Category Archives: Blog

schroothoop drop second single, ‘Cheval Orange’, off upcoming album MACADAM

04 February 2023

The next release on Sdban Ultra comes from the hands of schroothoop, whose name means ‘junk yard’ in Dutch. The Brussels based junk jazz trio of multi-instrumentalists Rik Staelens, Margo Maex and Timo Vantyghem, who make their own instruments out of trash, have announced the release of a new album titled MACADAM. The upcoming album “is a collection of semi-improvised songs that explores the vast sounds of discarded objects found on the streets of Brussels”, says the press release. “The band turns wooden crates into guitars and lyres, and scrap metal into thumb pianos, cimbaloms, and percussion bells, creating a unique and compelling sound.”

Following the first single, ‘Tanz der Quallen’, schroothoop are now teasing MACADAM with new single ‘Cheval Orange’. “We are thrilled to share this new single with our fans and give them a taste of what’s to come on the album,”  said Maex. “We’ve been working hard on this project for a while now and can’t wait for people to hear it.”

Listen to ‘Cheval Orange’ below and check out the video for previous single ‘Tanz der Quallen’ straight after.



MACADAM  is out on April 7th through Sdban Ultra

João Selva’s new album, Passarinho, out today

03 February 2023

If you are looking for a brilliant and exotic new album to get the weekend started on a great vibe, look no further than João Selva’s new full-length Passarinho, which translates from Portuguese as ‘little bird’. The Lyon based Brazilian producer, singer and songwriter takes cues from references such as his “Brazilian heroes like Marcos Valle, João Donato and Arthur Verocai as well as famed ‘70’s US soul-jazz icons like Shuggie Otis, Bill Withers and Johnny Guitar Watson.”

Coinciding with the album release today through Underdog Records, Selva has shared a video for the groovy and sparkling ‘Cantar Cantar’, directed by Peter the Moon. Watch it below.

Holuzam to release Nuno Rebelo’s new record, Improvisa​ç​õ​es Cristalizadas

02 February 2023

Portuguese polymath Nuno Rebelo is as prolific as he is revered. Exploring and innovating since the 80’s, the guitar player, sound explorer, improviser and composer has worked and collaborated in a multitude of projects across a range of fields and forms, including contemporary dance, theatre, cinema, installations and exhibitions.

This May Holuzam is set to release Improvisa​ç​õ​es Cristalizadas, a double hidden album recorded in 1989-90 which features 21 tracks that “convey a sense of investigative curiosity regarding computer composition”, as the press release describes.  In a statement about the upcoming album, the label writes:

“Short electronic pieces composed in 1989-90 using the Atari 1040ST computer with Steinberg Pro24 Software, Two Yamaha Sound Modules (TX81ZX and TG55) and Ensoniq Mirage Sampler with keyboard. The composition method for each piece evolved from a short improvisation on the Mirage keyboard, recorded in MIDI to the computer. Counterpoint permutations (inversion, reversion, inverted reversion, transpositions) were then applied through the software, distributing the variations of the initial improvisation by other timbres. No other musical material was used.”

We’ll have to wait until May 5th for Improvisa​ç​õ​es Cristalizadas to be out but we can already hear a few transcending cuts on bandcamp. Here’s ‘Dan​ç​a Das Creaturas Elásticas’ and ‘Tiny Space Ship’.

numün’s sophomore album, Book of Beyond, out now

02 February 2023

Book of Beyond is the new album from psychedelic instrumental trio numün, following their 2020 debut Voyage Au Soleil. On the album, the trio of SUSS’s Bob Holmes and Gamelan Dharma Swara’s Joel Mellin and Christopher Romero explore personal and spiritual themes including new fatherhood, sleep deprivation, loss and rebirth. As with their previous record, Book of Beyond fuses Eastern and Western musical stylings and instrumentation.

Book of Beyond is out now through Shimmy-Disc on a run of 666 cerulean blue LPs. For a celestial taste of what’s on offer, listen to ‘Steps’. Joel Mellin shared his thoughts about the track:

“You can’t will it to happen. But just past where you’ve been, Vespers is that time of day when words like possible and hopeful are feelings on your fingers, your arms, or through your hair just for a second. Like a book of hours is a guidebook for the day, the Book of Beyond is a memoir we hope captures those feelings stretching just past where you are. I don’t know – maybe you can will it to happen.”

‘Steps’ is offered with an accompanying video made by the trio’s own Joel Mellin. Watch it below.

Xylouris White announce new album, The Forest In Me, and share first single ‘Latin White’

31 January 2023

Photo: Jem Cohen

January brings a very exciting announcement, Xylouris White have a new album on the way. The heavenly duo of Cretan lute player George Xylouris and Australian drummer Jim White, will release The Forest In Me on April 14th through Drag City. Speaking about the record, Xylouris comments:

“While we were recording, I noticed that the music had a certain solitude about it, both from the title and from inside. That led us to find more music from within that we had not yet discovered.”

White also had this to say about it:

“The idea emerged, naturally nourished and nourishing a record with none of our usual angles and themes, no verbal language, no angst nor sudden dynamics, a more subtle structure. And we found The Forest In Me.”

Ahead of the album’s release, Xylouris White have shared the magnificent and jubilant first single ‘Latin White’. The single comes with a video accompaniment directed by Rebecca E. Marshall and you can watch it below.


GoGo Penguin to release new album, Everything Is Going to Be OK, in April

28 January 2023

Photo: Veil Projects, Emily Dennison

New music from GoGo Penguin is always exciting news. The trio, who last year welcomed a new drummer to the fold and released an EP, Between Two Waves, have announced a new full-length album. Entitled Everything Is Going to Be OK, the effort arrives on April 14th through Sony Music/XXIM.

Alongside the announcement, GoGo Penguin have shared the first transcendent single, ‘Glimmerings’, a track inspired by British Professor Anil Seth’s book Being You. Bassist Nick Blacka comments:

“The word glimmerings stood out when I was reading a book by Anil Seth called ‘Being You’. The book is about the science of consciousness and in the Prologue, he talks about how ‘glimmerings of ideas began to emerge’. It felt like the perfect way to describe the process of thought and creativity. Glimmerings — one of the first songs we started on the new album – started from a small kernel on the synth and over time we added more and more layers until it became something a lot more complex. The idea behind the title is the very beginning, where there is only an idea and an intent to start with, but you have an aim and an idea, and you have to trust in the process.”

Listen to ‘Glimmerings’ below.