlin-schooled sequencing with evocative grooves. Boddy's modular synth textures shine on tracks like 'Boulevard Horizon', while Grosskopf's rhythmic playfulness is evident in 'Livewire'.

Review: Some 18 months on from the launch of his Better Together Records imprint, Sydneysider Chech is finally ready to deliver another expansive EP. Standing six tracks deep, Gemini Era tends towards the loved-up, saucer-eyed and gently psychedelic, with colourful melodic motifs aplenty and tons of audible references to early progressive house, ambient house and ambient techno. There's plenty to admire, from the spacey, analogue-rich dreaminess of 'XTC' and 'Gemini Era', to the low-tempo ambient techno head-nod of 'Slowride (93 Theme)' and the dusty, piano-rich deep house of 'Interstate (M1 Mix)'. Elsewhere, 'Jia's Dance' sees the Aussie explorer wrap vintage New Jersey garage-house sounds around a punchy breakbeat, while 'Birds of Prey' is a dubby chunk of sunset-ready dancefloor bliss.

Review: Balearic scene stalwarts Chris Coco and DJ Rocca are old pals, with the pair first working together five years ago on an EP released by Faze Action's FAR imprint. Cocorocca, though, is their first collaborative full-length - a set that cannily combines Coco's love of fluid pianos, tactile downtempo grooves and sun-soaked ambient textures with DJ Rocca's passion for dubby basslines, moon-lit low-tempo nu-disco, starry Balearic synth-pop and the trippy and psychedelic ethos of Italy's 1980s Afro-cosmic scene. As a result, there's plenty of subtle variety on show - compare, for example, the dubbed-out slow acid oddness of '303/808' with the sunset-ready dancefloor colour of 'Sunshine Love' and the slap bass wielding dub disco madness of 'Night Dubbin' - as well as plenty club-ready material.

Review: In the late summer of 2019, DJ Rocca and Chris Coco spent time together at the intimate La Casella festival in Umbria, Italy, where they chatted about Italo disco, the Rimini/Riccione riviera in the 90s and classic Italian clubs. Inspired by their conversations and imagined memories of scenes they weren't part of, they set out to make the music which over time, evolved into CocoRocca DiscoTeca, an imaginary retro-futuristic club blending past influences with future possibilities. It draws on dub, house and disco and is now resented on this wonderfully escapist full length which starts slow and dreamy, raises the pulse then slows down to a nice emotive finish. A fine reimagine of some classic sounds.

Review: The recent, untimely death of David Lynch from emphysema possibly inspired this new Cherry Red compilation, mapping the career of the equally late musician Julee Cruise, who died in 2022. This new 2xCD set compiles the first phase of the unique and enigmatic chanteuse's recording career, which really begun not long after the infamous Twin Peaks songster penned the theme tune 'Falling', which finally put dream pop on the map after many years of general incubation. Of course, said Angelo Badalamenti benchmark production features centrally, but many more rapid-eyed reveries - such as 'This Is Our Night', 'Floating', 'Into The Night' and 'Summer Kisses, Winter Tears' - also document the washout pop passions of Cruise outside of the Lynchian paradigm, with Wim Wenders soundtrack cuts to original lounge-classical dirges all following in tow. Stylishly presented, and complete with an insightful sleevenote essay, 'Fall_Float_Love' demands a long overdue rediscovery

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


In the seven years that have passed since the release of his last solo album, DJ Koze has become one of electronic music's most celebrated and sought-after producers. For that reason, the release of Music Can Hear Us is a genuinely big deal - as the impressive roll call of guest vocalists and collaborators (Damon Albarn, Sophia Kennedy, Ada, Notwist and Marley Waters included) attests. Typically, alongside a handful of genuine dancefloor workouts in his skewed deep house style ('Buschcutter', 'Bush Taxi'), Koze serves up far more fine material that is less easy to categorize - think Indian-influenced downtempo exotica ('The Universe In a Nutshell'), off-kilter outsider electronica ('The Talented Mr Tripley'), jangly psych-Balearic excursions ('Arunda') and heady ambient soundscapes ('A Donde Vas?'). Spots in end of year 'best of' lists await.

