CONTAGIOUS ORGASM, the brainchild of hiroshi hashimoto from nagoya, japan, stands as a bold exploration of experimental sound and ambient noise. his compositions are a captivating blend of swirling psychedelia, crude samples, abandoned rhythms, and post-industrial noise, all woven into a seamless tapestry of ambient and concrete elements. this is music that demands active engagement, rewarding the listener with a hypnotic, immersive experience that is both inviting and disconcerting.
each composition is a rich vignette, balancing noise-soaked textures with exotic percussion, and gradually winding down into dreamlike interludes. CONTAGIOUS ORGASM’s work draws listeners into its nebulous darkness, offering a space for introspection, tension, and revelation. turn off the lights and let yourself be carried by this multifaceted, elegant journey through intimacy, alienation, and the blurred boundaries of perception and reality.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, time softened and blurred. each room held a fragment of feeling – a flicker of mood, a whisper asking thirsty?, and somewhere, a reflection of longing beneath the moon under water. shadows stretched gently, revealing a soft sensitivity in everything touched, a quiet ache threading through silence. reality wavered in the glass of an inverted mirror, showing not what was, but what might have been. then came the return – subtle, weightless, yet undeniable. beneath a suspended ceiling, where thoughts drifted like dust in filtered light, he understood: some truths only reveal themselves in silence, and only BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.
composed and performed by h h. and fts. recorded and mixed at cool anatomy and yard cemetery, 2023-2024
Two years after releasing the acclaimed Crash Recoil, Anthony Child aka Surgeon returns to Tresor with new LP, Shell~Wave. Retaining the minimal equipment list and studio-version-of-live-show-sets approach of the previous album in order to focus on the work itself, Shell~Wave is a deeply personal document of both where Surgeon is and has been, converging three decades of experience with a continued curiosity in the untested.
“To make this project, I had to dig really deep in terms of what my relationship was to techno; I’ve been involved with it for a really long time and there’s a lot about it I feel dislocated from, so I had to really think hard about what techno is to me. I often get asked “what is techno to you?” but I can’t answer that with words; this album is the answer.”
From the complex, twisting track Infinite Eye to the caustic Soul Fire, the eight tracks that make up the body of the album are single-take explorations of the vast, hard yet minimal techno Child is synonymous with.
Neatly dividing the record in two, the emotional centre of the record comes in the form of Dying, a vibrating, beatless piece that with a mantra-like vocal loop steeped in reverberating effects.
Further echoes of dub production appear throughout the record as tracks like Divine Shadow, and Empty Cloud have an almost ever-present mist of reverberation, driven by the appearance of a new delay unit in the equipment list; while much of the philosophy of Crash Recoil’s creation is present, the process and the instruments have changed as Child again switches up his approach to studio work.
This insistence on trying novel techniques doesn’t preclude returning to old ones, as this use of modern digital machines with live, hands-on takes that are as inspired by 60s producer Joe Meek and 70s reggae as they are by this year’s synthesiser expos.
“For me, it’s an interesting experience returning to old techniques again after 30 years. [I’m] always exploring and finding myself back at the beginning. Connecting the present with the past.”
This philosophy of ‘time travel’ is inherent to the music itself as the synchronised loops repeat while the delay and effects branch out, forming unique eddies; distinct quantum moments within the circular whole; the future leaking through the spaces between the sounds. All of the concepts on the album are perfectly communicated through the painting by Taiwanese artist Jazz Szu-Ying Chen which suggests the movement of water, sound waves, and the chitinous shells of sea creatures. credits released May 2, 2025
All tracks written and produced by Anthony Child. Artwork by Jazz Szu-Ying Chen. Design by Onlab. Mastered by Mike Grinser at Manmade Mastering. Published by Copyright Control.
Thanks to Albert, Dan, Doris, Jazz, Karl, Michael, Mum & Dad, Nancy, Richard, Terry, Thomas & Felix.
