Category Archives: Blog

Anton de Bruin teases new album with lead single ‘Running on Slippers’ ft. Fanni Zahár

26 June 2025

Rooted in Rotterdam’s fertile cross-section of club culture and improvised music, keyboardist, composer and producer Anton de Bruin has been carving out a name through projects like Dragonfruit and Peter Somuah, and recent appearances at North Sea Jazz and Valkhof. With his label Sundown Recordings, he’s also been instrumental in pushing late-night events where bands perform like DJs, redefining what live music can be on the dancefloor.

Following the release of his 2024 debut album Imaginarium, de Bruin returns with a new blistering single, ‘Running on Slippers’, featuring Budapest-based flautist Fanni Zahár. Drawing from the rhythmic intensity of African percussion, jungle, and samba, the track is both high-energy and slightly off-balance, reflecting its title, which serves as a metaphor for the feeling of reacting too late. The single offers a first glimpse into his forthcoming album Sounds of the Eclipse, set for release on October 17th. According to the press release, the record grapples with the sense that “we’ve run out of time,” socially and politically, but also points to the potential for renewal.

“There is always something super interesting to find in any record of any culture you’ll dive into,” Anton explains. “The low end and drive of Jamaican records from the 70s, the arrangements of Nigerian and Ghanaian records from the 60s and 70s… there’s so much inspiration hidden in all of that.”

‘Running on Slippers’ is out now through Sundown Recordings and you can listen to it below.

The Alien Dub Orchestra announce debut album, share first single ‘Vine and Fig Tree’

24 June 2025

A new and unexpected collaboration comes to light this Autumn, as The Alien Dub Orchestra prepare to release their debut album, The Alien Dub Orchestra Plays the Breadminster Songbook. The origins of the project trace back to 2022, when Elijah Minnelli contributed a pair of dub remixes for The Notwist. That exchange opened the door to further collaboration, and not long after, he was invited to open for them live and during an impromptu encore, members of the Munich scene joined Minnelli on stage to spontaneously reinterpret one of his tracks using woodwind, brass, and percussion. That performance marked the beginning of an ongoing collaboration that has evolved into a fully-fledged ensemble, including members of The Notwist and G.Rag y los hermanos Patchekos, performing and recording expanded versions of Minnelli’s singular body of work. Known for his solitary, lo-fi approach, often working alone with tape loops and effects, Minnelli reflects on the transformation:

“The idea of real, competent professionals playing something you’ve muddled together on a computer in a damp basement is quite overwhelming. Hearing them interpret and improve these melodies is a real joy and privilege.”

Mirroring dub tradition, the album’s second half features all-new dub versions of the Orchestra’s tracks, recorded live, one-take style, by Minnelli and fellow sonic collagist Raimund Wong. Rather than imitating classic dub templates, they dive headfirst into something more unpredictable and personal. As the press release says, it’s “a love letter to folk tradition, dub ideology and, most importantly, the joy of uninhibited collaboration.”

The Alien Dub Orchestra Plays the Breadminster Songbook arrives September 19th through Alien Transistor and ahead of it, they have shared the first single, ‘Vine and Fig Tree’. A gently unfolding piece, it reshapes one of Minnelli’s more introspective tunes into something playful and ceremonial. The single is offered with an accompanying video, filmed by Enid Valu, and you can stream it below.

The Dwarfs Of East Agouza announce new album, Sasquatch Landslide, join Constellation Records

20 June 2025

llustration by Maha Kourdy

The Dwarfs Of East Agouza have been blowing our minds since their debut Bes dropped in 2016. So it’s incredibly exciting to see the Cairo-based trio of Sam Shalabi (Land of Kush, Shalabi Effect), Maurice Louca (Alif, Bikya), and Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, The Invisible Hands, Alvarius B.) join the always excellent Constellation Records for their upcoming new album Sasquatch Landslide, landing this October. The album was recorded by Emanuele Baratto and mixed by Jace Lasek, and it features seven fervent tracks, brimming with the trio’s “signature trance-inducing explorative energies”. As the press release describes, the new album sees them “expand on their telekinetic fusion of North African rhythm, heat-haze improvisation, shaabi rawness, free jazz, and psychedelic groove”.