Review: Evergreen producer Soichi Terada's early house classic 'Sun Shower' appears here in every imaginable form, with a comprehensive set of remixes neatly presented all in one place. Terada's contribution to electronic music can't be overstated, from his pioneering dance productions, to his gaming soundtracks, and recent revival courtesy of the mighty Rush Hour. The 1989 version is still arguably the most compelling i a prototype for so many tracks that followed and quite possibly an unbeatable benchmark of sing-along, deep but uplifting, honest-to-goodness house music. The Index version includes a comedic answerphone complaint aimed at Terada from the remixer, while the overdubs of the Finger version make for a diverting addition. The Ambient version is perfect for a Balearic sundown, while the inclusion of the Vox accapella is sure to please the more adventurous jocks out there.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Back in the heyday of the Scando-Disco scene, Jann Marius Dahle had a flurry of records as Fjordfunk and under his own name. Rightly recognised by the leaders in that scene, he's been quiet for the best part of 20 years, but now he returns with the stunning, fully-rendered wonderment of "Infinite Zest". This is an album bursting with colour and musicality, as gorgeous instrumentation meets with tenderly executed disco with a distinctly Norwegian mood. From the starry-eyed synth interplay of "Alina" to the noodling funk of "Nussing", Marius Dahle's skill as an arranger and producer is a revelation. A well-deserved, long awaited return to the fray from a rightful peer of Prins Thomas, Lindstrom et al..

Review: Ride's Andy Bell - recording under his electronic alter ego Glok - and producer and Insult to Injury label boss Timothy Clerkin join forces for Alliance, a brand new seven-track album released through Bytes. Both artists let their hair down for a freewheeling foray through freak-sonics, recalling every influence from James Holden to Boards of Canada to Death In Vegas, for a thorough canter come gallop through and in anabranched veins of Balearica, cosmic disco, shoegaze and techno. After some collaborative exchanges online, and a momentous in-person meeting at the funeral of legend Andrew Weatherall, Bell and Clerkin have since kept dutifully in touch, fashioning relentless downbeat chugs driven by amped distortion, wonderstruck arpeggiations and heavenly vox lines. From the buzzing 'Empyrean' to the neo-Balearadelican 'E-Theme', this is a massive album whose influences clock in at too many to count, and yet manage to bottle them all into a potent carbonated brimmer.

Review: Eiko Ishibashi, best known for her acclaimed soundtrack work, returns to original composition with this album named in honour of the feminist-facing, heroine from ancient Greek tragedelian Sophocles' Oedipus Trilogy. It's a world of shimmering jazz harmonies, pulsating electronica and ghostly musique concrete, 'October' opening with a haunting, alluring melody and the disjointed rhythms of 'Coma' creating a sense of disorientation. 'Antigone', the centerpiece, builds to a powerful and unsettling climax, but there's more than chilling soundscapes as Ishibashi injects moments of surprising warmth and beauty, like the delicate interplay between acoustic and electronic elements in 'Nothing As'. Comparisons with her soundtrack work will be made, but - not unlike Antigone herself - this stands alone as a work of bravery and strength.

Review: After a (rare) completion of a vinyl record series, Musica da Discoteca, producer L'Oggetto returns with a standalone display of melodious might on wax. Exploring sounds emitted between his native Italy and his adoptive home in the USA, Marco Scozzaro delivers a muted but jubilant record here, covering every affective angle from snappiness to drowsiness. 'Dippe' and 'Can't U' peck at feeds of lo-fi and deep house, while 'Raschiante' and 'Rotolante' each serve to further estrange the vibe, through glassblown chords and downtempo hydrolyses respectively.

Review: Like the orographic cloud formed around the hill on the front cover, Martinou's latest record is a restorative future garage via techno myst. Released through the German minimalists Fauxpas - who've confirmed their pride at having finally gotten to release with the Swedish artist - this vinyl edition contains an exclusive track on the fifth runout, 'Thoughtless'. But the fact is, all the tunes here are more than worthy for soundtracking a condensate moment of downtime and renewal. Paced blissfully, our faves are 'Woven' and 'Hold Then Release', both of which exculpate all our anxieties through burbling, filtered woodblocks and field-studied sonics, hand-picked to arrest and wow. A sublime new outing from the Sewer Sender founder.