Kali Malone and Drew McDowall present Magnetism, their first collaborative album born from a decade-long friendship and ignited by a single day of creative synergy. When Malone stepped into McDowall’s Brooklyn home studio, a shared vision immediately took root and set the course for a remarkable collaboration between these two singular artists. On Magnetism, Malone’s poignant and evocative melodies manifest through McDowall’s signature timbral synthesis, creating a unified voice that soars freely and radiates with vitality. Technically, the duo employs an exquisite blend of Karplus-Strong synthesis, distortion and just intonation. Kali and Drew embrace these tools with refined grace while moving fluidly within their musical framework. Charged by the magnetic pull of repetition, saturation, and resonance, Magnetism pulses as a living music that captivates the senses and lingers long in the mind after the final notes fade.
Label Description: Das Ich kehren mit „Fanal” zurück: Ein apokalyptisches Meisterwerk für das postfaktische Zeitalter Mehr als drei Jahrzehnte nach ihren ersten frevlerischen Kassetten, die mit Songs wie „Gott ist tot” und „Satans neue Kleider” die Geburtsstunde der neuen deutschen Todeskunst einläuteten, melden sich Das Ich mit einer erschütternden Diagnose unserer Zeit zurück. Bruno Kramm und Stefan Ackermann, die Pioniere einer Kunstform, die bereits mit frühen Werken wie „Satanische Verse” und „Die Propheten” Schauspiel mit Musik, Expressionismus mit Klassik und Elektronik mit Gothic zu ungekannter Intensität verband, präsentieren am 31. Oktober 2025 ihr neues Album „Fanal” – ein Werk, das brennender nicht sein könnte. Zwischen monumentalen Alben wie „Staub”, „Egodram”, „Lava”, „Antichrist” und „Cabaret” ließen die beiden Künstler stets lange Perioden der Inspiration verstreichen, um zu jeder Epoche eine eigene musikalische Sprache zu entwickeln. Auf ausgedehnten, weltweiten Tourneen durch Europa, USA, Südamerika, Asien, Israel und Russland vertraten sie nicht nur die Kultur eines neuen, expressiven Deutschlands, sondern inspirierten mit ihren kontroversen und intensiven Liveshows unzählige Bands und Kunstformen aller Sparten. Ihre Gedichtvertonung von Gottfried Benns „Morgue” ist bis heute Thema im Deutschunterricht, während Evergreens wie „Kain und Abel”, „Von der Armut” oder die technoide VNV Nation Remixversion von „Destillat” noch immer die schwarzen Parties weltweit befeuern. Nach einer schöpferischen Pause, bedingt durch Ackermanns schwere Krankheit und Kramms politisches Engagement, kehrt das Duo mit neuem Lineup zu einer Welt zurück, die ihre düstersten Visionen eingeholt zu haben scheint. Wo einst ihre Kunst über alle Szenegrenzen hinweg einen Ruf begründete, der auch 25 Jahre nach „Gott ist tot” keine Vergleiche kennt, brennt nun ein anderes Feuer: das Fanal einer Zivilisation am Abgrund. Die neun Leuchtfeuer des Albums spannen den Bogen einer Spezies, die ihre eigene Vernichtung zur Kunst erhoben hat. Doch „Fanal” ist mehr als nur kulturpessimistische Zeitdiagnose – es ist ein hellsichtiger Kommentar zu einer Epoche, in der Individuen in gefährlichen Massen aufgehen, programmiert von Demagogen. Diese erschaffen aus den Schatten einer digitalen Höhlenmalerei technokratische Diktaturen und inszenieren die KI-gesteuerte Massenüberwachung und unmenschliche Hetzjagd auf die Schwächsten als mediales Opus. Aus den einstigen nerdigen Hippies, die sich an kultureller Allmende und dem privatesten von Abermillionen bereichern, sind längst die Multimilliardäre der digitalen Vollstreckung geworden. Die Fackel auf dem Albumcover fungiert dabei als doppelte Metapher: Sie ist sowohl Warnung vor den Klippen, auf die wir zusteuern, als auch das letzte Licht der Aufklärung – ein Leuchtfeuer des Humanismus und der Empathie für alles Lebende, um den wieder erwachenden Geistern einer düsteren Vergangenheit zu entfliehen. Nach dem Charterfolg ihrer Vorab-Single „Lazarus”, die direkt auf Platz 6 der Deutschen Alternative Charts einstieg, beweisen Das Ich einmal mehr, warum ihre Magie auch im neuen Jahrtausend noch immer zu spüren ist. Mit „Fanal” vollenden sie nicht nur ihr künstlerisches Vermächtnis, sondern entzünden selbst ein Leuchtfeuer – als Zeugnis und letzte Hoffnung gleichermaßen.