October is a while away but The Dwarfs Of East Agouza have shared the lead single, ‘Neptune Anteater’, giving us a thrilling taste of what’s to come, with all three players pushing and pulling at the edges of rhythm and melody. Take a listen below.

corto.alto signs to Ninja Tune and shares new single, ‘DON’T LISTEN’

20 June 2025

We’ve been shouting about corto.alto for a while now, and with good reason. From his Mercury Prize-shortlisted Bad With Names, which was one of our Albums Picks of 2023, to the blistering 30/108 project that saw him release 30 tracks in 30 days, Liam Shortall keeps moving forward without ever looking back. The Glaswegian trombone wizard and genre-defying powerhouse has joined the Ninja Tune family and he’s marking the occasion with a scorching new single, ‘DON’T LISTEN’.  Clocking in as one of his most explosive and uncompromising works to date, the track hits hard with thick bass, warped vocals and sharp turns. “‘DON’T LISTEN’ is a left turn for me into instinct over instruction,” Shortall comments. “I wrote this track as a call to blocking out the noise, ignoring creative conformity and embracing the freedom to do whatever the fuck you want.”

The single also arrives with a visually wild video by Katie Sills, matching the music’s untamed energy. Watch the video below.

In other good news, corto.alto has a run of shows coming up, and we’re hyped to catch him at Matosinhos em Jazz in Porto on July 12th.

Glass Museum announce new album, 4N4LOG CITY, and share new single ‘Call Me Names’

14 June 2025

Back in April, Glass Museum released a brand new track, ‘GATE 1’, their first new music since their album Reflet came out in 2022. The Brussels outfit have now followed up with a second track, ‘Call Me Names’, featuring vocals for the very first time. Weaving themes of breakup, regret, and reconciliation, the new track “explores the void left by another, the difficulty of confronting one’s own mistakes, and the desire to turn back time”, as the press release describes.

Alongside the single, the band have announced their much-anticipated new album. Entitled 4N4LOG CITY, the new record sees the duo of keyboardist Antoine Flipo and drummer Martin Grégoire evolve into a trio with the addition of bassist Issam Labbene. 4N4LOG CITY also brings together a host of guest appearances from vocalist JDS, Swiss drummer Arthur Hnatek and rapper JAZZ BRAK of STIKSTOF.

Like the singles that precede it, the album exudes an atmosphere that mirrors the rhythm of urban life, “captur[ing] the mechanical ebb and flow beneath concrete towers—the anonymous rhythms of daily life moving over the asphalt, and the fleeting, meaningful connections made along the way.”

4N4LOG CITY is set for release on September 19th through Sdban Ultra. Mark your calendars and check out ‘Call Me Names’, offered with an accompanying video directed by Super Tchip, documenting the creation of a graffiti mural in Anderlecht (Brussels), painted by visual artists Manon Brûlé and Nora Juncker. Now part of the streetscape in Anderlecht, the mural echoes ‘Call Me Names’ in form and feeling, a meeting point between music and street art that lingers in the city’s memory. Check out the video below.

Blue Earth Sound shares second single, ‘Lover’s Rock’, from upcoming LP Cicero Nights

14 June 2025

Ahead of the release of Cicero Nights, James Weir’s Blue Earth Sound has unleashed a new track, ‘Lover’s Rock’,  following lead single ‘Mariposa‘ released last month. Cicero Nights was recorded at the International Anthem studio space in Chicago with in-house engineer Dave Vettraino, and as we had mentioned, the multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and composer assembled a stellar cast of collaborators including drummer Patch Romanowski, Resavoir’s Will Miller on trumpet, flautist Eamonn Pritzy, and longtime collaborator Michael Wells. Also featuring percussion from guest contributors Cabeza De Chivo’s Alex Aguero and Destroyer’s Joshua Wells, ‘Lover’s Rock’ captures the collaborative energy of the project. With inspiration drawn from the cinematic soul of Isaac Hayes and the vibrant rhythms of Latin America, ‘Lover’s Rock’ is a feel-good, celestial track. Listen to it below and grab the album when it drops on September 12th through Root Records.