Review: Route 77, the third album from Mirror System, Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy's chillout project, offers a serene sonic journey through spacious, dreamy soundscapes. A mellower counterpart to their work as System 7, Mirror System's music blends soft tech-house rhythms with lush electronics and Hillage's signature guitar. With a travel theme inspired by the vast American Southwest, Route 77 is rich in atmospheric grooves. The album features contributions from The Orb's Alex Paterson, Dan Donovan and Marv Brookes, adding to its laidback yet intricate vibe. Standout moments include reimaginings of Manuel Gottsching's 'Sunrain' and Ry Cooder's 'Paris, Texas', which fit seamlessly into the album's flowing textures. The closing track, 'Sonora Desert Edge (The Abyss)', incorporates a poem by Allen Ginsberg, creating a vivid, immersive auditory experience. Route 77 is an engaging blend of ambient trance and chillout music, perfect for deep relaxation or reflective listening.

Review: Mk.gee is the stage name of prestigious producer Mike Gordon who has credits with big hitters, including Dijon, Omar Apollo, Kacy Hill and Fred Again. Having worked so closely with these names and having the likes of Dijon say in interviews that it's like Gordon is "creating or transmitting from an alien planet", it's set him up nicely for his solo career. Riding the crest of the wave this successful debut album Two Stars & The Dream Police, he's now selling out big venues all over the globe and has a feverish cult fanbase who hang onto his every word. It's easy to see why he's such a phenomenon - his lo-fi post-genre mixes of pop, rock and soul, which echo the likes of Frank Ocean, Connan Mockasin and Dean Blunt, are a riveting listen. A superstar who clearly has the musical chops and production taste to justify the hype.

Review: The late great Muslimgauze is a cult figure when it comes to experimental electronic music. He made several revered records that have been reissued since his death and helped to reassert his status. Maroon is a work that like much of his output brings space, colour, depth, and illusion to sound. It is densely layered and textured and finds Bryn Jones, the Mancunian behind Muslimgauze, assaulting all the senses. From the rusty sounds and smeared voices of 'Thimble Cups Of Urdu' to the dense collage of drones, tin pot hits and obscured mutterings of 'Harem Of Dogs' this is a brilliantly idiosyncratic work.

Review: Portland, Oregon's Graham Jonson urges our hurries once more with Heard That Noise, an anemological study in ascendant post-rock and psych. Jonson crafts intimate, zigzagging and west windy songs, ploughing the grey, sludgy boundaries of folk, pop, and noise. Following a subtle tangent from SoundCloud renown to 2021's The Long and Short Of It, he now follows that record up through a desultory reflection on breakups, memory, and creative rediscovery; Phil Elverum, Dijon and Nick Drake glance through the sonic cloud cover as ancestral muses, while the record blends warmth and discordance, where sweet ballads unravel into distortion; serene moments jolted by sonic "jump scares."

Review: Red Snapper return with Barb And Feather, celebrating 30 years since their debut album. Liquidising the band's signature jazz, funk, and electronic grooves into a prostrate puree of vivid, electronically augmentable sound, we once again hear Rich Thair, Ali Friend, Tom Challenger and new addition Tara Cunningham perform a brilliant post-punk-dub-disco dramaturge, mullioned at the midpoint by a cracking instrumental redo of David Bowie's 'Sound And Vision', upheld by a true Balearic trestle. The second half, on the other hand, hears a four-track collaboration with the legendary David Harrow, pushing Red Snapper ever further towards unsnapped chunks of dietetic punk-disco delight.

Review: The enigmatic Downtown Romeo Records returns with its signature blend of melancholy and intensity from Saved My Life. First up, the Chuva de Verao remix of 'Amar' is a lush downtempo track laced with subtle acid elements that draw you into a hypnotic vortex. Meanwhile, the Ilusao Dub on the flip pushes forward with a powerful, massive breakbeat groove. It's a usual mix of sound designs, acoustic elements and club energy that really stands out. True to the label's tradition, the record is presented in a luxurious sleeve, complete with an embossed stamp and insert that elevates the tactile experience.