Release Dates Bandcamp Digital : 14th November 2025 Vinyl / Stream / Digital : 21st November 2025 There will be two editions of the vinyl… A ‘DINKED’ ltd edition on coloured vinyl with a free additional 12″ ft the extra digital tracks 13-16. And the standard edition which will ft tracks 1-12 on black double LP.
Press release : When Chuck D proclaimed “Bass, how low can you go?” on Public Enemy’s anthemic ‘Bring the Noise,’ maybe he was pre-empting or inciting the 10,000 fathoms-deep, spine-bending basslines and sub-quake tremors of ‘Implosion.’
Implosion is a crushing split album, appropriately released on The Bug’s own PRESSURE label. Mapping out a new form of spectral dub, the sound is deliberately immersive, introverted, and yes, definitely implosive. In pursuit of heavy lids, blurred vision, and merciless bass bin punishment, it’s one part meditation, two parts low-end theory, and essentially a confession of devoted sound system addiction.
As expected from a tag team featuring British soundlab explorer and ‘London Zoo’ composer Kevin Martin, aka The Bug, and Michael Fiedler, aka Jah Schulz—a long-time graduate of Germany’s new school of sound system reggae culture—the duo approaches their target differently yet share the goal of keeping their sound “raw” (Fiedler) and “brutally minimal” (Martin). This proves that opposites can attract, even if their tools are different and their methods sometimes diverge.
From such a disparate combo, hailing from different geographical and aesthetic backgrounds, contrasts are certainly on display, even within each artist’s own contributions. From the melancholia and transcendence of ‘Alien Virus (West Indian Centre, Leeds),’ to the duality of ascension and descension on ‘Hope,’ or the Sunn 0))) in dub, visceral drone of ‘Dread (The End, London),’ to the tripped-out repetitions of ‘Midnight,’ which reinvents Chain Reaction for post-millennials, the result is both sacred and narcotic. Each track illuminates the emotional impact and atmospheric pressure being explored across this deceptively sparse album—a mastery of tone and texture.
This collection might be as reduced, minimal, and deep as The Bug has ever gone, perhaps echoing the solemnity of his recent Kevin Richard Martin Black release and invoking the futurist steppas self-pioneered on his previous Pressure album. Alternatively, Fiedler‘s Ghost Dubs project ventures into his most heavyweight direction yet, which is no mean feat considering his previous, the critically acclaimed album Damaged, was a monstrously massive triumph of analogue weight and enviable sound design.
Implosion is ice-cool, a stark contrast to the warmth and sociability of traditional Jamaican roots and the current trends in digi-dub. Instead, the mood is soaked in tension and intense dread, finding an unexpected melting point where classic dub’s stark rhythm attack, isolationist ambience’s eerie drift, dub techno’s floatation strategies, and even the relentless riffs of doom metal collide. As the bass-obsessed pair drop what is arguably the heaviest ambient dub album to emerge from any electronic sector—a moody counterpoint to The Orb’s fluffy clouds, etc, Martin has cited The Roots Radics, Black Jade, and On U Sound’s Pounding System as heavily influencing his approach to the album, while Fiedler has expressed his admiration for Adrian Sherwood’s productions and Rhythm & Sound’s enchanting soundscape. Yet, the super heavyweight pulsations, emotive resonances, and bone-rattling vibrations detonated here effortlessly go far beyond these influences.
Shadowy and elusive, there’s a mysteriousness at this record’s core. A haunting moodiness oscillating between nostalgia and future shock. Despite the deadly fixation with SLOW and HEAVY, the album maintains a totally hypnotic swing throughout. Implosion and its lead single ‘Imploded Versions’ are testaments to being enveloped in bass, seduced by bass, submerged in bass, and utterly crushed by bass, as The Bug and Ghost Dubs seek to craft a new form of dub for zonal headz and Babylon seekers.
Mastered by Stefan Betke (a.k.a. POLE) at Scape Mastering studio, this record is heavy as f-ck without resorting to continuous distortion. It’s low-end worship taken to an absolute extreme, yet remains highly listenable and definitely danceable, albeit at the slowest of paces. Sacred and narcotic, this is low-end worship amplified to the max. Dive in if you dare.
As The Bug, Kevin Martin’s music is built from an overwhelmingly explosive sub-bass pressure, with relentless in-the-red beat production that amplifies mutant industrial sound design, fuzzed, expectant crackle, and bleak greyscale harmonics. Over decades of diverse and storied projects and releases, Martin has earned a reputation as a subverter of expectations. In 2008 – after his gritty, tumultuous album London Zoo, where he and his long-term collaborator Flowdan delivered the instant classic ‘Skeng’ – he unexpectedly formed the new trio King Midas Sound, whose mix of spoken word poetry and Japanese-language vocals (performed by British-Trinidadian dub poet Roger Robinson and WaqWaq Kingdom’s Kiki Hitomi, respectively) created a storytelling approach new to his work. Further collaborations followed as his range and output grew. He worked with long-established experimental composer Fennesz, post-metal pioneers Earth, and even the rarefied, mournful drone-folk of solo artist Grouper, each bringing new dimensions to his sound. In 2019, after the trauma of his son’s problematic birth, he abandoned all aliases and released Sirens, a deeply emotional exploration of dread and paternal love set in the most isolated ambient territory, winning rave reviews.
Michael Fiedler gained international recognition in 2024 with the Ghost Dubs album Damaged, released on The Bug’s own PRESSURE label. The Stuttgart-based artist crafted a wholly original fusion of low-end pressure, live dub techniques, and industrial sound aesthetics which, although inspired by traditional dub/roots, dub techno, and even shoegaze or drone, captured many listeners’ attention with Fiedler’s futuristic sound design and mesmerising, slo-mo dubbed gyrations. Previously known and established under his alias JAH SCHULZ, he is a graduate of Germany’s vibrant dub/reggae sound system scene. It was through that scene that he first released international records, performed at festivals, and developed legendary live dub shows where he began rearranging tracks in real time. Under the name JAH SCHULZ, he founded and co-owned Infinite Density Records and released music on various other labels, including Echo Beach, Green King Cuts, and Basscomesaveme. He also gained support from major international sound systems such as Iration Steppas, King Shiloh, Jah Shaka, and Blackboard Jungle, who regularly feature Jah Schulz tracks in their sets.
Ken Li 2025
released November 21, 2025
Music / Production : The Bug tracks : The Bug (Kevin Richard Martin) Ghost Dubs tracks : Ghost Dubs (Michael Fiedler)
Mastered : Stefan Betke (Scape Mastering)
Artwork : Simon Fowler Gatefold inner photography : Eric Audoubert
Making this album was an absolute joy. We used Rothko’s artwork as a major influence. His use of colour fields, blending, mood and scale really helped us build an album of tracks that could stand on their own and also work together as a coherent whole across all the tones we had been working with. It was also a chance to fall back in love with our 909, 808 and 707.