Review: Cosmo Sheldrake's Eye to the Ear is a challenging album to categorise, with the versatile talents of this English singer, producer, composer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist turning to a range of styles, from classical choral works ('The Feet are the Link') to electronic compositions created from birdsong, exemplified by 'Shiny Is the View.' It even ventures into the utterly unique with 'The Snapping of Shrimp,' a track incorporating the sounds of a regenerating coral reef. This is Sheldrake's second full-length album, arriving six years after The Much Much How How and I. Both albums explore themes of symbiosis and environmentalism, prominently featuring horn ensembles. However, Eye to the Ear leans more towards slow, contemplative tracks and a diverse soundscape. 'Breathe Round Corners' stands out as a particularly poignant song about environmental degradation, accompanied by the calls of endangered birds. The most riveting aspect of Sheldrake's music is his use of unusual samples, such as sounds from Sri Lankan frogs, a humpback whale, snapping shrimp, blacksmiths, and even 15 golf balls bouncing on a wooden floor. His environmental themes are influenced by scientific expeditions with his biologist brother, Merlin, to remote locations. The track 'Lichens' includes samples from a site in Ecuador where a new species of psychedelic mushroom was discovered. Standout tracks include 'Does the Swallow Dream of Flying,' 'Marvelous Clouds,' and 'Breathe Round Corners.' Eye to the Ear is an ideal listen for those seeking music beyond the typical human-centric narrative.

Review: Following a fine mini-album on Los Angeles' Casablanca Sunset Records four years ago, "indie-dance" trio Supertaste have kept up a steady stream of singles and one-off cuts, mostly via their own self-titled imprint. Supernova, officially their debut album, marks the Brooklyn combo's first appearance on vinyl. The sounds they showcase are warm, positive sounding and groovy, recalling the work of fellow New York outfits Holy Ghost, Escort and Midnight Magic - albeit with their own synthesiser-embracing twist. It guarantees great listening throughout, with our picks including 'Protostar', the more bluesy indie disco flex of 'Supernova', the dub disco-flecked joy of 'Play To Lose' and the deliciously slow, dreamy and spacey 'Right Place/Right Time'.

Review: The debut album from Margate-based dream pop sorts Tokyo Tea Room. Singer Beth Dunn has a soulful voice that conjures images of a perfect sunset and complements the understated live instruments and steady beats. One of the bands biggest draws is the way Dunn's voice works with synth player Daniel Elliot's. 'There's a Place' and 'I Would' have moments that aren't unlike The xx. And like their UK counterparts, they've crafted an album that works when you want something a bit downtempo. It's meant for slowing things down a notch and letting our minds wander; a balm for the chaos of the rat race.

Review: Originally confined to CDia relic of a different timeiJorg Burger's early-2000s masterwork finally sees the vinyl treatment it deserves. Lush, transportive, and quietly radical, this is ambient techno at its most fluid, a body of work that drifts between nostalgia and movement, solitude and propulsion. 'Leuchtturm' remains untouched, its soft hand drums and hazy atmospheres still unfolding like a slow sunrise. Elsewhere, 'AG Penthouse' undergoes a transformation, its flute-like trills and glassy keys now fused to a churning rhythm that recalls Tangerine Dream's work on Thief, minus the guitar histrionics. Beat-driven yet deeply immersive, each track rises, crests and recedes in perfect sequence, a travelogue in the vein of Carl Craig's Landcruising or Model 500's Deep Space. What makes this release endure isn't just its shimmering detail but its refusal to conform. In a landscape where ambient techno so often leans on a specific nostalgia, Burger sidesteps the obvious, creating a listening experience that still feels singular, 21 years later.

Review: We'd already had lunch and dinner sorted, but breakfast was still left wanting - that is, until now. We break our fast now to chow down on a delicious smorgasbord cooked up by DJ, radio host and all-round musical encyclopedia Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy, who here tops up the now-established Balearic Breakfast series with its third volume. Less to do with any particular sound and more to do with the sound of 'Balearic' in its original melting-pot days crossing over everything from downtempo to post-punk to funk, this is a copacetic selection, sure to get balls rolling, discs circumvolving and feet moving.

Review: Encore has been remastered from the original tapes and features 11 compositions by Arthur Verocai who was joined by the legendary Azymuth, Ivan Lins and a nine-piece string section. The album was a long-awaited follow-up to his 1972 debut so bridges 35 years and bottles up Brazilian influences with American soul and cinematic experimentation. Initially overlooked amongst his wider canon, Verocai's debut gained cult status thanks to Far Out Recordings' Joe Davis who rediscovered it in the late 80s. In 2004, producer Dave Brinkworth brought Verocai back to the studio to reignite his musical brilliance. A master arranger, Verocai's work with Brazilian legends shaped his visionary sound and have helped to cement him as a timeless force in music history.