While working on music for several other projects, the “Rothko” project got renamed Loud Ambient because it did not really sit right with the My Brutal Life series. We often talked about what people make of The Black Dog and whether they think we only make ambient music. We do not. Over the last year or so, one of us would be working on something and someone else would say, “That is a Loud Ambient track.” The name stuck. We liked the funny side of it.
With Loud Ambient, everything just fell into place creatively. Surprisingly for us, the tracklisting never changed, just small tweaks here and there. That rarely happens. It marks a first for us as a band. All the stars aligned and the confidence in this album is the strongest we have ever had.
Loud Ambient was made to dance to, something we have not done in a while. We welcome the return to the dance floor with both hands. Will you join us?
Foetus is one of the major musical projects of NYC composer JG Thirlwell.
HALT is the final Foetus album, and the first Foetus album in twelve years. It completes the cycle of an arc that began in 1981 with the first Foetus album DEAF.
Thirlwell worked on HALT on and off over a period of eight years. As with each album he has made, he wanted to reinvent the music, use new forms, innovate and introduce new surprising forms into his musical palette, at the same time as feeling like a leap forward.
HALT deals with themes of war, religion, disease, media, global warming, anxiety, hypocrisy, conspiracy, death and mortality, among other things. Dread is a leitmotif through many of the Foetus albums and this one is no exception.
HALT will be followed by its companion album, LEAK, in 2027.
COMPOSED, PRODUCED, PERFORMED AND RECORDED BY JG THIRLWELL AT SELF IMMOLATION STUDIOS
MIXED AT SELF IMMOLATION STUDIOS AND CIRCULAR RUIN STUDIO FINAL MIXES WITH BEN GREENBERG AT CIRCULAR RUIN STUDIO DRUMS RECORDED AT 30 BELOW ENGINEERED BY BRENT MCLACHLAN
SPECIAL GUESTS LEAH ASHER (The Rhythm Method) VIOLIN ON 2, 11 JAKE BALDWIN TRUMPETS ON 3, 7, 10 BRIAN CHASE (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) DRUMS ON 1,3 ,8 TIMO ELLIS (Netherlands) GUITAR ON 3, 7 SIMON HANES (Tredici Bacci) BANJO ON 9, BASS ON 9, 11, ACOUSTIC GUITAR ON 9 BRENDON RANDALL MYERS (Dither) GUITAR ON 3, 4, 10 SAMI STEVENS VOCALS ON 3 LAURA WOLF ADDITIONAL VOICE ON 8
Beyond Sensory Experience announce “In This Our Life”, a new album that extends and deepens the austere, melancholic sound they have refined since their formation in 2001. The duo continue to balance sparse, cinematic atmospheres with richly layered textures and haunting melodic motifs.
“In This Our Life” follows a sequence of records that critics have described as immersive, melancholic and beautifully unsettling, works which place the duo among the most discreetly consistent voices in contemporary dark ambient. Previous releases were praised for their ability to create vast emotional registers from minimal material, a characteristic the new album amplifies while exploring more expansive song-forms and dynamic contrasts.
Stylistically, the album keeps the trademark BSE touch: low-frequency washes, distant vocal fragments, analogue warmth and crystalline, slowly unfolding harmonies. Where earlier records often emphasized brooding stasis, “In This Our Life” moves the project into more narrative territory, allowing passages of melancholic catharsis to emerge from dense, claustrophobic beds of sound. Reviewers of earlier records noted the group’s talent for making the sparse feel monumental, a sensibility that informs this new collection.
The production embraces both analogue textures and carefully balanced percussive elements. Tracks shift between shadowed ambience and melodic refrains that linger, and the sequencing creates a discreet arc, from intimate, near-silent openings to more emphatic, emotionally charged culminations. Fans of the project’s prior work will recognize the continuity, while new listeners will find entry points in the album’s stronger melodic hooks and cinematic pacing.
CD Edition of 300 copies in 6 panel Digipak. 11 Tracks. Running Time 48:16
Music For The Rest Of Us 